Market-leading KNX innovations for the next 10 years: IoT, Energy Management and Secure presented at Light + Building

The culmination of years of joint efforts by the KNX Association and its members is now available in the form of the new KNX specifications V3.0. And their most important innovations for KNX IoT, Energy Management with KNX and KNX Secure were presented at Light + Building from the 2nd to the 6th of October. Visitors of the KNX booths at the world's most important trade fair for home and building automation received a comprehensive overview of the key components of the new KNX specifications as well as the latest features of the ETS6 configuration tool.

First products and solutions based on the KNX IoT 3rd Party API in the KNX IoT showroom

After the first set of KNX IoT specifications was approved as a standard last year, KNX Members worked hard to bring the first products and solutions to market, which were showcased at the KNX booth in hall 12.0. In the special KNX IoT showroom - one of the numerous KNX highlights at this year's Light + Building - visitors were able to experience all innovations: from Schneider Electric's "Wiser for KNX", the first server in the market offering the KNX IoT 3rd Party API server functionality, to the first KNX IoT 3rd Party API clients. These include SIM-ON, a software solution developed by SIMLAB consisting of a visualisation environment based on a 3D reconstruction of a building, and the ARAGON Smart Speaker, a unique smart speaker from ProKNX that works offline by design. All KNX IoT 3rd Party API clients also benefit from an enhanced KNX connectivity, which enables a better control and interaction of KNX installations and an improved experience for users and system integrators. Thanks to the KNX IoT 3rd Party API, KNX enables unprecedented cooperation between KNX Members for faster developments, smoother integration and reduced development costs regarding the soon to be released KNX devices using this IoT technology.

New KNX open-source stack for IPv6-based KNX devices

At the Light + Building, KNX Association announced the availability of an open-source stack for KNX devices communicating on IPv6 networks. This opens up the possibility of using several new physical layers (including Thread as a wireless solution, but also Wi-Fi, Ethernet or even Single Pair Ethernet) with the same interoperability, vendor-independent configuration and future-proof investment philosophy. The new open-source stack and a corresponding ETS app for configuring virtual KNX IoT Point API devices were also presented at the KNX booth as part of the KNX IoT showroom in hall 12.0 B91. Not only were all visitors able to experience the future IPv6-based KNX devices, but developers now have the opportunity to start their developments using the open-source stack, freely available on GitLAb.

400 KNX Secure devices and counting, bringing added value to KNX installations

Cybersecurity and the broad portfolio of KNX Secure devices have been in focus for a long time. This has grown in recent years through heavy investments by both KNX Members and KNX Association in the development of tangible KNX Secure products and solutions. KNX Secure is designed to meet the highest encryption standards according to ISO 18033-3, such as AES 128 CCM encryption, to effectively prevent attacks on the digital infrastructure of buildings. In 2022, it received the "Information security tested Smart Home and Building" certification from the VDE (Association for Electrical, Electronic import_contentamp; Information Technologies). This VDE certification, along with the robust KNX certification of each individual KNX Secure product, underlines that KNX Secure protects KNX installations even better against possible cyber-attacks. Today, more than 400 KNX Secure devices are certified. All of these products have been subjected to the stringent KNX certification process, in which their conformity to the implemented AES128 authentication and encryption mechanisms was put to the test. The interplay of KNX Secure technology, KNX Secure products and the ETS configuration tool brings a new dimension of added value to KNX installations.

Energy Management with KNX has become a European standard in the smart home industry

KNX has also paved the way in the field of energy management: together with other associations, a new Energy Management standard in homes has been designed by CENELEC TC 205, the relevant technical committee for developing standards in home and building automation. Recently, it has become a European standard, EN50491-12. KNX and its KNX Members have developed new products and solutions, such as: the control of PV panels, charging stations, home battery control, heat pump control, white-good appliances, customer energy manager and more. Combined with already existing traditional applications like smart metering and timers, KNX offers the possibility to integrate all possible energy management applications using only the KNX ecosystem. Thus, commercial and domestic building companies can find the right approach for their business case.

ETS is continuously evolving

In this KNX ecosystem, ETS has become the most important tool, as it is the only tool capable of configuring the portfolio of more than 8,000 KNX devices from more than 500 manufacturers, used by more than 100,000 certified installers. Due to its importance, KNX is constantly releasing new features for this tool: one of them is the cloud licensing model, which offers two different types of licenses, an ETS6 license on a dongle or in the cloud. This is very practical for those who want to start using ETS right away, as they can download and license it in a minute. In addition, KNX now offers all KNX newcomers the opportunity to get started with KNX without spending a single cent. All they need to do is successfully pass the online eCampus training to get a free ETS Lite license. The course can be attended for free at: https://ecampus.knx.org