Building Management System Sensor Integration Using Gateway Platform
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Solution Overview
Problem
Building Management Systems (BMS) are inflexible and costly to modify, limiting their ability to integrate new sensors and adapt to changing building needs, which reduces the accuracy and effectiveness of control measures.
Innovation Solution
A sensor network platform is used to augment the sensor information input into a BMS by installing a gateway device with network connectivity to an external operations center, allowing for customized processing and integration of new sensors, even those not initially supported by the BMS.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a Building Management System is designed to be stable and reliable, then system reliability is improved, but the system becomes inflexible and costly to modify when new sensors need to be integrated
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into two independent parts: a stable legacy BMS and a separate sensor network platform. The BMS maintains its reliability while the sensor network platform provides adaptability for new sensors. Data from both systems is integrated through a gateway, allowing the BMS to benefit from new sensor data without requiring modification of its core architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
A gateway device acts as an intermediary between the legacy BMS and the sensor network platform. It collects data from both systems, performs data fusion and correlation, and presents integrated information to the BMS in a compatible format. This mediator enables seamless integration of new sensors without modifying the stable BMS core.
2Ease of operation
If a legacy BMS is used to maintain system stability, then ease of operation is improved, but the system cannot support new sensors that are not initially supported
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor network platform is designed with universal support for multiple sensor types and communication protocols. It can interface with various new sensors regardless of their native protocols, processing their data and presenting it in a standardized format that the legacy BMS can operate with, thereby extending the BMS's sensor compatibility without complicating its operation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the BMS is modified to integrate new sensors, then sensor integration capability is improved, but the cost and complexity of system modification increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of modifying the entire BMS system, the solution segments the integration function into a separate sensor network platform. This platform handles all the complexity of supporting new sensor types, while the legacy BMS remains unchanged. The gateway provides a simple interface between the two, minimizing the complexity burden on the original system.
4Measurement precision
If custom processing of sensor data is implemented, then measurement precision is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway serves as an intermediary that performs custom data processing between sensor collection and BMS presentation. It implements sophisticated data fusion, correlation, and validation algorithms to improve measurement precision, while shielding the legacy BMS from these complexity-intensive operations by presenting processed data in a standardized, simple format.
Data Source
AI summary
A system, method and apparatus for augmenting a building control system domain. A sensor network platform can be configured to collect data based on measurements from sensors outside of a legacy building control system domain, and to present information based on the collected data to a known interface supported by the legacy building control system. In one embodiment, the collected data can undergo customized processing by an operation center outside of the legacy building control system domain.