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White Papers
NiagaraAX is the next generation of the Niagara Framework. NiagaraAX provides a unified, feature rich platform which streamlines the development process significantly reducing implementation costs for manufacturers and systems integrators.
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Building automation systems today employ an array of communication protocols, data formats, and software platforms. Some of these are proprietary, others are standards-based, but in neither case can true integration and interoperability be achieved. We describe a new framework for building automation that is based on multiprotocol network devices and a common object model and that leverages the Web to enable heterogeneous building automation systems to be rapidly and efficiently implemented and managed. Applications of this framework to energy management, equipment monitoring, and demand-response strategies are outlined.
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NiagaraAX is a software framework specifically designed to address the challenges of building device-to-enterprise applications, Internet-enabled products and Internet-based automation systems. NiagaraAX provides a unified, feature rich platform which streamlines the development process significantly reducing implementation costs and time to market.
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NiagaraAX Product Model
Instances of NiagaraAX software, which can run on a variety of hardware platforms, are referred to as “stations.” A station running on an embedded platform is referred to as a JACE® (Java Application Control Engine). Instances that run on a server platform are referred to as Supervisors. Depending on the platform used, a station can offer different features and capabilities and be complemented with different options. This section provides an overview of the NiagaraAX product model and the various standard functions and options available in the product line.
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NiagaraAX includes a comprehensive security model that provides a high degree of flexibility in managing access privileges to a NiagaraAX station (a JACE, AX Supervisor, or a Workbench-based tool such as Tridium’s VYKON WorkPlaceAX). The security model addresses two kinds of connections that can be made to a Niagara host: a platform connection and a station connection.
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Embedded, “smart” devices pervade our environment. They are hidden behind the walls and ceilings of the buildings we live and work in and are responsible for everything from environmental control (air and water temperature, humidity, lighting levels, air quality), to security (access control, intrusion detection), to electric metering, to the equipment that produces our fast food (ovens, scales, grills), to the production lines that make the goods we buy. These devices are the brains that operate our world allowing us to focus on other things.
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The concept of connecting smart devices to the enterprise — often referred to as “M2M” (Machine to Machine/Man to Machine) — has been around for some time, but recent advances in key technologies have accelerated growth and customer interest. Equipment manufacturers can increasingly see the benefits of web-enabling their products. Harbor Research, Inc., who specializes in the field, foresees rapid growth and has estimated that by 2010 there will be 1.5 billion Internet-enabled devices, creating $700 billion of revenue opportunities for companies involved in enabling, monitoring, and providing value-added services for those devices.
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Niagara IT Manager's Guide
VYKON, powered by the revolutionary Niagara Framework, is a suite of Java-based products designed to integrate a variety of devices and protocols into a common distributed automation system. It incorporates the industry’s first software technology to integrate diverse systems and protocols into a common object model, embedded at the controller level and supported by a standard Web browser interface. VYKON enables monitoring and control systems based on LonWorks, BACnet, Modbus and a wide range of legacy protocols to work together as a seamless web-enabled system. VYKON also includes integrated network management tools to support the design, configuration, installation and maintenance of interoperable networks.
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NiagaraAX includes a new licensing model that provides OEMs with the ability to define the various levels and types of Niagara interoperability their products will support. The feature is referred to as the NiagaraAX Compatibility Statement or NiCS. There are two primary interactions that the NiCS addresses – the sharing of data between stations (JACEs and Supervisors) and the ability for a tool (i.e., WorkPlaceAX) to engineer a station.
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