Low-profile power

Energy prices have skyrocketed. Power problems continue to plague the West Coast. Carriers are slashing budgets and cutting equipment costs. With the confluence of these and other factors, it should be no surprise that power equipment developers used Supercomm 2001 to emphasize ways in which carriers can save money.

Some vendors displayed power systems hailed to be cheaper to buy and less expensive to operate. Others touted solutions that enable carriers to more effectively manage the power systems they already have. And in an effort to shore up resources and appeal to a broader customer base, more than a few large power systems developers emphasized the size and scope of their portfolios.

Manage what you've got

Johnson Controls used Supercomm 2001 to highlight its integrated solutions for power monitoring, cooling, security and alarm and event management. The company's Metasys platform — along with the CF Dashboard interface, which was released at the show — communicates with various types of equipment to help carriers manage their power systems more efficiently.

“We look at solving the reliability issues surrounding cooling, power and security,” said Kevin Pasqua, vice president of the telecom business segment for Johnson Controls.

Beyond reliability, the company also aims to help providers manage their power systems more cost-effectively using fewer people. It's a balanced equation, according to Pasqua. Carriers can either invest in redundant power systems or invest in a management system to better allocate the equipment they already have.

The Metasys platform maps out a provider's co-location hut, point of presence or central office. “The important thing was providing them one place where they can look at everything,” said Terry Hoffmann, marketing manager of global products for Johnson Controls.

The Internet-based platform provides carriers with the ability to remotely manage their CO equipment from a central location.

The CF Dashboard is SNMP-compatible and is a Web tool that “turns data into knowledge,” said Jay Weinkauf, project manager for Johnson Controls. It does that by telling carriers what they need to know about their remote facilities — for example, how many circuit breakers are available for use in a particular piece of equipment, for example.

Down to size

Emphasizing the idea that big things come in small packages, Delta Products debuted its MCS-48/4800-HP, a mid-sized capacity power system that offers 1200 amps at -48 VDC in a seven-foot rack.

Ed Pack, manager of telecom power for Delta Products, said the system offers the same amount of power backup as larger systems but in a smaller footprint. “Everybody is very conscious of floor space,” he said. “We packaged those features into a mid-sized capacity for CO applications.”

The product is aimed at wireline, wireless and competitive carriers for co-location applications.

The MCS-48/4800-HP establishes Delta's foray into the 48 V space, Pack said. “It's a planting of the flag that, yes, we do have a full line of 48 V products,” he said.

Though about 80% of Delta's products are sold directly to service providers, the other 20% are prepackaged with other companies' systems. For example, Delta partner Flextronics, a manufacturer of electronics equipment for OEM companies, featured some of Delta's solutions in its booth.

The folks at Delta also emphasized the importance of battery backup at the show. “Unfortunately, it takes almost a catastrophic failure before [service providers] pay attention,” said Gary Guagliardi, sales manager of telecom power for Delta Products.

Batteries took center stage at EnerSys' booth. The DC power systems developer, formerly a part of parent company Yuasa, was formed in January as a result of a buyout by company management and Morgan Stanley.

EnerSys used Supercomm 2001 to emphasize a new global focus. Under the Yuasa umbrella, the company had to concentrate on the U.S. market, said Stephen Vechy, director of telecom marketing for EnerSys. “Now we're not restricted from the rest of the world,” he said. “And all of our customers are global players.”

EnerSys introduced a new valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) battery at the show. Part of the company's Phoenix family of products, the PHX12-475 is designed for use in remote sites and outside plant locations.

Despite the proliferation of less-expensive flooded batteries on the market, VRLA batteries have retained their popularity, Vechy said. “Last year, data centers used VRLAs because no one could get their hands on flooded batteries,” he said.

EnerSys also announced that it has increased the life expectancy for its REL-B VRLA batteries to 15 years. Longer-life batteries are especially important for carriers responsible for offering dial-tone service, Vechy said. “As new technologies roll out, long-life batteries are going to be significant in that arena,” he said.

Alpha Technologies, which in March celebrated 25 years of being in business, was on hand to display its recently introduced Pinnacle series of uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs). The double-conversion UPSs employ digital signal processing technology to provide power protection for sensitive telecom equipment.

Meanwhile, Cummins Power Generation used Supercomm to introduce a new line of 24 and 48 VDC backup power generators. The DCathlon family of gensets is designed for use in remote terminal cabinets, wireless networks or cable networks. Cummins also incorporated its PowerCommand monitoring and control platform into its gensets.

Bring in the big guns

As for the big boys of power, Emerson and Invensys both emphasized the diversity of their product portfolios at Supercomm. As with several larger companies in the test equipment market (see story on page 70), size was highlighted as an advantage over smaller niche players that may not have enough of a fallback in this tight market.

Though Emerson owns several separate power divisions, including such well-known brands as Liebert and Astec Advanced Power Systems, the company united those products under one booth at Supercomm.

“It's extremely important for the customer to see the power of the Emerson brand,” said Jim Hall, telecommunications market manager for Liebert. “Liebert obviously has a lot of brand recognition [but] the Emerson brand is a huge help from a value proposition.”

Liebert introduced the Npower three-phase UPSs at Supercomm, which is capable of “providing true double-conversion online UPS technology,” Hall said. The Npower operates in the 30 to 130 kVA range and is designed for data center and telco applications. “We have customers with many small facilities that don't require a large UPS,” Hall said.

Astec APS touted its recently unveiled Helios Mini FLEX, which was designed for -48 VDC applications that require up to 2600 watts, said Mitchell Herf, marketing communication specialist for Astec. And though the Mini FLEX fits into a 19-inch rack, it offers the same features as other larger power systems, Herf said.

Astec APS also debuted the 800 Distribution module, which is a load management platform for the company's Helios Candeo product.

One good thing that's come out of the volatile power industry is that many service providers are focusing more on power infrastructure, said Doug Milner, president of energy systems for Invensys. “There's a little more attention being paid to standby power sources and backup power sources,” he said.

To save on costs, service providers also are looking for equipment that can be upgraded later, Milner added.

At its booth, Invensys displayed the new DataTrax T-Module, a monitoring device for small sites that is used in conjunction with the company's Foreseer management software. The T-Module enables users to manage power, environmental, safety and security systems in wireless base stations, data centers and POPs from a network operations center.

“You can get in and fix something before something becomes a crisis,” Milner said. “In that respect it's really offering five 9s reliability.”

Invensys Energy Systems also debuted the Lectro composite enclosure, which is targeted at broadband applications.

Of course, with carrier spending down to a trickle, all power infrastructure providers are challenged to convince providers that their products are worth the investment. But according to Milner, it's a good thing that carriers are doing their homework before buying. “There's a lot more focus on being prudent in planning,” he said.