Building automation system facilitating user customization
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A building automation system (BAS) comprising:
- a plurality of end devices each associated with at least one of a space, a system, or a subsystem for at least a portion of a building or a campus;
at least one communication network communicatively coupling at least a portion of the plurality of end devices and supporting a plurality of communication protocols;
a protocol-independent server engine communicatively coupled to the at least one communication network, the server engine including;
programming means for selectively implementing a dynamic extensibility capability for the BAS that establishes communications with and control of the plurality of end devices over the plurality of communication protocols, programming means for selectively implementing an automatic configuration capability for the BAS that supports addition of end devices to the plurality of end devices by determining at least one characteristic of each end device, programming means for assembling a relational directory of at least a portion of the plurality of end devices based at least in part on the at least one characteristic, and database means for storing the at least one characteristic of each end device and the relational directory; and
user interface means communicatively coupled to the at least one communication network for displaying the relational directory as a navigable directory of pages, wherein the programming means for assembling the relational directory is adapted to automatically update the relational directory according to the dynamic extensibility capability and the automatic configuration capability, and wherein the user interface means is adapted to display the updated relational directory as an updated navigable directory of pages.
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Abstract
Systems and methods for interacting with and customizing a dynamically extensible and automatically configurable building automation system (BAS). In one embodiment, a graphical user interface (GUI) of the BAS comprises a BAS summary page, at least one building summary page, at least one building space page, at least one end device page, and at least on subsystem page. The invention is also directed to methods for creating pages for a GUI of a BAS.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A building automation system (BAS) comprising:
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a plurality of end devices each associated with at least one of a space, a system, or a subsystem for at least a portion of a building or a campus;
at least one communication network communicatively coupling at least a portion of the plurality of end devices and supporting a plurality of communication protocols;
a protocol-independent server engine communicatively coupled to the at least one communication network, the server engine including;
programming means for selectively implementing a dynamic extensibility capability for the BAS that establishes communications with and control of the plurality of end devices over the plurality of communication protocols, programming means for selectively implementing an automatic configuration capability for the BAS that supports addition of end devices to the plurality of end devices by determining at least one characteristic of each end device, programming means for assembling a relational directory of at least a portion of the plurality of end devices based at least in part on the at least one characteristic, and database means for storing the at least one characteristic of each end device and the relational directory; and
user interface means communicatively coupled to the at least one communication network for displaying the relational directory as a navigable directory of pages, wherein the programming means for assembling the relational directory is adapted to automatically update the relational directory according to the dynamic extensibility capability and the automatic configuration capability, and wherein the user interface means is adapted to display the updated relational directory as an updated navigable directory of pages. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A building automation system (BAS) comprising:
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a plurality of end devices each associated with at least one of a space, a system, or a subsystem for at least a portion of a building or a campus;
at least one communication network communicatively coupling at least a portion of the plurality of end devices and supporting a plurality of communication protocols;
a protocol-independent server engine communicatively coupled to the at least one communication network, the server engine including;
programming means for selectively implementing a dynamic extensibility capability for the BAS that establishes communications with and control of the plurality of end devices over the plurality of communication protocols, programming means for selectively implementing an automatic configuration capability for the BAS that supports addition of end devices to the plurality of end devices by determining at least one characteristic of each end device, programming means for assembling static information and dynamic data about at least one of the plurality of end devices and about the spaces, systems, subsystems, buildings, campuses associated with the at least one end device, and database means for storing the static information and dynamic data and the at least one characteristic of each end device; and
user interface means communicatively coupled to the at least one communication network for displaying, for at least one of the spaces, systems, subsystems, buildings, and campuses, at least one page comprising static information and dynamic data about the space, system, subsystem, building, or campus, wherein the at least one page includes static information and dynamic data about any of the plurality of end devices associated with the space, system, subsystem, building, or campus, and wherein the static information and dynamic data about any of the plurality of end devices comprises at least one navigable link to at least one page for that end device. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A building automation system (BAS) comprising:
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a plurality of end devices each associated with at least one of a space, a system, or a subsystem for at least a portion of a building or a campus;
at least one communication network communicatively coupling at least a portion of the plurality of end devices and supporting a plurality of communication protocols;
a protocol-independent server engine communicatively coupled to the at least one communication network, the server engine including;
software instructions adapted to implement a dynamic extensibility capability for the BAS that establishes communications with and control of the plurality of end devices over the plurality of communication protocols, software instructions adapted to implement an automatic configuration capability for the BAS that supports addition of end devices to the plurality of end devices by determining at least one characteristic of each end device, software instructions adapted to assemble a relational directory of at least a portion of the plurality of end devices based at least in part on the at least one characteristic, and a database adapted to store the at least one characteristic of each end device and the relational directory; and
a user interface communicatively coupled to the at least one communication network and adapted to display the relational directory as a navigable directory of pages, wherein the software instructions adapted to assemble the relational directory are further adapted to update the relational directory according to the dynamic extensibility capability and the automatic configuration capability, and wherein the user interface is adapted to display the updated relational directory as an updated navigable directory of pages.
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27. A method for presenting relationships between end devices within a building automation system (BAS) comprising the steps of:
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discovering an unknown end device on a communication network coupled to the BAS;
determining a characteristic of the unknown end device;
comparing the characteristic of the unknown end device to a characteristic of at least one known end device to determine whether an intra-BAS relationship exists between the unknown end device and at least one known end device;
assembling a relational directory comprising a plurality of end devices, wherein the relational directory includes the unknown end device if an intra-BAS relationship was found;
displaying the relational directory as a navigable directory of pages. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification