News

RTI goes Two-Way

 
The launch of RTI’s two-way communication platform coincides with the introduction of several new additions to the RTI family of control solutions. In addition to the release of Integration Designer 7.0, new two-way compatible 2.4GHz ZigBee® versions of the T2-C, T3-V, and T4 wireless system controllers and the ZM-24 2.4GHz ZigBee® Transceiver Module are available. 
Firmware updates for existing XP-8 Control Processors and RK3/K4 In-wall Controllers raise the capabilities of existing RTI gear.

Watch the Introduction and Programming Video:

              

The launch of RTI’s two-way communication platform coincides with the introduction of several new additions
to the RTI family of control solutions:

• In the handheld category, new two-way compatible 2.4GHz ZigBee® versions of the
  T2-C, T3-V, and T4 wireless system controllers are available.
• Additionally, the ZM-24, a new 2.4GHz ZigBee® transceiver is available,
  connecting to two-way compatible RTI processors and allowing two-way communications with compatible wireless products.
• The ZB-Pro Professional Network Configuration Tool will also be made available for dealer purchase.
  This allows the integrator to wirelessly configure ZM-24 repeater modules.
• Firmware updates will be made available to several existing products, allowing them to become two-way compatible.
  These products include the XP-8 system controller, the RK3 and K4 in-wall touchpanels,
  and the T2-C, T3-V and T4 wireless system controllers.
• A second phase of the two-way launch will consist of two additional two-way compatible processors,
  the ZRP-6 and the MRP-64 multi-room control processor.
• Firmware updates to the RKM-1, RK1, and RK2 in-wall products will also be made available
  during the second phase of the two-way launch.

The XP-8 advanced central control processor, utilizing firmware 2.0 or higher, now has the ability to communicate via two-way RS-232 or IP over Ethernet with third party equipment. Combined with the infrared and relay control capabilities already available, the XP-8 can now control and receive feedback from many devices.
The introduction of ZigBee® technology to the T2-C, T3-V and T4 allows this meta-data to be transferred wirelessly from the XP-8 to a 2.4 GHz handheld remote, utilizing one or more ZM-24 transceivers.
Additionally the RK3 and K4 can communicate with and receive feedback from the XP-8 via the Ethernet connection.
Future firmware updates will allow communication using the Control port of all RTI in-wall products.

Keeping with RTI’s goal of a single, user-friendly programming interface, RTI is launching Integration Designer 7.0, the latest version of its acclaimed programming software.
Integration Designer 7.0 will continue to be able to program all existing one-way RTI products will continue to use Integration Designer, in addition to allowing programmers to easily take advantage of the new two-way communication platform.
Through it’s Integration Partnership program, RTI has teamed with many industry leading companies to ensure seamless two-way communications control.
Two-way drivers have been added for simple, drag-and-drop programming of two-way control.
While the driver database is continually being added to, the initial software release includes support for popular products such as the Escient Fireball and Vision, Aprilaire thermostats, Lutron Homeworks and RadioRA, as well as Denon, Yamaha, Marantz, and Integra receivers.

Software - All of the following

- Integration Designer 7.0 or higher
- Firmware updates for two-way enabled RTI equipment
- Drivers for two-way compatible devices (receiver, lighting, music server etc)

Hardware - One from each category

Two-way enabled control processor
- XP-8 
- ZRP-6 (Release Date: 3rd Quarter 2009)
- MRP-64 (Release Date: 3rd Quarter 2009)
NOTE: The ZRP-5 control processor will be able to communicate with Zigbee® enabled remote controls via a ZM-24 Transceiver Module, however it will not allow two-way feedback.

Wireless two-way control

Handheld Remote Control
New Zigbee® enabled wireless remote controls (T2-C, T3-V, T4)
NOTE: Existing 433MHz RF versions of remote controls are not capable of utilizing two-way communication, and there is no way to upgrade existing remote controls.

and

Transceiver Module - Antenna
- ZM-24 2.4GHz Transceiver Module (utilizing Zigbee® wireless technology)
- ZB-Pro Professional 2.4 GHz Network Management Tool (Optional)
This tool is used to program ZM-24 modules when more than one is used in an installation. If only one ZM-24 is used, the ZB-Pro is not necessary.

In-wall two-way control

In-wall controller
- RK3 or K4 in-wall controller with the latest firmware loaded.
NOTE: Existing RKM-1, RK-1 and RK-2 controllers are not capable of utilizing two-way control, however they can be used with any processor for one-way control. A future firmware updates for these products will enable two-way feedback.

1) Download and install Integration Designer 7.0 or higher IMPORTANT INSTALLATION
NOTE: The default location for .rti system files and IR/RS232 library files (.cml/.rs232lib) has been moved to the My Documents\Integration Designer\ folder (or Documents\Integration Designer folder if you are using Windows Vista®). The installation will not delete or move existing files created by Integration Designer (or its predecessor TheaterTouch Designer).

2) Download two-way drivers for devices being controlled
Two-way drivers are not included with Integration Designer and are a separate download from the Drivers page of the the RTI web site. - Drivers are "installed" by opening the control processor in Integration Designer, going to the Drivers tab and clicking the "Add Driver" button. NOTE: The recommended location for these drivers is My Documents\Integration Designer\Control Drivers. PROGRAMMING NOTE: If more than one identical device is going to be controlled (ex. two of the same model of receiver), another instance of the driver must be "installed" in the control processor.

3) Update firmware on RTI equipment
Two-way enabled RTI equipment must have the latest firmware version installed. For all currently-available devices this is version 2.0 or higher.

4) Verify the properties of the RTI equipment is set correctly

• Add the RTI control devices to the system file.
• Enable firmware version 2.0 support:
  There is a checkbox located in the General tab of each device properties that must be checked to enable two-way control and other features added in firmware version 2.0.
• Output properties: The Default Output section on the Output tab of each device's properties must be set to "Two-Way Trigger Codes", and the Two-Way Transport section must be set as follows:
  - Wireless Zigbee® Remote Controls- Set to "Zigbee"
  - In-wall controllers - Set to "Ethernet"

NOTE: The first release of two-way control with in-wall controllers (RK3/K4) will only utilize two-way control via the Ethernet. A second phase of two-way control will enable RS-485 as a communication method, however, RS-485 is slower and is not recommended for feedback that requires high data speeds (album art, song lists etc). - Network Key: Each system file will get a randomly generated Network Key. This key does not need to be changed unless networking issues arise and changing the key may be regenerated as a troubleshooting tool.

5) Define driver properties
Each two-way driver has a set of properties that must be defined.
Click on the control processor in the system file and click on the Drivers tab.
Select the appropriate driver in the list of installed drivers and select the settings that will be used.

NOTE: Click the "Get Info" button for each driver to see more information on how to configure that driver.

6) Program ZM-24 Transceiver Module (only if ZM-24s are used as wireless repeaters)
The ZM-24 that is hard-wired to the Zigbee® enabled control processor does not need to be programmed.
Additional ZM-24 modules do not need to be wired back to the control processor, however, they do need to be programmed as a "repeater" using the ZB-Pro. Plug in the ZB-Pro to a USB port on your PC. Go to the Communications menu in Integration Designer and follow the ZM-24 programming wizard.
NOTE: The ZM-24 must be within 10feet (3M) of the ZB-Pro for this programming.

The two-way programming process uses the same basic methods of drag and drop that is used for IR and RS-232 control (when programmed using the RS-232 library browser). In addition, the graphical layout of displays on controllers can be customized to meet the needs of the programmer and the installation. In order to keep programming as intuitive as possible, the methods used to program two-way control is the same no matter which model of controller that is used and even which communication type that will be utilized (Ethernet, Zigbee® or RS485).

1. Perform all of the steps listed above in the "Basic two-way installation steps" section.
2. Layout the controller pages and display graphics.
   Using the page wizards or page layouts you've created, layout the pages on the remote for the devices being controlled.
3. Draw buttons for text based feedback.
   Use the Draw Button tool to create buttons that will include text based feedback (ex. current temperature, current station etc) - Go into the button properties to set the font and font size.
4. Add dynamic images for visual feedback.
   Go to the Graphics tab of the library browser to find appropriate graphic that will display the current state of a device. (ex. slider bar for current volume, power on/off etc).
5. Choose a driver to use.
   This is similar to selecting a new remote from a IR library.
   Go to the Drivers tab of the Library Browser and click on Select Driver, then select the driver that will be used from the list of installed drivers. NOTE: All two-way communication drivers are developed by RTI, it is not possible to write custom drivers.
6. Program the buttons with Driver Commands.
   Once a driver has been chosen, the library browser will display a list of driver commands and variables that are possible. Driver commands are the actual commands used for control of the device (power, volume etc) - Drag the driver commands on to the appropriate buttons.
7. Assign variables to buttons.
   Variables change the visual state or text on a button reflecting feedback from the device that is being controlled. The list of possible variable options is the same for every driver. Variables can be assigned to buttons that also have a driver command assigned to it.. - For text based buttons - Either drag a variable on to the button from the library browser or select the variable from within the Text tab of the button properties. - For dynamic graphic buttons - Drag a variable from the library browser.

NOTE: Dynamic graphics must have a variable assigned to them to show feedback.

Some button programming examples:

Preset channel
It is possible to have a text based button that displays the current preset channel when power is on, and is blank when the power is off

AM/FM band button
Program the driver command to change the AM/FM band in macro, while the button text variable shows which band is currently selected.

Driver Events
Within the XP-8 programming an event can be triggered based the state of a device being controlled changing.
(ex. Lutron light switch is turned on > an event can trigger a system macro to also turn on some music)

Page links on other devices
From within a macro, a page link can be performed on another two-way enabled device.
• In the macro editor, select the page link function
• Select the device from the list of compatible controllers and the page link.

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