Re: x-10 hardware documentation

[Alex Ciurea]

Hello Kevin,

Thanks alot for your extra-detailed answer.

Now I get it : xAP is a protocol used to transmit data to and from various
devices, connected via X10, wireless, dedicated wires, etc, etc..

To send commands I need a PIC/Rabbit controller, but to execute the
commands, I need a decoder for each device? I mean, each device should have
a microcontroller that will interpret the commands?

I presume that in order to light up a lamp, there should be a
microcontroller (PIC or Rabbit) that sends commands to the lamp, and the
lamp should have another microcontroller (for decodeing) my commands.

So, if I want to make an application to turn on/off a lamp via a WEB
browser, using X10, I need:

- a PC with a HTPP server;
- a PIC/Rabbit microcontroller connected to my PC and also connected to the
mains (that will transmit my commands through mains - using the xAP
protocol
via X10 - );
- a decoder for the lamp, that will decode my commands and will control the
dimmer;
- a lamp :).

The dimmer is easy to find in US, but being in Europe (Romania), I have to
build my own dimmer? I know, I could fly to US, buy some dimmers and come
back in a second, but this is not a long term solution...

Probably those aren't questions for the xAP mailing list, but for those
questions I haven't found yet any answers.

Thanks alot,
Alex

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Hawkins" <<a
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To: <<a
href="/group/xap_automation/post?postID=wk_kIJTcNMkKRK8Jvhw7F7Jtlba6UBsxyUKEsIA5VYh_W5BYy4CPmDm4qYpjnksh4RGTwY4dlc0TNDq7ULztRDF-If_u">xap_automation@xxxxxxx</a>>
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 3:05 PM
Subject: RE: [xap_automation] x-10 hardware documentation


> Hi Alex - welcome to the list !
>
> Most of the talk here is focussed on xAP itself rather than X10
> although X10 can interact very nicely with xAP and there are xAP
schemas
in
> place to facilitate this.
> X10 is essential a whole other area and you will find lots of
> information on the internet covering this - a good place would be the
X10
> main site - and their support area at
<a href="http://www.x10.com/support/support.htm";>http://www.x10.com/support/support.htm</a>
> - unfortunately this site is one of the worst offenders for push
advertising
> - pop ups etc. There are many other sites of a technical nature around
X10
> and a Google search will be rewarding. You can also find helpful
people on
> the UKHA main list as almost everyone there uses X10 to varying
levels.
> To answer some specific issues you raised.. You can have 16 devices
> on each of 16 housecodes with X10 - so 256 total devices. The
communication
> is by a signal superimposed over the mains wiring - it is
unfortunately
not
> 100% reliable and not inherently error checked or guaranteed delivery
so
it
> can be a little quirky in use - however it is cheap and cheerful
> (particularly in the US)where the costs are way lower and the range of
> products more extensive. The transmission speed is relatively slow by
> network standards - I can't remember offhand the exact time for each
> transmission but I think it's around 20 cycles of the mains or so and
hence
> expect about a half second delay for anything to happen.
> xAP is essentially a protocol definition aimed at the
> interconnection of various disparate devices to allow them to exchange
> information or control each other is some way. As such it is
independent
of
> the physical interconnection between devices which could be any
electrical
> connection capable of exchanging data although typically this is a
serial
> interconnect or network (Ethernet). The networks are linked via a
software
> bridge application (should you have several networks which in practice
very
> few people do have). Your networks must also be interconnected
physically -
> perhaps by a standard hardware router.
> The speed of message transmission on xAP is simply dictated by your
> physical interconnect speed so at say 10-100MB/s it is to all intents
and
> purposes instantaneous. Some xAP applications are designed to talk
directly
> to each other (although as you will have read every xAP application
can
hear
> everyone else) - some people will implement xAP through a central
controller
> which will act as a coordinator for all the xAP traffic. Really the
solution
> is dependant on your needs.
>
> Kevin
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Alex Ciurea [mailto:<a
href="/group/xap_automation/post?postID=ffK1LfzqYfRDiAMJwP1sDe4y66ROzm7kl4xAE0WxLnAQtgudwbwcvDS-0YGQO1sAjQz1-Kq3sQ">alex@v...</a>]
> > Sent: 15 April 2003 08:10
> > To: <a
href="/group/xap_automation/post?postID=wk_kIJTcNMkKRK8Jvhw7F7Jtlba6UBsxyUKEsIA5VYh_W5BYy4CPmDm4qYpjnksh4RGTwY4dlc0TNDq7ULztRDF-If_u">xap_automation@xxxxxxx</a>
> > Subject: [xap_automation] x-10 hardware documentation
> >
> >
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > I'm new to this protocol and I could'n find a summary
> > documentation about X10.
> >
> > Where I could find a brief documentation about x-10
> > protocol? What hardware do I need to start my own
> > application?
> >
> > I need simple facts, like how many devices can I use
> > in a x-10 network, how fast can I send the commands to
> > my devices, what interface is used for decodeing the
> > xAP commands, how can I interlink two or more xAP
> > networks... etc...
> >
> > I've read some articles from www.xapautomation.org and
> > I've understood how I can identify my devices, and
> > other stuff (what can I say, those guys have done
> > their homeworks because there's a lot of detailed
> > documentation about xAP) but nothing practical about
> > x-10.
> >
> >
> > Thanks alot for your time and help,
> > Alex
> >
> >
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