Power line communication system and method of auto-commissioning system nodes

An addressable device control module connectable to a DC power line of a power line communication system for powering and communicating with at least one device associated with the device control module, said communication system comprising:

• an analog input circuit for receiving both DC power from the DC power line and sequences of AC modulated voltage pulses transmitted on the DC power line with DC power, wherein said sequences of AC modulated voltage pulses represent a serial digital data or control signal, said analog input circuit having a DC power path and a digital signal communication path configured to meet the following conditions:
• i. DC power received from the DC power line passes through the DC power path,
• ii. AC modulated voltage pulses transmitted on the DC power line and received by the analog input circuit are rejected in the DC power path,
• iii. voltage pulses transmitted on the DC power line pass through and are conditioned in the digital signal communication path, the conditioning of the voltage pulses including the removal of the AC modulation from the voltage pulses, and
• iv. DC power from the DC power line is rejected in the digital signal communication path,
• a central processing unit for receiving and processing serial digital data and control signals and for communicating with a device associated with the device control module,
• wherein the central processing unit receives and responds to serial digital data and control signals through the digital signal communication path of the analog input circuit and wherein both the device associated with the device control module and the central processing unit are powered from DC power transmitted through the DC power path.

An addressable device control module connectable to a DC power line of a power line communication system for powering and communicating with at least one device associated with the device control module, said communication system comprising:

• an input connected to the DC power line through which DC power and sequences of voltage pulses on the DC power line are received, said sequences of voltage pulses representing a serial digital data or control signal,
• an output;
• a power line switch in the output of the device control module, said power line switch being configured to connect the output of the device control module to the DC power line when the switch is activated, wherein DC power and serial digital data and control signals on the DC power line upstream of the device control module are only available on the DC power line downstream of the device control module upon activation of said power line switch,
• a central processing unit for receiving and processing serial digital data and control signals received from the DC power line through the input of the device control module connected to the DC power line and being configured to issue a command to the power line switch in the output of the device control module,
• the power line switch being responsive to commands from the central processing unit, wherein, in response to a command from the central processing unit, the power line switch is activated to connect the output of the device control module to the DC power line wherein DC power and serial digital data and control signals on the DC power line upstream of the device control module become available on the DC power line downstream of the device control module.

A method for auto-commissioning multiple addressable device control modules on a DC power line, wherein each of said device control modules is used to provide power to and communicate with at least one device, wherein each device control module is capable of storing an address, and wherein the multiple addressable device control modules are daisy-chained together such that they can only be powered up one at a time, the method comprising:

• storing a default address in each device control module,
• using its default address, powering up a first one of the multiple device control modules,
• assigning a unique address to said first device control module,
• using its default address, powering up the next one of the multiple device control modules,
• assigning a unique address to said next device control module,
• repeating the foregoing steps until all remaining device control modules are powered up and have unique addresses that can be used to communicate with the device control modules over the DC power line.