March 24, 2000

Trane Supports LonTalk™ Technology With Tracer® Controls Line

NEW CONTROLLER FAMILY FEATURES LONMARK® CERTIFIED FACTORY-COMMISSIONED CONTROLLERS

ST. PAUL, MN -- Continuing leadership they began in 1993 as the first to introduce BACnet®, the Trane Company has expanded and enhanced its line of Tracer building automation and control products to incorporate LonTalk technology. New unit controllers leverage open system technologies, Internet and LAN to meet the growing needs of building professionals. Tracer unit controllers available today include zone controllers supporting Trane fan coils, water-source heat pumps and unit ventilators that comply with the LonMark Space Comfort Controller functional profile. Air handling unit controllers will follow this year and will be certified to the Discharge Air Controller profile. Additional Tracer control introductions are planned for 2001. 

With its latest version, the Tracer Summit® building automation system now features:

• Internet Protocol (IP) communications to enable use on existing communication networks,
• An engineered smoke control application (UL-864 UUKL),
• Graphical trending and
• Availability in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.

Tracer Summit operator workstations and building control units feature native support for BACnet communications to provide system-level interoperability.

Frequently Asked Questions About Tracer® Controllers

When will other Trane products be available with a LonTalk™ unit controller?

• All new unit controls for Trane equipment are being designed to support LonTalk. Tracer controllers for air handling units are scheduled next and will be available before year-end. Additional Tracer controllers, including those for chiller applications, will be added in 2001.

How does Tracer Summit® support third party LonTalk devices?

• The Tracer Summit building control unit (BCU) will support communications to third party LonTalk devices that are certified to the LonMark® Space Comfort Controller functional profile. Information about these devices is also available at the Tracer Summit operator workstation.

Does Trane support LonWorks™ Network Services (LNS)?

• No. When Tracer Summit was being developed, a firmware version of LNS was not available (i.e. LNS could only reside on a PC platform, and could not be packaged into a chip). This made it impractical for Tracer Summit to use LNS to configure and maintain networks of Tracer unit controllers. Trane has worked with a leading supplier of LonWorks technology to implement network management software that resides in firmware. It is important to recognize that LNS is not a requirement for interoperability or a requirement for LonMark certification.

Will Trane sell Tracer unit controllers directly to LonTalk system integrators?

• Tracer unit controllers are available through the traditional Trane distribution network.

How will Trane distribute plug-ins for Tracer unit controllers?

• There is currently no standard definition for LonTalk plug-ins that is recognized by all LonTalk network management tools. Trane is working with the LonMark Interoperability Association and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) to define such a standard. Trane will provide plug-ins for Tracer unit controllers, according to this standard, as soon as it is available. In the meantime, Trane will provide an XIF file to describe how Tracer unit controllers support LonTalk.

Which LonTalk transceiver do Tracer unit controllers support?

• Tracer unit controllers communicate LonTalk using the free topology (FTT-10A) transceiver at 78kBaud over a twisted pair of wires.

Are Tracer unit controllers LonMark certified? Which LonMark functional profile do they support?

• The Tracer ZN-510 was the very first controller certified to the LonMark Space Comfort Controller functional profile. The Voyager™ rooftop LonTalk Communications Interface (LCI) is also certified to the LonMark Space Comfort Controller functional profile. Future Tracer unit controllers will support the LonMark Space Comfort Controller, Discharge Air Controller and Chiller functional profiles.

Are Tracer controllers compatible with third-party devices that also support LonTalk?

• Yes, as long as the third party devices support the standard network variable types (SNVTs) and standard configuration property types (SCPTs) included in the Space Comfort Controller functional profile. Trane has cooperated with Honeywell to complete bench testing of Tracer controllers with a network of Honeywell Excel 10 devices. Trane hopes to conduct similar bench testing with suppliers of other LonTalk devices.

How do Trane building automation systems support the Internet?

• Tracer Summit building control units (BCUs) and operator workstations reside on an Ethernet / IP network, allowing wide area connections between nodes spread throughout a city, state or even around the world.

How does Trane look at the future of interoperability?

• Since becoming the first in the industry in 1993 to introduce BACnet® capability shipping in products, Trane has believed that open standard protocols were the direction of the future. This announcement continues the leadership role that Trane has had over the last decade, starting with the committee work on ASHRAE standards and continuing with strong support of the LonMark Interoperability Association.

The Trane Company is a worldwide supplier and manufacturer of heating, ventilating, air conditioning and building management equipment and systems. Trane is a division of American Standard Inc. Visit Trane on the Internet: Web Site www.trane.com or E-mail comfort@trane.com

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