BMS Alarm Timeseries Feedback for Multi-Protocol Equipment Discovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current building management systems (BMS) face challenges in efficiently monitoring and controlling building equipment, particularly in handling alarm data and equipment discovery across multiple communication buses and protocols, leading to inefficiencies in equipment management and data integration.
Innovation Solution
A BMS architecture that includes a system manager coupled with a cloud-based data platform, enabling automatic equipment discovery, equipment model distribution, and efficient alarm data processing through timeseries sampling, identification, and reporting, with features like alarm priority attribution and cause/resolution message generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional BMS architectures are used for monitoring and controlling building equipment, then equipment management can be performed, but data integration across multiple communication buses and protocols becomes inefficient and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway device as an intermediary between building equipment and the BMS controller. This gateway translates multiple communication protocols into a unified internal protocol, enabling seamless data integration across different buses (BACnet, Modbus, LonWorks, etc.) without increasing overall system complexity. The gateway acts as a protocol translator and data normalizer, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway device is designed with multi-functionality, serving as a universal interface that can connect to various communication buses and protocols simultaneously. It performs multiple functions including protocol translation, data filtering, alarm management, and equipment discovery, thereby improving data integration capability while maintaining manageable system complexity through a single versatile component.
2Reliability
If comprehensive alarm data from all building equipment is collected and monitored, then complete alarm management is achieved, but the volume of data to be processed and stored increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and separates alarm data from the general timeseries data stream. The gateway identifies alarm conditions specifically and extracts them as distinct events, storing them in a dedicated alarm database rather than mixing them with routine operational data. This extraction approach maintains complete alarm management while reducing the overall data volume that needs to be processed and stored in the main timeseries database.
Solution Approach 2:
The data architecture is segmented into different storage categories: timeseries data for continuous monitoring, alarm data for event recording, and historical data for archiving. This segmentation allows the system to manage comprehensive alarm data with high reliability while optimizing storage resources and reducing the burden on any single data repository.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual equipment discovery and configuration is performed across multiple communication buses, then equipment can be integrated into the BMS, but the time and effort required for system setup increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device performs automatic equipment discovery and self-configuration. When new equipment is connected to the BMS network, the gateway automatically detects it, identifies its communication protocol, and configures itself to communicate with the equipment without requiring manual intervention. This self-service capability maintains broad equipment compatibility while dramatically reducing system setup time and effort.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway pre-configures communication parameters and protocols before actual data exchange begins. It performs preliminary equipment discovery, protocol identification, and parameter negotiation in advance, so that when equipment is fully integrated, the communication framework is already established. This preliminary action reduces the time required for system setup while maintaining the ability to work with diverse equipment types.
4Loss of information
If alarm data is stored with full detail including all attributes and metadata, then complete alarm information is preserved, but data storage and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by storing different levels of alarm data detail in different locations. Critical alarm attributes (alarm ID, timestamp, equipment identifier, alarm type) are stored with full detail in the alarm database, while less critical metadata is either summarized or stored with lower fidelity. This approach preserves essential alarm information completeness while reducing overall data storage requirements through differentiated data retention strategies.
Data Source
AI summary
A building management system includes building equipment operable to affect a physical state or condition of a building, a system manager, and a cloud-based data platform. The system manager is coupled to the building equipment via a system bus and configured to obtain alarm data from the building equipment and generate a timeseries sample including the alarm data. The cloud-based data platform includes a timeseries service configured to receive the timeseries sample from the system manager, extract the alarm data from the timeseries sample, and store the alarm data as a sample of an alarm timeseries.