277 · West Main Street· Niantic, CT · USA · 860-739-4468 · www.inncom.com
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B573 Ethernet Router and B573 Media Connector Software
TCT Router and FLN5 RS-485 Floor Bridge Applications
INNCOM’s B573 Ethernet Router
The B573 is configured by the software loaded into it at the factory to support 4 types of applications:
TCT Router (MBX) Application
: Inncom related data (room temperature, occupancy, rental status, etc) to/from
the guestroom is sent through a TCT room gateway device located in each guestroom. The TCT is connected to
a network hub or switch inside the guestroom that is connected to the hotels “guest-side” (or public) network. A
single
B573 connected to the “guest-side” (or public) network is programmed to rout Inncom data to and from all
of the TCT’s , and then make this data available to the Inncom software running on the Inncom server.
RS-485 FLN5 (Floor Level Network 5) Floor Bridge Application
: Inncom related data (room temperature,
occupancy, rental status, etc) to/from the guestroom is sent via an RS-485 twisted pair wiring network connected
between the room gateway device (ie E528 thermostat, X529 , TCC, B485, etc) and the RS-485 Com ports on
the rear of the B573. This data is then made available to the Inncom software running on the Inncom server.
Room Gateway Application
: Whereas the above mentioned TCT Router (MBX) and RS-485 FLN5 Floor Bridge
modes of the B573 are intended to rout data from all connected room gateway devices toward the Inncom Server
computer, the B573 itself can be programmed to act as an advanced room gateway device in installations
where guestrooms contain a tablet PC device. The specialized wireless communication protocols used by the
tablet PC device require a special B573 room gateway device to be installed. The B573 programmed as a Room
Gateway acts as an advanced TCT and bridges these specialized tablet PC protocols to a B573 TCT Router
(MBX), which in turn makes the information available to the Inncom Server.
FLN5 (Floor Level Network 5) Reflector Application
: A B573 programmed as an “FLN5 Reflector” is used at
installations containing large, multi room suites that can not be adequately managed by the normal Inncom suite
linking functionality.
The
TCT Router (MBX)
and
RS-485 FLN5 Floor Bridge
applications are the most common. In both of these
applications, the B573 routs Inncom related messages from all connected room gateway devices to/from the
Inncom Server. The only difference being the type of physical network used to connect the room gateway device
to the B573. For the
TCT MBX
application, the hotels TCP/IP Ethernet network is utilized. For the RS-485
FLN5 application, a serial RS-485 twisted pair network is utilized. The TCT Router (MBX) and RS-485 FLN5
Floor Bridge applications will be covered in detail by this document.
The
Room Gateway
and
FLN5 Reflector
applications are much less commonly used and are not covered by this
document. Refer to Inncom application note “AN214 Suite Linking with Reflection” for details on the FLN5
Reflector mode, and Section 3.4 of the B573 Engineering manual for details on the B573 Room Gateway mode.
B573 User
Manual
Overview
