BACnet Communication Status Objects and Methods of Determining Communication Status of BACnet Devices
First Claim
1. A method of determining a communication status of at least one BACnet device, comprising the steps of:
- monitoring communication of the at least one BACnet device on a local network bus;
generating by a bus communication status server object an octet string containing information reflecting the communication status of the at least one BACnet device;
transmitting the octet string upon a change of value (COV) of the octet string indicating a change in the communication status of at least one of the at least one BACnet device;
receiving by a bus communication status client object the octet string;
deciphering the octet string to determine the communication status of each of the at least one BACnet devices; and
providing the communication status of each of the at least one BACnet devices to at least one corresponding device communication status object.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
BACnet objects and methods for efficiently monitoring the communication status of networks and devices in a building automation and control system are presented. A pair of bus communication status objects, including a server object and a client object, provide the communication status of an MS/TP network as an OCTET String transmitted only upon a change of value (COV) of the communication status of a device on the network. Individual devices may be monitored with a device communication status object, in conjunction with or apart from the bus communication status objects. For MS/TP devices, automatic configuration and monitoring in a controller is provided. For other devices, a user interface is provided through a graphical tool to allow configuration to specify the desired device and/or network for monitoring.
-
Citations
25 Claims
-
1. A method of determining a communication status of at least one BACnet device, comprising the steps of:
-
monitoring communication of the at least one BACnet device on a local network bus; generating by a bus communication status server object an octet string containing information reflecting the communication status of the at least one BACnet device; transmitting the octet string upon a change of value (COV) of the octet string indicating a change in the communication status of at least one of the at least one BACnet device; receiving by a bus communication status client object the octet string; deciphering the octet string to determine the communication status of each of the at least one BACnet devices; and providing the communication status of each of the at least one BACnet devices to at least one corresponding device communication status object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A computer readable medium having instructions for causing a computer to execute a method comprising the steps of:
-
monitoring communication of the at least one BACnet device on a local network bus; generating by a bus communication status server object an octet string containing information reflecting the communication status of the at least one BACnet device; transmitting the octet string upon a change of value (COV) of the octet string indicating a change in the communication status of at least one of the at least one BACnet device; receiving by a bus communication status client object the octet string; deciphering the octet string to determine the communication status of each of the at least one BACnet devices; and providing the communication status of each of the at least one BACnet devices to at least one corresponding device communication status object.
-
-
6. A memory for storing data for access in a BACnet building automation and control system by an application program being executed on a data processing system, comprising:
-
a data structure stored in the memory, the data structure including information used by the application program for representing the bus communication status of a BACnet bus and including; an object identifier property field containing data representing BACnet object and object instance number; an object name field containing data representing a human readable character string describing the object; an object type field containing data representing a type of BACnet object; and a present value field containing an octet string representing communication status of devices on the BACnet bus. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A memory for storing data for access in a BACnet building automation and control system by an application program being executed on a data processing system, comprising:
-
a data structure stored in the memory, the data structure including information used by the application program for representing the device communication status of a BACnet device and including; an object identifier property field containing data representing BACnet object and object instance number; an object name field containing data representing a human readable character string describing the object; an object type field containing data representing a type of BACnet object; and a monitored device address field containing an octet string representing a MAC address of the BACnet device to be monitored by this object. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A BACnet building automation and control system, comprising:
-
a subnet controller operatively coupled via a BACnet MS/TP communication bus to at least one BACnet device to form a subnet, the subnet controller including a BACnet communication status process for monitoring the communication status of the at least one BACnet device, the subnet controller exposing a bus communication status server object operative to broadcast information regarding communication status of all of the BACnet devices on the subnet as monitored by the communication status process when a change of value of the communication status occurs; a remotely located BACnet controller in operative communication with the subnet controller, the BACnet controller exposing a bus communication status client object, and wherein the bus communication status client object subscribes to change of value broadcasts of the bus communication status server object to determine the communication status of all of the BACnet devices on the subnet. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A user interface commissioning a device communication status object for a BACnet building automation and control system having at least one BACnet device whose communication status is of interest, comprising:
-
a window having a first and a second portion contained therein; a list of available types of device communication status object to be commissioned positioned in the first portion of the window and capable of responding to user input for identifying the type of device communication status object to be commissioned; and a device specifier positioned in the second portion of the window and capable of receiving user input for identifying the BACnet device whose communication status is of interest, and wherein information required to be entered by a user varies as selection of the type of device communication status object to be commissioned varies. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
Specification