Helvar 435 BACnet Gateway: Installation Guide 5
1.3.1. Helvar devices and DALI networks
The Helvar 905, 910 and 920 routers use the Ethernet connection as a network backbone to
combine DALI, SDIM and DMX networks. The DALI and SDIM networks appear as Helvar router
subnets in the 435 browser interface.
DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) is a standardised (IEC 62386) protocol that, among
other things, provides individual addressing and monitoring of lighting devices. It allows you to
connect of up to 64 DALI devices on a single and simple two-wire network and communicate with
them individually, collectively or in groups. You can thus instruct DALI loads to turn on and off and
to dim up and down. Additional operational status information is available from each of them,
confirming its ability to operate effectively or to confirm a fault condition.
SDIM and DMX are low-loss RS485 Type (multistranded, twisted and shielded), three or four cores
and screen networks, max. 1 km cable length.
Tip: For DALI, SDIM and DMX network installation, refer to the Helvar 905, 910 and 920
routers documentation. See also the D5 Recommended Best Practices document for
networking and system guidelines.
1.3.2. BACnet/IP network
Specifically designed for building automation and control networks, the BACnet/IP protocol
provides a standard way of representing the functions from third-party devices to exchange data
over a computer network. It operates on a client/server principle: the BACnet Gateway is the
server, and either a BACnet device or the BACnet Explorer is the client. The network uses
standard cat 5e cabling to transfer ‘service’ requests from each client to the server, which
performs the service and then reports the result to the client. Local IP network policy is used to
address BACnet devices.
Each ‘service’ request includes a default set of ‘objects’. These may represent either a single
physical point or logical groupings of points that perform a specific function. An ‘object’ is simply a
collection of properties (such as ‘Object_Name’, ‘Object_Type’ or ‘Present_Value’) that describe
the behaviour and operation of the BACnet device.
Note: For BACnet compliance details, refer to the
User Guide.
