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[BSharp]

Hello All,

I am quite new to the automation world and know of both BACnet and Lon, basically what they are and what they do.  I was wondering if someone could clarify some of the major differences, advantages, or disadvantages of using either communication protocol.  Is one better then the other   I hope this doesn't start a war but I would love to hear arguments from both sides.

Looking forward to reading your responses,

Bsharp

[sysint]

I like the SNVT. No questions as to how a variable is to be interpreted.
I like the fieldbus capability of Lonworks. There is no bacnet equivalent unless they run bacnet in LON.
I like the media independence of Lonworks.
I like what some companies are doing with their own implementations of Lonworks such as Sysmik and Loytec.
I do appreciate the ability to have a single network tool.
Lonworks doesn't have addressing issues.


.... I thought the DUBAI job was a Tridium front end.
With hi-count ASC type devices I'd go Lonworks. Some nice options for routers also. (Loytec)

[Qwerty]

I agree that the single network tool in Lon is a plus and that BACnet is suffering from not having one.

What about the Echelon chip royalties ? Is this still applicable? Wouldn't that make Lon a proprietary standard ? (I'm just being the devil's advocate here  )

Q

[Mesh]

Hi,

I'm new to both protocols. Are there royalties to BACnet? How much are the chip royalties for LON? Are there multiple vendors that sell LON chips?

Mesh

[remlap]

It would seem to me the work done by many automation companies in this day in age is to eliminate the protocol argument in question. As previously noted, LONtalk and BACnet both have their place in the BAS world. Coexistence of the two technologies in todays projects and information extraction for manipulation to present to different users appears (and should be) the focus without limiting services required to extract the information in question

Sysint is correct in stipulating some of the advantages of the matured lon based networks however Lon (without the addition of costly networking equipment ) does not support all of the built in services supported by even some higher end legacy systems.

Aside from niagara and potentially RZ there doesn't appear to be other systems available which support both protocols and there associates services seamlessly.

[RGrenader]

Hi,

I'm new to both protocols. Are there royalties to BACnet? How much are the chip royalties for LON? Are there multiple vendors that sell LON chips?

Mesh

No.  No royalites necessary for a BACnet solution.  There is also a wide range in qualtiy with LON solutions.  Beware low bid hardwasre.