Station as network manager

You set up a Lon network with the station acting as the network manager for all connected Lonworks devices. In this application, Workbench models all Lon devices in the station’s database (under the LonNetwork), and it models data in each device using Lon proxy points. The lonworks driver provides online learning capabilities to simplify this process.

The various manager views on the Lonworks network provide the interface to all network management operations performed by the station. This includes the engineering, maintenance, and troubleshooting of the Lonworks network as well as all bind operations. Using the wire sheet view of the network, you can establish links directly between Lon nodes.

Depending on the installation scenario, you may need to perform a learn of a network of Lon devices that are already configured (previously managed), or, on a previously- unmanaged (new) network. Both learn types are supported, however, engineering considerations apply.

Station as network node

In some scenarios you may wish to install a host as another Lonworks node, where another (external) Lonworks network management tool is used, for example, an LNS (L2TP Network Server). In this case, the Local Lon Device does not perform network management. Instead, you expose other station data as network variables (nvs) and ncis under the Local Lon Device.

When a station functions as a network node, you do not use the various views of the Network (Lon Device Manager, Lon Link Manager, and so on) as described in this document. Instead, you work only in (and under) the Local Lon Device.

Status and monitoring

Status of a network is {Ok} or perhaps {fault} (fault results if the Lonworks feature is not licensed). The Fault Cause property further explains any fault status. A {down} status occurs if you manually set the network’s Enabled property to false (on the network Property Sheet). The Health slot contains historical timestamp properties that record the last network status transitions from {Ok} to any other status.

As in other driver networks, a Lonworks network has an available Alarm Source Info container slot that you can use to differentiate a Lonworks alarm from other component alarms in the station.

The network’s Monitor component verifies the presence of networked devices. It sequentially pings all devices that are mapped in the station.