User Guide
Document No. 145-1006
March 23, 2015
Siemens AX Appliance
General Description
The Siemens AX Appliance is an integrated bundle of
hardware and software designed for BAS Webenablement of Siemens BACnet products. It provides
out-of-the-box internet-enabled products that offer
access to real-time equipment data using easy-to-use
Web pages.
Features of the Siemens AX Appliance include:
Built on the Niagara AX framework, and
works on the Niagara network with or without
the BACnet Driver.
Contains a custom user interface.
Offers the same user experience in
Workbench, TALON Workstation, and the
TALON Network Manager.
Designed to interact with the Siemens
BACnet Terminal Equipment Controllers.
Can be used with Heat Pump, Fan Coil, and
Unit Vent applications.
Contains pre-built graphics for most PTECs
and all ATECs.
Drag and drop history creation.
Alarming
NOTE: The control/room temperature point
is the only point in the Siemens Appliance
that is automatically alarmed by default.
Installation
The Siemens Appliance is installed by using the
default station that is delivered with the installation
program called SiemensApplianceNewTcDriver. This
station database can be customized and then used
as the default station database.
Updating the Appliance Project Station
If you previously used the Siemens Appliance to
create a station database with the station file
SiemensApplianceJACE_Rev3, and you want to
upgrade to the current version of the Appliance on the
same station database, you must create a new
station database with the station file
“SiemensApplianceNewTcDriver” and then customize
it using the Niagara system.
Browser Support
The Siemens AX Appliance allows you to:
Create graphics that can be reused for an
application.
Use a summary (or overview page) with
multiple graphics from multiple applications.
Choose/configure properties to use.
Control logic that isn’t part of the actual
controller (trend logs, and so on).
Navigate between graphics using the tree
view.
Customize the logo on the screen.
Concepts
Simplified system configuration with device
discovery setup screens.
Auto creation and mapping of points to
appropriate graphical controls.
Internet Explorer 8.0 or later, or Firefox 3.6 or
later, Google Chrome 28.0.1500.72 or later.
Cookies must be enabled.
Browser must be capable of running and
displaying Adobe Flash Player Plug-in 11.5 or
later.
Start-up Procedures
Configuring TECs for the Appliance
TEC controllers are set up for use with the Siemens
Appliance using WCIS. Using the proper start-up
procedure automatically creates the database.
1. In the Siemens Appliance, the following fields
must be defined using WCIS:
MAC address
Application number
Unique Object Instance
1
Object Name (12 Character Max)
Device Location
Device Description
2. Populate the Description field with the building,
floor, and AHU numbers, as follows (maximum of
60 alphanumeric characters):
Building#.Floor#.AHU# (for example,
“BLDG215.FLOOR2.AHU5”). You must use a
period as a delimiter. The Building Number field
is required. The Floor Number and AHU
Number fields are optional. For example, if you
define a string as Bldg215..AHU5, then the Floor
Number will be omitted from the parsing. The
AHU# field is to be used on VAV Box controllers
as it defines which Air Handler will service the
VAV box. Blank spaces default to underscores.
3. From the discovered items, you can add a single
controller or all controllers (not multiple
individually-selected controllers). To add a single
controller at a time, click Add Selected. Click
OK. To add all the discovered controllers, click
Add All. Click OK. The controllers will be read
and added to the appliance database by their
object name, location, description, and
application number information.
4. Click Create Navigation. A navigation tree is
created in the right-hand pane.
Using the Appliance
Using the Web browser, log in to the station using
your credentials and do one of the following:
Select the Siemens_Main option
3. Populate the Location field with the room
number and tenant name as follows (maximum of
60 alphanumeric characters): Room#.Tenant
Name (for example, Room312.Siemens).
You must use a period as a delimiter.
NOTE: The Tenant Name field does not need to
be entered, but the Room# field is required.
Blank spaces default to underscores.
4. Connect to the station using a Web browser, and
log in using the administrator account. Once
connected, select the Siemens_Database
option, or use the following example on the
browser URL:
http://192.168.10.127/ord?station:|slot:/Siemens_
Database
Using the Discovery/Database and Navigation
Wizard
1. BACnet network: Change the network settings
to search the desired BACnet networks.
TC Driver Network: Select Discover and enter
the IP address of one of the IP-based TC
controllers. Discovery will be done automatically.
Proceed to Step 3.
Niagara Network: Select Discover. Only JACE
stations on the same subnetwork will be
discovered. Other devices must be entered
manually. Proceed to Step 3.
2. Perform a discovery to locate all of the
controllers. The discovery can be filtered to
search a limited range of device instances using
a minimum/maximum. All collected information is
stored in a temporary folder. Only controllers with
a vendor number of 7 are saved; others are
discarded.
Use the following URL example:
http://192.168.10.127/ord?station:|slot:/
Siemens_Main
Summary Page
Clicking a summary page in the left navigation tree
displays a dynamic graphical summary of all items
from that section, such as all VAVs for a specific air
handler, floor, or tenant.
From the summary graphic, you can select a device
and click the Expand button at the top right of the
pane to see an overview of that device.
You can minimize the information for that device by
clicking the Minimize button at the top right of the
pane.
Alarm Button
The Alarm button at the top of the pane allows you to
open an alarm console. By default there are two
consoles; main and default. You can use Siemens
Workstation AX to define other consoles if desired.
The alarm console displays alarm information and
allows you to interact with the alarms as though you
were using Tridium.
Color coding follows Tridium standards.
Rollup Build (VAVs only)
Rollup information (minimum/maximum/averages) is
built automatically at midnight. The Rollup information
can be built manually at any time using the Rollup
Build button in the Appliance view on the Current
DB tab.
Charting
2
The Charting button allows you to select a history
point and view it as a graphical chart. You can select
multiple points to be charted.
Detailed Equipment Screen
The summary screen shows an overview of the
device: day or night mode, temperatures, airflow, and
so on. The view can be expanded to show the
graphics.
Adding a Custom PTEC Application
NOTE: For video demonstrations, see the Vantage
Web site.
NOTE: All custom applications must be built using
the BACnet Driver. When you run the appliance, the
device and points are converted to the TC Driver.
1. Copy the controller that the new application is
going to be modeled after from the Siemens
Appliance palette into your file system on the
station.
2. Make any necessary edits.
Unit Vent Application Graphics
Unit Vent TECs allow several possible configurations
for each application. Select the appropriate graphic
for the application by setting the value of the
ControlSelect (enumerated) point to match the
CONTROL number from the Application Note
document for that application.
Device History (Trending)
To create a device history:
1. From a detailed graphic page, drag-and-drop
a device icon to the History button at the top
of the screen.
2. Click the History icon at the top of the
screen.
All active history extensions in this zone will
display in a drop-down list.
3. Select the chart to be viewed, and click the
View History button at the bottom of the
screen.
Once the device history displays, the time of
the viewed data can be changed.
3. If you are adding new points to the controller,
enter the correct point type. Use the Object
Instance for each point.
Balancing Information
4. Make any changes to the graphics using either
FIN or PX, and apply the changes to the new
application in your file system.
To view and modify balancing information, pull the
Balancing Screen down from the top of the pane.
The Balancing Screen is denoted with an asterisk (*).
5. Reference this new location for the application
number that you will be using by defining this in
the SiemensAppliance Service. You must add an
additional slot (a string slot) to the proper service.
NOTE: You can restrict user access to balancing
information by removing their access to the Air
Balance category in Tridium’s category services.
TEC Application Notes
From the detailed graphics screen, click the
envelope icon to access the appropriate application
notes document:
Commanding
To access point command options:
In the navigation pane, click the pencil icon
next to the point you want to command. Point
command options will display.
Searching
To search the navigation tree, type part of the search
string into the search box in the left navigation pane
(for example, type 10 to find VAV_104).
Navigating
The navigation tree is grouped according to
how your job is organized (for example,
Building_24, AHU_1, AHU_2). Navigation is
built dynamically based on the chosen
device’s naming structure.
When an item is selected in the navigation
pane, the associated graphic displays in the
right pane.
The graphic’s point name and point value
display.
To view more information about the point:
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1. Drag-and-drop the point value to the
history icon.
2. Click the star in the upper right of the
screen.
A Configuration Settings window
opens with more point information.
3. To close the Configuration Settings
window, click the star on the bottom
of the window.
Siemens Appliance Videos
For video demonstrations of the Siemens Appliance
features, see the Vantage Web site.
Information in this publication is based on current specifications. The company reserves the right to make changes in
specifications and models as design improvements are introduced. TALON is a registered trademark of Siemens Industry, Inc.
Other product or company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. © 2015 Siemens
Industry, Inc.
Siemens Industry, Inc.
Building Technologies Division
1000 Deerfield Parkway
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-4513
USA
+ 1 847-215-1000
Your feedback is important to us. If you have comments about
this document, please send them to
sbt_technical.editor.us.sbt@siemens.com.
Document No. 145-1006
Printed in the USA
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