How do LonWorks networks ensure product interoperability?
We offer a three-part solution to the interoperability challenge: • Until 1996, Echelon made the protocol available on the Neuron Chip only. Since most every LonWorks node available today has a Neuron Chip in it, they share a baseline level of interoperability. Encapsulating as much as possible into standard silicon reduces the potential for diverging interpretations, and serves two purposes: • It gives every LonWorks application that uses Neuron Chips a fundamental commonality at the silicon level. • And, it provides over 3 million devices installed worldwide, each which can be thought of as an interoperability reference for any ported processor (non-Neuron processors running the LonTalk protocol). Echelon ensures, via license, that any port of the protocol must interoperate with the Neuron chip. • It incorporates standard types and objects (so products can agree on the meaning of shared data), and an intrinsic control model (because extrinsic control limits interoperability) into the
