By the end of the 1990s, LON (Local Operating Network) was standardized by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) under the title “Control Network Protocol” as CEA-709. Today, the CEA-709 protocol is a recognized international communication standard, namely ISO/IEC 14908. LOYTEC is highly experienced in the CEA-709 technology. LOYTEC developed its own technology to make devices talk on CEA-709 networks. LOYTEC technology includes chip sets and also the fully featured ORION Protocol stack which executes the CEA-709 protocol on powerful 32-bit micro controllers. All LOYTEC devices supporting CEA-709 connectivity make use of this powerful technology. Communication Objects (Network Variables) and functional profiles, standardized by LonMark International (www.LonMark.org), describe the communication interface of a LonMark device. Configuration properties (CPs) allow downloading and modification of device parameters. Network integration is accomplished by a network management tool, which is independent of the hardware manufacturer (e.g. NL220 or LonMaker) and is used for device installation and creation of bindings between network variables, which are stored in a database. This allows for a clear separation between the application and the communication relations in the network. Configuration tools specific to LonMark nodes integrate as plug-ins into the network management tool and allow for fast and simple device configuration.
LOYTEC devices can be used in LonMark Systems with standard network variable types (SNVT) or user-defined network variable types (UNVT). The NVs can be created as static or dynamic network variables. Additionally, network variables of other LonMark nodes can be brought in via “external NVs”, which are polled in a cyclical manner and written explicitly, without allocating and binding static or dynamic NVs on the LOYTEC device. LOYTEC devices also offer direct access to configuration properties of other LonMark nodes (using LonMark file transfer or read memory access methods). Both standard configuration property types (SCPTs) and user-defined configuration property types (UCPTs) are supported. Network variables are created in the Configurator tool (plug-in) by importing from a XIF file, scanning an LNS database, scanning a network online, or by manual creation. The AST™ functions alarming (alarm management) and scheduling are supported by using the respective LonMark profiles. Historic trend data can be logged by generic trend logs, which are technology-independent. Connectivity to the LonMark System is provided via IP-852 (100Base-T Ethernet) or TP/FT‑10 channel with twisted pair or power line link. A sub-group of the LOYTEC devices is also LonMark certified (see product details).