72-LON-I8

The Microlon^® network interface 72-LON-I8 combines the power of LONWORKS™ technology with Grayhill standard industrial I/O racks and modules. Microlon^® controllers 72-LON-I8 may be distributed over great distances yet provide seamless interoperability. The robust communication protocol LonTalk^® is built into the firmware of the Neuron^® chip, the heart of LONWORKS technology. The LonTalk^® protocol follows the (7 layer) OSI Reference Model for network protocols. This technology is becoming the de facto standard for interoperability. This frees the user from worrying about network communication protocols.

In applications where the inputs and outputs that need to be monitored and controlled are spread out over a large area, running long signal lines from the sensors and actuators to a central controller can lead to numerous costly problems. First, there is the time and expense of routing the signal lines and shielding them from cross-talk,
EMI, and RFI. If this is not done properly, the cost and time required to troubleshoot the wiring can be exorbitant. Finally, making a change to the system after installation is costly.

To alleviate this problem, install Microlon^® units and I/O modules near the sensors or actuators and network the Microlon^® units back to the host computer (if a host is necessary). Peer-to-peer communications, inherent with LONWORKS™ technology, make it easy to extend signals digitally, without signal loss.

Up to 63 Microlon^® controllers (nodes) can be networked together on a physical segment. Units can be added with the aid of repeaters or routers. Each node may contain up to 8 isolated modules, configured as input or output, digital or analog.

Microlon^® controllers use one of two different physical media types to communicate over the network. Twisted pair, transformer isolated (TP/ XF) networks operate at 78 Kbps at distances up to 6500 feet (2000 meters). In addition, FTT-10 operating at 78 Kbps at distances up to 1500 feet (500 meters) is supported. Routers and Bridges may be used to change the communication media type from node to node. For example, a Router may connect a group of nodes operating over the FTT-10 medium to another group utilizing the TPT-XF/78 medium.

Networks are installed and/or modified using the Echelon LonBuilder Development system, LonMaker installation tool or a third party tool. LonMaker is a software package that runs on a PC and communicates to Microlon controllers using a Serial LonTalk Adapter (SLTA) or a PC LonTalk Adapter (PCLTA). SLTAs are available for all types of network media and converts them  to RS-232 at speeds up to 115,200 baud. PCLTAs are ISA-bus cards that offer higher performance. If the network contains other LONWORKS based products, the NetProfiler (included with LonMaker1) is used to define the "parts catalogs" tailored to the network. Otherwise, for networks containing only Microlon^® controllers, the "parts catalog" will be provided, eliminating the need for the NetProfiler package. Third party network management, control and monitoring tools and LonTalk Adapters are available, please contact
Grayhill for more information.

The Microlon^® controller 72-LON-I8 is shipped with a standard application program which contains everything necessary to interface with all of Grayhill's I/O modules. Installation, Configuration, and Troubleshooting are outlined in the 72-LONI8 manual (order separately). In addition, the Microlon^® application disk is supplied with the manual and contains example source code and the interface files ("parts catalog"). The readme file contains information not found in this manual. If you have a LonBuilder or NodeBuilder Development Tool, you may wish to modify the
application program and tailor it to your application.