AERCO ProtoNode Gateway Rev 3 (with external LEDs) - Manual (Page 6)

AERCO ProtoNode Gateway
User Manual
Page 6 of 126 AERCO International, Inc. • 100 Oritani Dr. • Blauvelt, NY 10913 OMM-0080_0H
11/06/2014 Ph.: 800-526-0288 GF-129
AERCO’s Communications Gateway (ProtoNode) is an external, high performance, Building
Automation multi-protocol gateway that has been preprogrammed for AERCO’s equipment
to support BACnet®
1 MS/TP, BACnet/IP, Metasys® 2 N2 by JCI, Modbus TCP, and LonWorks® 3 .
All the different AERCO configurations for the various protocols are stored within the ProtoNode
and are selectable via DIP switches for fast and easy installation. There is no need to download
any configuration files to support the required applications.
AERCO’s Communications Gateway Supports WHM and BST
AERCO has co-developed the ProtoNode to communicate between systems of AERCO units
(for example: multiple water heaters running Onboard Water Heater Management (WHM) or
multiple AERCO Boilers running Boiler Sequencing Technology (BST). The AERCO SSD
ProtoNode eliminates multiple master issues and is included with all AERCO’s Communications
Gateway ProtoNodes. Use the SSD to enable a Building Automation System Modbus master to
bi-directionally communicate to BST and WHM Modbus masters.
The AERCO SSD device is unique because it enables two Modbus masters to bi-directionally
communicate over RS-485. The AERCO SSD device is also specifically designed to support the
BST/WHM Automatic failover Feature. While the BST/WHM role can be transferred to another
unit (with a different Modbus address) the SSD device operates at a fixed and constant Modbus
address. The fixed SSD address is propagated to each unit and allows the BST/WHM master to
resume communications after a failover without BAS changes.
This manual provides the necessary information to assist the Installers of the boilers/heaters
with the installation of the ProtoNode RER on BACnet MS/TP, BACnet/IP, Modbus TCP and
Metasys N2 by JCI networks and installation of the ProtoNode LER on a LonWorks network.
BACnet International BTL certification is the highest level of BACnet conformance tests that a
product can be subjected to.
• The ProtoNode RER is BACnet Certified by the BACnet Testing Laboratory (BTL).
• The ProtoNode LER is LonMark Certified by LonMark International.
The ProtoNode units feature a small form factor, as indicated in Figure 1.1
1 BACnet is a registered trademark of ASHRAE
2 Metasys is a registered trademark of Johnson Controls Inc.
3 LonMark is a registered trademark of LonMark International
4 LonWorks is a registered trademark of Echelon Corporation