Echelon LNS - Manual (Page 118)

LNS Programmer's Guide 104
Defining, Commissioning and Connecting Devices
Chapter 5 of this document lists the tasks you need to perform when using LNS to install
a L ON W ORKS network. This chapter provides extensive detail on how you should use LNS
services to perform each task introduced in Chapter 5. This includes the following
sections:
• Device Interfaces. Each L ON W ORKS device has a device interface. The device
interface represents the device’s functionality on the L ON W ORK network. In LNS,
distinct types of device interfaces are represented by DeviceTemplate objects.
Generally, you should specify the DeviceTemplate object a device should use
when you add the device to the LNS database. You can also import the interface
from the device into the LNS database later. The Device Interfaces section
provides instructions to follow when importing a device interface. It also
describes the components of a device interface, and the various considerations
you may need to make when choosing a device interface for a device.
• Defining and Commissioning Devices. Chapter 5 provides an overview of the
steps you need to perform when installing devices on a L ON W ORKS network. This
section describes each of these steps in detail. This includes the following topics:
address assignment, commissioning devices, loading device application images,
configuring devices, and setting devices online.
• Other Device Management Operations. This section describes network
management tasks you may need to perform after installing a network, such as
testing, removing, and replacing devices.
• Connecting Devices. This section provides an overview of how LNS manages
connections, and describes how you can create connections between devices on
your network.
Device Interfaces
Each L ON W ORKS device consists of a hardware platform, software that exercises that
hardware, and a device interface. The device interface, often referred to as the device’s
external interface, represents the functionality of the device on the L ON W ORK network.
This is the part of the device software that is exposed to the network, which allows other
devices and system integrators to benefit from the functionality and data supplied by the
device, and provide input to the device as needed.
The device interface consists of LonMark Functional Blocks, network variables, and
configuration properties. The device interface does not expose the internal algorithms of
a device. Instead, it only exposes the inputs and outputs of the algorithms.
Much of the device interface can be queried over the network by a network tool. The
device manufacturer determines the completeness of a queried interface. For example, a
device manufacturer could choose to embed network variable names in a device to ensure
that the queried network interface includes these names.
In order to make the complete device interface available to the system integrator, the
device interface should be documented in device interface files. There are several benefits
to using device interface files: