Prior to the release of BACnet, the industry-standard protocol for building automation, KMC Controls used the KMDigital^TM protocol. We weren’t alone. Every manufacturer had its own proprietary protocol. While each brand’s devices could happily communicate among themselves, they couldn’t communicate easily with each other. This set-up didn’t work so well for the end users. By having separate protocols, the people putting together building systems were essentially locked into using one company’s products. There were ways to make devices from different manufacturers communicate, but it was often expensive and complicated.

ASHRAE addressed this issue with the introduction of BACnet in 1995. A committee spent more than eight years developing this agreed-upon set of rules that apply to a computer’s hardware and software, and it became the most accepted open protocol in the world. In 1999, Tridium debuted the Niagara Framework. This platform works on the BACnet communications system, allowing communication between different brands of equipment.

Easy Communication Among Systems & Networks

Now, buildings running entirely on KMD devices can tie seamlessly into the Niagara network and BACnet systems. Introducing the KMD-5551E Translator. This device, which has the same body as the KMC Conquest^TM 5051E Router, translates between KMD devices and networks to a BACnet network. It is installed on a KMD Network and polls the designated KMD devices, adding them as virtual BACnet devices on a BACnet network. This virtual network and devices are then available to any other device on the BACnet network.

To tie into the Niagara Framework, a license module, either to a supervisor or JACE, is added to a Niagara station. KMD devices are treated by Niagara as BACnet devices. The data from the KMD device is pulled into Niagara, and Niagara recreates the programming.

If you’re an authorized KMD and authorized Niagara KMC customer, contact your sales representative for more information.