On/Off control on contacts in facilities with no additional wiring

At many facilities there is the difficulty of spreading new wiring to install control devices that should communicate between themselves to share data. Often, buildings require output contact control based on the states of remote inputs. To that end, digital input devices or modules are installed that include a communication port through which input state signals are transmitted to one or more output modules, which collect these data and typically actuate on their outputs to perform the desired control. The main issue with many facilities is that it becomes very difficult, even impossible at times, to spread new wiring in order to connect the communication bus that should transmit signals between devices.

This application note shows different applications in which this control is made possible without the need for new wiring at the facility. This allows lowering equipment installation costs dramatically; not only that, it also makes many installations feasible that, without the system here presented, are in many cases not built and postponed with an uncertain prospect.
The remote module output control in this application note may be accomplished through input modules fitted with digital contacts that permanently report their state so that the output modules may operate accordingly. Another possibility would be performing this control through a DIN rail mounted device acting as a programmable controller and as an Internet interface at the same time, also known as Internet Server.

The Internet Server device is a unit that is supplied from the electric mains and uses this same wiring to communicate with the input/output modules at the facility. It has the following features that allow controlling the installation:

• Web environment type interface, on which an HTML page may be programmed for manual facility control.
• Clock with astronomical calendar; allows automated control of any remote output contact.
• XML based message management; provides for remote management through applications.

The entire communication process takes place without the need for additional wiring at the facility, since the devices take advantage of the electric mains for data transmission. To this end, a reliable and safe communication system such as LonWorks is used, furthermore in compliance with the EN 14908 communication standard, allowing to integrate this solution into any Lon system worldwide.

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