Metasys N2 to BACnet IP Gateway | |Metasys N2 to BACnet IP Protocol Converter
  • This gateway can read Modbus data from your Metasys N2 devices and publish it as BACnet IP data.
  • It can also write to the Metasys N2 devices.
  • This gateway can also do the reverse, read BACnet IP data and publish it as Metasys N2 data.
  • It can also write to the BACnet IP devices.

In summary, this gateway can act as:

Master on the Metasys N2 network: Hence it is capable of reading data from the various Modbus slave devices and writing data to them if required.

Slave on the Metasys N2 network: You can use the gateway in this mode if you have a Metasys N2 master on the network which would be reading data from the gateway.

Master on the BACnet IP network: Hence it is capable of reading data from the various BACnet IP devices and writing data to them if required.

Slave on the BACnet IP network: The gateway can be configured to be a server of data values; hence another BACnet IP client can read data from the gateway and write data into the gateway.

Block Diagrams



Scenario 1

Scenario 1:

1)      On a site you have several Metasys N2 controllers that can provide data output on Metasys N2.

2)      The site has a SCADA on BACnet IP that needs the data from the Ion meters on Metasys N2.

3)      Since the Metasys N2 controllers provide data output on Metasys N2 and the SCADA understands only BACnet IP a direct data exchange is not possible.

Block Diagram


 

Solution:

The devices can not directly communicate with each other as they are not on the same protocol. Metasys N2 is a Serial protocol, while BACnet IP is an Ethernet based Protocol. You need something that will convert data from BACnet IP device to Metasys N2 and vice versa.

ProtoConvert’s Metasys N2 to BACnet IP converter will be an excellent solution for this requirement. The gateway reads data from the Energy meters on Metasys N2. It caches this data internally and then provides it on BACnet IP when requested from the SCADA system.

Scenario 2

1)   On a site you have several variable frequency drives that can provide data output on BACnet IP.

2) The site has a NAE controller on Metasys N2 that needs data from Variable Frequency drives on BACnet IP.

3)  Since the Variable frequency drives provide data output on BACnet IP and the NAE controller understands only Metasys N2 a direct data exchange is not possible.

 

Solution:

The devices can not directly communicate with each other as they are not on the same protocol. Metasys N2 is a Serial protocol, while BACnet IP is an Ethernet based Protocol. You need something that will convert data from BACnet IP device to Metasys N2 and vice versa.

ProtoConvert’s BACnet IP to Metasys N2 converter will be an excellent solution for this requirement. The gateway reads data from the Variable frequency drive on BACnet IP. It caches this data internally and then provides it on Metasys N2 when requested from the NAE controller.

 


An Overview of the two protocols

Metasys N2:

Metasys N2 was developed by Johnson Controls as a network to interface their various devices and controllers. It is on the physical layer RS-485 set of data communications standards and supports 9600 baud, 8 data bits, and no parity and in half-duplex mode only. This network supports communications with a huge range of devices manufactured by Johnson Controls and some other companies. Metasys N2 by Johnson Controls is a master/slave protocol with one master only so it is not possible to have two devices performing this function on the same network.

 

BACnet IP

BACnet (Building Automation and Control Network) is a communications protocol that helps the communication between building automation end-devices and building management systems. The BACnet protocol specification like every other protocol specification defines both how data is represented on the network and the services that are used to move data from one BACnet node to another. The specification also tells us about messages that identify data and network nodes such as who-Has, I-Have, Who-Is, and I-Am.

To meet the requirement of the widest possible set of applications BACnet was designed to support several different physical and link layers.

The BACnet/IP allows users to transfer data to and from devices over Ethernet using BACnet/IP Protocol. It allows users to use different applications to discover devices, objects and properties of objects of any field device that supports BACnet IP.