New Echelon Software Speeds the Installation and Maintenance of Automation Systems, Reducing Labor and Life-Cycle Costs

Business Wire, Oct 18, 2004

SHANGHAI, China -- The LNS Turbo Edition Network Management Software Offers Enhanced Performance, Supports More Simultaneous Users, and Includes New Back-up and Security Features

Echelon Corporation (Nasdaq:ELON) today announced a major enhancement to its market-leading LNS(R) network management software for the LonWorks(R) platform that will significantly enhance the productivity and capability of installers and maintainers of building, industrial, transportation, utility and home automation systems. The new LNS Turbo Edition software provides a foundation on which manufacturers can build tools and applications for managing, designing, configuring, maintaining, and monitoring LonWorks automation systems and greatly reduce their time to market. By writing unique applications on top of the API-based LNS Turbo Edition software, and by customizing the user interface through which LNS Turbo Edition functions are accessed, tools can have a tailored look and feel consistent with the supplier's corporate branding.

This announcement is one of three announcements (see separate press releases) being made today in advance of this week's LonWorld 2004 Conference taking place in Shanghai, China. Collectively these announcements represent an important step forward in the continuing evolution of the LonWorks(R) platform, which provides the most advanced and complete networking infrastructure for everyday devices.

"The electronic devices around us are being networked together at an ever increasing rate, making easy-to-use tools that can manage and maintain such networks critically important," said Michael R. Tennefoss, Echelon vice president of marketing. "Echelon has addressed this need with the LNS network management platform, the software foundation on which customers, large and small, have built installation and maintenance tools to support open, interoperable LonWorks automation systems. The LNS Turbo Edition software is the newest member of the LNS stable of products, and includes productivity, security, and back-up enhancements that make tools faster, more fully featured, and more robust."

A wide range of performance enhancements makes the new LNS Turbo Edition a faster, more powerful productivity enhancement tool. Faster task processing, including 10 to 100 times improvements for many critical tasks, means that the installation and maintenance time required for large networks rivals that of smaller networks. In addition, LNS Turbo Edition allows multiple users to simultaneously open multiple databases, so that technicians equipped with separate tools can work on the same or different parts of the automation system at the same time, greatly reducing overall system installation time and cost. For example, in a new building, the local elevator, HVAC, security, and sub blind installers could simultaneously commission their respective parts of the system while a remote central station tracks the process and conducts a diagnostic scan of the overall system. Since the cost of skilled labor is a large part of any automation system installation, faster task processing and coordinated work processes directly translate into cost savings.

Important players in the automation industry including Honeywell, Siemens, Johnson Controls, and Philips have already widely adopted the LNS software. Tennefoss indicated that the breadth of industry support for the LNS network management platform is one of the reasons why the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers included LNS software in its recently announced tri-service Unified Facilities Guide Specification. Moreover, Echelon expects many other companies, institutions, and organizations to follow suit.

Remote diagnostics and device upgrade capabilities are two additional key features of LNS Turbo Edition. Instead of sending a technician to diagnose a communication problem, LNS Turbo Edition works through Echelon's i.LON(R) 10 Ethernet Adapter and i.LON 100 Internet Server to diagnose problems over a broadband or Internet connection. If the resolution requires an upgrade to firmware in an automation device, LNS Turbo Edition allows firmware images to be upgraded over the Internet and LonWorks automation network, without physically touching the device, eliminating yet another service call.

To ensure the integrity of the overall system and save valuable troubleshooting time, database recovery and validation tools are built into the LNS Turbo Edition software. The database recovery feature allows a complete back-up of open LNS databases without shutting down running applications. Such a back-up feature can yield enormous savings should the automation system need to be recovered and restarted. Additionally, a built-in database validation tool allows users to repair database problems caused by application malfunctions, hardware failures, or operating system errors. The validation tool can analyze and repair a wide variety of problems, saving valuable troubleshooting time and allowing the system to be brought back on-line faster.