Echelon Corporation Expanding its Multiprotocol IzoT Platform for the Industrial Internet of Things

Echelon Corporation is expanding its multiprotocol IzoT platform for the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) to include new Wi-Fi control modules and integrated support for BACnet/MS-TP. 

Echelon is demonstrating the use case of the IzoT platform  for converged building control and lighting control networks supporting both wired and wireless devices which, combined with Internet Protocol (IP) technologies, supports the integration of formerly disparate building and lighting control systems while reducing development, startup, commissioning and operating time and costs.

The IzoT platform includes a complete development environment, commissioning tools, protocol stacks, routers, chips and modules for engineers creating control devices and applications for the IIoT. Echelon has enhanced its IzoT FT 6000 chips and FT 6000 evaluation and development kit (EVK) to support BACnet/MS-TP in addition to the other BACnet and LonTalk protocol support.

The system offers an open, multiprotocol and comprehensive wired and wireless development platform to facilitate the evolution of control networking to support multiple legacy protocols while also helping traditional operational technology (OT) systems to move into the IP-enabled world of information technology (IT) and the IoT.

By providing a common platform for developing multiprotocol, peer-to-peer, wired-and-wireless control products, Echelon’s IzoT platform can:

- Enable developers to build responsive, reliable and scalable control devices that are IP-enabled.

- Reduce installation, maintenance and operating costs for building owners.

- Lower R&D costs for OEMs.

- Help OEMs to expand their addressable markets using fewer product SKUs (stock keeping units).

- Allow control networking to be applied to new assets that previously either did not use control networking or used proprietary control technologies.

Echelon’s IzoT platform family of products includes:

- IzoT FT 6000 chips: The IzoT FT 6050 System-on-Chip (SoC) is a single-chip solution for reliable, scalable and cost-effective controls - using flexible free topology (FT) twisted-pair wired connectivity - for creating communities of devices in the IIoT. New for 2015, the FT 6000 adds support for BACnet MS-TP in addition to BACnet/IP-FT LonTalk/IP and classic LonTalk/FT, all in a single chip. This multiprotocol capability is built into the IzoT chips, thus relieving developers of the low-level details of the LonTalk and BACnet protocols and allowing them to focus on their value-added application development.

- IzoT CPM 4200 Wi-Fi modules: The IzoT CPM 4200 Wi-Fi module is a compact stamp module that can be embedded into any device requiring a wireless Wi-Fi-based controller or interface. The IzoT CPM 4200 Wi-Fi module enables existing LonWorks customers to seamlessly expand their wired networks with wireless devices, while at the same time enabling new customers to create state-of-the art wireless IIoT systems that leverage the rich set of IzoT profiles and types for IIoT applications. Building automation OEMs can use the same profiles and data types as existing FT twisted-pair products to achieve fast time to market.

- IzoT U60 FT network interface module: The IzoT U60 FT network interface module is a board-level module that can be easily integrated into any controller or device. The U60 reduces development and maintenance costs for next-generation building controllers that must interface with a variety of building control networks, including BACnet/IP, BACnet/MS-TP, LonTalk/IP and classic LonTalk.

- IzoT router: This next-generation area controller and router bridges between LonTalk/IP and BACnet/IP on Ethernet and classic LonTalk, LonTalk/IP and BACnet/IP on Free Topology (FT) twisted-pair physical media. When used with Wi-Fi access points, it supports multiple wired and wireless media. Its built-in IzoT server stack discovers, monitors and controls IzoT devices and provides an easy-to-use RESTful application programming interface (API) that makes it simple to develop custom web pages to monitor and control IzoT devices.

- IzoT U60 FT DIN module: The U60 FT DIN module provides support for an additional FT channel to the IzoT router. Up to seven U60 FT DIN modules can be added to an IzoT router, providing support for up to eight FT channels for a single IzoT router.

- IzoT CPM 4200 Wi-Fi EVK: This kit provides developers with the tools to evaluate the IzoT platform wireless solution, as well as the tools to create, test and deploy devices and control applications for the IIoT. The CPM 4200 Wi-Fi EVK packages the essential elements of the IzoT platform wireless solution into an aggressively priced and easy-to-use kit. Developers can use the CPM 4200 Wi-Fi EVK to create wireless devices using the LonTalk/IP protocol.

- FT 6000 EVK: This complete development environment provides developers with the tools to evaluate the IzoT platform wired solution, as well as to create, test and deploy devices and control applications for the IIoT. The FT 6000 EVK packages the essential elements of the IzoT platform wired solution into an aggressively priced and easy-to-use kit. Developers can use the FT 6000 EVK to create wired devices using the ISO/IEC 14908-compatible LonTalk/FT protocol as well as the LonTalk/IP-FT, BACnet/IP-FT and BACnet/MS-TP protocols.