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FIREFINDER SERIES II
INSTALLATION,
COMMISSIONING
&
OPERATION
13
Expanding the System through Networking
Expanding the system can be achieved in various ways and requires the use of boards specifically
designed for communications purposes and boards that actually expand the system.
13.1 Communications: Network Interface Card (BRD85NIC)
The Network Interface Board provides the RS485 communication buses via CN18 on the Main
Controller (Loop Comms) to allow the networking of multiple panels in different combinations, e.g.
from Data Gathering Panels (DGP) to Peer to Peer panels. Fitted to the NIC is the CPU IO Controller
(BRD85CPU) with NIC software to control the in out flow of communications.
RS485
COMMS
OUT
RS485
COMMS
IN
27V
OUT
674 INTERFACE 1
674 INTERFACE 2
674 INTERFACE 3
674 INTERFACE 4
+
ISOLATE
SWITCH
R
E
S
E
T
-
S
H
D
D
E
B
U
G
ISOLATED
LED
0V
+
2
7
V
POWER
N
E
T
I
N
A
C
T
IV
E
BR
D
85N
IC
2-
SCN
LINK
DEBUG
LINK
CPU
C
N
5
Z
D
1
4
L5
L2
R13
R12
C2
C10
C5
C3
C1
C
1
2
C6
C8
C
1
3
C7
C
1
1
C14
C19
C
2
3
C21
C
2
8
C
2
7
C
3
5
C16
C18
C
2
5
C
3
1
C
3
3
C32
C30
C29
C24
C36
C34
C22
C9
C4
C
2
6
C
2
0
CN1
CN2
CN3
CN4
C
N
6
CN7
CN8
D10
D12
D1
D2
D9
D5
D6
D7
D4
D13
D8
L1
L3
L4
L6
L7
LK2
M1
M2
M3
M4
Q1
R24
R2
R
1
7
R1
R25
R
1
1
R3
R8
R26
R14
R5
R
1
5
R
1
6
R4
R19
R21
R18
R22
R20
R
2
3
R10
R6
R7
R9
RL1
RL2
SW1
SW
2
T1
TB1
TB2
TB3
T
H
1
T
H
4
T
H
2
T
H
3
U6
U2
U4
U5
U1
U8
U7
U3
U10
U9
Z
D
3
ZD4
ZD1
Z
D
2
ZD10
ZD7
Z
D
8
Z
D
6
ZD15
Z
D
1
3
Z
D
1
2
ZD5
Z
D
1
1
C
1
5
C
1
7
D3
LK1
Z
D
9
N
1
2
3
6
D
1
1
27V IN/OUT
+
-
S
H
D
N
E
T
O
U
T
A
C
T
IV
E
T
E
R
M
A
C
T
IV
E
To CN18
of FACP1
Note:
The ISOLATE Switch turns OFF the
board and effectively S/C's the O/P's
Figure 93: Network Interface Board Layout
When FACP’s are connected to each other they form a “NETWORK“. Individual FACP’s in the
Network are referred to as NODES. The Network as defined by the limitations of the installation can
consist of a number of Nodes, the number of Nodes being dependant on the configuration of each
Node. Typically an entire Network could consist of 60 Slave CPU’s connected to loops, zones and or
input / output devices spread over several nodes. The Network is Peer to Peer with the entire system
configuration being stored at each Node. The system is then programmed so that information can be
made invisible to particular Nodes or visible to all Nodes. Likewise system commands can be global
or restricted to specific parts of the network.
The entire system can be programmed from Node 1 in the Network and is connected as a data loop
which provides redundancy should there be a single cabling fault.
IMPORTANT
While it is important that proper documentation is kept and maintained for any installation it becomes
even more important as a system develops into the larger types described above.