This is a collection of references that I have found helpful in understanding the concepts relating to Cisco’s Digital Ceiling initiative.
I will be following the Digital Ceiling initiative closely, collecting case study material, and every so often writing magazine articles about noteworthy developments. At the bottom of this page, you can sign up to be notified when updated material and articles are available.
There are some interesting aspects to this the digital ceiling, such as PoE-powered lighting. Since the network is everywhere, why run power cables in conduit when you can use low voltage LED lighting? Of course there are details to pay attention to when you think about it, such as when you reconfigure the digital ceiling’s network switch, you don’t want the lighting to go off during the reboot cycle.
Note: all of the web page links below open in a new window.
7-minute Digital Ceiling video by Cisco’s CTO for IOT
Wave #1 is digital lighting, wave #2 is around building automation, which includes security systems
- Listen to this first before reading anything else. It will speed up your reading.
- At 5:04 in the video, you will see “IP Video Surveillance Camera” on the slide.
- IPV6 is the where the digital ceiling is starting out.
Cisco announces new ‘Digital Ceiling’ IoT solution
There are good data points in this short article by a lighting company.
Cisco announces new ‘Digital Ceiling’ IoT solution
Cisco Digital Ceiling: Powering New Experiences and Insights
This 9-page Cisco white paper includes two half-page case study summaries.
[PDF] Cisco Digital Ceiling: Powering New Experiences and Insights
Digital Ceiling Makes Smart Buildings Even Smarter
Perspective from Engineering.com touches on occupancy sensors and other building activity info that can be very relevant to security.
Digital Ceiling Makes Smart Buildings Even Smarter
Cisco Digital Ceiling: The Advantage of Smarter, Connected Buildings
This is a recorded webinar containing three presentations. FYI: I did not have control over pausing and restarting the presentation. I don’t know if that was just my browser and the million windows I had up at the time, or if you will experience the same thing. I had to stop it about 40 minutes in, so I have not heard all of it yet, and I couldn’t find the total running time on the web page.
There are very good user-side perspectives and data points in these presentations. The slide “common Phases of IoT Journey” includes security video in Phase 1. This is where I leaned about “Perpetual POE”, which is switch POE power that is maintained throughout a reboot of the switch. You don’t want the PoE-powered building lighting to go out just because they have to upgrade software on the switches. This is relevant for security video PoE.
There is one interesting data point on IoT’s capability to give personnel control over the building space they work in. It is about lighting control: people general turn lighting DOWN, not up, if you give them control. This, of course, provides energy savings.
That got me thinking. The collection of various cost savings that give Digital Ceiling initiatives a high ROI can be used to fund security and safety technologies that don’t have a financial ROI, but do have a good security and safety ROI. For example, hallway lights can be sequenced to flash off in the direction of the correct evacuation route. This does not shorten the life of LED lighting. This one example of why it is important to understand the full scope of Digital Ceiling initiatives, and to get yourself included at least to the point where you are getting regular briefings in the planning stages as well as execution.
There are many touch points in Digital Ceiling initiatives for people with physical security and especially IT security roles. In order to maintain the integrity of the planned ROI, extending control to “end users” of facility spaces must be done securely. Obviously, there is a significant network planning element involved in Digital Ceiling.
Cisco Digital Ceiling: The Advantage of Smarter, Connected Buildings
Cisco Digital Ceiling
This article is about Cisco’s own internal Digital Ceiling initiative. Network security is mentioned.
Cisco Digital Ceiling Framework
This is Cisco’s main page for Digital Ceiling.
Cisco Digital Ceiling Framework
No light switches at Cisco’s own Berlin smart building
There are no light switches at Cisco’s own Berlin smart building, where you can’t miss the IoT.
No light switches at Cisco’s own Berlin smart building
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