FW: C-Bus Protocol - Public Release

[Kevin Hawkins]

Good news..

Clipsal have now been persuaded that there are compelling reasons to
make some of their C-Bus protocol information available to more people !
Which I think is a great step forward for all HA enthusiasts !

They have provided a 'Public Release' version of the protocol which
is available after agreeing to the 'license conditions' on their web page
available at <a href="http://www.clipsal.com/cis/profile.php3";>http://www.clipsal.com/cis/profile.php3</a>
(click on the C-Bus
Protocol link). You need to complete the 'personal use' version &amp;
provide a
'reason' for needing this information.

The information contained in this public release is a subset of the
full protocol but I think is adequate for all the basic control needs that
people will have - the full protocol still requires that you go along the
official C-Bus 'developer' route. Compliance with the C-Bus protocol
feature set is accredited at 6 levels, this public release allows Level 1
and some of the Level 2 compliance.

The xAP to C-Bus gateway utilises a fuller protocol set as will the
HomeVision to C-Bus gateway device (a small box that sits between
HomeVision
and C-Bus). This allows greater functionality particularly in the area of
status management and tighter interconnectivity between C-Bus and external
devices. My internal macro solution for HomeVision to control C-Bus will
use this 'Public Release' protocol and people intending to use this macro
solution will require a personal license but I can arrange them through the
'third party' route.

For more info on the HomeVision solution see my recent post on the
HomeVision Users list

Thread "HardWired Lighting Support"
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homevision-users/message/6359";>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homevision-users/message/6359</a>

As previously aired on the xAP list people who were looking to use
the xAP to C-Bus gateway solely for a means to 'get at' C-Bus now have an
alternative way to achieve this, and of course HomeVision will provide yet
another route shortly. The xAP to C-Bus gateway is available now although
some features (the web server pages etc) will be added later and schemas
are
not final.

Kevin