Building Equipment Cloud Registration for Automatic Point Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current building management systems (BMS) face challenges in efficiently discovering and managing equipment across multiple communication buses and protocols, leading to complexities in monitoring and controlling building functions without user intervention.
Innovation Solution
A BMS architecture that enables automatic equipment discovery and equipment model distribution across system, zone, and sensor/actuator buses, using active node tables and equipment models to facilitate communication and control without user interaction, with a cloud-based data platform for centralized management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If automatic equipment discovery and model distribution are implemented across multiple communication buses and protocols, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a cloud-based data platform as an intermediary between building equipment and the BMS controller. This platform receives equipment identifiers, automatically discovers equipment models, distributes appropriate equipment model templates, and manages point mappings. By offloading these complex tasks to the cloud intermediary, the local BMS system achieves ease of operation without requiring complex embedded discovery logic in each device.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the cloud platform receives equipment identifiers from the BMS, automatically discovers the appropriate equipment model based on the identifier, and feeds back the correct equipment model template and point mappings to the BMS. This closed-loop feedback enables automatic adaptation to different equipment types without manual configuration, improving ease of operation while managing complexity through automated model selection.
2Productivity
If equipment models and point mappings are automatically discovered and distributed, then productivity is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-defining equipment model templates with standardized point mappings in the cloud platform before equipment is deployed. When new equipment is discovered, the system matches it against these pre-prepared templates and automatically applies the appropriate model. This preliminary preparation enables rapid automatic configuration (improving productivity) while ensuring measurement precision through validated, pre-tested point mappings that have been carefully defined in advance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses parameter changes by dynamically selecting different equipment model templates based on equipment identifiers. Each template contains specific parameter definitions and point mappings tailored to particular equipment types. By changing the model parameters according to the detected equipment type, the system achieves both high productivity through automatic model selection and high measurement precision through equipment-specific parameter configurations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a cloud-based data platform is used for centralized management, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cloud-based data platform serves multiple functions: equipment discovery, model template storage, point mapping management, and automatic model distribution. By consolidating these diverse functions into a single universal cloud platform, the system achieves high adaptability to handle various equipment types and protocols without increasing the complexity of individual BMS devices. The cloud platform acts as a multi-functional hub that manages all adaptation logic centrally.
Data Source
AI summary
A building management system includes building equipment that operate 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 identify the building equipment and generate a reported network tree listing the identified building equipment. The cloud-based data platform includes a data adaptor configured to receive the reported network tree from the system manager, identify an equipment model template for the building equipment listed in the reported network tree, identify a set of points defined by the equipment model template, and generate a list of reported points for the building equipment based on set of points defined by the equipment model template.