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Most monitoring formats currently used in the security industry can be broken into a common form of a three or four alphanumeric client code, a type (or event) along with an optional zone or user code. In order that the system can employ a generic database to cater for all formats in a consistent manner the Patriot 6 Alarm Monitoring Automation package takes these common elements and performs a conversion function ensuring all signals comply with its simple but comprehensive form.
The Patriot 6 generic format comprises of a four-character alphanumeric client code, followed by a type or event code between 0 and 65000, followed by either a zone or user code between 0 and 65000. This implies a single client can have up to 65000 types or events, 65000 zones and 65000 users. If the type is a closing (set) or an opening (unset) the second code is taken to be a user code, else it is taken to be a zone.
To ensure additions and amendments to signal types, zones and users in the client database are correctly made; the system manager must have a sound understanding how the conversion function acts on each signal format.
Outlined below is a brief description of how each of the most common type of signals is transformed. It should be pointed out that all types and zones are converted to a decimal format even though they may arrive from the receiver in hexadecimal.
Format:
Where:
| CCC | Client Code |
| T | Type |
Example:
Client ID = 205, Type No = 4.
There are no zone or user codes in this format. This is one of the oldest formats in the security industry.
Format:
Where:
| CCCC | Client Code |
| TT | Type + Zone/User |
The last two digits combine to produce a type with a range 0 to 255, and a zone/user with a range of 0 to 15 (represented by the last digit).
For example:
B2 gives: type = 178 (the decimal conversion of B2 hex) zone/user = 2
C4 gives: type = 196 (the decimal conversion of C4 hex) zone/user = 4
Four by Two Binary with Zone is the default and recommended format to use. By default, the Comms interpreter will be set to this format, displaying ‘None’ in the Interpreter field as shown in 4x2 Binary with Zone Interpreter (None).
There is also a 4x2 Binary with Zone option in the Interpreter, which can also be selected to use this format.
Four By Two Binary with Zone (interpreter showing ‘None’ or ‘4x2 Binary with Zone’) should always be used for Four By Two formats unless otherwise advised by your distributor.
Using this option means that Zones / Users must be between 0 – 15 (or 00 hex to 0F hex). Four By Two format was really only ever intended to have no more than 16 Zones or Users. If you have a panel using four by two format communicating with your central station that has more than 16 zones or Users for example say 32 zones (A0 hex to BF hex) there will not be any gain entering more than 16 of these into the client site zones page. This is because signals received for A1 and B1 will both retrieve Zone 1 and signals A2 and B2 will both retrieve Zone 2 and so on. The way to get around this problem is to enter the first 16 zones (A0 to AF hex) in the Zones page but do not enter them for the last 16 zones (B0 to BF hex). Instead enter B0 to BF hex as event types in the client site (overriding any template used) and select an Action Plan each of these event types with the No Zone / User Info Signal Type option. Zone descriptions can be entered in the Event Type description field so these will be logged when a signal is received.
Format:
Where:
| CCCC | Client Code |
| T | Type |
| Z | Zone/User |
Example:
Client ID = 2005, Type = 4, Zone/User = 1.
Whether the Z’s are taken to be a zone or user depends on the type code and its associated action plan. If the corresponding type is closing or opening the Z is taken to be a user code else they are treated as a zone code.
For manually entered signals, the digit in the type field must first be converted from hex to decimal. Secondly the digit in the zone field must also be converted from hex to decimal.
For example:
B2 gives: type = 11, zone/user = 2
If a client transmits 4 x 2 signals in this format it must have a Comms Interpreter set up with on the Advanced Tab in its client record as shown by Figure 38: 4 x 2 Conventional Interpreter (see also the information in the Database Administrator on the Interpreter).
Format:
Where:
| CCCC | Client Code |
| TT | Type |
Four By Two Binary signals have the same format as conventional four by two signals above but are interpreted differently.
Instead of interpreting the last two digits as a type between 0 and 15 and zone/user between 0 and 15 respectively, these two digits are combined producing a type with a range 0 to 255. Patriot duplicates the type number to produce the same zone/user code. If a client transmits 4 x 2 signals in this format, it must have a Signal Interpreter set up on the Event Types Tab in its client record: 4 x 2 Binary Interpreter.
Format:
Where:
| CCCC | Client Code |
| ZZZZ | Zones |
| R | Report Type |
If the report type is 7, it means the signal is a zone signal. Any other digit reports some other type of signal such as low battery or AC failure. Patriot treats the Ademco format as having 9 zones shown above, matching the position of the eight Z’s and the R.
A type is derived from any of the Z positions that do not contain a digit 5 (the null zone condition in Ademco fast format) or a digit 6 (previous event indicator). A type will also be derived from the R position whenever it does not contain 7 (which simply informs that this is a zone report).
For example:
Client ID = 1234, Type = 9, Zone/User = 4.
Client ID = 1234, Type = 6, Zone/User = 9.
This gives two signals:
Client ID = 1234, Type = 2, Zone/User = 5
Client ID = 1234, Type = 3, Zone/User = 8
There are six different possible event codes for each of the eight channels (denoted by Z’s):
| 1 | Alarm |
| 2 | Opening |
| 3 | Restore |
| 4 | Closing |
| 5 | Normal (No Event) |
| 6 | Previous Event |
Event codes 5 and 6 do not trigger a signal in Patriot.
The ninth channel has 3 possible event conditions that could be reported:
| 7 | Battery normal |
| 8 | Low Battery |
| 9 | Test |
Event code 7 does not trigger a signal in Patriot.
Ademco High Speed Expanded has the same transmission layout as Ademco Fast, but has some variation, as channel nine determines the interpretation. The format differs from Ademco Fast when channel 9 has a value between 1 and 6 as follows:
Channel 9 status = 1 (Alarm codes)
Producing Patriot Type = 1 where Channel = 1
Producing Patriot Type = 3 where Channel = 3
Channels 1 to 8 = 1 producing Patriot zone codes = 10 to 17
Channel 9 status = 2 (Opening Code) producing Patriot Type = 2
Channel 1 = 1 to F (Hex) producing Patriot user codes = 1 to 15
Channel 9 status = 3 (Isolation Code)
Producing Patriot Type = 7 where Channel = 1
Producing Patriot Type = 37 where Channel = 3
Channels 1 to 8 = 1 or 3 producing Patriot zone codes = 1 to 8
Channel 9 status = 4 (Closing Code) producing Patriot Type = 4
Channel 1 = 1 to F (Hex) producing Patriot user = 1 to 15
Channel 9 status =5 (Trouble Code)
Producing Patriot Type = 10 where Channel = 1
Producing Patriot Type = 40 where Channel = 3
Channel 1 to 8 = 1 producing Patriot zone codes = 1 to 8
Channel 9 status = 6 (System Status Code)
Channel 1 = 1 producing Patriot Type = 11 and Patriot zone = 0
Channel 1 = 3 producing Patriot Type = 31 and Patriot zone = 0
Channel 2 = 1 producing Patriot Type = 12 and Patriot zone = 0
Channel 2 = 3 producing Patriot Type = 32 and Patriot zone = 0
Channel 3 = 1 producing Patriot Type = 13 and Patriot zone = 0
Channel 3 = 3 producing Patriot Type = 33 and Patriot zone = 0
Channel 4 = 1 producing Patriot Type = 14 and Patriot zone = 0
Channel 4 = 3 producing Patriot Type = 34 and Patriot zone = 0
Channel 9 = 9 (Test Report Code) producing Patriot Type = 9 and Patriot zone = 9
Examples:
Gives Client Code = 1234, Type = 1, Zone = 13
Gives Client Code = 1234, Type = 4, User = 11
Gives Client Code = 1234, Type = 2, User = 5
Gives Client Code = 1234, Type = 12, Zone/User = 0
This option allows Ademco fast to be handled in a much more comprehensive way. A table showing all channel values and the translated Patriot 6 Type No., Module No., and Zone / User No can be provided. Contact support@patriotsystems.com if this table is required.
Contact ID has the following format:
Where:
| CCCC | Client Code |
| 18 | Indicates Contact ID format |
| Q | Indicates if it is a New Alarm or a Restore event |
| EEE | Event Code |
| GG | Area (sometimes referred to as Group Code) |
| ZZZ | Zone/User. (Interpretation depends on whether the Action Plan is set to Zone Info or User Info.) |
Event codes are standard to Contact ID and are ideally set up as a standard Contact ID template client. If you have a standard template, whenever a Contact ID client is being added to the database, the template can be used instead of unnecessarily re-entering all the standard types.
Under contact ID the same event code can have two meanings, depending on whether it is a new alarm or a restore according to the Q indicator in the signal. If the event is a restore, Patriot adds the digit 1 in front of the event type number. For instance, if the closing event type happens to be 401, its corresponding restore code will be an opening. To distinguish the two as separate events, the restore or opening will become 1401.
| Event | Alarm | Restore |
|---|---|---|
| Fire Alarm | 110 | 1110 |
| Burglary | 130 | 1130 |
| AC Loss | 301 | 1301 |
| Open/Close | 400 (Opening) | 1400 (Closing) |
Examples:
Here GG = 02. This will give a client account code of 1234-0002-01 (assuming a Port ID of 01).
Here GG = 03, which will give a full account code of 1234-0003-01.
This gives client code = 1234, type = 1401, and zone/user = 1.
Contact ID Expanded has an identical raw data format to Contact ID:
The difference is in the way it handles zones and module numbers.
Patriot 6 will create a new module for each event type received, so that each event type will have a complete new sequence of zone numbers.
For example:
This gives:
| Client ID | 1234 |
| Type No | 130 |
| Module No | 130 |
| Zone/User | 1 |
Each new module number provides another 65000 zones that can be used. Zone No. 1 Module No. 1 is a completely different record from Zone No. 1 Module No 2.
This format is only available when using an FE100 receiver or the INET or ILAN tasks with Patriot 5.2. It is a modem like format (shift keying) and is therefore much faster than DTMF formats such as Contact ID.
IRFast is a complex format for which the proprietary raw format would be difficult to interpret. It is best to leave the understanding and interpretation of these signals entirely to the Patriot 6 software. A template is provided (Account No: IRFA-0001-01 for all the types from this format along with appropriate descriptions. This template can be changed as desired to suit the monitoring stations specific needs.
IRFast has the advantage that all zone and user information can be derived from the client's alarm system panel. For this reason an IRFast client is very easy to set up and maintain in the monitoring software. You simply enter the client specific details and then use the IRFast template as the alternate lookup for types.
It is possible to override the IRFast template for a particular type by inserting that type number in the client record in question. This may be useful when it is required to change the behaviour of a template type. For instance, it may be decided that a particular event, which is treated as an alarm type signal in the template (which applies to most clients), is required to be a restoral for a certain client. Use the IRFast template for alternate types lookup as normal and just enter that single type in the client's type list using the restoral flag.
As already stated zone and user information comes from the clients panel using IRFast. You can also enter this information in the clients’ record if required. The signal description line will show the zone or user information from the client record first, followed by the '>‘ symbol, and then the information from the clients panel. This gives the central station some control over the information to be logged from IRFast signals. So long as the panel and receiver are set for IRFast format you get the best of both worlds.
The module number in Patriot 6 is made up of a combination of the module type and module number embedded within the format. The low Byte of Module No indicates the module number, while the high byte indicates the type.
Module types are as follows:
0 = Control Module (Patriot Module No starts at 1)
1 = LCD Terminal (Patriot Module No starts at 257)
2 = LED Terminal (Patriot Module No starts at 513)
3 = Big Expander (Patriot Module No starts at 769)
4 = Reader Unit (Patriot Module No starts at 1025)
5 = Spreadnet Unit (Patriot Module No starts at 1281)
6 = Mini expander (Patriot Module No starts at 1537)
7 = Std Expander (Patriot Module No starts at 1793)
For example, standard 16 Zone expander No 1 gives Patriot Module No 1793, No 2 will give 1794, No 3 will give 1795 etc. and a 32 Zone Expander No 1 gives Patriot Module No 769, No 2 will give 770, No 3 will give 771 etc.
This format bears little resemblance to the IRFast format for 3000 / 4000 panels and should not be confused or compared with that format.
This format is only available with FE100 receivers. It is a modem like format (shift keying) and is therefore much faster than DTMF formats such as Contact ID.
IRFast1K2K is a complex format for which the proprietary raw format would be difficult to interpret. It is best to leave the understanding and interpretation of these signals entirely to the Patriot 6 software. A template is provided (Account No: IR1K-0001-01 for all the types from this format along with appropriate descriptions. This template can be changed as desired to suit the monitoring stations specific needs.
Zone and user description text is received and logged for this format but text information is not as comprehensive as IRFast 3000/4000.
While this format contains area information for Open and Close signals, it does not contain area information for Zone alarms. Patriot 6 has somewhat overcome this shortcoming by mapping Zone alarms to the appropriate area in which the have been set-up. If for instance Zone No 4 has been set-up in Client 01-1000-0002 (area 2) then any signal received for Zone 4 will be mapped to this area. If a signal is receive for a zone that has not been set-up in Patriot 5.2 then it will by default be mapped to area 1 or in our example 1000- 0001-01.
The SIA Format is a complex format for which the raw format would be difficult to interpret. It is best to leave the understanding and interpretation of these signals entirely to the Patriot 6 software. A template is provided (Account No: SIA1-0001-01) for all the possible types from this format along with appropriate descriptions. This template can be changed as desired to suit the monitoring stations specific needs.
It is possible to override the SIA template for a particular type by inserting that type number in the client record in question. This may be useful when it is required to change the behaviour of a template type. For instance, it may be decided that a particular event, which is treated as an alarm type signal in the template (which applies to most clients), is required to be a restoral for a certain client. Use the SIA template for alternate types lookup as normal and just enter that single type in the client's type list using the restoral check box.
The SIA Protocol 2 has the following format:
Where:
| S | Protocol identifier for SIA |
| RR | Receiver number 00-FE |
| L | Line number 1-E |
| [ | Beginning data delimiter |
| # | Account ID block code |
| AAAAAA | Account ID, maximum sixteen digits (Patriot currently only supports a maximum of six digits) |
| | | Field separator |
| E | Function block code |
| MM | Event code or modifier |
| ZZZZ | Zone code, or user code, or time/date information |
| / | Data code packet separator |
| ] | Ending data delimiter |
| [DC4] | Terminator, 14 Hex |
The length of the signal will vary. It can support the maximum 63-byte data block transmission from the control panel.
An example of a SIA standard transmission:
Where:
| S | Protocol identifier for SIA |
| RR | Receiver number 01-FE |
| L | Line number 1-E |
| [ | Beginning data delimiter |
| # | Account ID block code |
| 1234 | Account ID 1234 |
| | | Field separator |
| N | New event function block |
| ri1 | Area/Partition number 1 |
| BA01 | Burglary Alarm zone 01 |
| ] | Ending data delimiter |
| [DC4] | Terminator, 14 Hex |
Patriot can cope with SIA Account IDs of up to 18 characters. The Client No Display section under System Wide Settings may need to be adjusted by an Administrator to show the full account number.