Comparison to X-10 , DALI & other communication buses | PLC modem configurability |

 


Systel's PLC Communication Method vs. X-10

Comparison of a Building Energy Savings Lighting System (ESLS) using IDC2000 devices (Systel's application) with X-10 Control System
Specifications/ Features X-10 Control System Building Energy Savings Lighting Systems (ESLS)
Power Line Communication Parameters
Bit Rate
120 bps

2000 - 4000 bps

Single Command duration
91 ms (183 ms for one phase)
16 ms
Access time (command execution duration) according to network protocol
X-10 protocol. Outgoing command + repeater response + acknowledge signal + repeater response: 360 ms (733 ms for one phase)
Systel PLC-Link™ protocol.
Outgoing command + acknowledge (repeater) response: 32 ms
Communication reliability bit error rate (BER)
BER not known
BER = 3*10-10 for S/N = 6 dB;
BER = 10-18 for S/N
= 10 dB
Transmitted signal level
5V only
1…5 V with step of 1V,
according to requirements
The minimum receiver input signal required for reliable communication
100 mV
20 mV
System device
communication
capability
Wall switches, receptacles, fixture relay modules, dimming fixture module have receivers only; Controllers and Programmers have bi-direction communication modems.
All system devices including the
ballasts using the IDC2000
controller have embedded bidirection
communication
modems
Number of transmitters possible to be connected to one circuit
4
64
Load control capability
ON/OFF function
Wall switches, receptacles, fixture relay modules, dimming fixture modules: All these devices can control only one circuit connected to them.
Ballasts and actuators:
Single fixture ballast is able to control each lamp in fixture separately and all of them simultaneously.

Multi fixture ballast is able to drive up to 8 fixtures and to control separately each fixture.
Number of zones/device
1
16
All light ON/OFF
function
The receptacles do not respond to this command
Ballasts and actuators supply this
function
Light dimming function
The Dimmable Wall Switches and Dimming Fixture Modules offer full range dimming for incandescent and magnetic low-voltage lighting loads only. Additional equipment and wiring (for example, Advance Mark X® Power line ballasts) is required for fluorescent lamps dimming. Separate control of fluorescent lamps is unavailable.
The ballast may be implemented for any Fluorescent (linear, compact, electrodeless and others), HID, neon, LED incandescent and other lamps for building illumination. The dimming function is available for all of these lamp types. The dimming of all lamps in the fixture may be performed separately as well as simultaneously.
The dimming law may be linearized for any kind of above lamp types during ballast configuration. The ballast reconfiguration may be carried out over PLC any time when required without uninstalling.
Scene-Capability
(preset levels)
16 scenes of lighting are
available.
16 scenes of lighting are
available and 32 different light
levels.
Additional ballast
features
None of the X-10 system devices have these features
In addition to light management and PFC, Ballast performs other important functions

Protection:
• End of Life (EOL) of lamp.
• Individual full lamp or fixture protection. If one fixture in a parallel topology or MFDEB is disconnected or faulty under unusual conditions, the others remain lit.
• Cross conduction protection – designer can decide which outputs should not overlap.
• Capacitive load protection by Center Tap circuit.
• Every Current and Voltage sampled by the IDC can be monitored for minimum – maximum expected value and protected immediately, pulse by pulse. In the ballast this can be used for the Input voltage, DC Bus and PFC current limit.

Lamp DATA storage and transmitting on demand:
• A set of working parameters can be defined for storage during ballast configuration
• A consumption statistic and current values can be requested any time.

These features are very important for energy saving.
The exclusive ballast’s properties which distinguish it from the existing dimmable ballasts are a very low noise level and rather high impedance at frequencies higher than 90 kHz. This allows connection of up to 64 such ballasts in one lighting branch without loss of communication reliability.
Networking
Address space
256 addresses only
65,000 per one Central Remote Control Unit (CRCU):
256 addressable devices per lighting circuit (branch) x 256 branches.

Up to 2048 addressable groups of devices (zones) per branch may be defined. Each group can be comprised by one or more devices (even one individual lamp of a fixture or a sensor connected to a Multiple Network Sensor (MNS) device may be defined as an element of a group, and can be accessed by one single frame command). Each ballast and MNS may be a member of up to 16 zones at the same time.
The ESLS has open architecture and can include more than one CRCU with all its address space.
Query capability
Limited by protocol and ballast design
Unlimited. All information is
available in IDC for transmission



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