Integrated Lighting and Building Management Gateway
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current lighting control systems and building management systems operate independently, with limited integration, restricting their ability to effectively control each other, particularly in terms of lighting and HVAC components, door access, surveillance, and fire safety equipment.
Innovation Solution
An integrated software platform and gateway solution that utilizes a publish-and-subscribe communication framework, such as MQTT, to enable seamless data sharing and control between lighting and building management systems, allowing for unified monitoring and control of both lighting and building automation components through a unified user interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If lighting control systems and building management systems operate independently, then each system can maintain its specialized functionality, but the ability to control and coordinate between systems (such as lighting and HVAC) is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway device as an intermediary between the lighting control system and building management system. This gateway translates and relays control commands and status information between the two systems, enabling cross-system control without requiring direct integration between the lighting and BMS components. The gateway acts as a mediator that resolves protocol differences and data format variations, allowing HVAC systems to respond to lighting-related occupancy detection and enabling centralized control of both systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway device is designed with multi-functionality to handle various communication protocols and data types from both lighting control and building management systems. It can simultaneously manage lighting control commands, HVAC control signals, occupancy sensor data, and environmental sensor readings through a single interface, reducing the need for multiple specialized integration components and simplifying the overall system architecture.
2Loss of information
If high-level interfaces like BACnet are used for data exchange, then system compatibility is improved, but the amount of controllable data and control precision are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data exchange process into multiple layers: the gateway maintains a detailed internal representation of lighting device states and control parameters, while only exchanging summarized or relevant subsets of this data with the BMS through BACnet interfaces. This segmentation allows the system to preserve complete control information locally while transmitting only necessary data over the BACnet network, maintaining both data completeness and control precision without being constrained by BACnet's limited data structures.
Data Source
AI summary
The examples herein offer an improved, more integrated implementation of lighting control and building management control, e.g. within the same gateway or cloud computing/control element(s), via an integrated software architecture. A visualization platform of the software architecture provides an integrated user interface via network communication of the computing element with a user terminal device. The integrated user interface offers the user an integrated view of status of building automation control (BAC) appliances and luminaires within the premises, as well as integrated access to control operations of the BAC appliances and the luminaires. For example, the overall system of integrated lighting and building management control may offer a ‘single pane of glass’ type user interface for lighting and other managed operations in the premises. Also, the architecture may utilize a broker for publish-and-subscribe communications, for exchange of information between lighting and building management application and with the visualization platform.