DISTRIBUTED I/O
25 EN0B-0090
Operating Modes
It is important to remember the following definitions:
Local
The term "local" refers to an operating mode in which a max. 
of 16 Distributed I/O modules are connected to a single host 
Excel 50/500 controller via a L
ONWORKS bus, and in which no
other devices co-exist on that bus. In this mode, the Distributed I/O modules are assigned to their host Excel 50/500 
controller automatically, and autobinding is performed.
Shared
The term "shared" means that, aside from the host Excel 500 
controller and its Distributed I/O modules, other devices 
(which may include other Excel 500 controllers with their own 
Distributed I/O modules, Excel 50 or Excel 10 controllers, or 
3
rd
-party devices) co-exist on the LONWORKS bus. In the 
shared mode, autobinding may still be used for the NVs of a 
maximum of 16 Distributed I/O modules assigned (manually) 
exclusively to the host Excel 500 controller.
NOTE: It is recommended that you use CARE to assign the
Distributed I/O modules to the host Excel 500 controller (i.e. to enter the Distributed I/O modules' 
Neuron IDs). The alternative is to assign them using 
the MMI.
Open
The term "open" refers to an interoperable LONWORKS sys- 
tem in which CARE has been used to generate a L
ONMARK
compliant network interface file capable of providing NVs 
which can be bound to other devices (which may include 
other Excel 500 controllers with their own Distributed I/O 
modules, Excel 50 or Excel 10 controllers, or third-party 
devices). In the open operating mode, the NVs of the Distributed I/O modules exceeding 16 must be bound manually 
using a L
ONWORKS network management tool (an LNS-based
tool capable of using Honeywell plug-ins is recommended).
Combined Shared and Open Mode
The shared and the open operating modes can be in effect 
simultaneously. In this case, autobinding is performed for the 
NVs of a maximum of 16 Distributed I/O modules, while the 
data points of additional Distributed I/O modules must be 
mapped with shared NVs, and the NVs of the additional Distributed I/O modules must be bound manually (e.g. using an 
LNS-based tool).
Autobinding
When Distributed I/O modules are used exclusively by 
Honeywell Excel 500 controllers, it is possible to automatically bind their NVs to the controller. This is referred to 
as "autobinding." In autobinding, each controller on the bus 
finds the Distributed I/O modules assigned to it and binds the 
required NVs.
IMPORTANT:
Autobinding does not work across routers. Distributed I/O modules must be located within the 
same router segment as the controller to which their 
NVs are to be bound. However, autobinding is 
possible across repeaters.
IMPORTANT:
The autobound NVs of a controller are not visible to 
a L
ONWORKS network management tool, and there is
hence no danger that a careless user will attempt to 
re-bind them. However, the NVs of the Distributed 
I/O modules are visible to a L
ONWORKS network
management tool. Any attempt to re-bind the autobound NVs of Distributed I/O modules will corrupt 
the autobindings. In such a case, the Excel 500 controller will restore the autobindings automatically, but 
there will be numerous system and application 
alarms as a result.
If, prior to autobinding, the Distributed I/O modules 
have been accessed by a L
ONWORKS network
management tool, the modules will remain in the 
“configured” mode. In this state, they cannot be 
found by the controller during autobinding, and they 
do not appear in the list of modules on the controller 
MMI. Such modules must be decommissioned using 
the L
ONWORKS network management tool, or the
L
ONWORKS service pin must be pressed for at least
three seconds.
If an Excel 500 controller in the shared/open mode is deleted 
from the LonMaker project, all of its bindings will also be 
deleted. In this case, the Excel 500 controller will restore all 
of the autobindings (if any) automatically after 3 minutes 
(provided no bindings are performed or changed in LonMaker 
in the meantime), but there will be numerous system and 
application alarms as a result.
Assignment
There are two methods of assigning Distributed I/O modules 
to a particular Excel 500 controller.
Recommended assignment method
The Ideal approach is to know the Neuron IDs of the Distributed I/O modules when engineering the application using 
CARE, thus enabling you to enter the Neuron ID during the 
CARE terminal assignment. When this is done, every module 
will be fully identified and assigned automatically by the Excel 
500 controller after the application is downloaded.
Alternate assignment method
If the Neuron ID is not available when engineering the 
application using CARE, it will be possible to correctly assign 
the Distributed I/O modules to their controller(s) only after 
having downloaded the application. In this case, assignment 
is performed via the MMI as described in detail in the 
XI581/XI582 User Guide, EN2B-0126.
IMPORTANT:
It is essential that Distributed I/O modules not be 
assigned simultaneously via different MMIs. When 
using the alternative assignment method, work on 
only one MMI at a time so as to avoid competing 
network accesses. Disregarding this will result in 
contradictory and unreliable assignments. There will 
be incomplete Distributed I/O module lists displayed, 
and there is the danger that one controller will take 
away an existent assignment from another 
controller.