Peripherals

Digital inputs and outputs have been used in the physical security industry since the industry's inception. Input and output ports have commonly been used to connect components such as smoke detectors and sirens to security systems.

YourSixOS features deep integration with digital input- and output ports on devices. In YourSixOS, these integrations are called Peripherals.

There are two types of peripherals: input peripherals and output peripherals. Input peripherals are monitors of digital input signals. Output peripherals are controllers of digital output signals.

Functionality

YourSixOS features peripheral integration on Axis devices. A majority of Axis devices come with IO-ports and do therefore support YourSixOS Peripherals with the following functionality:

• Events for logs and notifications, used for alarm and reporting purposes. For more information on logging and alerting, see the event concept.
• Live control in user applications and Inspect:
  • Users can observe current state of peripherals and temporarily/perpetually activate output peripherals.
  • Alarm operators can react to alarms and control output peripherals in accordance with alarm operating procedures.
• External system control of alarm group states.

INFO

The device must support ONVIF Profile T in order to be used as a host for peripherals. If unsure, check the supported device list.

Input peripherals

Input peripherals are typically used to integrate and monitor traditional alarm detectors, such as:

• Panic buttons
• Door position switches
• Passive infrared detectors
• Flood detectors
• Smoke detectors

Input peripherals can be live monitored, e.g. in Matrix. State changes are communicated as security events and can thus be logged and notified upon.

Severity level

Input peripherals can be configured with two levels of severity: informative and alarming.

An alarming peripheral, which is the most common one, will render various alarm feedback elements, such as a red box around the widget in Matrix and around the widget in Inspect.

The severity level of alarming should typically be used for all the traditional alarm detectors listed above.

Contrary to alarming peripherals, an informative peripheral does not render any alarming feedback. An informative peripheral is typically used when the peripheral is expected to trigger, e.g. a door that isn't monitored for security but for audit purposes. Another example can be to monitor whether the lights are on in the building or whether some appliance is running.

Output peripherals

Output peripherals are typically used to integrate and monitor traditional alarm deterrence devices and other miscellaneous devices that needs to be controlled, such as:

• Strobe lights
• Sirens
• Locks
• Power outlets

Output peripherals can be live monitored and controlled, e.g. in Matrix. Control can be performed in two ways:

• Perpetual state change (turn on, turn off)
• Pulse (typically used to disengage an electric lock)

State changes are communicated as security events and can thus be logged and notified upon.

Forced control confirmation

Some deterrence devices, e.g. smoke generators and sirens, may be of such serious nature that users may desire an extra level of confirmation before activation. Should that be the case, forced confirmation can be configured on a peripheral to present users with a confirmation modal that can not be opted out from.

Applied usage

Collecting digital states, such as whether the lights are on in the building or whether a machine is in operation, can provide great insights for an alarm operator investigating in real time, or for a local branch manager who is investigating in retrospect.

Some examples:

• A barrier was forcefully opened at the same time as the smoke detector went off may indicate that there was a fire breakout.
• Consider a site with both optical and thermal smoke detectors; the optical detector goes off but the thermal does not. That may indicate that there's no actual fire; just smoke.
• A panic button is pressed roughly at the same time as audio analytics is picking up loud screaming. The button press reaffirms the audio analytic.

Since authorization can be performed on individual peripherals, it is possible to install an I/O-device (such as the Axis A9188) in a central location of a building and let it serve multiple different tenants. Each tenant may then be authorized access only to their respective peripherals.

Alarm group state source

An alarm group can be configured to source its armed-state from an external system. This is typically used when an alarm panel is deployed alongside with YourSixOS.

In order to do so, setup an input peripheral that is wired to an output of the alarm panel and configure the alarm group to follow the state of said input peripheral.

Architectural summary

Peripherals is a type of security thing that is hosted by a supported device. One device may serve multiple peripherals.

Authorization is performed on individual peripherals or a parent resource such as the device.