Tim, that why I like talking with you, you come up with Good Ideas... ELON looks interesting, we'll need to
investigate this in greater detail.....I'd like to find out more about what Fuji Electric and Hitachi are doing in this
area. I notice that Hitachi is expanding into EMC's storage space and SUNW's server space this year.
HIT has had a big-time rally the past past 7 days.
-------Echelon Corporation develops, markets and supports products and services that allow everyday devices, such as light switches, washing machines, assembly-line robots, thermostats, gas pumps, motion sensors, air conditioners, pumps and valves, to be made "smart" and to communicate with one another and across the Internet. The Company's products and services are based on its LonWorks technology, which allows intelligence and communications capabilities to be embedded into individual control devices that may be connected together through a variety of communications media, such as a twisted pair of wires or data cable, the existing power lines in a facility, or any Internet protocol-based network. Echelon's products and services may be used across many industries to network together everyday devices in homes, buildings, factories and transportation systems. They allow original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and systems integrators to design and put into service open, interoperable distributed control networks.
Echelon offers a comprehensive set of over 80 products and services marketed under the LonWorks brand name, which provide the infrastructure and support required to implement and deploy open, interoperable, control network solutions. All of its products either incorporate or operate with the Neuron Chip and/or the LonWorks protocol.
LonWorks Control and Connectivity Products.
This suite of hardware products, some with embedded firmware, serves as the physical interface between the control software that resides on the managed devices and the cabling and wiring infrastructure. These products include a variety of transceivers, control modules, routers, network interface devices and IP connectivity products. Standard, off-the-shelf LonWorks transceivers and control modules simplify the development of LonWorks nodes, provide the foundation for interoperability and reduce the development cost and time for an OEM's product development. LonWorks routers provide transparent support for multiple media, which makes it possible to signal between different types of media, such as twisted pair, power line, radio frequency, optical fiber and infrared.
Routers can also be used to control network traffic and partition sections of the network from traffic in another area, increasing the total throughput and speed of the network. Network interfaces can be used to connect computers to a LonWorks network. The i.LON1000 Internet Server provides reliable, secure Internet access to the everyday devices in LonWorks networks. The FTT-10A transceiver product, which permits communication over a twisted pair of wires, was introduced in May 1997 and generated about 26% of the Company's revenues during 1999 and 21% of its revenues during 1998.
Echelon's LNS network operating system serves as the platform for installing, maintaining, monitoring and interfacing with control networks. The LNS family of products adds the power of client-server architecture and component-based software design into control systems and allows tools from multiple vendors to work together. The most recent release of LNS is version 2.0, which the Company released in March 1999. The Company has also announced LNS version 3.0, which it expects to ship in the second quarter of 2000.
The LonMaker for Windows tool, built on the LNS network operating system and the Visio technical drawing package, gives users a familiar, CAD-like (computer-aided design) environment in which to design their network's control system. The graphical nature of the LonMaker tool provides an intuitive interface for designing, installing and maintaining multi-vendor, open, interoperable LonWorks control networks. LNS also allows multiple users, each running their own copy of LonMaker for Windows or other LNS-based tools, to utilize the system in arallel, thereby streamlining the design and commissioning process, and facilitating future adds, moves and changes. Echelon first shipped LonMaker for Windows release 1.0 in June 1998. It released LonMaker for Windows version 2.0 in March 1999. The Company has announced LonMaker for Windows version 3.0, which it expects to ship in the second quarter of 2000.
Echelon's LonPoint products provide infrastructure for open, interoperable, distributed control networks. LonPoint products include interface modules, which convert a variety of legacy digital and analog sensors and actuators into intelligent and interoperable LonWorks devices,routers, which provide transparent connectivity and intelligent message passing between various combinations of standard LonWorks media, and scheduler and data-logging modules, which provide system timekeeping, state coordination and distributed data storage. LonPoint products are installed using the LonMaker for Windows tool and include LNS software plug-ins that provide end users with a customized configuration view of each LonPoint module, thereby reducing the time and training required to configure LonPoint interface modules.
The Company also provides development tools that are used by an OEM to design LonWorks technology into the OEM's products. The LonBuilder Developer's Workbench integrates a complete set of tools for developing LonWorks-based control networks. These tools include an environment for developing and debugging applications at multiple nodes, a network manager to install and configure these nodes, and a protocol analyzer to examine network traffic to ensure adequate capacity and to debug errors. Echelon's most recent release of this product is version 3.01, which it first shipped in July 1996. The NodeBuilder development tool is designed to make it easy for OEMs to develop and test individual LonWorks nodes. It uses a familiar Windows-based development environment with easy-to-use online help. The Company's most recent release of the NodeBuilder development tool is version 1.5, which it first shipped in August 1996.
Echelon's OEM customers in the building automation market include Honeywell, Johnson Controls, the Landis & Staefa division of Siemens, Philips Lighting, Schindler Elevator and Invensys. OEM customers in the industrial automation market include Brooks Instrument, Edwards, Fuji Electric, Hitachi, Lam Research and Marley Pump. Key OEMs in the transportation market include Bombardier, Cummins Engine, Kawasaki and Raytheon.
Echelon's competitors include Siemens in the building and industrial automation industries, Allen-Bradley (a subsidiary of Rockwell International) and Groupe Schneider. |
