​FieldServer Gateway info

FieldServer Gateway info

At InfoComm 2010, AMX announced a partnership with FieldServer Technologies, a company that manufactures an interface device for communication between various Building Management Systems (BMS), including BACnet, MODbus and LONworks.  The device we showed is the Fieldserver FS-B3510 Multi Port Gateway.

This unit is capable of providing the interface needed to introduce control of the various BMS devices by an AMX NetLinx controller.  The unit connects to the NetLinx master via IP and can connect to the BMS system using the appropriate transport such as TCP/IP, RS-485/232, ArcNet, LONbus or others.

AMX is not going to sell the gateway.  You can purchase the device and other services directly from FieldServer Technologies as an AMX dealer, as a benefit of the partnership we have formed.

The FieldServer gateway device (FS) requires some setup before it will work with the BMS systems.

First, we need to know what the device communication is for the BMS units to be controlled: BACnet MS/TP, BACnet IP, LONbus, RS-485/232 or whatever.

When that is known, you can contact FieldServer Technologies to begin the design process.  This involves loading the correct firmware to the FS gateway to talk to the BMS system (and the NetLinx system). FieldServer Technologies has worked with many of the BMS/HVAC vendors in the market, so they may already have the correct firmware built.  If not, they can contact the manufacturer of the equipment in question and work out the details needed to build that firmware.

Once the firmware is sorted out, a config file must be written to obtain the information from the BMS unit and offer the information to the NetLinx program.  In order to build the config file you must know what information you need to monitor and/or change.  Heat/Cool set points, modes, states, temps, number of zones, etc.  Again, FieldServer has a service available to create these config files.  It is possible to take a class from them to learn how to create and modify the config files.

Finally, you must write NetLinx code to receive and send data via the FS gateway.  This can be straight code or can be written as a module.

We have written some demo code for the Viconics BACnet (MS/TP) thermostat that was shown at the InfoComm show. Dealers can download this sample code from www.amx.com in the AMX UI Resource Center, under Event Demos.

This will serve as an example to write code specific to your BMS device.  Your programmers can write the code, or it can be done as a service through our Professional Services Group, or there are VIP programmers that could be recommended.  The AMX driver is written so the code communicates with the FS via XML data.  We send requests for data and parse the responses using standard string parsing.  The field names used for inquiry are created in the config file noted above.

If you require further information, contact the FieldServer sales group.

FieldServer Technologies
1991 Tarob Court
Milpitas, California 95035 USA

Phone: 408-262-2299
Toll Free: 888-509-1970
Fax: 408-262-2269
Phone: 408-964-4447

http://www.fieldserver.com/contactus/contact.php​