Distributed BMS Health Messaging for Real-Time Failing Node Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
In building management systems (BMS), the lack of real-time health monitoring of intelligent devices can lead to unnoticed performance changes, resulting in potential system failures and increased downtime, especially in large distributed systems where identifying failing nodes is time-consuming and risky.
Innovation Solution
A building device within the BMS that processes health messages from other devices to update health status, generates predictions, and communicates these updates to other devices, allowing for real-time monitoring and management of device health, including determining eligibility for coordinator roles and adjusting network functionality as needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If devices operate independently without supervisory controller in large distributed BMS systems, then device autonomy and intelligence are improved, but system reliability deteriorates due to undetected performance changes and failures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where each device periodically broadcasts health status messages containing operational data to the network. Other devices receive and process these messages to monitor the broadcasting device's health, creating a distributed feedback loop that maintains system reliability while preserving device autonomy.
Solution Approach 2:
Each device in the network performs self-monitoring by evaluating received health messages from other devices. The system enables devices to autonomously detect and report their own performance changes without requiring external supervisory controllers, allowing self-service health monitoring across the distributed network.
2Reliability
If real-time health monitoring is implemented across all devices, then system reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional monitoring functions and data processing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The health monitoring function is segmented and distributed across all devices in the network rather than centralized in a single controller. Each device independently monitors its own health and participates in monitoring others, dividing the monitoring task into smaller units that reduce individual device complexity while maintaining overall system reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
Each device in the network is designed to perform multiple functions: it monitors its own health, receives and processes health messages from other devices, evaluates the health of broadcasting devices, and participates in coordinator selection. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated monitoring hardware, reducing overall system complexity.
3Device complexity
If traditional hierarchical device arrangements with pre-established identities are used, then system structure is simplified, but adaptability deteriorates when devices need to dynamically join or leave the network
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic device identification and network joining mechanisms where devices can autonomously generate identifiers and integrate into the network without pre-established configurations. Devices dynamically update their health status and participate in network operations based on current conditions, enabling flexible network topology changes while maintaining manageable system structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A building device for a building management system (BMS) includes a processing circuit configured to receive one or more health messages from one or more other building devices. The processing circuit is configured to update an existing health message stored in a memory of the building device based on the one or more health messages by updating a message list of the existing health message with message list data of the one or more health messages, updating a sick node list of the existing health message based on the updated message list, and updating a sick node matrix of the existing health message based on the updated sick node list and the received one or more health messages. The processing circuit is configured to communicate the updated health message to at least one of the one or more other building devices.