We’re pleased to announce the latest set of LCC Standards Documents (2021-04-25) were adopted by the NMRA Board of Directors at the 2-July-2021 meeting and have been posted on the Layout Command Control™ (LCC) page.

The complete set can also be downloaded as a single ZIP file here: LCC-Standards-and-TechNotes-Adopted-2021-07-02

Most of the documents submitted to the NMRA would usually go through their normal public comment period, as recommended in the “Summary of Changes to LCC Documents 2021-04-25” document.

However, after discussion with the NMRA LCC Advisory Group during the submission process, it was decided the NMRA’s usual public comment period wasn’t necessary for this set of LCC documents, as they had effectively been through that already during the OpenLCB Group’s editing and review process and that little would likely be gained with an additional NMRA public comment period. Some extra comments were then added to the “Summary of Changes” document to provide the context and justification for recommending the documents be adopted immediately by the NMRA. This is included below for convenience.

Summary of Changes to LCC Documents 2021-04-25 (extra comments)

Documents with only Coversheet and CC License changes

The changes to the first set of documents have effectively “no change to any standards content”, the changes are just to the Licensing details in the footer and changes to the NMRA cover sheet to include the logo with the ® symbol, add TM symbol to the LCC text and adds the legal fine-print. Should be fine to adopt immediately.

TN-9.7.0.1-Glossary-2021-04-25.pdf

TN-9.7.0.2-CommonInformation-2021-04-25.pdf

S-9.7.1.1-CanPhysical-2021-04-25.pdf

TN-9.7.1.1-CanPhysical-2021-04-25.pdf

S-9.7.2.1-CanFrameTransfer-2021-04-25.pdf

TN-9.7.2.1-CanFrameTransfer-2021-04-25.pdf

S-9.7.3-MessageNetwork-2021-04-25.pdf

S-9.7.3.1-EventTransport-2021-04-25.pdf

TN-9.7.3.1-EventTransport-2021-04-25.pdf

S-9.7.3.2-DatagramTransport-2021-04-25.pdf

TN-9.7.3.2-DatagramTransport-2021-04-25.pdf

TN-9.7.4.1-ConfigurationDescriptionInformation-2021-04-25.pdf

S-9.7.4.2-MemoryConfiguration-2021-04-25.pdf

TN-9.7.4.2-MemoryConfiguration-2021-04-25.pdf

S-9.7.4.3-SimpleNodeInformation-2021-04-25.pdf

TN-9.7.4.3-SimpleNodeInformation-2021-04-25.pdf

• • Changed LCC logo to include the ® symbol
  • Changed “Layout Command Control” to have the TM symbol
  • Added the NMRA Legal Disclaimer fine-print
  • Changed the OpenLCB license to “Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International”

Documents that have been Adopted after Public Comment

These two documents were in draft since Feb-2016 but as they were the only docs in-progress at the time they got delayed. The protocol is in use already by manufacturers and supported in JMRI and hasn’t generated any issues we know about. Should be fine to adopt immediately.

S-9.7.4.4-FirmwareUpgrade-2021-04-25.pdf

TN-9.7.4.4-FirmwareUpgrade-2021-04-25.pdf

Documents with Changes for Public Comment

The changes in two docs below correct an oversight in how we assign a 24-bit address range to Manufacturers without a DCC Manufacturer ID. We would have had to allocate them a range in the DIY area which seemed the wrong “status” association. This change puts them right next to Manufacturers WITH a DCC Manufacturer ID. The other changes were fixing typos. Should be fine to adopt immediately.

S-9.7.0.3-UniqueIdentifiers-2021-04-25.pdf

TN-9.7.0.3-UniqueIdentifiers-2021-04-25.pdf

• • Added to section 5.4 Manufacturer Specific for manufacturers without a NMRA Assigned DCC Manufacturer ID
  • Corrected comments in 5.7 Specifically Assigned by Request for 16-bit and 24-bit allocations

The changes in the next two docs add Well-Known Event definitions for two things. 1) Notify the occurrences of Power Brown-Outs onto the LCC Bus. 2) Adds support for interoperability of LCC and DCC Accessory Decoder (Turnouts + Signals) States. These changes have also been around for a long time (several years) and have been implemented already – they were simply delayed in processing and should be fine to adopt immediately.

S-9.7.0.4-EventIdentifiers-2021-04-25.pdf

• • In section 5.2 Well-Known Automatically-Routed added:
    • Power supply brownout detected below minimum required by node
    • Power supply brownout detected below minimum required by standard
  • In section 5.3 Well-Known added:
    • Activate basic DCC accessory decoder address
    • Deactivate basic DCC accessory decoder address
    • Send aspect to extended DCC accessory decoder address

TN-9.7.0.4-EventIdentifiers-2021-04-25.pdf

• • Add section 2.5.2.3 Power Supply Brownout Detected
  • Add section 2.5.3.3 Basic DCC Accessory Decoder
  • Add section 2.5.3.4 Advanced DCC Accessory Decoder

The changes in the next two docs simply fix typos to reflect reality and should be fine to adopt immediately.

TN-9.7.3-MessageNetwork-2021-04-25.pdf

• • Corrected example where message length was incorrectly displayed in section 2.3.5.1 Reject Addressed Optional Interaction, lines 271 – 273

S-9.7.4.1-ConfigurationDescriptionInformation-2021-04-25.pdf

• • Corrected definition of Newline delimiter (0x0A) in section 5 Format (Normative) on line 41

New Documents for Public Comment

The next two docs have also been around for some years but needed to be “finished” when LogicRail Technologies approached us wanting to produce a LCC Fast Clock. There were minor changes (typos and readability) in 7-Mar-2021, but the previous changes were Sep-2018. Prototypes have been made and are working fine so these too should be fine to adopt immediately, even though they are new to the public.

S-9.7.4.5-BroadcastTime-2021-04-25.pdf

TN-9.7.4.5-BroadcastTime-2021-04-25.pdf

Guide to LCC Clinics at Salt Lake

Sunday 7 July 2019
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM C1012     A Non-Technical Introduction and Overview of LCC
John Forsythe, MMR

Tuesday 9 July 2019
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM C3054     Adding Signals to Your Layout with LCC
Dick Bronson

Tuesday 9 July 2019
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM C3064     Signalling with LCC
Dick Bronson

6:30 PM – 8:00 PM C3074     A Technical Introduction and Overview to LCC
Stuart Baker

8:30 PM – 10:30 PM C3084   Build Your Own Layout with LCC
Balazs Racz

Thursday 11 Jul 2019
2:30 PM – 4:00 PMC5054      The Making of a DCC/LCC Throttle
John Socha-Leialoha

https://www.facebook.com/NMRA2019SLC/

A Non-Technical Introduction and Overview – 1 hour

• Defining what LCC is (…and is not)
• The benefits of LCC, and its comparison with other / proprietary systems
• What capabilities does LCC have (signaling, accessory control, etc…)
• Demonstration of a working LCC layout with the latest products including a working LCC compatible DCC command station and working LCC signaling and turnout control
• Summary of the current state of LCC as well as a vision for the future

A Technical Introduction and Overview – 1 hour

This session is intended to be highly technical.  The details of how the LCC and OpenLCB protocols work will be presented and discussed.  This is considered training for anyone interested in the production of an LCC product (professional, kit, DIY, etc…), or anyone who wants to better understand the details of how the LCC and OpenLCB protocols work.  Several of the LCC product design pitfalls (to be avoided) will also be presented and discussed.

All of the proposed LCC protocols go through a period where they are available for public comment.  This session provides good background and training for anyone who is wishing to review proposed LCC standards ahead of adoption by the NMRA.

Building Your Own Layout with LCC – 2 to 3 hours

This clinic shows the practical side of LCC, and familiarizes the audience with the products, wiring, and tools needed to set up a layout. We will do this in the most pragmatic manner possible by walking in the door with a box of off-the-shelf components and wires, and walking out with a functional layout section. We’ll set up basic layout control like throwing turnouts, fascia panels, and JMRI control, as well as more advanced features like block detection, railroad crossings, and ABS signaling.

Adding Signals to your Layout with LCC – 1 hour

• Basic principles of signal control, where do existing methods and systems fit in.
• Some benefits of using LCC for signaling.
• What capabilities are available in today’s LCC signal hardware.
• Some examples of implementing ABS signals on a simple layout.
• Demonstration of a working LCC layout with the latest products including a working LCC compatible DCC command station and working LCC signaling and turnout control.

The Making of a DCC/LCC Throttle – 1 hour

This is about a collaborative effort between several private individuals and an established model railroad electronics manufacturer attempting to bring to market an innovative throttle that is compatible with the newly established LCC standards as well as interoperable with non-LCC control systems.  All aspects of the design effort from mechanical and user interface to software implementation will be discussed.

This is intended to be a fun, high level overview with broad appeal to a wide variety of participants including those with little or no technical expertise.

OpenLCB Users’ Group Meeting – 2 hours

The OpenLCB group is a research and development organization of volunteers that develops communication standards and protocols for model railroad control. Once an OpenLCB standard has been developed and vetted through multiple prototype implementations, it becomes a candidate for adoption into the accepted NMRA LCC standards.  The acceptance process includes a comment period that is open to the public.

The purpose of this meeting is to present to members of the public the work that is ongoing within the OpenLCB organization.  One of OpenLCB’s goals is to be thinking many years into the future in terms of model railroad control technology. During this meeting the public has an opportunity to provide feedback as well as propose new ideas to be investigated.  This meeting also provides an opportunity to meet some of the individuals behind OpenLCB and LCC, as well as a networking opportunity for those individuals who would like to become more involved as volunteers themselves. The discussion will be both technical and non-technical.

This session is intended to be a discussion, and audience participation is highly encouraged.

Checkout the new Knowledge Base that is being built. Articles are being contributed by the OpenLCB / LCC User Community but special thanks goes to Paul Davidson and David Harris who have contributed the initial set of entries. Feel free to contribute entries especially for concepts, key learnings or issues that took you a while to sort, that you can pass-on to others.

Here’s a quick walk-through video tour of the LCC installation on the GNW. It shows all the components and how they come together. You can read more on his Blog here: https://greatnorthwesternrailway.blogspot.com/

You may have noticed a number of changes to the OpenLCB website over the last few days. We decided a while ago to migrate away from the old static openlcb.org website and replace it with a newer WordPress based website, which we’ve been working on for a few months. Now all three OpenLCB domains (openlcb.org, openlcb.com & openlcb.info) all point to the one WordPress website. However the old OpenLCB website still exists on SourceForge and can be found here: http://old.openlcb.org and there’s also a “Old Website” main menu item to get you there easily.

The SourceForge Project still exists here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/openlcb but we are also slowly moving parts of the OpenLCB SubVersion repository over to new project repositories on GitHub

The OpenLCB Group are pleased to announce the LCC Standards and Technical Notes (Download ZIP file) have been Adopted by the NMRA BoD at their February 2016 meeting. This represents the first complete and coherent set of standards and technical notes to enable manufacturers to develop LCC products.

This is the culmination of many (hundreds) hours of work from the core members of The OpenLCB Group and many other volunteers proof reading, checking technical details, providing feedback and prototyping designs to prove the protocols work as intended, in the real (model) world. Many thanks to all those who contributed.

These and other LCC documents are available on the Layout Command Control (LCC) page or via direct links to each section:

• Adopted LCC Documents.
• Completed LCC Documents – Submitted for NMRA Adoption
• Draft LCC Documents – Submitted for Public Comment

Enjoy!

The OpenLCB Group are pleased to announce the latest set (2016-02-06) of LCC Standards and Technical Notes (Download ZIP file) are ready for Adoption by the NMRA BoD at their next meeting. This provides a complete and coherent set of standards to enable manufacturers to develop LCC products.

We have also published a subsequent set (2016-02-08) of LCC Standards and Technical Notes (Download ZIP file) that are ready for public comment. This set adds DCC Signals on pins (4&5) to S-9.7.1.1-CanPhysical & TN-9.7.1.1-CanPhysical and also introduces the Node Firmware Upgrade S-9.7.4.4-Firmware-Upgrade & TN-9.7.4.4-Firmware-Upgrade capability.

This is the culmination of many (hundreds) hours of work from the core members of The OpenLCB Group and many other volunteers proof reading, checking technical details, providing feedback and prototyping designs to prove the protocols work as intended, in the real (model) world. Many thanks to all those who contributed.

These and other LCC documents are available on the Layout Command Control (LCC) page or via direct links to each section:

• Adopted LCC Documents.
• Completed LCC Documents – Submitted for NMRA Adoption
• Draft LCC Documents – Submitted for Public Comment

Enjoy!