www.echelon.com
The LonWorks Network Services (LNS®) ar-
chitecture allows over 16,000 installation,
maintenance, monitoring, and control de-
vices to exist in a system and to adapt to
network configuration changes automati-
cally. Users can reconfigure the system
from user interface devices anywhere on
the network and ensure that all monitoring
and control stations are always up-to-date
with respect to the system’s configuration.
When used with the appropriate software,
the network services interface (NSI) func-
tionality of the SLTA-10 adapter allows the
attached host to tap into the LNS infra-
structure as a client or server application.
The adapter also permits the host PC to act
as an application node, running applica-
tion-specific programs while the adapter
handles lower layer functions such as
media access control, collision avoidance,
message validation, authentication, and pri-
ority processing. The host application, in-
cluding its network variables, can be
changed at any time without modifying the
adapter. The SLTA-10 adapter combined
with the host PC can also be used with
nodes that require more processing power,
memory, input/output capability, or net-
work variable connections than are pro-
vided by the Neuron® Chip alone.
Input power needs a galvanicly isolated 9-
30V AC or DC power supply. Power wiring
is polarity-insensitive and is connected to a
color-coded, removable screw terminal
block. An alternate input power option ac-
cepts a US, UK, Continental European, or
Japanese power supply for desktop use.
A DB-9 connector is provided for connec-
tion to the host. The adapter is configured
as a Data Circuit-terminating Equipment
(DCE) device; a custom null modem cable
allows the SLTA-10 adapter to be con-
nected to a modem. This cable is docu-
mented in the user’s guide and may also be
purchased from Echelon (Model
73380).The SLTA-10 adapter can be used
with any modem recognizing the Hayes AT-
command set to provide remote access to
a LONWORKS network. The SLTA-10
adapter supports LonTalk network man-
agement messages for controlling an at-
tached modem. Any node can initiate an
outgoing call to a remote host by sending
network management dialing messages to
the adapter. Network management mes-
sages can be used to define a dialing direc-
tory stored in the SLTA-10 adapter, enabling
application nodes to dial out to remote
hosts without requiring host phone num-
bers to be maintained in each node.
Any node can use network management
messages to configure the SLTA-10 adapter
to automatically answer incoming calls so
that remote hosts can call in to monitor,
control, or manage the network at any
time. Network management
messages can be used to install a password
in the adapter so that a remote user must
enter the password before accessing any
nodes on the network. For additional secu-
rity, the SLTA-10 can be configured to call
back only a pre-programmed phone
number.
The interface with the SLTA-10 adapter is
managed by the SLTALink Manager soft-
ware. The SLTALink Manager is a stand-
alone application that can monitor a
modem line, answer an incoming phone
call, associate the incoming call’s SLTA-10
Adapter (and hence its network) with a
LonWorks based device, and then launch a
predetermined application for that particu-
lar network or SLTA-10 Adapter. The
SLTALink Manager software is used to con-
trol a remote SLTA-10 via a set (2) of
modems by using the telephony Applica-
tion Programming Interface (TAPI) services
that are built into the Windows
95/98/2000/XP, and Windows NT 4.0 op-
erating systems. When attached directly to
a PC, SLTA-10 Adapters use so-called
"local" links. In this case, the SLTALink
Manager software interacts with the driver
and configures the necessary parameters.
The SLTALink Manager software and driver
isolate the host application from implemen-
tation dependencies of the SLTA-10. This
allows the same host application to be
used with virtually any network interface,
and preserves investment in host applica-
tion development.new versions of firmware
are released, without modifying or physi-
cally accessing the PCLTA-21 adapter. This
feature extends the useful service life of the
adapter, and minimizes the cost and time
associated with software and firmware up-
dates.
