North Building Technologies

KPNQWest owns and operates the EuroRings™, the fastest, most advanced fibre-optic backbone network in Europe, spanning 25,000km and connecting 60 cities in 18 countries, 28 hosting centres and 14 high capacity city rings. Altogether this results in the most extensive IP coverage in Europe. The network is also connected directly to Qwest's fibre infrastructure in North America and Asia resulting in a seamless interoperable network of 300,000km.

Specification

KPNQwest specified a remote alarm management and fault diagnosis system to be operated from their Network Operations Centre (NOC) based at Den Haag in The Netherlands to provide coverage for over 300 manned and unmanned sites across central Europe and Scandinavia. The system also needed to be expandable to take on new sites as PoP's (Points of Presence), data centres and switches were added.

On-site systems

A variety of on-site systems had already been specified and installed. All of these needed to be connected using a networkable technology in a cohesive and unified manner. Some of these included:

Equipment	Example
Air conditioning	Stulz, Hiross, RC
Standby generator	FG Wilson
48Vdc rectifier controls	Eltek, Advance, Benning
Uninterruptible Power Supply	Silcon, APC, Merlin-Gerin
Fire detection	Cerberus, Kidde
Intruder detection	Microtech, Europlex
Environmental controls	Siemens
Access control	Europlex

Each of these systems communicates using different proprietary protocols. A Compass Point communicates with each of the systems and converts this proprietary protocol to a standard. By linking this on-site network to a modem and/or a North Commander, a unified backbone infrastructure is created across Europe. A variety of modem techniques were employed - ISDN digital lines, PSTN analogue lines, even GSM cellullar modem technology was employed in remote locations. Through this, alarms can be transmitted and engineers can dial into interrogate devices via North ObSys head-end software or from a standard web browser such as MicroSoft™ Internet Explorer into the Commander.

Alarm handling

Alarms from site are sent directly to the NOC for initial analysis. Some on-site systems generate alarms automatically, and these are routed directly through to the NOC. Other systems only provide raw data, so these systems are polled on-site every few seconds using an ALARMGEN Compass Point (or Commander) which generates alarm conditions on behalf of the system. When an alarm is received, engineers are guided automatically to a graphical representation of the problem site and view live data direct from all systems and devices on the site. With appropriate password access, parameters can be adjusted, logged data can be viewed, and reports generated. Essentially any engineer can see information from any system at any site, all presented in a common format on one or many screens. Alarms can be diagnosed by interrogating the faulty system and an informed decision can be made as to whether an engineer should be called out to attend to the problem on site. Huge savings have been made in ensuring that call-outs are made appropriately, and minor faults are attended to on a more controlled basis. This is largely because the information flow is bi-directional, allowing remote interrogation. Because of this "virtual site visit", the likelihood of a first visit fix is vastly increased, and further site visits are reduced significantly.

Hard-wired overlay

Some systems do not have microprocessor control - typically standby generators, HV/LV switchgear and mains incomers need some form of hard-wired overlay monitoring system in order to anunciate status and provide alarms. In this instance, the North ZiP product range provided all the monitoring facilities required for difgital and analaogue monitoring and control. In other situations, pulse counting from meters, or current transducer readings were needed for operational data. Again, ZiP provided the answer, delivering accumulated data to the NOC. ZiP is, of course, seamlessly integrated into the Compass networking infrasructure.

Installation, project management & engineering

The whole project was co-ordinated by Xenasys, one of North's Approved Systems Partners. Xenasys provided contract management across the whole of Europe, from Scandinavia to Czechoslovakia, with installation teams sourced locally as well as internationally. Final commissioing and handover was completed by Xenasys directly. Paul Warren, Managing Director for Xenasys, commented "The flexibility and depth of the complete North product range was put to the test on this large-scale project. Every part of it came through with flying colours. We used the power of the Compass network to remotely commission sites, resulting in working systems without the need for a lengthy commissioning visit."

Products

CP/NLMODEM/RS232 Compass Point for Hayes-compatible modem
CP/JBUS/RS232 Compass Point for FG WIlson generator
CP/SILCON/RS232 Compass Point for Silcon UPS
CP/JBUS/RS232 Compass Point for Merlin-Gerin UPS
CP/ELTEK/RS232 Compass Point for Eltek 48vDC rectifier controls
CP/BENNING/RS232 Compass Point for Benning 48vDC rectifier controls
CP/EUROPLEX/RS232 Compass Point for Europlex intruder and door access system
CP/GALAXY/RS232 Compass Point for Microtech intruder system
CP/KIDDE/RS232 Compass Point for Kidde fire system
CP/CERBERUS/RS232 Compass Point for Cerberus fire system
CP/ZIPMASTER/MRTC Compass Point for ZiP System
ZIP/NC12A PowerZiP network card for Compass
ZIP/NC12B PowerZiP network card for Commander
ZIP/M7001A PowerZiP 8 digital input module
ZIP/M7002A PowerZiP 6 digital input/4 relay output module
ZIP/M7003A PowerZiP 4 digital input/4 analogue input module
CMDR/COMPASS Commander for Compass connection
CP/COL/RS232 Compass Point for Commander

Installation & engineering

Xenasys Ltd
Suite F4 Evans Business Centre
Monckton Road
Wakefield WF2 7AS
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1924 888604
Fax: +44 (0) 1924 888605
Email: paul.warren@xenasys.com
Web site: www.xenasys.com

Contact: Paul Warren, Managing Director

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