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Article Excerpt
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, wireless technologies have provided new options that solve challenging installation constraints and remove physical or financial constraints associated to the hard wiring of building automation systems (BASs). It is widely acknowledged that wireless BASs can have great impacts on facility performance, cost efficiency, and return on investment. Wireless environments easily adapt to changing business needs or new facility requirements. Also, eliminating wiring, and its related efforts, accelerates the installation process and simplifies retrofitting and system extension. Wireless-based systems offer building owners and facility managers more choices and fewer constraints, including (Frost and Sullivan 2005): ease of deployment; cost benefits, scalability of the network; simpler and more flexible system design; faster and less disruptive installations and retrofits; and smoother and less costly migrations staged to accommodate budgets and schedules.
Flexibility is the ultimate benefit in deploying a wireless system compared to a wired network. Sensors can be located, or relocated, to optimize system performance; increase customer comfort; and adapt to changing floor plans. Many wireless technologies and products are available in the current BAS industry, and a number of companies are paid to develop wireless technologies for BAS applications. It is likely that wireless BASs will be popular in BAS installations in the very near future; however, many aspects regarding the technology still need to be addressed.
CURRENT WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES ASSOCIATED TO BASs
There are many short-range wireless communications technologies available now in information technologies, automation, and other mobile data communication fields. The wireless technologies related to the BAS applications include ZigBee[R] technologies, 802.11 compliant (WiFi) technologies, Bluetooth[R] technologies, and other proprietary technologies.
ZigBee Technologies
The ZigBee Alliance developed a network specification that is built upon the IEEE 802.15.4 radio. The standard was approved in December 2004 and adds logical network, security, and application software. The standard was created to address the market need for a cost-effective, standards-based, wireless networking solution that supports low-power consumption, low data rates, security, and reliability (Raimo 2007). Potential applications include home automation, building automation, and automated meter reading, as well as industrial monitoring and control. The range of the ZigBee device is about...
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