Global network infrastructure specialist, Siemon has announced the release of a new Zone Cabling and Coverage Area Planning Guide developed to assist infrastructure designers and architects ensure flexible zone cabling designs that provide significant benefits within intelligent buildings.

By 2020, it’s estimated there will be 26 times as many connected devices and connected people.

The growing adoption of IoT will be optimally supported by a cabling design where low-voltage building, network and security systems are converged on a single IP network infrastructure and powered by advanced power over Ethernet (PoE) technology.

Ideally suited for these converged infrastructures, zone cabling consists of horizontal cables run from telecommunications rooms to intermediate connection points housed in zone enclosures typically placed in the ceiling space.

Cables from zone unit enclosures connect directly to building devices such as sensors, wireless access points, cameras and digital signage or to outlets serving any such device.

Combining these connections within zone enclosures supports rapid, less disruptive changes and reorganisation of work areas while simplifying deployment of new devices and applications.

“Deploying a zone cabling approach that facilitates building device connections within zone enclosures saves significant cost for automated buildings where a variety of low-voltage systems are converging on a single unified physical infrastructure,” says Siemon global sales engineer Valerie Maguire.

“It’s important for those designing these converged infrastructures to realise the benefits of this highly economical and functional standards-based design and to understand how best to deploy it.”

Siemon’s new Zone Cabling and Coverage Area Planning Guide explains the various patterns that designers and architects can use for effective arrangements of coverage areas and their associated zone enclosures. The guide also highlights best practices for optimising device density, scalability, and flexibility and it covers considerations for selecting cable media and complying with industry standards.

As designers and architects strive to leverage IoT and deploy a converged cabling approach that allows connected systems to collect and analyse data for new levels of building intelligence, Siemon’s Zone Cabling and Coverage Area Planning Guide will serve as a critical reference to ensuring that cabling infrastructures are optimised to support these new trends in building design.