Echelon LONWORKS Modules 35100 ISA W/ FTM-10 SMX

Technical Dossier

Product Details And Specifications

Echelon LONWORKS Series Technical Notes

The Echelon LONWORKS platform is one of the most widely deployed open-standard control networking architectures in global heavy industry. Installed across chemical processing plants, nuclear power facilities, oil refineries, building automation systems, and transportation infrastructure, LONWORKS-based hardware from Echelon Corporation established the ISO/IEC 14908 standard for peer-to-peer control networking. The 35100 ISA W/ FTM-10 SMX LONWORKS circuit board is a representative component of this ecosystem — an ISA-bus network interface card paired with the FTM-10 SMX Free Topology transceiver module, enabling nodes to communicate over twisted-pair TP/FT-10 channels at 78 kbps. These cards remain in active service in legacy SCADA and DCS environments where full system replacement is cost-prohibitive.

The Evolution of LONWORKS Architecture

Echelon introduced the LONWORKS technology stack in 1990, anchored by the Neuron Chip — a purpose-built 3-CPU microcontroller implementing the LonTalk protocol across all seven OSI layers. Early deployments used the ISA bus interface (e.g., the 35100 series cards) to connect host PCs to LONWORKS channels via plug-in transceivers. As the PC industry migrated from ISA to PCI and then PCIe, Echelon released successive generations of host-side adapters: the PCC-10 (PCMCIA), the PCI-10 (PCI bus), the U10/U20 (USB), and eventually the i.LON SmartServer for IP-based integration.

Transceiver technology evolved in parallel. The FTM-10 SMX module (Free Topology Transceiver, surface-mount) enabled flexible wiring topologies — bus, star, ring, or mixed — without termination constraints, replacing earlier TP/XF-78 and TP/XF-1250 fixed-topology transceivers. Later, the FT 6000 EVK and FT 5000 Smart Transceiver chips integrated the Neuron core and transceiver into a single IC, reducing BOM complexity for OEM designs. Compatibility across generations is maintained at the protocol level (LonTalk / ISO 14908-1), but physical layer interfaces (ISA, PCI, USB) are not interchangeable without host-side driver and hardware changes.

LONWORKS Full Catalog & Functionalities (SKU List)

The following SKUs represent verified components within the Echelon LONWORKS ecosystem, organized by functional category:

Network Interface Cards (Host Adapters)

• 35100 ISA W/ FTM-10 SMX: ISA-bus NIC with FTM-10 SMX TP/FT-10 transceiver, 78 kbps, free topology wiring
• 35000 ISA W/ TPT/XF-78: ISA-bus NIC with TP/XF-78 transceiver, 78 kbps, bus/star topology
• 72100 PCI-10: PCI-bus LONWORKS interface card, single-channel TP/FT-10, Windows driver support
• 72200 PCI-10: Dual-channel PCI LONWORKS NIC for high-density node management
• 73000 PCC-10: PCMCIA Type II LONWORKS adapter for portable/laptop integration
• 74000 U10: USB 1.1 LONWORKS network interface, single TP/FT-10 channel
• 74100 U20: USB 2.0 LONWORKS interface, enhanced throughput, plug-and-play

Transceiver Modules (SMX / Plug-in)

• FTM-10 SMX: Free Topology Transceiver Module, surface-mount, TP/FT-10, 78 kbps
• TPM-10 SMX: Twisted-pair bus topology transceiver module, 78 kbps
• PLM-10 SMX: Power line transceiver module, 5 kbps, CENELEC A-band
• FO-10 SMX: Fiber optic transceiver module for electrically noisy environments
• RF-10 SMX: 916 MHz RF transceiver module for wireless LONWORKS nodes

Routers & Repeaters

• LR-10: LONWORKS repeater, extends TP/FT-10 channel segment length
• LR-20: Dual-channel LONWORKS router, bridges two independent TP/FT-10 channels
• i.LON 100: Internet Server / router, bridges LONWORKS to IP via LNS or standalone mode
• i.LON 600: LONWORKS to IP router with embedded LNS server, DIN-rail mount
• i.LON SmartServer 2.0: Programmable IIoT gateway, LONWORKS + BACnet + Modbus + IP

Development & Evaluation Kits

• FT 5000 EVK: FT 5000 Smart Transceiver evaluation kit, Neuron core + TP/FT-10
• FT 6000 EVK: FT 6000 Smart Transceiver evaluation kit, enhanced processing, 3.3V

Sourcing Hard-to-Find & Obsolete LONWORKS Parts

Echelon Corporation was acquired by Adesto Technologies in 2018, which was subsequently acquired by Dialog Semiconductor in 2020, and then by Renesas Electronics in 2021. Throughout these ownership transitions, production of legacy ISA-bus and early PCI-bus LONWORKS hardware was discontinued. The 35100 ISA W/ FTM-10 SMX and related ISA-generation cards are no longer manufactured and are classified as end-of-life (EOL) components.

Quality Control for the LONWORKS Range

LONWORKS network interface cards present specific test challenges due to their dual-domain architecture: the host-side bus interface (ISA, PCI, or USB) and the LONWORKS channel-side transceiver must both be independently verified before a unit is released. DriveKNMS applies the following test protocol to all LONWORKS NIC inventory:

• Host Bus Continuity: ISA edge connector pin-out verified against Echelon hardware specification Rev. 4.x. Address decode logic and interrupt lines tested under active bus conditions.
• Neuron Chip Verification: Neuron 3150 or 3120 chip identity confirmed via LonMaker or NodeUtil query. Firmware application image and system image versions logged.
• Transceiver Module Functional Test: FTM-10 SMX module tested on a live TP/FT-10 channel segment. Packet transmission and reception verified at 78 kbps with CRC error rate < 0.01%.
• LNS Binding Test: Card enrolled into a test LNS network database. Functional blocks bound and polled to confirm NV (Network Variable) exchange integrity.
• Thermal Soak: Units cycled between 0°C and 55°C for 4 hours to screen for cold-solder and thermal-expansion failures on SMX transceiver pads.