The KNX standard has been built on the OSI-based EIB communication stack extended with the physical layers, configuration modes and application experience of BatiBUS and EHS.

These functional blocks and datapoint types are related to applications fields, but some of them are of general use (such as date and time).

To logically link applications' datapoints across the network, KNX has three underlying binding schemes: one for free, one for structured and one for tagged binding: The common kernel sits on top of the physical layers and the medium-specific data link layer and is shared by all the devices on the KNX Network.

It is OSI 7-layer model compliant: An installation has to be configured at the network topology level and at individual nodes or devices.

The first level is a precondition or “bootstrap” phase, prior to the configuration of the distributed applications, i.e. binding and parameter setting.

Device models vary according to node roles, capabilities, management features and configuration modes, and are all laid down in the profiles.

Devices may be identified and subsequently accessed throughout the network either by their individual address, or by their unique serial number, depending on the configuration mode.

Coupling units allow address filtering which helps to improve performance given the limited bus signal speed.

RF enables communication in the 868.3 MHz band for using frequency shift keying with Manchester data encoding.

Any product labeled with the KNX trademark must be certified to conform with the standards (and thus interoperable with other devices) by accredited third party test labs.

All products bearing the KNX logo are programmed through a common interface using the vendor-independent ETS software.