Importance of the CCU

2 Minute Read

| Introduction

Every 75F building implementation must have at least one Central Control Unit. The CCU is critical to the value of data aggregation and cloud computing that 75F provides. 

- Green Antenna - 900Mhz Mesh

- Blue - Internet Connected

| The Gateway

The CCU's most important function is that it acts as an aggregation point for all of the terminal units (i.e., SmartNode, Smart Stat). Using a 900Mhz wireless mesh network the CCU will send and receive control signals to and from the terminal devices. 

If you want to change the schedule of a zone, you would log in to Facilisight from wherever you are and make the change. That change would be routed through the cloud service and down to the CCU where the signal will be converted into a 900 MHz mesh network communication which will be sent to that zone controller. 

| Components - Hardware

Two hardware components make up a CCU.

1. Tablet - Connects to Wi-Fi and sends data to the cloud wirelessly. This is also the onsite user interface where scheduling and configuration can be done. 
2. Control Mote (CM) - This acts as the I/O board and 900Mhz mesh network aggregation point for the CCU. All terminal devices will be routed to the CM which will then be pushed to the Tablet through a USB connection. The CM will also take control messages from the tablet through the USB connection to be sent out to the terminal units on the mesh network. 

Together with the CCU, these devices can control a piece of HVAC equipment. In most applications, the CCU controls the central piece of equipment for a group of zones (e.g., Controls the RTU in a VAV system). In other applications, the CCU acts solely as a gateway. In other applications yet, the CCU can act as a single zone controller for a piece of equipment.