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LonWorks
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<h2 id="origins-and-uptake">Origins and uptake</h2> <p>The technology had its origins with chip designs, power lines, <a href="/facts/Twisted_pair/L426Jk2C">twisted pairs</a>, signaling technology, <a href="/facts/Router_(computing)/Nh5cIyVf">routers</a>, network management software, and other products from <a href="/facts/Echelon_Corporation/jMJH6WEJ">Echelon Corporation</a>. In 1999 the communications protocol (then known as <a href="/facts/LonTalk/4wEPBIbh">LonTalk</a>) was submitted to <a href="/facts/American_National_Standards_Institute/p3d1TQCb">ANSI</a> and accepted as a standard for control networking (ANSI/CEA-709.1-B). Echelon's power line and <a href="/facts/Twisted_pair/L426Jk2C">twisted pair</a> signaling technology were also submitted to <a href="/facts/ANSI/p3d1TQCb">ANSI</a> for standardization and acceptance. Since then, ANSI/CEA-709.1 has been accepted as the basis for IEEE 1473-L (in-train controls), <a href="/facts/Association_of_American_Railroads/IQDgxF8V">AAR</a> electro-pneumatic braking systems for freight trains, <a href="/facts/International_Forecourt_Standards_Forum/Jdj0HK79">IFSF</a> (European petrol station control), <a href="/facts/Semiconductor_Equipment_and_Materials_International/mSIvBLqY">SEMI</a> (semiconductor equipment manufacturing), and in 2005 as EN 14908 (European building automation standard). The protocol is also one of several data link/physical layers of the <a href="/facts/BACnet/145nwCv2">BACnet</a> <a href="/facts/American_Society_of_Heating,_Refrigerating_and_Air-Conditioning_Engineers/qKcVzqUJ">ASHRAE</a>/<a href="/facts/ANSI/p3d1TQCb">ANSI</a> standard for <a href="/facts/Building_automation/57392A57">building automation</a>. </p><p><a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">China</a> ratified the technology as a national controls standard, GB/Z 20177.1-2006, and as a building and intelligent community standard, GB/T 20299.4-2006; and in 2007 CECED, the European Committee of Domestic Equipment Manufacturers, adopted the protocol as part of its Household Appliances Control and Monitoring – Application Interworking Specification (AIS) standards. </p><p>In 2008, <a href="/facts/International_Organization_for_Standardization/IacYR7Yg">ISO</a> and <a href="/facts/International_Electrotechnical_Commission/hSK0kjwI">IEC</a> granted the communications protocol, twisted pair signaling technology, power line signaling technology, and <a href="/facts/Internet_Protocol/Qq6VeEal">Internet Protocol</a> (IP) compatibility standard numbers ISO/IEC 14908-1, -2, -3, and -4.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="usage">Usage</h2> <p>By 2010, approximately 90 million devices were installed with LonWorks technology. Manufacturers in a variety of industries including building, home, street lighting, transportation, utility, and industrial automation have adopted the platform as the basis for their product and service offerings. Statistics as to the number of locations using the LonWorks technology are scarce, but products and applications built on top of the platform include such diverse functions as embedded machine control, municipal and highway/tunnel/street lighting, heating and air conditioning systems, intelligent electricity metering, subway train control, building lighting, stadium lighting and speaker control, security systems, fire detection and suppression, and newborn location monitoring and alarming, as well as remote power generation load control. </p> <h2 id="technical-details">Technical details</h2> <p>Two physical-layer signaling technologies, <a href="/facts/Twisted_pair/L426Jk2C">twisted pair</a> <i>free topology</i> 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 <a href="/facts/Differential_Manchester_encoding/HWsvCmqP">differential Manchester encoding</a>, while the power line achieves either 5.4 or 3.6 kbit/s, depending on frequency.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> </p><p>Additionally, the LonWorks platform uses an affiliated IP tunneling standard—ISO/IEC 14908-4<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> (ANSI/CEA-852)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>—in use by a number of manufacturers<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> 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. This is accomplished with Web services or IP-routing products available in the market. </p><p>An Echelon Corporation-designed <a href="/facts/Integrated_circuit/fjn6vg7C">IC</a> consisting of several 8-bit processors, the <i>Neuron chip</i> was initially the only way to implement a LonTalk protocol node and is used in the large majority of LonWorks platform-based hardware. Since 1999, the protocol has been available for general-purpose processors: A port of the ANSI/CEA-709.1 standard to IP-based or 32-bit chips.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="acquisitions">Acquisitions</h2> <p>As of 14 September, 2018, Echelon Corporation was acquired by <a href="/facts/Adesto_Technologies/0fW0whfj">Adesto Technologies</a> Corporation.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> Adesto was then acquired by <a href="/facts/Dialog_Semiconductor/HKa1SHCH">Dialog Semiconductor</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> who were then acquired by <a href="/facts/Renesas_Electronics/ujhb9Dcz">Renesas Electronics</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> As of 2024, Renesas continues to offer LonWorks (and BACnet) products.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="applications-using-lonworks">Applications using LonWorks</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Semiconductor_device/6W3ryr50">Semiconductor</a> <a href="/facts/Manufacturing/3qW7bcdy">manufacturing</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Lighting_control_system/WshRMMSk">Lighting control systems</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Energy_management_system/0G3BCYnY">Energy management systems</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/HVAC/gm1UQdR6">Heating/ventilation/air-conditioning systems</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Security_systems/B4uxkyxh">Security systems</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Home_automation/kfz6C07m">Home automation</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Home_appliance/JYKalzw6">Consumer appliance controls</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Street_light/Uuw2oH1y">Public street lighting, monitoring, and control</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/IFSF/Jdj0HK79">Petrol station control</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Electronically_controlled_pneumatic_braking/HVADpka0">Electronically controlled pneumatic braking</a></li> <li>Distributed avionics<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="snvts-standard-network-variable-types">SNVTs (Standard Network Variable Types)</h2> <p>One of the keys to the interoperability of the system is the standardisation of the variables used to describe physical things to LonWorks. This standards list is maintained by LonMark International, and each standard parameter is known as Standard Network Variable Type (SNVT, pronounced "sniv-it.") For example, a thermostat might report temperature using the <i>SNVT_temp,</i> defined as a 2-byte integer between zero and 65535, and representing a temperature between <a href="/facts/Absolute_zero/U3UyPl2K">-274.0</a> and 6279.5 degrees Celsius at a precision of 0.1 °C.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Modbus/tUUcLUpj">Modbus</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/BACnet/145nwCv2">BACnet</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.lonmark.org/">Official website</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.renesas.com/en/document/oth/introduction-lonworks-platform/">Introduction to the LonWorks® Platform, revision 2</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"LonWorks Technology Achieves ISO/IEC Standardization" (Press release). 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2014-02-11. <a href="http://www.lonmark.org/news_events/press/2008/1208_iso_standard" target="_blank">http://www.lonmark.org/news_events/press/2008/1208_iso_standard</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>http://www.echelon.com/support/documentation/manuals/transceivers/005-0154-01D.pdf Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine PL3120/3150 transceiver data book, p5 <a href="http://www.echelon.com/support/documentation/manuals/transceivers/005-0154-01D.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.echelon.com/support/documentation/manuals/transceivers/005-0154-01D.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"IP Tunneling Protocol (International)". Retrieved 2024-10-07. <a href="http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=50360" target="_blank">http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=50360</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"CTA-852.1 : Enhanced Protocol for Tunneling Component Network Protocols over Internet Protocol Channels". <a href="http://global.ihs.com/doc_detail.cfm?document_name=CTA-852.1" target="_blank">http://global.ihs.com/doc_detail.cfm?document_name=CTA-852.1</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>http://www.lonmark.org/membership/directory/ Archived 2019-08-30 at the Wayback Machine Directory of LonMark International Member Companies <a href="http://www.lonmark.org/membership/directory/" target="_blank">http://www.lonmark.org/membership/directory/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"CTA-709.1 : Control Network Protocol Specification". <a href="http://global.ihs.com/doc_detail.cfm?document_name=CTA-709.1" target="_blank">http://global.ihs.com/doc_detail.cfm?document_name=CTA-709.1</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>MarketScreener (2018-09-14). "Adesto Technologies Corporation completed the acquisition of Echelon Corporation from Royce & Associates, LP, Renaissance Technologies Corp., Enel Investment Holding B.V. and other shareholders. - MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 2024-10-07. <a href="https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/ECHELON-CORPORATION-25342735/news/Adesto-Technologies-Corporation-completed-the-acquisition-of-Echelon-Corporation-from-Royce-Associ-34580623/" target="_blank">https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/ECHELON-CORPORATION-25342735/news/Adesto-Technologies-Corporation-completed-the-acquisition-of-Echelon-Corporation-from-Royce-Associ-34580623/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Dialog Semiconductor to Acquire Adesto Technologies, Broadening Presence in the Industrial Internet of Things Market (IIoT) | Renesas". www.renesas.com. Retrieved 2024-10-07. <a href="https://www.renesas.com/en/about/newsroom/dialog-semiconductor-acquire-adesto-technologies-broadening-presence-industrial-internet-things" target="_blank">https://www.renesas.com/en/about/newsroom/dialog-semiconductor-acquire-adesto-technologies-broadening-presence-industrial-internet-things</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>https://www.eetimes.com/renesas-targets-iot-mixed-signal-expansion-with-dialog-purchase/ <a href="https://www.eetimes.com/renesas-targets-iot-mixed-signal-expansion-with-dialog-purchase/" target="_blank">https://www.eetimes.com/renesas-targets-iot-mixed-signal-expansion-with-dialog-purchase/</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"BACnet and LON Industrial Protocols | Renesas". www.renesas.com. Retrieved 2024-10-07. <a href="https://www.renesas.com/en/products/interface/bacnet-and-lon-industrial-protocols" target="_blank">https://www.renesas.com/en/products/interface/bacnet-and-lon-industrial-protocols</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>"The ARNAV FMS 7000 Flight Management System". Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology. 65 (5): 16. 1993. doi:10.1108/eb037379. <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/eb037379/full/html" target="_blank">https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/eb037379/full/html</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>LONMARK® SNVT Master List (PDF) (Version 11, Revision 2 ed.). Echelon Corporation. May 2002. p. 118. Retrieved 9 March 2020. <a href="http://www.tsd.org/ieee1473/SNVT.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.tsd.org/ieee1473/SNVT.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>