Instabus, is a decentralized open system to manage and control electrical devices within a facility. It is developed by Berker, Gira, Jung, Merten and

Siemens AG Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

. There are about 200 companies of electrical supplies using this communication protocol. The European Installation Bus (EIB) allows all electrical components to be interconnected through an electrical bus. Every component is able to send commands to other components, no matter where they are. A typical EIB network is made of electrical components such as

switches In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

, pulsers,

electric motor An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...

s, electrovalves,

contactors :''In semiconductor testing, contactors can also be referred to as the specialized socket that connects the device under test.'' :''In process industries, a contactor is a vessel where two streams interact, for example, air and liquid. See Gas ...

, and

sensors A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...

. This electrical bus is made of a 2x2x0,8mm

twisted pair Twisted pair cabling is a type of wiring used for communications in which two conductors of a single circuit are twisted together for the purposes of improving electromagnetic compatibility. Compared to a single conductor or an untwisted ba ...

cable, that connects all devices within the network. The theoretical maximum number of components is 57375. EIB system was developed to increase power savings, security, comfort and flexibility.

System control

Although the EIB is a decentralized system and doesn't need any

electric switchboard An electric switchboard is a device that distributes electricity from one or more sources of supply to several smaller load circuits. It is an assembly of one or more panels, each of which contains switching devices for the protection and contro ...

or control console, it's possible to implement a PC based monitoring system to check device status and to send manual or pre-programmed commands to one or more components of the network.

Convergence with other standards

The Konnex

KNX (standard) KNX is an open standard (see EN 50090, ISO/IEC 14543) for commercial and domestic building automation. KNX devices can manage lighting, blinds and shutters, HVAC, security systems, energy management, audio video, white goods, displays, remote ...

was developed as a result of the convergence between EIB, BCi and EHSA.

External links

The Konnex Standard
{{Automation protocols Building automation Home automation Computer buses