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| The TPS-6X, which is now shipping, is the first of many in the new line of FocalPoint based products. |
Among the products that will flood the exhibition halls of CEDIA EXPO
next month in Denver, Crestron is confident that its new crop of
touchpanels will grab the spotlight because of some radical
advancements in design and engineering. Fred Bargetzi, Crestron's VP of
technology, shared some of the key features of the flagship TPS-6X
panel which he says resulted from Crestron's mission to improve the
802.15.4 transmission standard and offer a genuine aesthetic
breakthrough.
The story of the TPS-6X starts in Crestron's busy Rockleigh, New
Jersey, headquarters. "We have more than 1,000 products at Crestron and
numerous RF technologies, including five or six wireless gateways for
handheld products," Bargetzi explained. He wanted to explore a way to
simplify these various gateways for more intuitive
applications-oriented products.
"We took a step back...to standardize the numerous gateways and RF frequencies," he said.
When thinking of the next-generation touchpanel, Crestron put its
dealers' needs first. "Feedback from our dealers is key," Bargetzi
pointed out. "We listen to what they say in the field and how
environmental factors influence [installations]."
WiFi is a popular standard for residential control because it is "open"
and offers a high data rate of output, making it ideal for streaming
video and audio applications such as VoIP, two-way metadata access,
security cameras on a network, and ilk. It has limitations, however,
including range and the complexity of whole home coverage with a WiFi
backbone.
Voila! The result is
Crestron's Infinet. The solution was introduced a little over two years
ago using 802.15.4 technology to improve range, performance, and
whole-house reliability through a mesh network topology. The 802.15.4
wireless standard specifies the physical layer and medium access
control for personal area networks. It is maintained by the IEEE 802.15
group and is the basis of ZigBee platforms. Crestrons InfiNet mesh
network technology provides reliable communication without the
complexity of WiFi and has been incredibly successful for sales of
Crestron s wireless dimmers, switches, and thermostats, according to
Bargetzi. But while 802.15.4 mesh networks provide great whole-home
coverage, they dont provide enough bandwidth for meta-data-intensive
applications that are common today from devices like XM, Sirius, Apple
iPod docks, audio servers, etc.
Building on its experience with 802.15.4, Crestron created a
point-to-point implementation, called called FocalPoint, which is an
addition to the InfiNet mesh network. The first technology to use
FocalPoint is the recently introduced TPS-6X touchpanel. FocalPoint
technology is designed to provide more than 1,000 feet of range,
combined with the bandwidth required for fast meta-data exchange, along
with rock-solid reliability. Bargetzi said that he believes this will
provide for a better user experience, expedite set up, and save dealers
valuable time in the field.
The TPS-6X, which is already shipping, is the first of many in the new
line of FocalPoint-based products. Crestron placed a high value on the
"look and feel" of the product because it wanted to created a
compelling solution -- something that truly stood apart from
competitors.
"The TPS-6X is visually striking on and off the dock," Bargetzi
concluded. "Because there are so many devices now in the home like
blackberries and iPhones, we wanted to offer new aesthetics and styling
that would become a centerpiece."