BMS Routing Device for Aggregated BACnet Response Conversion
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Building management systems (BMS) face inefficiencies in handling network traffic, particularly in converting multiple responses from data objects into a single response to satisfy application requests, which complicates post-processing and requires applications to know the services supported by each BACnet device.
Innovation Solution
A routing device within the BMS is configured to receive application requests, gather responses from data objects, and perform a conversion process to provide a single response containing the necessary data object properties, using protocols like BACnet/Ethernet, BACnet/IP, and BACnet/MSTP, thereby simplifying the communication and eliminating the need for applications to track multiple asynchronous requests and responses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If multiple responses from data objects are converted into a single response to satisfy application requests, then post-processing complexity is reduced and application simplicity is improved, but device complexity in the routing layer increases
Solution Approach 1:
The routing device acts as an intermediary between data objects and control applications, converting multiple asynchronous responses from data objects into a single aggregated response that satisfies the application request. This mediator function simplifies application processing while centralizing complexity in the routing layer.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple responses from different data objects are merged into a single consolidated response. The routing device gathers responses from one or more data objects and performs a conversion process that combines them into the converted number of responses requested in the application request, reducing the number of response handling operations required by applications.
2Productivity
If the routing device gathers responses from multiple data objects and converts them, then network traffic efficiency is improved, but processing time and memory usage in the routing device increase
Solution Approach 1:
The routing device performs preliminary gathering of responses from data objects before converting them into the final aggregated response. By proactively collecting all necessary responses and storing them temporarily in memory, the system prepares the data in advance, enabling efficient conversion and reducing overall processing time despite the additional initial gathering step.
3Device complexity
If applications do not need to know services supported by each BACnet device, then application complexity is reduced, but information loss about device capabilities occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The routing device serves as an intermediary that handles the complexity of device capability information. Applications send requests without needing to know which services each BACnet device supports, while the routing device uses its stored information about data object properties and supported services to route requests appropriately and aggregate responses, thus shielding applications from device capability complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A building management system (BMS) for optimizing network traffic. The system includes a user device that includes a user interface that is configured to display a control application for the BMS. The system further includes a routing device comprising a processing circuit, the processing circuit configured to receive an application request from the control application, gather a plurality of responses from one or more data objects, wherein the plurality of responses include a set of data object properties to satisfy the application request, perform a conversion process that converts the plurality of responses into a converted number of responses requested in the application request, wherein the converted number of responses contains the set of data object properties, and provide the converted number of responses to the control application to satisfy the application request.