N1 is the JCI proprietary system level protocol that JCI used to talk between NCMs and to their workstations. We deccided to integrate at the N2 field bus level because you have more degrees of freedom to get to all points on the N2 field devices, including those used for commissioning and tuning. At the N2 level you do not need to pass through the Metasys database and security imposed by the NCM.
If there is enough of a market potential we would consider developing a N1 integration in the future. Having a N1 to OPC or N1 to BACnet capability would
allow you to integrate to the early Metasys chassis based systems without needing to pull the NCM cards out of the chassis. However, most of these systems have been upgraded to stand alone NCM supervisory controllers or moved forward to the NAE based systems.
allow you to access information that is calculated or stored in the NCM. Most of this is typically replaced by new head end systems during the integration.
The down side is that the N1 protocol is only associated with the NCM supervisory controller. These systems are rapidly being replaced by JCI NAE based systems or head end systems from other BAS manufacturers utilizing our OPC-N2 Router or BACnet-N2 Router.
We received a few requests for integrations at the N1 bus level. In virtually all cases when we explain the advantages of integrating at the N2 bus level the customer requirements are satisfied by the OPC-N2 Router or the BACnet-N2 Router.