LonWorks Networking Technology Becomes ISO/IEC Standard

LonMark International, a standards development and industry trade association supporting the LonWorks control-networking technologies, recently announced that the voting members of the Joint Technical Committee (JTC 1) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) have formally approved LonWorks control networking technology as ISO/IEC 14908, Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4. The four parts of the standard set comprise the core protocol; the twisted-pair, free-topology-wiring transfer medium; the powerline transfer medium, and the use of the Internet Protocol (IP) as a tunneling transfer medium, respectively.

“Already American, European, and Chinese standards, it was the natural progression for LonWorks to be adopted by our larger, global community; paving the way for other nations to more easily specify LonWorks control systems without having to duplicate the standardization efforts within their own countries,” remarked Jeremy J. Roberts, technical director of LonMark International.

“This is very exciting news for the controls market,” stated Ron Bernstein, executive director of LonMark International. “This announcement re-affirms the validity and strength of LonWorks worldwide and will pave the way for even greater adoption. We are pleased to have been able to spearhead this standardization effort for our members and the market, and are looking forward to the opportunities it creates for all end users seeking true, open, interoperable control networks.”

This ratification will enhance the adoption and usage of this technology within the worldwide controls market and specifically in the buildings vertical. While LonWorks is also used in many other markets, such as outdoor lighting, transportation, utility, process control, and home automation, the majority of the over 100 million installed devices have been installed in or around buildings projects. The LonWorks control networking technology was first introduced in 1990.