Coronavirus: making the most of the lockdown
By Simon Buddle, Future Ready Homes. The sun is out and filling the air with that early spring warmth. The green shoots of new life are emerging across the country. The long grey of winter is receding and thankfully, so are the waters that have flooded and devastated so many lives and homes across the […]
ISE 2020 Show Report: KNX marches on
By Simon Buddle, Future Ready Homes. Exhibitor stands have been dismantled, Wi-Fi networks switched off, VIP lounges emptied, flight cases packed and carried out of the RAI conference centre. This is the final curtain for Amsterdam. ISE has finally outgrown it. The entire city has been creaking under the weight of ISE for a long […]
Sponsor’s Article: designing a KNX transceiver module using the ON Semiconductor NCN51xx family
By Shawn Back, ON Semiconductor. The KNX standard provides users or BUS installers the benefit of interoperability among a number of KNX device manufacturers. In order to ensure successful communication between devices, a strict certification process established by the KNX organisation is required for both the hardware and software. When developing a new KNX device, […]
ISE 2020: MD Mike Blackman on the show’s widening appeal and what it offers KNX professionals
Mike Blackman is the Managing Director of Integrated Systems Events. In this Q & A, Mike talks about ISE 2020, and why the show has become the ‘must attend’ event for AV and KNX industry professionals, as well as users. Q: ISE has enjoyed year-on-year growth since it began. Will ISE 2020 be the biggest […]
Sponsor’s Article: the productivity paradox and the promise of automated configuration
By Chris Irwin, J2 Innovations. Nearly every building’s HVAC controls are different; even retail chains, whose formula for new shops typically requires the same fit-out equipment and services, typically find that the local building’s shape, size, and condition makes each implementation different. This reality has meant that building automation systems manufacturers have had to ensure […]
Sponsor’s Article: reconstructing a KNX home configuration out of the ETS project file to quickly retrofit voice control, visualisation apps and the IoT
By Urban Marovt, 1Home Solutions The global home automation market is going crazy at the moment, to the point where it seems that soon, every device we bring into our homes will be smart. Over the past three years, the IoT has gained a lot of traction due to its user-friendliness and the fact that […]
Sponsor’s Whitepaper: Energy Harvesting Switch radio protocols
By Simon Ziegler, ZF Friedrichshafen AG. Due to the rising connectivity of mobile devices, industrial applications, smart home applications and vehicles, the importance of wireless technology for data communication is increasing continuously. As a result, wireless technology grew by 32% in 2018 compared to the previous year, and now accounts for 6% of the total […]
Sponsor Article: why open frameworks matter
By Chris Irwin, J2 Innovations. When a technology is new, it is usually very expensive and proprietary because it is difficult to achieve and complex to deliver. This was certainly true of computers; which were hugely expensive compared to now and each manufacturer offered systems that were unique to them, because they designed all the […]
The New KNX TP1-256 Topology: more devices and fewer line repeaters
By Mark Warburton, Ivory Egg. The KNX Association has recently announced the completion of a long-running project to update the system topology in order to make KNX even easier and simpler to use. Until now, the smallest part of the topology is a line segment with 64 devices. To expand the line, line repeaters can […]
Product Article: Upgrading Existing Buildings with Wired and Wireless KNX Devices
By Thomas Weinzierl, Weinzierl Engineering GmbH. Using KNX to upgrade existing buildings may seem like a contradiction to some installers because often, it is not an option to open walls to lay bus lines. However, a detailed analysis of the existing inventory and installation can provide interesting solutions. Important installation points can, in many cases, […]