Written on April 7, 2011 – 9:09 am | by admin |

KNX is a standard network communication protocol used for intelligent building automation. KNX was formed after the convergence of three standards: European Home Systems Protocol (EHS), European Installation Bus (EIB) and BatiBUS. Today is currently administered and developed by the KONNEX Association. KNX was designed to be independent of hardware platform, to be controlled both from PC and the 8-bit micro-controllers which allows great flexibility. KNX devices are either sensors or actuators.

KNX as a protocol

Through product certification, KNX guarantees interoperability and interaction devices between different manufacturers. KNX is the only standard that meets full HBES certification schemes for products, training centers and even people. KNX require a high level of production and quality control through all stages of the product’s life. PC Tool Software (ETS) enables the planning, engineering and configuration steps for all KNX certified products. The PC tool has more independency because it provides the user the possibility of combining products from different manufacturers in a single installation. Is an open standard and contains functions for most common applications in building automation and housing. New features are proposed by the technique committee and are then reviewed for approval and analyzed by a panel of interoperability (committees consist of representatives from the KONNEX Association). The KNX standard allows more topology types, but not the ring topology.

The standard has almost 7000 products groups in the catalogue and they include alarm monitors, audio and video distribution, energy management and energy, gas, water metering, lightning control and more. Among the 220 ​​members there are Toshiba, Jung, Bosh Termotechnic, Cisco Systems and Schneider Electric Industries. The principle that forms the basis for KNX is to be totally independent of hardware platform or architecture that runs on the processor.