Specifications
Page 73
EN54 FIREFINDER PLUS 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 Networking
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 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 any Node 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.
13.2 Network Interface Card
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.
The Bias SW2 defaults to ON. SW2 is only switched to OFF when direct connecting the network to
external devices such as Optical Fibre Modems.
The Isolate SW3 Allows the network node to be isolated from the network
COMMS
0V
3V3
OFF
ON
TX OUTRX OUT
TX INRX IN
PANEL
RX
PANEL
TX
POWER
MAIN BOARD INTERFACE
+
RESET
+
-
SHD SHD
-
COMMS IN COMMS OUT
HEARTBEAT
ACTIVE
MASTER
26/07/2010
BRD86NIC1-
SHIELD
LINK
JTAG
ISOLATED
BIAS
0V
L7 C26
CN4
U6
R35
R34
L9
C37
C39
ZD11 ZD12
ZD10
U9
ZDN1
X1
SW1
R43
R38
R28
R36
R27
R42
R44
R46
R45
R15
R22
R33
R32
R40
R21R20
R31
Q2
D16
D17
D8
D9
D18
D15
D10
D3
D6
C9
C1
C41
C24
C44
C32
C33
C48
C46
C42
C36
C25
L1
L4
R4
R11
C12
C8
C11
C23
C3
C6
C10
C13
C7
C2
C21
C31
C16
C35
C47
C40
C34
C20
C5
C17
C18
C15
C29
C27
C22
C14
C4
CN2
CN3
CN1
CN5 CN6
D13 D14
D1
D2
D12
D4
D7
L3
L5
L6
L2
L8
LK1
Q1
R18
R9
R13
R5
R19
R6
R7
R30
R3
R16
R2
R12
R10
R24
R14
R25
R29
R17
R37
R23
R1
R8
-L
C2
C1NC1
NC2 NO2
NO1
+L
RL1
-L
C2
C1NC1
NC2 NO2
NO1
+L
RL2
SW2
SW3
T1
TB1 TB2
TH1
TH4
TH2
TH3
U1
U2
U5
U4
U7
U3
U10
U8
ZD7
ZD4
ZD3
ZD8
ZD2
ZD5
ZD6
ZD9
ZD1
ZD13
C43
C38
D5
N1236
D11
C28
C45
TH6
TH5
ZDN2
R41
C19
C30
R26
RS485
COMMS
IN
RS485
COMMS
OUT
R39
27VDC
IN / OUT
TO CN18
BRD86MBA
BOARD
Figure 100: Network Interface Board Layout