OPERATION SCHEDULER FOR A BUILDING AUTOMATION SYSTEM

• US 20120143378A1
• Filed: 12/02/2011
• Published: 06/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Industry Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens Industry Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Spears, Lonnie Douglas, Koerner, Charles James, Marchi, Michael J., Nickels, Patrick M., Baum, Michael J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,338,238 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/275
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2821 Avoiding conflicts related to the use of home appliances cryptographic protocols H04L9/00; protocols for network security H04L63/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for managing and controlling multiple automation components coupled via a building automation network. The computer implemented method includes receiving, via the building automation network, a first operational schedule from a first automation device where the first operational schedule is formatted according to a first protocol, receiving, via the building automation network, a second operational schedule from a second automation device where the second operational schedule is formatted according to a second protocol, converting the received second operational schedule from the second protocol to the first protocol, generating a unified schedule that includes the first operational schedule and the converted second operational schedule, and displaying the unified schedule in a user accessible manner.

Claims

1. A building automation control system configured to manage and control multiple automation components couple via a building automation network, the building automation control tool comprising:

a processor;

a memory in communication with the processor, the memory configured to store a building automation control tool as one or more processor implementable instructions and wherein the processor implementable instructions are configured to;

receive a first operational schedule comprising a first start time and a first stop time related to the operation of a first automation device;

receive a second operational schedule comprising a second start time and a second stop time related to the operation of a second automation device;

recognize the first and second start and stop times associated with the first and second operational schedules, respectively; and

generate a unified schedule that;

displays the first operational schedule as a first time period that extends between the first start time and the first stop time; and

displays the second operational schedule as a second time period that extends between the second start time and the second stop time, wherein the second time period is aligned relative to the first time period.

2. The building automation control system of claim 1, wherein the first operational schedule comprises first operation information formatted according to a first protocol.

3. The building automation control system of claim 2, wherein the second operational schedule comprises second operation information formatted according to a second protocol.

4. The building automation control system of claim 1, wherein the processor implementable instructions are further configured to:

receive a schedule command related to at least one of the first operation information and the second operation information; and

generate, in response to the received schedule command, a third operation information that alters one of the first operation information and the second operation information.

5. The building automation control system of claim 4, wherein the processor implementable instructions are further configured to:

store copies of the third operation information at the first automation device.

6. The building automation control system of claim 5, wherein the processor implementable instructions are further configured to:

store copies of the third operation information at a central database.

7. The building automation control system of claim 1, wherein the first automation device is a BACnet-compatible device operating according to a first protocol.

8. The building automation control system of claim 7, wherein the second automation device is a BACnet-compatible device operating according to a second protocol.

9. The building automation control system of claim 1 wherein the first automation device and the second automation device are grouped to define a zone.

10. The building automation control system of claim 6 wherein the zone is a first zone and wherein the first zone is combined with a second zone to define an equipment group.

11. A computer-implemented method for managing and controlling multiple automation components coupled via a building automation network, the computer implemented method comprising:

receiving, via the building automation network, a first operational schedule detailing a first operational period of a first automation device, wherein the first operational schedule is formatted according to a first protocol;

receiving, via the building automation network, a second operational schedule detailing a second operational period of a second automation device, wherein the second operational schedule is formatted according to a second protocol;

converting the received second operational schedule from the second protocol to the first protocol;

generating a unified schedule based on the first operational schedule and the converted second operational schedule, wherein the unified schedule arranges the first operational time period relative to the second operational time period; and

displaying the unified schedule in a user accessible manner.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the first operational time period includes a start time and a stop time.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the second operational time period includes a start time and a stop time.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein displaying the unified schedule comprises:

generating a display interface including a first linear timeline representing the first operational time period, and a second linear timeline representing the second operational time period.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the first linear timeline is displayed relative to the second linear timeline over a common operational period encompassing both the first operational period and second operational period.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 further comprising:

detecting an input corresponding to a schedule command related to the second operational schedule;

altering the second operational schedule in response to the schedule command; and

storing the altered second operational schedule in a local database.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein altering the second operational schedule further comprises:

generating a third operational schedule, wherein the third operational schedule corresponds to the altered second operational schedule.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17 further comprising:

converting the third operational schedule from the first protocol to the second protocol.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18 further comprising:

communicating, via the building automation network, at least the third operational schedule to the second automation device; and

storing the third operational schedule at the second automation device.

20. The computer-implemented method tool of claim 19, wherein the processor implementable instructions are configured to:

storing copies of the third operation schedule at a central database.

21. The computer-implemented method tool of claim 11 further comprising:

grouping the first automation device and the second automation device together to define a zone.

22. The computer-implemented method tool of claim 21 further comprising:

generating a copy of the unified schedule formatted according to a second protocol;

communicating, via the building automation network, the copy of the unified schedule to the second automation device; and

communicating, via the building automation network, the unified schedule to the first automation device.

23. The computer-implemented method tool of claim 22 further comprising:

operating the first automation device according to the unified schedule; and

operating the second automation device according to the copy of the unified schedule.

24. A computer-implemented method for managing and controlling multiple automation components coupled via a building automation network, the computer implemented method comprising:

generating, at a workstation, a unified schedule that includes a first operational schedule associated with a first automation device displayed relative to a second operational schedule associated with a second automation device;

determining operational protocols for the first automation device and the second automation device;

communicating, via the building automation network, the first operational schedule to the first automation device according to a first protocol;

converting the second operational schedule to a second protocol;

communicating, via the building automation network, the second operational schedule to the second automation device according to the second protocol;

executing the first operational schedule at the first automation device, and the second operational schedule at the second automation device.

25. The computer-implemented method tool of claim 24, wherein generating the unified schedule further comprises:

displaying the first operational schedule as a linear graphic relative to a second linear graphic representative of the second operational schedule.

26. The computer-implemented method tool of claim 25, wherein the first and second linear graphic are scaled with respect to a common time period.

27. The computer-implemented method tool of claim 24, wherein the processor implementable instructions are configured to:

storing copies of the first operational schedule and the second operational schedule at a central database.

28. The computer-implemented method tool of claim 24 further comprising:

grouping the first automation device and the second automation device together to define a zone.

29. The computer-implemented method of claim 24, wherein the first operational schedule includes a first plurality of data in a compressed format.

30. The computer-implemented method of claim 29, wherein the second operational schedule includes a second plurality of data in the compressed format.

31. The computer-implemented method of claim 29, wherein the compressed format is defined by a selectively reduced data structure.

33. The computer-implemented method of claim 24, wherein the first plurality of compressed data represents a first version of scheduling data, and the second plurality of compressed data represents a second version of the same scheduling data.

34. The computer-implemented method of claim 24, wherein the first plurality of compressed data represents a select portion of a first data structure utilized by the first automation component.

35. The computer-implemented method of claim 26, wherein the second plurality of compressed data represents the select portion of a second data structure utilized by the second automation component.

32. A computer-implemented method for managing and controlling multiple automation components coupled via a building automation network, the computer implemented method comprising:

receiving, via the building automation network, a first operational schedule formatted according to a first protocol, wherein the first operational schedule comprises is a plurality of compressed data;

receiving, via the building automation network, a second operational schedule formatted according to a second protocol, wherein the second operational schedule;

converting the received second operational schedule from the second protocol to the first protocol comprises is a second plurality of compressed data;

generating a unified schedule based on the first plurality of compressed data, and the second plurality of compressed data;

displaying the unified schedule in a user accessible manner.