Digital Twin Agent Mapping for Building Entity Time-Series Data

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Solution Overview

Problem

The increasing amount of data from smart building environments poses a challenge for effective analysis, as existing building management systems lack efficient methods to communicate and manage data from various physical entities and spaces, leading to inefficiencies in data ingestion and entity creation.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of an agent-entity based communication and control system, where agents are generated to communicate data and perform operations on physical building entities through agent communication channels, enabling data ingestion and entity creation using time series data, and managing relationships between entities to optimize building management.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If traditional building management systems are used to collect and analyze data from building entities, then data collection capability is maintained, but data analysis efficiency deteriorates due to the exponential increase in data volume

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata analysis efficiencyVSAvoiddata volume
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the building management functionality into multiple autonomous agents, each responsible for specific building entities or functions. This segmentation allows parallel processing of data from different sources, improving overall data analysis efficiency despite increasing data volume from smart building devices

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an agent-based intermediary layer between building entities and the central management system. These agents preprocess, filter, and manage data locally before transmission, reducing the computational burden on centralized systems and improving data analysis efficiency

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Productivity

If agents are generated for each physical building entity to enable autonomous communication and control, then operational efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveoperational efficiencyVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements universal agent templates that can represent multiple types of building entities with similar characteristics. These multi-functional agent templates reduce system complexity by avoiding the need to create entirely new agent types for each entity, while still enabling autonomous operation and improving operational efficiency

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses configurable parameters within agent templates to adapt to different building entities without changing the underlying agent structure. This parameter-based customization allows operational efficiency to be improved through entity-specific behavior while maintaining system complexity at manageable levels

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Speed

If agent communication channels are established for real-time data exchange between agents, then real-time control capability is enhanced, but communication overhead increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvereal-time control capabilityVSAvoidcommunication overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements periodic communication between agents where data exchange occurs at predetermined intervals rather than continuously. This periodic action maintains real-time control capability for critical operations while significantly reducing communication overhead and energy consumption during stable operating conditions

Inventive Principle:
Principle #19Periodic action

Data Source

PatentUS11275348B2Building system with digital twin based agent processing
Publication Date: 2022.03.15 JOHNSON CONTROLS TECHNOLOGY CO
  • US11275348B2 patent drawing
  • US11275348B2 patent drawing
  • US11275348B2 patent drawing

AI summary

A building management system includes one or more memory devices configured to store instructions thereon, that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to receive a publication by an agent on an agent communication channel, the publication comprising timeseries data, identify, based on the publication, an object entity of an entity database associated with the agent, wherein the entity database includes one or more object entities and relationships between the one or more object entities and one or more data entities, identify a data entity related to the object entity based on a relationship of the relationships relating the object entity and the data entity, and ingest the timeseries data into the data entity.