BACnet/SC Hub Segmentation for Scalable Building Automation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing BACnet/SC networks face scalability issues due to increased data processing demands as the number of participants grows, leading to network overload, hardware costs, and administrative challenges in addressing node connections.
Innovation Solution
A building automation network is divided into subnetworks, each with its own central hub, allowing hubs to communicate directly and share node information, reducing data transmission and enabling scalable, cost-effective operation with enhanced failover capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the number of participants in the network is increased, then the network coverage and functionality are improved, but the data processing load on the central hub and individual nodes increases disproportionately, leading to network overload
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the building automation network into multiple subnetworks, each with its own hub that manages a specific group of nodes. This segmentation distributes the data processing load across multiple hubs instead of concentrating it all in a single central hub, allowing the network to scale to more participants without overloading individual components.
2Productivity
If the performance of hardware components is increased to handle more data, then the data processing capacity is improved, but the costs for individual network components increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of upgrading a single central hub to handle all network traffic, the patent segments the network into multiple subnetworks with distributed hubs. This allows the use of simpler, less expensive hardware components in each subnetwork while achieving the same overall data processing capacity through parallel processing across multiple hubs.
3Productivity
If direct connections between individual nodes are provided to reduce hub processing load, then the data transmission efficiency is improved, but the administrative effort for manually entering connection data increases considerably
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces local hubs as intermediaries that automatically manage connection data within subnetworks. These hubs maintain information about nodes in their subnetwork and handle the complexity of connection management, eliminating the need for manual address configuration while enabling efficient direct communication between nodes.
4Device complexity
If a single central hub controls all communication in the network, then the network management is simplified, but the network becomes vulnerable to scaling issues and single points of failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the network into multiple independent subnetworks, each with its own hub. This segmentation eliminates the single point of failure problem by distributing control across multiple hubs, improving reliability and scalability while maintaining simplified management within each subnetwork through local hub control.
Data Source
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AI summary
A first hub for a building automation network, in particular a BACnet/SC network, wherein the first hub comprises first information about first nodes of a first subnetwork in the network that are communicatively connected to the first hub; characterized in that the first hub comprises second information about second nodes of a second subnetwork in the network that are communicatively connected to a second hub.