i.LON 10 Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between thei.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter and the i. LON 1000 Internet Server or the i. LON 600 LonWorks/IP Server?
The i.LON 1000 Internet Server and i.LON 600 LonWorks /IP Server are both layer 3 LonTalk® routers. They forward packets based on destination subnet or destination group. The i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter is a network adapter. It always forwards packets to the same destination, the host PC. Routers allow direct peer-to-peer connectivity. Network interfaces allow a PC to access the network and become a peer. Think of an i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter as being similar to a PCLTA Network Interface card. In the case of the PCLTA, the LonWorks network connects to the Pentium via the PCI bus; in the case of the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter, the LonWorks network connects to the Pentium via TCP/IP over Ethernet.

What is the difference between the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter and the i. LON 100 Internet Server?
The i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter is a single function device, it acts as a Remote Network Interface (RNI) and nothing more. It was designed to provide complete LonWorks connectivity at the lowest possible price. The i.LON 100 Internet Server can also act as a remote network interface (RNI), but has additional capabilities, including built-in applications for scheduling, data logging, and alarm processing. The i.LON 100 Internet Server is equipped with a web server and 32MB of flash disk space for file storage. The i.LON 100 Internet Server acts as a LonWorks to XML gateway and provides access to LonWorks networks via SOAP/XML web services. The i.LON 100 Internet Server provides local hardware for digital inputs, outputs, and pulse inputs.

What is the advantage of using the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter over a standard network adapter such as a PCLTA, PCC , or SLTA?
Because the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter connects to the PC via TCP/IP, it can be located at a remote site. This is not true of a card that is installed inside the PC.

What is the difference between an SLTA-10 and an i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter?
The i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter connects to the PC via 10 BaseT Ethernet. The SLTA-10 connects to the PC via RS-232. Both the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter and SLTA-10 can connect to the PC via modem. The i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter uses TCP/IP when directly connected and PPP when connected via modem which allows the use of intervening Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The SLTA-10 uses a proprietary serial link protocol which is not supported by ISPs. Performance is roughly equal.

What can be configured through the console (RS-232) port? Does this require a special tool?
The i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter is configured through the Ethernet port using a web browser. The RS-232 port is used for modem connectivity.

Does the i. LON 10 support web-based configuration?
Yes.

Can I perform network management through the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter?
Yes.

Can the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter be upgraded with more memory?
No. The memory is soldered to the motherboard.

Can the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter serve web pages?
Only for configuration purposes. The i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter cannot provide network variable values in a web page. The i.LON 100 can access network variables through web pages.

Can the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter be used without LNS® 3.X?
Yes, the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter is compatible with OpenLDV.

What type of security is built into the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter?

1. TFTP access is password protected. TFTP access can be disabled.
2. HTTP access (used to set configuration) may be limited or disabled. If disabled, you must have physical access to the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter to change its operating parameters.
3. All data and configuration traffic can be authenticated by MD5 Digest using a 128-bit key.

Can I use the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter with a dial-up (telephone) connection?
Yes. The i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter (version 2.x and higher, available from April 2004) supports an external modem attached to its serial port. When used with an external modem, the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter uses PPP as the serial protocol. The i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter version 1.x does not support PPP.

What is NAT? Where am I likely to run into it?
NAT stands for Network Address Translation. NAT allows many IP hosts to share a single IP address. The i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter may be placed behind NAT firewalls.

Why isn't the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter "Cisco Certified"?
Cisco has discontinued the Cisco NetWorksT. It is no longer possible to "Cisco certify" products.

What processor and operating system is used by the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter?
The i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter uses an 8032 processor working in conjunction with a Neuron® 3120® Chip. The operating system is proprietary.

Why doesn't the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter have a built-in web/dataserver to access network variables?
Cost. The primary design consideration for the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter was to provide a device to allow full and complete access to LonWorks networks (network variables, network management, explicit messages, configuration properties, network diagnostics - everything) at the lowest possible price. The additional resources required to also provide web access would raise the cost (and thus the price) of the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter. For those installations that require web access, the i.LON 100 Internet Server is usually the best choice.

What is the throughput of the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter?
The i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter is designed to "keep up" with the channel for unacknowledged uplink messages. This means that the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter can pass up to 180 - 200 unacknowledged messages per second uplink from the FTT channel to the LNS or OpenLDV PC. Acknowledged service is slower.

However, the performance is asymmetric. Downlink unacknowledged messages are limited to approximately 21 - 22 per second. Downlink synchronous request response messages are limited to about 9 - 10 messages per second. Downlink asynchronous NV polls are limited to approximately 18 - 20 messages per second.

Can I use the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter with a wireless network?
Yes. There are several manufacturers of 10/100 BaseT Ethernet to wireless bridges. One example is the LinkSys WET11 Ethernet bridge.

Can I use the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter with a dsl or cable modem?
Yes.

I want to use the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter with a non-LNS application. Since my pc has an ethernet port, can I receive and decode the packets sent by thei.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter directly?
Yes, but you would have to implement the equivalent of Echelon's xDriver software. The best choice for using the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter without LNS is to use Echelon's OpenLDV driver. It is available free of charge at www.echelon.com/openLDV.

Does the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter use aggregation?
Yes, though the algorithm differs from the i.LON 600 LonWorks/IP Server. This question is usually asked when trying to figure out how much bandwidth an i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter might consume on an Ethernet segment. For example, if the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter is passing 180 - 200 unacknowledged LonWorks packets-per-second uplink from the FTT channel to the LNS or OpenLDV PC, it will consume about 2% of the available bandwidth on a 10 BaseT Ethernet segment.

Can I write my own program that executes in the i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter?
No, not at this time. The i.LON 10 Ethernet Adapter is a single function device and does not support a programming environment. For extremely high volume customers, Echelon could provide an alternate software load that performs a specific function instead of the existing functionality. Please contact your sales representative if you are considering such an application.