You can use the SmartServer to integrate and manage BACnet, EnOcean, LON, LoRaWAN, and Modbus devices. The EnOcean and LoRaWAN protocols are wireless protocols where the SmartServer communicates with the edge devices using a radio frequency (RF) interface. The BACnet, LON, and Modbus protocols all support multiple communications media. All three support communication over Ethernet, and the SmartServer includes built-in support for communicating with BACnet, LON, and Modbus devices using an Ethernet interface. The BACnet and Modbus protocols also support communication using RS-485. The SmartServer IoT Pro EX model includes built-in support for communicating with Modbus RTU devices using an RS-485 interface. The LON protocol also supports communication using free topology (FT) twisted-pair cable, high-speed twisted-pair (TP-1250) cable, and power line (PL-20) communication. You can add expansion modules to the SmartServer to communicate with devices that do not use Ethernet or Modbus RTU. The following table summarizes the built-in and available network interfaces for the SmartServer. You can also create your own custom drivers for the SmartServer to support other protocols and communications media.
| Protocol | Media | Interface |
|---|---|---|
| BACnet FT | Free Topology (FT) twisted pair cable | U60 FT USB Network Interface Expansion Module |
| BACnet/IP | 10BASE-T (minimum) Ethernet over Cat 5 (minimum) star topology twisted pair cables | Built-in LAN and WAN interfaces |
| BACnet MS/TP | RS-485 bus topology twisted pair cable | External third-party BACnet/IP to BACnet MS/TP router, combined with one of the built-in LAN or WAN interfaces |
| EnOcean | Wireless | USB 300, 300U, 400J, and 500U EnOcean Network Interfaces |
| LON FT | Free Topology (FT) twisted pair cable | U60 FT USB Network Interface Expansion Module |
| LON IP-70 | 10BASE-T (minimum) Ethernet over Cat 5 (minimum) star topology twisted pair cables | Built-in LAN and WAN interfaces |
| LON IP-852 | 10BASE-T (minimum) Ethernet over Cat 5 (minimum) star topology twisted pair cables | Built-in LAN and WAN interfaces |
| LON PL-20 | Power line (PL) mains cable | U70 PL-20 USB Network Interface Expansion Module |
| LON TP-1250 | TP-1250 bus topology twisted pair cable | U60 TP-1250 USB Network Interface Expansion Module |
| LoRaWAN | Wireless | ChirpStack 4.2 and compatible LoRaWAN gateway |
| Modbus RTU | RS-485 bus topology twisted pair cable | Built-in isolated RS-485 interface (SmartServer IoT EX only) or IOX I/O Expansion Module |
| Modbus TCP | 10BASE-T (minimum) Ethernet over Cat 5 (minimum) star topology twisted pair cables | Built-in LAN and WAN interfaces |
This section describes adding the following interfaces: