• This gateway can read LonWorks data from your LonWorks devices and publish it as BACnet IP data.
• It can also write to the LonWorks devices.
• This gateway can also do the reverse, read BACnet IP data and publish it as LonWorks data.
• It can also write to the BACnet IP devices.

In summary, this gateway can act as:

Master on the LonWorks network: Hence it is capable of reading data from the various LonWorks slave devices and writing data to them if required.

Slave on the LonWorks network: You can use the gateway in this mode if you have a LonWorks master on the network which would be reading data from the gateway.

Client/Master on the BACnet IP network: Hence it is capable of reading data from the various BACnet IP devices and writing data to them if required.

Server/Slave on the BACnet IP network: The gateway can be configured to be a server of data values, hence another BACnet IP client can read data from the gateway and write data into the gateway.

Block Diagram

• On a site you have a Controller that can provide data output on LonWorks.
• The site has a building management system on BACnet IP that needs the energy data from the Controller.
• Since the LonWorks Controller provides data output on LonWorks and the Building management system understands only BACnet IP a direct data exchange is not possible.

Block Diagram:

Solution:

The devices can not directly communicate with each other as they are not on the same protocol. LonWorks is a Serial protocol, while BACnet IP is an Ethernet based Protocol. You need something that will convert data from BACnet IP device to LonWorks and vice versa.

ProtoConvert’s LonWorks to BACnet IP converter will be an excellent solution for this requirement. The gateway reads data from the Contoller on LonWorks. It caches this data internally and then provides it on BACnet IP when requested from the Building Management system.

• On the other site we have thermostats that can provide data output on BACnet IP.
• The site has a PLC on LonWorks that needs the temperature data from thermostat on BACnet IP.
• Since the thermostats provide data output on BACnet IP and the PLC understands only LonWorks and a direct data exchange is not possible

Solution:

The devices can not directly communicate with each other as they are not on the same protocol. LonWorks is a Serial protocol, while BACnet IP is an Ethernet based Protocol. You need something that will convert data from BACnet IP to LonWorks and vice versa.

ProtoConvert’s LonWorks to BACnet IP converter will be an excellent solution for this requirement. The gateway reads data from the Thermostats  on BACnet IP. It caches this data internally and then provides it on LonWorks when requested from the PLC.

LonWorks:

LonWorks (local operation network) is a networking platform specifically created to address the needs of control applications. This platform is created for networking devices over media such as twisted pair, power lines, fibre optics, and RF. It is used for the automation of various functions within buildings such as lighting and HVAC see building automation.

There are two physical-layer signalling technologies, twisted pair "free topology" and power line carrier, are typically included in each of the standards created around the LonWorks technology. The two-wire layer operates at 78 kbit/s using differential Manchester encoding, while the power line achieves either 5.4 or 3.6 kbit/s, depending on frequency.

Additionally, the LonWorks platform uses an affiliated Internet protocol (IP) tunnelling standard in use by a number of manufacturers to connect the devices on previously deployed and new LonWorks platform-based networks to IP-aware applications or remote network-management tools. Many LonWorks platform-based control applications are being implemented with some sort of IP integration, either at the UI/application level or in the controls infrastructure.

BACnet IP:

The BACnet/IP allows users to transfer data to and from devices over Ethernet using BACnet/IP Protocol. It allows users to use different applications to discover devices, objects and properties of objects of any field device that supports BACnet IP.

Like the Control and Information Protocol (CIP) used in industrial application, BACnet uses objects to represent data on a network. Objects defined by the BACnet specification include Analog Input, Analog Output, Analog Value, Binary Input, Binary Output, Binary Value, Multi-State Input, Multi-State Output, Calendar, Event-Enrolment Program, Schedule, Command, and Device.

The BACnet protocol is a completely non-proprietary open communication software standard. The standard is now controlled by the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) and ASHRAE (American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers) Standard 135- 1995. In June of 1995, ASHRAE adopted BACnet as a standard for the Building Automation industry.