E-Plex

Multiplex systems have been used extensively in the car industry for the last 20 years. A multiplex system allows switches, motors, touch screens and other devices to be connected together using a network wiring system.

Take an interior light: These used to be directly wired via a switch in the door. With a multiplex solution the switch and light communicate with a CPU, which monitors the switch status and controls the light. This allows enhanced functionality, as many other inputs can be used to control the interior light: remote locking can provide courtesy lighting before the door is opened and time delays enable you to find your keys before the light goes out.

This additional functionality on something as simple as an interior light is replicated throughout the vehicle systems. Car builders use this technology for the benefit of their customers and to reduce manufacturing costs. To accommodate extra features such as central locking, mirror controls, window controls and more using traditional technology would have involved expensive & heavy cabling. With multiplex this can be accomplished with a single communication cable to the door. The benefits over a traditional system are build flexibility, reduced wiring and weight saving in one easy package.

So why is multiplex not used everywhere?

In order for these systems to work the central microprocessor that runs the Multiplex system need to have a program developed. These programs are very complex and time consuming to construct even using the programming tools that the microprocessor manufacturer provides. However once the program is finalised the cost is spread over a massive number of sales units. This is not true for other markets where volumes are much lower.

The E-Plex difference

E-Plex is designed to service the specialist vehicle market and marine industries. Here the volumes can be right down to one offs. E-Plex enables builders and designers of these types of vehicles and boats to achieve the same results as the car industry by using the two main components that form the system:

E-Plex hardware modules

E-Plex has the broadest range of modules on the market by a considerable margin. This provides customers with a shopping list of components that allow almost any system to be monitored and controlled. There are 50 separate modules in the range all providing different functionality.

E-Plex programming tool

E-Logic is the tool that allows the specialist E-Plex dealers to quickly and easily construct the program that sits in the main Microprocessor of the system. Rather than the engineer writing the program, he uses E-Logic which is a windows based program. This allows the use of a wide range of simple logic blocks to define how the system will operate. Using this visual system to define the functionality takes a fraction of the time that it takes to write the raw program. Once complete, E-Logic then converts the program straight into machine code that can be programmed into the microprocessor. This software is the real strength of the product. Although it is almost invisible to the user, the amount of development in this software is colossal. There are nearly 1/4 of a million lines of coding that make up E-Logic and the software has been in continuous development for 15 years. This is not an easy or low cost product to replicate.