Software-Defined Building Gateway for Unified IT and OT Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional building management systems face challenges in integrating and processing data from diverse data sources due to differences in protocols and data models used by hardware gateway devices, leading to high maintenance and integration costs.
Innovation Solution
A building management system incorporating an entity database, a software-defined gateway, and an entity service that stores interconnected smart entities, capable of receiving and processing IT and OT data from various sources using different communication protocols, and transforming this data into static and dynamic attributes for smart entities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If hardware gateway devices are used to collect and pre-process data from different data sources, then data collection capability is improved, but maintenance and integration cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple hardware gateway devices into a single software-defined gateway that consolidates data collection from multiple protocols (BACnet, Modbus, LonTalk, etc.) into one unified platform. This eliminates the need for separate hardware gateways for each protocol, reducing maintenance costs while maintaining comprehensive data collection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates virtual representations (digital twins) of physical building entities through smart entities in the entity database. These virtual models replicate the behavior and characteristics of physical devices, allowing data processing and analysis without requiring additional physical hardware gateways.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple hardware gateways with different data ingestion techniques are deployed to support various protocols, then protocol compatibility is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The software-defined gateway is designed as a universal platform that can handle multiple communication protocols (BACnet, Modbus, LonTalk, SQL, JMS, AMQP, MQTT, FTP, HTTP) through a single device. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for separate specialized gateways for each protocol, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining broad protocol compatibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a software-defined gateway as an intermediary layer between diverse data sources and the building management system. This mediator translates and standardizes data from various protocols into a unified format, simplifying integration without requiring changes to the underlying diverse data sources.
3Measurement precision
If IT data and OT data are processed separately with different rates, then data processing accuracy is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic data processing that adapts to the characteristics of different data types. IT data (static characteristics) and OT data (dynamic states) are processed at appropriately different rates based on their nature, with the system automatically adjusting processing frequency to maintain accuracy while optimizing response time for time-critical operational data.
Data Source
AI summary
A building management system includes an entity database, a software defined gateway, and an entity service. The entity database stores a plurality of interconnected smart entities including object entities representing a plurality of physical devices, people, or spaces and data entities representing data associated with the plurality of physical devices, people, or spaces. The smart entities are interconnected by relational objects indicating relationships between the object entities and the data entities. The software defined gateway is configured to receive information technology (IT) data and operational technology (OT) data from a plurality of different data sources. The entity service is configured to create a new smart entity in the entity database or update an existing smart entity in the entity database using the IT data and the OT data. The new or existing smart entity includes one or more first attributes having values derived from the IT data and one or more second attributes having values derived from the OT data.