European Installation Bus

European Installation Bus (EIB) is the world's leading system for "intelligent" electrical installation networking. The bus cable installed in addition to the supply cable combines devices and systems (e.g. heating, lighting or ventilation), which previously functioned seperately from one another, into an economical system optimally adapted to individual requirements. Both now and in the future, this domotic network provides new functions which previously were either very difficult to implement or could not be implemented at all. For example, a turn of your house key can switch off forgotten basement light or the power supply to the iron. The result: EIB improves customized home living, security and efficiency - day for day - an entire life.

Here's how the "intelligent" home works: The EIB system serves as the automatic controller of devices and systems in homes and apartment houses, and functional and commercial buildings. Sensors, such as motion detectors[?] and thermostats[?], send impulses over a transmission medium to so-called actuators[?], for example. Sensors and actuators communicate with each other via four alternate transmission media.

• 1. Low voltage cable (24V) = "bus cable"
• 2. Voltage power supply (230V), "Powerline"
• 3. EIB radio frequency
• 4. Infrared

Sensors and actuators can be programmed and linked by the technician as desired. It is easy for home occupants to manipulate the fucntions of the EIB system using familiar switches, the telephone or the touch screen. You can change links as required and add new funtions to the system any time you want. The flexible EIB adjusts your home to the needs of the person - no matter what time of the day, season or phase of life. That also goes for the future.

Table of contents 1 Protocol 2 Communication 3 Neutral 4 PC solutions 5 Organization 6 See also

Protocol

EIB is a standardised, OSI-based network communications protocol.

The EIB protocol is the digital language by which any number of devices[?] in the building may communicate with each other. In this way, the devices (sensors, actuators[?], smart controllers[?], ...) can cooperate to perform distributed control application functionality, such as:

• Automatized doors and gates. Access, alarms and security control.
• Air conditioning and another temperature and climate control.
• Energy and load management.
• Lighting and scenery control.
• White and brown home appliance control.
• Windows, blinds and shutter control

EIB has opted for a small, economical set of standard datatypes for shared variable datapoints.

Each device publishes a set of Group Communication Objects, each of which exhibits one of the standard datatype. The designer of the project establishes shared variable communication by connecting (binding) two Group Communication Objects of matching type with a group address, e.g. the value output of a temperature sensor to the corresponding input object of a room temperature controller, or the switching output object of a pushbutton sensor to the input object of a binary output device

Communication

The specification defines physical communication media[?], over which devices may send protocol messages to their partners on the system:

• Twisted pair communication.
• Powerline communication (PLC).
• Wireless communication.

Neutral

Neutral specification maintained by the EIB Association through community process. EIB Handbook for Developersis done through an open Community process, with reviews and voting cycles to which member companies of the EIB Association may participate.

EIB imposes no direct requirements on microprocessor architecture; this means any suitable chip may be used as a platform for implementation.

Alternatively, a manufacturer may prefer to focus on his application domain know-how, and just construct application-specific harware and firmware - using certified EIB building blocks (transceivers, protocol stack implementations, protocol stack source code etc.), offered by a number of specialised system providers.

Certified products compliance with the EIB specification

PC solutions

• ANubis is the IPnet[?] (Internet, intranet and extranet) connectivity road for EIB.

• ETS - EIBA's suite of tools focused around powerful design, configuration and commissioning of EIB network installations. iETS is a ANubis component.

• eteC - EIBA's state-of-the-art component API's, based on the DCOM component technology.

• Falcon is a eteC-based 32bit access library for Windows.

• The EIB OPC (OLE for Process Control) server adds an OPC Server layer to the eteC Falcon component for network access, focussing on runtime (group addressing) functionality. OPC is the de facto standard for process control and visualistation on Windows system platforms.

• The only way, until now, to connect a PC to an EIB installation is via such a RS-232 and USB serial interface

Organization

EIBA (EIB Association) is member of the Konnex initiative.

See also

• UPNP