Written by Deepan Patel, Industry Manager- Infrastructure
With Niagara 4.11 recently released, I have some new innovative features that are now available from our Infrastructure solutions to share with you. Don’t take these solutions only for Building Automation projects, we can do so much more with Niagara. Speak to me today and I can explain how!
Our ILC 2050 controller now offers,via its Shell environment, the ability to create IP Static Routes. For those networking experts this reduces the requirement of a Layer 3 switch. Now that’s a game changer offering benefits in cost & time saving in your projects.
Further improvements in CPU utilisation.
Have you ever wondered how you can install your projects with the least amount of wiring in retrofit applications? Have you ever struggled with how to turn legacy buildings into Smart Buildings?
Written by Deepan Patel, Industry Manager- Interface
In my previous blogs I talked a lot about some of our great solutions for Building IOT. If you haven’t checked them out, you can here.
When it comes to designing requirements for a Smart Buildings solution, it is important to consider whether the design is robust or smart. Our solutions help engineers feel confident in their designs being robust and smart. This is achieved using our ILC2050 flexibility and software configuration tools, such as Project+, for designing and putting together hardware requirements for a project.
Written by Deepan Patel, Industry Manager- Infrastructure
New features alert!
With Niagara 4.9 recently released, I have some new innovative features that are now available from our Infrastructure solutions to share with you. Don’t take these solutions only for Building Automation projects, we can do so much more with Niagara such as Email/SMS alerts, Data Logging, HTML5 autogenerated pages, visualisation engine, etc. Speak to me today and I can explain how!
Our ILC 2050 controller now offers via its Shell environment, the ability to create IP Static Routes. For those networking experts this reduces the requirement of a Layer 3 switch. Now that’s a game changer!
2. Improved CPU load performance with the latest firmware release.
Written by Gareth Chamberlain, Product Manager- Cyber Security & IT Automation
Many of you might be thinking “Wait, what?” Yes, a Smart Camera box! Then people have asked if Phoenix Contact is entering into the Security Industry? Well that’s a yes and a no.
Phoenix Contact had a lot of success in the Building Management System (BMS) industry. Where we have seen many great applications using many of our well known and trusted products. For example, our managed switches and fibre Splicing technologies. Also, with the rise of usage of PoE, customers have been trying to make their networks a lot more efficient.
Written by Deepan Patel, Industry Manager- Infrastructure
Look no further!
Project + is Phoenix Contact’s solution to providing the marketplace with a very easy and intuitive way to configure your PLC solutions. This extends also to our Building Technology solutions. In my previous posts I talk about ILC 2050 Building Intelligent controller. This is based on Tridium’s Niagara platform. You can see my previous blog.
Configuring your solution
Phoenix Contact designed Project+ to overcome challenges when it comes to designing which parts are needed for the project. Nowadays we retain so much information, but it is common to forget things, so we create solutions to help us. Say you had a part number missed or incorrectly entered, how about knowing what power supply to use? What about what size of the panel you need or when you need an extra power module to support the IO modules. What about pricing? These are the many challenges Design/Electrical engineers face in today’s world. Project+ addresses all of these!
Written by Karl Fazakerley, Product Manager- Device Connections
First and foremost I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and I hope it turns out to be a successful one for you all.
For this year we are focusing into the world of building automation, the big trends which we are beginning to see come in to play and of course where Phoenix Contact and our vast range of products and solutions sit in this arena.
Building automation has been around for some time but it is evolving rapidly. Communication between devices, communication between protocols, and communication between whole cities is here and moving fast. We are lucky that we now have the technologies to diminish many of the shortcomings we have had and make great leaps and bounds forward.
Cities are undergoing what could only describe as a wave of digital transformation. To understand the needs, we have to manage our ecosystems. It is estimated that by 2050, 66 percent of the global population will be located in cities, that is an additional 2.5 billion people to our current number. With rapid population growth and urbanisation transforming the way we get on with our day to day lives, we need to find methods of improving and maintaining our current quality of life by using our resources more efficiently.
Smart cities work by using IoT sensors, actuators, and different protocols to connect components across the city. With these devices, which monitor everything from the air to the street to the Underground, cloud based IoT applications receive, analyse and manage data in real-time to help businesses and the general public make better decisions that can, in turn, work towards making their (and our) lives that bit easier. Another huge benefit is that smart cities also benefit the environment. Pairing devices and data with a city’s physical infrastructure and services cuts costs and improves sustainability with both water and energy usage, which in turn reduces CO2 emissions.
A massive step forward will be the further deployment of 5G
technology. This will be a turning point
to propel smart city technology and development into the mainstream. 5G will allow larger amounts of data to be
communicated across networks much faster than we have been able to achieve so
watch that space.
Where do we fit in? At Phoenix Contact we have a vast range of products that are perfectly suited to manufacturer’s who specialise in this arena.
Everything from BMS control system solutions right down to the Printed Circuit Board, we have something that will help you with your design of a complete system down to the design of a device. For example, if you are looking into board to board connectivity for high pole counts, look no further than our robust Finepitch range of connectors with both shielded and unshielded options. It is the perfect solution to use when designing future proof devices suitable for use in building automation device applications.
Written by Nigel Dawbarn, Sales & Marketing Manager- Industry Management
Consider the possibilities of having all the functionality of a building controller but with up to 63 I/O terminals directly connected to the controller, an integrated 4 port Ethernet switch, M-Bus and DALI modules, again directly connected to the controller, multi-protocol support and all running on the Niagara 4 framework and it’s available in an industrial platform…what more could you want?
Consider the possibilities of having all the functionality of a building controller but with up to 63 I/O terminals directly connected to the controller, an integrated 4 port Ethernet switch, M-Bus and DALI modules, again directly connected to the controller, multi-protocol support and all 
running on the Niagara 4 framework and it’s available in an industrial platform…what more could you want?