The Traditional

The
Traditional Approach
Approach
At one
At
one time,
time, control
control logic
logicwas
wasderived
derivedeither
either through
through electromechanical
electromechanical relay
relay
panels
or via
The advent
advent of
of solid-state
panels or
via pneumatic
pneumatic receiver/controllers.
receiver/controllers. The
solid-state
technology
flexibility by
by
technology offered
offered aa means
means of
of reducing
reducing costs
costs and
and increasing
increasing flexibility
using
using logic
logic circuits
circuits to
toreplace
replacethe
thewire
wireor
ortubing
tubingand
andrelays.
relays. Increasingly
Increasingly
powerful
were developed
developed allowing
control over
over processes.
processes.
powerful algorithms
algorithms were
allowing tighter
tighter control
However,
However, the
the issues
issues associated
associated with
with adds,
adds, moves,
moves, and
and changes
changes remained
remained and
and
grew
grew in
size.
grew increasingly
increasingly troublesome
troublesome as
as systems
systems grew
in size.
It
was often
of the
and software
software that
caused
It was
often the
the proprietary
proprietary nature
nature of
the hardware
hardware and
that caused
problems.
Each manufacturer
manufacturer built
built their
theirown
own systems
systems and
and provided
provided all
problems. Each
all the
the
intelligent devices
devices within
Though this
thisprovided
provided aa single
single point
point of
of
intelligent
within the
the system.
system. Though
responsibility
customer and
and forced
forced the
responsibility for
for the
the system,
system, it
it also
also locked-in
locked-in' the
the customer
the
customer to
for
customer
to continue
continue to
to deal
deal with
with the
the original
original equipment
equipment manufacturer
manufacturer for
the
life of
it was
was aa building,
building, factory,
factory, or
or processing
processing
the life
of their
their system,
system, whether
whether it
plant.
Worse, the
the need
need to
to design,
design, engineer,
engineer, and
and produce
produce an
system
plant. Worse,
an entire
entire system
limited
manufacturers to
to aa handful
handful of
of large
large companies.
companies. These
These companies
companies
limited the
the manufacturers
tended
to move
move slowly
tended to
slowly and
and quickly
quickly developed
developed business
business models
models built
built upon
upon the
the
idea of
of customer
improvement of
of
idea
customer lock-in.
lock-in. Compare
Compare the
the price/performance
price/performance improvement
computing vs.
computing
vs. building
buildingand
and industrial
industrial controls
controls equipment
equipment and
and the
the dramatic
dramatic
difference
difference becomes
becomes clear.
clear.
It
has been
been historically
historically difficult
difficult to
to interconnect
interconnect digital
digital controllers
controllers from
from
It has
different
Theincompatible
incompatiblecommunication
communication protocols
protocols in
different manufacturers.
manufacturers. The
in the
the
different
relays, custom
custom
different systems
systems focus
focus on
on linking
linking separate
separate systems
systems with
with relays,
gateways,
programmed RS-232
RS-232 ports.
These interfaces,
interfaces, however,
however, do
do not
gateways, and
and programmed
ports. These
not
provide
They allowed
allowed
provide aa detailed,
detailed, seamless
seamless view
view into
into the
the different
different systems.
systems. They
only limited
and control
control information
information to
only
limited status
status and
to be
be passed
passed between
between the
the different
different
systems. Fault
Faultstatus
statusinformation
informationcould
could not
not be
be shared,
shared, information
information from
from
systems.
different
was not
not always
always accessible,
accessible, and
different sensors
sensors was
and systems
systems could
could not
not adapt
adapt
their
responses in
It is
is possible
possible
their responses
in real-time
real-time based
based on
on the
the overall
overall system
systemstatus.
status. It
to
applications using
using gateways
to create
create intelligent
intelligent building
building and
and industrial
industrial applications
gateways and
and
custom programs,
but they
they are
are typically
typically not
not cost
cost effective
effective and
reliability of
of
custom
programs, but
and reliability
the
systems suffer.
suffer. Once
Once complete,
complete, the
the owner
owner is
is forever
forever married
married to
to those
those who
who
the systems
provide
custom programming.
provide the
the gateways
gateways and
and custom
programming.
Figure
1 shows
up until
until recently
recently has
been
Figure 1
shows the
the centralized
centralized architecture
architecture that
that up
has been
typical
typical of
of most
most control
control systems
systems in
in commercial
commercialand
andindustrial
industrial applications.
applications.
Sensors
are wired
wired to
to aa sub-panel,
sub-panel, which
which in
connects to
Sensors and
and actuators
actuators are
in turn
turn connects
to the
the
controller panel
The
controller
panel via
via aa proprietary
proprietary master/slave
master/slave communication
communication bus.
bus. The
controller
panel contains
running a
a
controller panel
contains aa high-performance
high-performance microprocessor
microprocessor running
custom application
implements the
thecontrol
control logic
logic for
for all
I/O
custom
application program
program that
that implements
all the
the I/O
points
For large
large systems,
systems, this
this controller
controller may
may communicate
communicate
points connected
connected to
to it.
it. For
over another
communication bus
Sensors
over
another proprietary
proprietary communication
bus with
with other
other controllers.
controllers. Sensors
and
actuators are
aretypically
typically `dumb'
dumb I/O
I/O devices,
and actuators
devices, meaning
meaning they
they have
have no
no internal
internal
intelligence or
intelligence
or communication
communicationcapabilities.
capabilities. The
The system
system typically
typically has
has a
a
proprietary
human-machine interface
interface (HMI).
(HMI). Every
proprietary human-machine
Every system
system must
must have
have a
a
custom application
This application
application is
is developed
developed using
custom
application program.
program. This
using a
a
proprietary
programming language
proprietary programming
language and
and non-standard
non-standard software
software tools
tools that
that are
are
manufacturer
specific. Unfortunately,
make no
to
manufacturer specific.
Unfortunately, the
the manufacturers
manufacturers make
no attempt
attempt to
standardize the
the tool
tool sets
sets or
or programming
programming models.
models.
standardize

2-2
2-2

Control
Control Networks
Networks


e-

Figure
Figure 1
1 Centralized
Centralized Architecture
Architecture
Standardization
requires an
an open
open control
Standardization requires
control network.
network. Much
Much as
as the
the Internet
Internet
spurned standardization
standardizationfor
fordata
datanetworks,
networks,
the
LONWORKS system
spurned
the
LONWORKS
system is
is the
the
catalyst for
for standardization
of control
control networks.
catalyst
standardization of
networks.

The New
The
New Control
Control Network
Network Approach
Approach
To
good control
To understand
understand good
control network
network design,
design,one
onemust
mustfirst
firstunderstand
understand the
the
function
of
an
open
network.
Put
simply,
an
open
network
allows
number of
of
function of an open network. Put simply, an open network allows aa number
intelligent
devices
to
communicate
directly
with
each
other.
No
intervening
intelligent devices to communicate directly with each other. No intervening
supervisory controller
controller is
to poll
poll devices
supervisory
is required
required to
devices for
for information
information and
and then
then
retransmit
that
information
to
other
devices.
No
supervisory
device
retransmit that information to other devices. No supervisory device is
is
charged with
with responsibility
responsibility for
for system-wide
system-wide control
charged
control algorithms.
algorithms.
This
thatevery
everydevice
device is
is capable
capable of
of publishing
directly to
to
This means
means that
publishing information
information directly
other
devices
on
the
network.
This
information
is
transmitted
by
a
sender
other devices on the network. This information is transmitted by a sender in
in
packets
of data
that are
arereceived
received by
by one
one or
or more
more receivers.
An open
open control
control
packets of
data that
receivers. An
2. The
network is
is illustrated
illustrated in
in Figure
network
Figure 2.
The change
change from
from the
the master/slave
master/slave
Figure
1
2 is
architecture
of Figure 1 to
open architecture
of Figure
architecture of
to the
the open
architecture of
Figure 2
is exactly
exactly the
the
type
fueled
type of
of change
change from
from proprietary
proprietary hosts
hosts to
to open
open communication
communication that
that has
has fueled
the
growth of
the growth
of the
the Internet.
Internet.

Introduction to
System
ONWORKS System
Introduction
to the
the LLONWORKS

2-3
2-3

LNS Server

Workstation

Workstation

LoNWoRKS or
LorMfoRKS OV er IP
Channel

LoNVVoRKs Channel

Figure 2
2 Open
Open Control
Control Network
Network
Figure

The
Transitionfrom
fromData
Data to
to Control
Control Networks
Networks
The Transition
Networks
for a
number of
of years,
yet they
they were
were not
not typically
typically
Networks have
have been
been around
around for
a number
years, yet
used
The
used for
for controlling
controlling devices
devicesother
otherthan
than large
large computing
computing systems.
systems. The
communication protocols
protocols employed
communication
employed were
were designed
designed and
and optimized
optimized for
for passing
passing
large
amounts of
of data
between computers
computers designed
designed for
for batch
batch processing.
processing.
large amounts
data between
Through
time, these
these protocols
protocols evolved
Through time,
evolved to
to increase
increase in
in scale
scale and
and incorporate
incorporate
greater
functionality and
and flexibility.
flexibility. Most,
Most, however,
however, continued
continued to
to be
be designed
designed
greater functionality
for data
communication between
for
data communication
between computers
computers or
or individuals.
individuals.
Eventually,
the cost
cost of
of microprocessors
they could
could be
be
Eventually, the
microprocessors reached
reached the
the point
point that
that they
incorporated
incorporated into
into inexpensive
inexpensive controllers
controllersand
and control
controldevices.
devices. It
It was
was at
at this
this
point
design engineers
engineers began
began to
to realize
realize the
the communication
communication protocols
protocols they
point that
that design
they
were
tuned for
for optimal
optimal performance
performance in
in control
control systems.
were using
using were
were not
not really
really tuned
systems.
Control
Control networks
networks have
have aa number
number of
ofunique
uniquerequirements
requirements that
that make
make them
them
different
networks. These
Theseinclude
include the
thefollowing:
following:
different from
from data
data networks.

Frequent,
reliable, secure
secure communications
communications between
between devices
devices
Frequent, reliable,

Short
message formats
formats for
for the
information being
Short message
the information
being passed
passed

Peer-to-peer
functionality for
for every
every device
device
Peer-to-peer functionality

Price
thatenable
enablesmall,
small,low-cost
low-cost devices
devices
Price points
points that

It
was the
the need
need to
to address
address these
these control
control specific
specific network
It was
network requirements,
requirements,
together
with the
the belief
belief that
market standard
standardfor
forcommunications
communications would
would
together with
that aa market
allow
would empower
allow interoperability
interoperability that
that would
empower the
the market
market to
to increase
increase in
in size
size and
and
efficiency,
introduction of
of the
ONWORKS protocol.
efficiency,that
that brought
brought about
about the
the introduction
the L
LONWORKS
protocol.

Control Network
Control
NetworkComponents
Components
Figure 3
Figure
3 illustrates
thekey
key components
components of
of a
control network.
A control
control
illustrates the
a control
network. A
network
consists of
of intelligent
communicate with
with each
each other
network consists
intelligent devices
devices that
that communicate
other

2-4
2-4

Control Networks
Control
Networks

using
common protocol
protocol over
over one
communications channels.
channels.
using aa common
one or
or more
more communications
Network
devices are
sometimes called
called nodes.
Network devices
are sometimes
nodes.
Intelligent devices or
nodes

Communicating
Comrnmicating using
a oz,rnmpn
common protocol...
protocol ...

v.....

Over one
Cver
oneorormore
=re
communications
channels

Figure 3
3A
A Control
Control Network
Network
Figure

Each
Each device
device includes
includes one
one or
or more
more processors
processors that
that provide
provide its
its intelligence
intelligence and
and
implement
the
protocol.
Each
device
also
includes
a
component
called
a
implement the protocol. Each device also includes a component called a
transceiver
communications channel.
transceiver to
to provide
provide its
its electrical
electrical interface
interface to
to the
the communications
channel.
A device
A
devicepublishes
publishesinformation
informationas
asappropriate
appropriate to
to the
the application
application that
that it
it is
is
running.
The
applications
are
not
synchronized,
and
it
is
possible
that
running. The applications are not synchronized, and it is possible that
multiple
Meaningful transfer
of
multiple devices
devices may
mayall
alltry
tryto
totalk
talk at
at the
the same
same time.
time. Meaningful
transfer of
information
between
devices
on
a
network,
therefore,
requires
organization
information between devices on a network, therefore, requires organization in
in
the
form of
procedures are
the form
of aa set
set of
ofrules
rulesand
and procedures.
procedures. These
These rules
rules and
and procedures
are
called the
communication protocol,
protocol, often
often abbreviated
protocol. The
called
the communication
abbreviated as
as the
the protocol.
The
protocol
defines
the
format
of
the
message
being
transmitted
between devices
devices
protocol defines the format of the message being transmitted between
and
defines
the
actions
expected
when
one
device
sends
a
message
to
another.
and defines the actions expected when one device sends a message to another.
The
the form
form of
of embedded
embedded software
software or
or firmware
firmware code
code
The protocol
protocol normally
normally takes
takes the
in
each
device
on
the
network.
in each device on the network.
The
between devices
devices exhibits
The path
path between
exhibits various
various physical
physical characteristics
characteristics and
and is
is
called the
communications channel,
channel, or
called
the communications
or simply
simply channel.
channel. Different
Different transceivers
transceivers
may
on the
same channel,
channel, so
so channels
are categorized
categorized
may be
be able
able to
to interoperate
interoperate on
the same
channels are
by channel
channel type,
type, and
every type
by
and every
type of
of transceiver
transceiver must
must identify
identify the
the channel
channel type
type
or types
it supports.
supports. The
Thechoice
choice of
of channel
channel type
type affects
or
types that
that it
affects transmission
transmission
speed and
distance as
as well
well as
as the
the network
network topology.
topology.
speed
and distance
All devices
All
devices connected
connectedto
toaa specific
specificchannel
channelmust
must have
have compatible
compatible transceivers
transceivers
with compatible
compatible configuration.
It is
is possible
possible to
for any
with
configuration. It
to build
build aa transceiver
transceiver for
any
medium,
some are
more
medium, though
though some
are more
more difficult
difficult to
to implement
implement and
and therefore
therefore more
expensive. Transceivers
Transceivers are
are available
availablefor
for aa variety
varietyof
of communications
communications media
expensive.
media
including single
cable, power
power line,
line, radio
radio frequency
frequency (RF),
including
single twisted-pair
twisted-pair cable,
(RF), infrared,
infrared,
fiber optics,
optics, and
and coax
coax cable.
cable.
fiber

Introduction to
System
ONWORKS System
Introduction
to the
the LLONWORKS

2-5
2-5

Using New
Technologies in
in Old
Old Designs
Designs
Using
New Technologies
Not
are ready
ready to
to deliver
deliver truly
truly open
open
Not all
all control
control system
system manufacturers
manufacturers are
platforms.
One of
of the
the more
more common
common system
deployed today
today by
by
platforms. One
system architectures
architectures deployed
building, discrete,
hierarchical
building,
discrete, and
and process
process control
controlmanufacturers
manufacturers is
is the
the hierarchical
Figure 4.
4. Here
system
Here we
we see
which may
even
shown in
in Figure
system shown
see controllers,
controllers, which
may even
incorporateaafew
fewcomponents
componentsofofthe
theLONWORKS
LONWORKS system,
incorporate
system,connected
connected to
to isolated
isolated
networks.
These networks
networks are
are sometimes
sometimes called
called device
networks. These
device busses
busses or
or device
device
networks.
is still
still on
on providing
providing proprietary
access to
networks. The
The emphasis
emphasis is
proprietary access
to sensors
sensors
and
actuators rather
ratherthan
thandistributing
distributingthe
theintelligence
intelligenceto
tothe
thefield
field devices
devices
and actuators
and
providing access
and providing
access to
to any
any point
point on
on the
the network
network from
from the
the controllers
controllers and
and
workstations
anywhere in
in the
the hierarchy.
hierarchy. AAsingle
single vendor
vendor provides
provides software
software
workstations anywhere
for the
controller/gateways and
none of
for
the proprietary
proprietary controller/gateways
and none
of the
the interfaces
interfaces are
are
standardized so
so that
tools from
The
standardized
that tools
from multiple
multiple manufactures
manufactures can
can be
be used.
used. The
technology
to be
technology of
ofthe
the gateways
gateways may
may appear
appear to
be modern,
modern, sometimes
sometimes
incorporating the
technology such
The gateways
gateways sometimes
sometimes
incorporating
the latest
latest technology
such as
as Java.
Joya. The
communicate on
open network,
also called
control bus.
endcommunicate
on an
an open
network, also
called aa control
bus. But
But the
the endresult
of aa hierarchical
architecture is
is still
still aa closed-proprietary
closed-proprietary system.
system.
result of
hierarchical architecture
Workstation

Workstation

Cuiptrialler-1 wzd

proprietary
Controller

proprietary
ontroller

to legacy
LOWVORKS Deyice Elus

LOWORDes,ice Elus

Typical Hierarchical
System Architecture
Figure
Figure 4
4 Typical
Hierarchical System
Architecture
Even
when implemented
implementedwith
withLONWORKS
LONWORKS devices,
Even when
devices,this
thisarchitecture
architecture does
does not
not
capitalize
on
all
of
the
power
of
the
L
W
system.
L
W
devices
ON
ORKS
ON
ORKS
capitalize on all of the power of the LONWORKS system. LONWORKS devices in
in
this
architecture typically
typically have
have limited
limited decision-making
decision-making responsibility
this architecture
responsibility and
and
very limited
Their
very
limited interaction
interaction with
with devices
devices on
onother
otherparts
parts of
ofthe
thehierarchy.
hierarchy. Their
only
path
of
communication
is
through
the
proprietary
gateways.
This
only path of communication is through the proprietary gateways. This is
is a
a
step
forward
from
a
completely
proprietary
system,
but
far
from
true
step forward from a completely proprietary system, but far from true
openness. The
The system
system is
is still
still closed
closed at
the next
next level
level of
openness.
at the
of the
the hierarchy,
hierarchy, the
the
supervisory
controllers.
These
devices
implement
most
of
the
control
supervisory controllers. These devices implement most of the control
relationships
between I/O
I/O devices,
supervisory
relationships between
devices,terminal
terminal units,
units, and
and other
other supervisory
controllers.
These
large
control
panels
or
black
boxes
also
act
controllers. These large control panels or "block boxes" also act as
as aa gateway
gateway
for
the
information
from
the
standard
L
ONWORKS protocol
for the information from the standard LONWORKS
protocol into
into some
some other
other
transport
mechanism. The
Thesystem
systemcontrollers
controllers are
areoften
often used
used to
to provide
provide
transport mechanism.

2-6
2-6

Control
Control Networks
Networks

custom drivers
bus or
or to
custom
drivers for
for connectivity
connectivity to
to another
another proprietary
proprietary bus
to incorporate
incorporate
legacy
This is
is a
legacy equipment
equipment into
into the
the system.
system. This
a non-interoperable,
non-interoperable, proprietary
proprietary
approach
approach to
to solving
solving the
the problem,
problem,and
and far
far from
fromtrue
true openness.
openness. Each
Each
manufacturer
has proprietary
proprietarynetwork
networktools
tools for
for configuration
configuration and
manufacturer has
and
management.
Further,each
eachtypically
typically has
has proprietary
proprietaryHMI
HMI tools
tools making
management. Further,
making it
it
necessary
to spend
spend time
time learning
learning how
how to
to use
use aa variety
variety of
of
necessary for
for the
the integrator
integrator to
interfaces without
interfaces
without standards
standards
A hierarchical
is not
not the
the optimal
optimal control
control solution
solution for
for a
A
hierarchical system
system architecture
architecture is
a
number
The most
most important
reasons to
to the
end user
user directly
directly
number of
of reasons.
reasons. The
important reasons
the end
involve life
life cycle
cycle costs:
involve
costs:

It
is unnecessarily
unnecessarily complex.
complex. If
were
It is
If the
the control
control system
system architecture
architecture were
implemented with
peer-to-peer structure,
the controller-level
controller-level
implemented
with aa true
true peer-to-peer
structure, the
network
network could
could be
be eliminated
eliminated with
with no
no loss
lossin
infunctionality.
functionality. The
The end-user
end-user
derives
fact, is
derives no
no benefit
benefit from
from the
the extra
extra level
level of
of the
the hierarchy
hierarchy and,
and, in
in fact,
is
negatively
cost and
and complexity
complexity associated
negatively affected
affected by
by the
the extra
extra cost
associated with
with
having to
to install,
install, configure,
configure, and
maintain aasecond
second control
control level
level network
having
and maintain
network
based on
on aa different
different technology.
technology.
based

It
is still
still proprietary.
proprietary. Although
Although the
devices on
It is
the devices
on the
the device
device network
network are
are
L
theLONMARK
LONMARK standard,
ONWORKS and
LONWORKS
andmay
mayeven
evenbe
bebuilt
built to
to the
standard, the
the
centralized controllers
controllers and
control algorithms
centralized
and the
the control
algorithms they
they contain
contain are
are not.
not.
They
require
custom
programming
with
proprietary
tools,
and
They require custom programming with proprietary tools, and
proprietary
This prohibits
proprietary network
network management
management tools
tools are
are required.
required. This
prohibits the
the
end
user
from
achieving
one
of
the
real
goals
of
open
standards:
freedom
end user from achieving one of the real goals of open standards: freedom
of choice
of new
of
choice for
formodifications,
modifications,additions,
additions, implementation
implementation of
new functions,
functions,
and
maintenance.
and maintenance.

It
is not
not possible
possible to
It is
to communicate
communicate with
with any
any point,
point, at
at any
any time,
time, from
from
anywhere
consists of
of multiple
anywhere on
on the
the network.
network. Because
Because the
the architecture
architecture consists
multiple
layers
of control,
possible to
layers of
control, it
it is
is not
not possible
to communicate
communicate directly
directly between
between
devices
devices on
onseparate
separate channels.
channels. Acquiring
Acquiringdata
data translated
translated through
through
separate protocols
protocols twice
may be
be
separate
twice and
and stored
stored in
in aa global
global database
database that
that may
minutes
This architecture
limits the
the information
information
minutes old
old is
is unacceptable.
unacceptable. This
architecture limits
flow between
of control
flow
between devices,
devices, the
the ease
ease of
of implementation
implementation of
control algorithms,
algorithms,
and
ultimately the
the usefulness
usefulness of
of the
It can
can also
also significantly
significantly
and ultimately
the system.
system. It
increase installation
time.
increase
installation time.

The
system architecture
architecture is
is cumbersome
cumbersome and
and costly
costly for
for end-users
The hierarchical
hierarchical system
end-users
and
systems integrators
integrators and
andititconfuses
confuses the
the uninformed
uninformed buyer
buyer who
who is
is led
led to
and systems
to
believe they
an open
open system
system because
because it
is based
believe
they are
are purchasing
purchasing an
it is
based upon
upon a
a
technology
was conceived
conceived to
technology that
that was
to provide
provideopenness.
openness. When
When implemented
implemented with
with
at at
the
lowest
tier,
L
ONWORKS networks
LONWORKS
networks
the
lowest
tier,the
themulti-tier
multi-tiercontrol
controlarchitecture
architecture is
is
These
LONWORKS
actually
collectionofofisolated
isolatedLONWORKS
LONWORKS networks.
actually aacollection
networks. These
LONWORKS
networks
networks contain
contain relatively
relatively few
few peer-to-peer
peer-to-peerdevices.
devices. In
In this
this architecture,
architecture,
even though
is interoperability
interoperability on
on the
the device-level
device-level network,
even
though there
there is
network, proprietary
proprietary
controllers provide
provide system
systemwide
widecommunication.
communication.LONWORKS
LONWORKS devices
controllers
devices are
are
limited
to sharing
sharingdata
datadirectly
directlywith
with
other
LONWORKS devices
local
limited to
other
LONWORKS
devices on
on their
their local
network only.
network
only.
Instead
of open
open network
software coordinating
coordinating information
Instead of
network management
management software
information
transfer,
thereis
isproprietary
proprietaryblack
blackbox
box software
software managing
managing the
the controller-level
controller-level
transfer, there
network.
This proprietary
proprietary software
software is
is required
required because
because it
to hide
hide
network. This
it attempts
attempts to
the
complexity of
The
the complexity
ofthe
themulti-tier
multi-tierarchitecture
architecture from
fromthe
the end-user.
end-user. The

Introduction to
System
ONWORKS System
Introduction
to the
the LLONWORKS

2-7
2-7