Legrand debuts UL-listed snap-in mounting accessory for Wattstopper high bay infrafred building occupancy sensors
Legrand North America announced that its Wattstopper High Bay Passive Infrared (PIR) occupancy sensors now feature “the first ever” Underwriters Laboratory (UL) listed snap-in mounting accessory. The snap-in design, now standard on all HBP-100 Series products as well as the extender modules, allows for quicker and safer installation, says the company.
The HBP-100 Series provides automatic control of individual LED and fluorescent lighting fixtures in warehouses, distribution centers, parking garages and other indoor and low bay spaces. These sensors help facility managers avoid down time and help contractors meet project deadlines while maintaining safety standards.
Legrand notes that in meeting the UL 916 Standard for Energy Management, the HBP-100 series sensors passed one of the most significant tests for this type of product design, called the UL Conduit Nipple Strength Test for Non-Metallic Enclosures, which requires products to withstand a 5 ft-lb impact without cracking the enclosure or separating the sensor from the fixture.
Products with this UL rating ensure reliability and safety for people and property, reducing the likelihood of injury from electrical shock or fire and damage to fixtures or electrical box-mounted controls. Many Wattstopper products, including the line of BZ power packs and FSP fixture integrated sensors, have passed this test, adds the company.
Hudson Fiber completes national WAN, adds 16 markets
In January, Hudson Fiber Network (HFN), a provider of high-bandwidth, low-latency networking solutions for financial, content, carrier and enterprise customers, announced the completion of its national wide area network (WAN) with service now live across 16 markets. According to the company, the significance of this milestone is compounded by the completion of the HFN northeast NJ corridor network, delivering an 864-fiber-optic-cable backbone connecting hundreds of lateral access points within the fastest growing business districts throughout HFN’s New Jersey facilities and extensive New York City fiber network.
“The combined completion of our national WAN and NJ fiber-optic network, along with our New York City network, positions us as a national provider, delivering high-value, purpose-designed network solutions,” commented HFN’s CEO Brett Diamond. “HFN continues to partner with the fastest growing and most demanding enterprises in the tri-state area to deliver specialized network solutions. Our national network and model now mirror that of leading network service providers, with the advantage of the latest fiber solutions and faster deployment time.”
The HFN national WAN service is now fully operational across markets including Boston, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Ashburn (Virginia), Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Louis.
“We have achieved our goal by creating a completely different model for businesses to connect,” explained HFN COO Keith Muller. “We’ve built a national crossconnect platform for carriers and enterprises alike. We enable customers to ‘bring their own access,’ connect to the closest data center and move traffic to any endpoint nationally. Our network delivers high-bandwidth, low-latency fiber routes that are critical for tech-reliant companies. Our solution doesn’t only deliver best-in-class network performance, but also enables customers to pay per port, giving them a cost structure that is ‘mileage insensitive.’”
Fiber Optic Center (FOC) boosts EMEA technical business development team
Fiber Optic Center, Inc., (FOC), a distributor of fiber-optic products, announced recently that Marcel Buijs has joined the company’s EMEA technical business development team. Per a press release, Buijs joins FOC with more than 25 years in the photonics industry. In addition to founding the first photonics department at a technical college in the Netherlands, with three fellow teachers, he has previously developed curriculum for the subjects of optoelectronics, fiber optics and machine vision.
Further, for more than 17 years, his specific role in research and development for a global fiber-optic connector company was developing processes for making fiber-optic products and a broad process portfolio. Buijs’s department was responsible for several important developments in both the single-fiber and multi-fiber optic connector markets. His areas of expertise include laser cleaving, polishing and measurement processes and proven yield and product performance improvements.
“Marcel’s process, analytical and statistical knowledge gives him the ultimate tools to help every FOC customer meet their specifications in making the ultimate fiber-optic product, while improving process yield,” added FOC’s press release.
NTT Com acquires RagingWire Data Centers, Inc.
RagingWire Data Centers, Inc. and its parent company NTT Communications (NTT Com), the ICT solutions and international communications business within Japan’s NTT Group, announced on February 23 that NTT Com intends to purchase the remaining shares of RagingWire and acquire 100-percent ownership of the company. In addition, RagingWire named long-term RagingWire executive and current president, Douglas Adams (pictured), as CEO, and RagingWire’s founder, George Macricostas, who had served as chairman and CEO of RagingWire, was named executive chairman.
According to a press release: “Founded in the year 2000 by George Macricostas, RagingWire was one of the companies that helped to create the data center colocation industry, which has grown to a multi-billion-dollar industry worldwide. Under the leadership of Mr. Macricostas, RagingWire became an industry innovator and leader with two patents in mission critical power delivery, a growing data center portfolio of over 1.2 million square feet with nearly 100 megawatts of critical power and a long track record of delivering 100-percent uptime for its customers, resulting in RagingWire being recognized for earning the highest customer loyalty in the data center industry as measured by the Net Promoter Score (NPS). During his tenure with the company, Mr. Macricostas funded and guided the company from inception and through two recessions, achieving rapid, sustainable and profitable growth, and ultimately a successful merger with NTT Communications. Mr. Macricostas continued to lead the company for three years during post-merger integration, resulting in a 2017 business plan that will double the company’s revenue as compared to pre-merger levels.”
The release continued, “In January 2014, NTT Communications acquired an 80-percent equity stake in RagingWire. By joining the NTT Communications family of companies, RagingWire became part of one of the largest data center companies in the world with 140 facilities in 17 countries. With the strong financial backing of NTT Com, RagingWire opened the Sacramento CA3 Data Center and the Ashburn VA2 Data Center totaling 320,000 square feet of space and 28 megawatts of power. In addition, RagingWire began construction on its massive Dallas Data Center Campus on 42 acres of land and the Ashburn Data Center Campus on 76.5 acres in the heart of the famed ‘Data Center Alley’ region. The first phase of the Dallas development, the TX1 Data Center, with 230,000 square feet of space and 16 megawatts of power, will have its grand opening on April 18, 2017.”
Zinwave unveils small-cell point-of-interface platform
Zinwave recently introduced Small Cell Point of Interface (SC-POI), a 1U interface panel that connects up to four small cells to the company’s UNItivity distributed wireless platform. The 19-inch, rack-mountable panel simplifies the connection of small cells as signal sources for Zinwave’s UNItivity distributed antenna system (DAS), “providing the ideal combination of cellular signal sources and distribution capabilities to deliver wireless services in today’s enterprises and public venues,” contends the company.
According to Zinwave’s press release for the product, “DAS solutions provide proven distribution efficiencies and real economic benefits for multi-operator, multi-frequency applications, but they require an RF source to provide cellular signals. Small cells are an ideal signal source for DAS because they are smaller, more energy-efficient, and much less expensive than traditional base stations. However, small cells are currently one- or two-frequency units, so it takes multiple small cells to deliver the multi-frequency signals needed in most modern buildings. Zinwave’s SC-POI makes it easy to configure up to four small cells per panel as signal sources for the UNItivity distributed wireless platform.”
“Rather than competing with one another as in-building wireless solutions, small cells and DAS can work together to deliver cost-effective, multi-frequency services within buildings,” commented Slavko Djukic, Zinwave’s chief technology officer. “While configuring small cells to feed a DAS can be a complex and messy operation, our SC-POI makes it simple and easy to deploy small cells as a DAS signal source.”
4K Ultra-HD shielded twisted-pair AV media cables deliver HDBaseT signals up to 100m
Belden recently announced the launch of its 4K Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) media cables, models 2183P (plenum) and 2183R (riser). The product line is designed specifically to deliver 4K content over HDBaseT up to 100 meters in a unique, small, sleek design. The products are now available for purchase through authorized Belden distributors.
“Belden conducted extensive HDBaseT testing in its Belden Engineering Center to better understand which cable characteristics best support the higher bandwidth needs of 4K video,” explains Michael Saber, the company’s director of marketing, broadcast AV. “The Belden 4K UHD Media cable is the result of the testing. The cable was designed to support HDBaseT 5Play, but it is interoperable with various equipment brands.”
The 4K UHD Media cables are manufactured using Belden’s patented bonded-pair technology. The cable is rated to withstand 45 pounds of pull tension. The company contends that the cable’s single overall foil shield provides 100 percent protection from noise interference and saves significant termination time, eliminating the need to terminate individually shielded pairs or a braid.
The Belden 4K UHD media cables are also up to 25 percent smaller than some other HDBaseT cabling solutions, the company adds. “Built with a durable, corrugated, foil shield and a helical drain, the 4K UHD Media product family is extremely flexible and designed to be installer friendly,” comments Galen Gareis, principle product engineer at Belden.
The cables can be terminated using the Belden REVConnect product line of modular shielded plugs and jacks, eliminating the need to separate the bonded pairs. Combining the REVConnect plug with the 2183 cable is proven to increase first pass yields and reduce the potential for rework, adds Belden.
Avnet, AT&T seek to lower barriers to IoT solutions development
At the Mobile World Congress, held February 27-March 2 in Barcelona, global technology distributor Avnet and AT&T announced an agreement to offer AT&T’s Internet of Things (IoT) managed services as a part of Avnet’s IoT solutions portfolio. Per a press release, the agreement, which empowers Avnet to integrate AT&T’s cloud application development tools (as supported by the carrier’s flagship platforms AT&T m2X and AT&T Flow Designer) “paves the way for the two companies to more effectively harness their respective expertise to support designers in the development and production of next-generation IoT devices with global cellular connection.”
Building on the success of the companies’ previous collaborations, including their Cellular IoT starter kit and LTE IoT add-on kit, Avnet and AT&T have now introduced the Avnet Global LTE IoT Starter Kit, powered by AT&T. This latest IoT starter kit, scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2017, offers a complete development environment for sensor-to-cloud applications and services. “The combination of AT&T’s IoT managed services and Avnet’s new Global LTE IoT starter kit offers developers a unique set of tools and services that will simplify and accelerate the creation of connected IoT devices,” said Tim Barber, senior vice president, global design chain business development, Avnet. “With the production-ready LTE kit and AT&T IoT services, Avnet provides the complete package for cellular connected sensor-to-cloud solutions.”
“Demand for connected devices continues to climb,” says Mike Troiano, vice president, AT&T Internet of Things. “We’re excited to integrate our IoT developer platforms, m2X and Flow Designer, into the Avnet Global LTE IoT starter kit. Together we’re helping bring IoT innovations to life faster and more efficiently than ever before.”