Cisco's strong position in networking technology puts it in an ideal place for smart building and IoT innovation. This is embodied by Cisco's new Catalyst Digital Building Series switch. Here are the key details from a company blog post:
Building owners are looking at technology convergence to deliver enhanced occupant experiences and improved efficiencies in their buildings. However, as the number of networks and connections within buildings grows, they are becoming increasingly complex. Interconnecting and interoperating isolated building systems such as lighting, HVAC, badging systems, security, CCTV, sensors and audio-video equipment, into a single converged system is fundamental to the digital transformation of buildings.
[O]ur vision is to build the next generation building architecture for which we are announcing the Cisco Catalyst Digital Building Series switch– A big step towards a robust foundation for the next-generation digital buildings.
The switch uses PoE (power over Ethernet) to provide electrical currents to lights, cameras and other devices inside smart buildings. It also collects data on device usage and power consumption on an ongoing basis. The idea is to converge once-separate building systems into a single switch that can be managed through a smartphone app.
In addition, the switch applies Cisco's DNA (Digital Network Architecture) to digital buildings, as the blog notes:
Automation, security, and analytics brought to digital buildings for IoT devices enabling faster on-boarding, automated provisioning and monitoring, intelligent threat detection and mitigation. For instance lighting ports can only be used for lighting and not to access other areas in the network.
Overall, Cisco's announcement speaks to a number of important trends, says Constellation Research VP and principal analyst Andy Mulholland.
"Cisco's strategy is to add value in the form of data over the provision of network connectivity. In this announcement Cisco has demonstrated just how different this may make future products and capabilities," he says. "It's also an example of the challenge that IoT adoption will bring beyond IT professionals as architects, builders and others will need to examine and understand this and similar products."
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