Echelon SmartServer 2.2 - Manual (Page 437)

438 Connecting Legacy Devices
Connecting Legacy Devices Overview
The SmartServer includes two pulse meter inputs for connecting electric, gas, and water meters; two
digital inputs for connecting legacy digital input devices such as switches and push buttons; and two
dry-contact relay outputs for connecting legacy digital output devices such as drive contactors and
alarm bells. A legacy device is a device that does not have a L
ON W ORKS interface and thus cannot be
attached to a L ON W ORKS network directly.

You can connect a meter that measures energy or measures the flow of a gas or liquid to the pulse
meter inputs on the SmartServer. You can then use the Pulse Counter application on the
SmartServer to count the pulses generated by the meter and store the pulse count and pulse rate.

You can connect a switch or sensor device to the digital inputs on the SmartServer. You can then
use the Digital Input application on the SmartServer to monitor the device state and store it in
SNVT_switch and SNVT_setting output data points.

You can connect a digital output device such as a drive contactor or alarm bell to the digital
outputs on the SmartServer. You can then use the Digital Output application on the SmartServer
to get the current device state and store it in a SNVT_switch output data point.
The following sections describe how to connect legacy pulse meter, digital output, and digital input
devices to the SmartServer and use the corresponding applications on the SmartServer Web pages.
Connecting Pulse Meters
The SmartServer includes two pulse meter inputs. Each pulse meter input registers pulses when the
circuit between its positive and negative connections is closed (the voltage is 0) for 30ms or longer.
You can connect the pulse meter inputs on the SmartServer to legacy devices that have a pulse output.
The pulse output device is typically a meter that measures energy or measures the flow of a gas or
liquid, and generates a pulse for a pre-defined unit such as kilowatt-hours, liters, or gallons.
After you connect a pulse meter to the SmartServer you can use the Pulse Counter application on the
SmartServer to count the pulses generated by the pulse meter, calculate a pulse rate, and store the pulse
counts and pulse rates in electrical or flow rate output data points (Wh, kWh, volts, liters, or gallons).
You can then use an Alarm Notifier or Data Logger to monitor these output data points, or you can use
a Type Translator to translate the output data points to a compatible type for use in another
SmartServer application.
Note: The Pulse Counter is the first application to start after the SmartServer is rebooted to minimize
the number of pulse counts lost during software initialization.
To connect a pulse meter to the SmartServer and use the Pulse Counter application, you do the
following:
1. Connect the pulse meter device to one of the pulse meter inputs on the SmartServer. See the
SmartServer Hardware Guide for instructions on how to do this.
2. Open the Pulse Counter application on the SmartServer.
3. Configure the Pulse Counter application.
Opening the Pulse Counter Application
To open a Pulse Counter application, you must first create a Pulse Counter functional block. After you
create the Data Logger functional block, the functional block appears on the SmartServer tree below
the i.LON App (Internal) device, and you can click the functional block to open the Pulse Counter
application.
To create a Pulse Counter functional block and open the application, follow these steps: