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A new level of security with GE Addressable Security System

Increasing the security level for commercial installations and lowering the installation time and cost were the drivers in the development of the GE Addressable Security System (GE-A2S) by GE Infrastructure's Security division, says Brett Birch, managing director of GE Infrastructure's Security division in South Africa.

System principle

"In contrast to a conventional security panel, the GE-A2S uses a bus concept and can be extended up to 255 zones. Two wires run from the GE-A2S' data gathering panel (DGP) towards the first detector, and from there towards the second one, and so on," Birch explains.

These two wires carry power to supply the detectors as well as communication signals for operation and alarm and tamper reporting. To differentiate between the multitudes of detectors on the bus, each bus device has its unique address.

The GE-A2S' DGP keeps a list of all enrolled bus devices, their addresses, their properties and configuration data, and their alarm status. Once the Point ID system has been properly installed, the DGP keeps track of configuration and operation of the attached bus devices, even after power cycling.

In principle, the GE-A2S DGP supports a free bus topology. Specifications are defined for a single run multidrop topology.

The DGP and all attached addressable devices are fully functional up to 1,5 km in length. Note, that thicker wires would allow more device current and/or a longer wire run.

"Due to the free topology 2/4wire bus concept, there is no limitation on cable type (ie, existing cabling may be re-used), so the installation can be changed and extended with minimal effort," Birch continues.

For increased security, each addressable device carries a unique ID, which GE-A2S verifies continuously. Any abnormality or tampering between the control panel and detector can be registered.

"More than half of the installation costs are related to the cabling and programming of sensors," says Birch. "With GE-A2S the installation cabling length is reduced to a minimum and can be done by a junior installer while the senior installer can programme the sensors either through the control panel keypad or with Titan software. And as the GE-A2S is in continuous communication with the peripheral sensors, we can look into the sensors and avoid any potential defect."

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