Page 199 - Advanced Course

KNX ADVANCED COURSE

2 KNX and Intruder Alarm Technology

2.1 General

KNX enables simple security and monitoring applications to be implemented. The
requirements that are placed on the property or the installation must be taken into
account. It is not possible to set up intruder alarm systems in the strict VdS sense. You
can determine whether a VdS system is required from the structural constraints or
insurance standards.

It should be pointed out only “simple” applications can be implemented. In addition,
systems which have been implemented with KNX cannot be called intruder alarm
systems. The term ‘information centre, information system etc.’ is used to avoid confusion.

2.1.1 Structure of a VdS Alarm System
The following example shows an alarm system with an optional KNX gateway that has
been set up in accordance with VdS.

Alarm
system

Visualisation

Figure 1: VdS alarm control unit with KNX gateway

If the alarm control unit has a KNX gateway, it is possible to display information and the
states of the alarm control unit on a visualisation screen. In addition, the information can
be used within the KNX installation e.g. to switch on the lighting centrally (panic function)
or the window contacts can influence the regulation of the room temperature and switch it
to frost protection mode. It is only possible to take information from the alarm control unit.
It is not possible to trigger functions such as “set” or “unset“. The communication is
unidirectional which means that the KNX side cannot influence the VdS side.

Home and Building Management Systems KNX Association
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