While gateways add a certain complexity to a system design, they are a critical component to enable creating real systems where legacy components are required. Real-World Applications Below are descriptions of several applications where LonWorks has been successfully linked into the customers IP enterprise network using Coactive connectivity products. These applications span the full range of device types discussed above and encompass a variety of industries. A large manufacturer of casino gaming equipment uses LonWorks to monitor slot machine performance and provide intelligent maintenance functions. Each machine has several LonWorks nodes which are linked into a common network to transfer data to the backoffice computer systems.
System sizes for a typical installation range from a few to hundreds of machines on a network.
A LonWorks application running on the backoffice system is responsible for monitoring the nodes and transferring player and status data to other backoffice applications and databases. The system was initially designed around serial interfaces to LonWorks. The backoffice computer system is Unix-based. As system size grew the serial interfaces became a bottleneck due to slow speed and the poor serial capabilities of Unix. This solution needed to support all LonWorks features including network management and explicit messages.