User's Manual

Hardware and Wiring Installation Guide 1
1. Introduction
1.1 Purpose of This Guide
This document is intended to provide the information required to install the hardware and wiring
components of a VIS system. Read this entire document before proceeding with the installation. A
general understanding of wiring and telephone installation techniques is assumed.
1.2 Computer System Requirements
The software runs in the Microsoft Windows 95, 98 or Windows NT environment and requires a
computer system with reasonable capacity and speed. The minimum computer system requirements
are:
Microsoft Windows 95 or later
Pentium 500 MHz or better
128 MB RAM
2GB hard drive
Ethernet Card
1.3 Terms and Definitions
The following terms will be used throughout this hardware installation guide, to refer to system
components and modes of operation.
Bridging Clip - A small metal clip used in a punch-down block to short the left-hand columns to the
right hand columns of punch-down terminals.
Coaxial Cable - This type of cable is a special form of shielded wire in which there is a single inner
conductor held at a fixed distance from an outer braid or foil shield in a precise manner. Control of the
spacing and makeup of the cable dielectric allow it to handle very high frequencies in a predictable
fashion.
Collector - This device gathers the tracking data from as many as 24 sensors, processes it as required,
and sends it via the 2-pair collecting network to the concentrator. Each system must contain at least
one collector, and many systems will contain more than one.
Concentrator - This device provides an interface between the 2-pair network that connects collectors
together (the "Collector Network") and the computer system. It assembles the data from the various
collectors and bundles it for delivery to the host computer. Each system must contain at least one
concentrator, and many systems will contain only one.
Impedance - This is a measure of a characteristic of wire that is very important when digital data
signals are to be sent over the wires at high speeds. All wires have impedance determined by their
makeup and twisting called the "characteristic impedance" of the wire. Most solid twisted pair wire is
about 100 ohms impedance, and the coaxial cables used are 50, 75, or 93 ohms.
Sensor - A sensor is a device that gathers infrared light energy and converts it to an electrical signal,
which is then sent over a single pair of wires to a collector.
Sensor Connection - A sensor connection is a single pair cable that connects a sensor to a collector
port. All of the sensor connections in a system may be referred to as the "Sensory Network".