Newbie: Wiring for HA

["Arthur" <arthur8@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm a relatively newbie in the field of home automation, but have
looked at Lonworks (now LonTalk?), CEbus, and BACnet on and off.  As
someone who has pulled quite a bit of CAT-5 in his time, I am
interested in what is required to wire up a house to support these home
automation equipemnet and devices.

I have always planned a star topology home run to a wiring closet for
my home networks.  To my mind, this is the simplest and most flexible
wirin configuration possible.  A whole industry has built up around
this wiring strategy.  Even as people transition from CAT-5e to fiber,
the star topology is still being employed.

Is there an equivalent form of structured wiring for HA?  For maximum
flexibility, I would imagine that it would be preferable to run a data
and control line to each light switch, and to each power outlet so that
it would be possible to control the particular device which is then
connected. For example, if  the light switch had a CAT-5 line attached,
the mechanical toggle switch can be replaced with a more intelligent
switch and sensor which can be programmed to turn on and off the light
based up number of number of occupants and the current light-level.  If
an electrical outlet had a CAT-5 line attached, then it would be easy
to install a web camera by simply plugging into both the power and
ethernet jacks.  Likewise, installing the controller for a sprinkler
system can be as simple as plug and play (by plugging into 2 jacks).

Perhaps what I have described is overkill and simply too costly to
implement. However, there must be more structured ways of wiring up a
smarthouse, even if so many home runs are prohibitively expensive.
There is already a degree of modularity in electrical wiring.  An
electrician can install a new light fixture by branching off a
currently-installed one. Likewise, perhaps a home automation cabler can
install another automation device adjacent to one currently in place by
branching off the data line by using a hub or a switch, and relying on
network protocols to address each device individually.

I've hunted around for good wiring strategies for HA applications, but
have have found only articles on X-10, which I am not very interested
in.  Perhaps someone can fill be in though on HA wiring for
higher-speed and higher-throughput devices.

TIA,

Arthur