Echelon Corporation (Echelon) has introduced a set of new LonWorks 2.0 products. The first set of LonWorks 2.0 products consists of the Neuron 5000 processor, the FT 5000 Smart Transceiver, the LNS FX network operating system, the LonMaker FX installation tool, the NodeBuilder FX Development Tool, and the Mini FX Evaluation Kit. The new products will make devices in buildings, factories, homes and elsewhere smarter, powerful at less cost, and easier to install.
Products in the initial suite, available in volume later this year, have greater functionality, faster operating speeds, simpler installation, and can be incorporated into systems at a cost of up to 50% less than products from the previous generation. The products are featured at the 2009 Embedded World Exhibition & Conference in Nuremberg, Germany, March 3-5, 2009.
The FT 5000 Smart Transceiver and the Neuron 5000 Processor are expected to be available for sampling in May 2009 and the production parts are expected to be available in August 2009. Availability for NodeBuilder FX is expected in May 2009, Mini FX is expected in third quarter of 2009, LNS FX is expected in summer 2010, and LonMaker FX is expected in 2010.
The components in the LonWorks 2.0 family are compatible with the installed base of over 80 million LonWorks devices and hundreds of thousands of buildings, homes, factories and public structures that already use LonWorks networks for automation and energy management purposes.
As a world leading supplier of LonWorks compatible products and systems used in building automation, TAC is very pleased to see the advancement in technology announced in the LonWorks 2.0 platform, said Jan Brissman, TAC AB’s technology manager. We are excited because it will be much easier in the LonWorks 2.0 platform to achieve better performance with improved cost efficiency. We believe that the new Smart Transceiver will be extremely appealing to LonWorks product developers worldwide—including ourselves. It is a big advancement that we will certainly consider in our future plans.
New LonWorks 2.0 Products
The first set of LonWorks 2.0 products includes:
Neuron 5000 Processor – LonWorks optimized microprocessor with the industry-standard ISO/IEC 14908.1 control networking protocol built into the chip to simplify development and guarantee interoperability. The Neuron 5000 Processor is up to eight times faster than previous generations of Neuron chip designs while consuming less power;
FT 5000 Smart Transceiver – A Neuron 5000 core (with protocol) with integrated ISO/IEC 14908.2 compliant free topology twisted pair transceiver. The FT 5000 shares the speed increase of the Neuron 5000 and can be built into a full energy aware device designed to reduce cost by up to 50% compared to previous generation designs;
LNS FX Network Operating System – Next generation version of the LNS networking operating system for LonWorks networks. LNS FX automatically recognizes Neuron 5000 and FT 5000 based devices and eliminates all installation fees or credits at installation time, reducing installation cost and complexity;
LonMaker FX integration tool – Next generation version of the market leading LonMaker tool for network integrators. As with LNS FX, LonMaker FX streamlines the installation process for field installers by automatically recognizing Neuron 5000 and FT 5000 based devices and eliminating the installation fees for LonWorks 2.0 devices;
NodeBuilder FX Development Tool and Mini FX Evaluation Kit – Next generation tools for developing and trialing LonWorks 2.0 designs and technology. Both products share the same hardware so developers can leverage their investment in the Mini FX with a software-only upgrade to the full NodeBuilder FX Development Tool. The software only version of the NodeBuilder FX tool can lower the cost for developing solutions based on LonWorks 2.0 platform by up to 50% compared to the previous generation tools. Both the NodeBuilder FX and Mini FX are backward compatible with existing LonWorks transceivers.
LonWorks devices and networks are field-proven, reliable, secure, and energy efficient and are used in some of the world’s most important and highly populated buildings and systems such as the Beijing Olympic Village, the New York City’s subway system, the New York City Public School District, the Helsinki Rail System, and Roppongi Hills, Japan’s premier office, retail and residential complex.