KNX
KNX is an abbreviation for the word Konnex and describes a standardized protocol for building control and also has its place in traditional home automation. Its biggest advantage is the independence of any particular hardware platform which means that it could also be executed on an 8-bit microcontroller. The technology focuses primarily on safety as well as energy savings. That’s why the monitoring of all the different components in a KNX system plays an important role. If the air conditioning , the heating and the lighting is controlled by a single system multiple possibilities for cutting costs arise.
KNX is based on three technologies: EIB (European Installation Bus), EHS (European Home Systems Protocol) and BatiBUS. It is therefore built on a well established foundation that has been matured over 24 years.
Moreover it allows various ways of communication including twisted pair, radio frequency, infrared, power line and IP/Ethernet. There is no need for centralized control centers since all devices speak the same language and communicate via the same Bus.
Like Z-Wave and Zigbee , KNX has its own association that drives the development of the technology. There are currently about 370 members in the KNX association.
KNX is also approved as an open standard to:
- International standard (ISO/IEC 14543-3)
- Canadian standard (CSA-ISO/IEC 14543-3)
- European Standard (CENELEC EN 50090 and CEN EN 13321-1)
- China Guo Biao (GB/T 20965)
Pros
- Independent on the platform
- Low energy consumption
- Open standard
Cons
- Not that well known yet -> community is relatively small (at least in the Western World -> more popular in Europe)
- Still unpopular amongst “home hackers” that like to develop own stuff (might change in the future due to the hardware independency)
More information:
What is KNX?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KNX_%28standard%29
