SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ENTITY VISUALIZATION AND MANAGEMENT WITH AN ENTITY NODE EDITOR

• US 20200133470A1
• Filed: 10/30/2018
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Original Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Inventors: Fala, Federico, Pavel, Nicolae Bogdan
• Granted Patent: US 11,016,648 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25011 Domotique, I-O bus, home automation, building automation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/163 Real estate management

Abstract

A method for visualizing and managing entities and connections between entities based on a graphical user interface (GUI) node editor includes constructing an entity datablock, wherein the entity datablock is a data structure describing an entity and comprises entity descriptive information, an entity category, an entity name, entity relationships, and an entity identifier. The method includes establishing the entity relationships as bi-directional relationships, wherein the bi-directional relationships link two disparate entities. The method further includes representing the entity datablock as a node and the bi-directional relationships as lines connecting two nodes, wherein the node comprises at least one of the entity descriptive information, the entity category, or the entity name.

Claims

1. A method for visualizing and managing entities and connections between entities using a graphical user interface (GUI) node editor, the method comprising:

constructing an entity datablock, wherein the entity datablock is a data structure representing an entity and comprises entity descriptive information, an entity category, an entity name, entity relationships, and an entity identifier;

establishing at least one of the entity relationships as a bi-directional relationship, wherein the bi-directional relationship directly links two disparate entities;

representing the entity datablock as a node and the entity relationships as lines connecting two nodes, wherein the node comprises at least one of the entity descriptive information, the entity category, or the entity name.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein constructing the entity datablock further comprises:

receiving, by a system to implement a new entity datablock, from a user device, a request to create the new entity datablock;

generating, by the system to implement the new entity datablock, an entity identifier for the new entity datablock;

instantiating, by an entity database, a new data structure element with the entity identifier, wherein the entity database comprises a plurality of data structure elements;

storing, by the entity database, in the new data structure element, entity information, wherein the entity information comprises entity descriptive information, an entity category, an entity name, and entity relationships.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing the entity relationships further comprises linking the two disparate entities with a pair of unique identifiers, wherein the pair of unique identifiers are associated with the two disparate entities and are stored in the entity datablock of each of the two disparate entities.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein representing the entity datablock as a node further comprises displaying an interactive GUI element configured to facilitate editing the entity datablock associated with the node.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein representing the entity relationships as lines further comprises displaying an interactive GUI element configured to facilitate editing the entity relationships of the two disparate entities.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the GUI node editor further comprises one or more graphical interactive elements that form a digital representation of one or more physical entities.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more physical entities further comprise an object that is able to be controlled by the GUI node editor.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical entity is at least one of a person, equipment, or object.

8. (canceled)

9. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement a graphical user interface (GUI) node editor for visualizing and managing entities and connections between entities, the GUI node editor configured to:

construct an entity datablock, wherein the entity datablock is a data structure representing an entity and comprises entity descriptive information, an entity category, an entity name, entity relationships, and an entity identifier;

establish at least one of the entity relationships as a bi-directional relationship wherein the bi-directional relationship directly links two disparate entities;

represent the entity datablock as a node and the entity relationships as lines connecting two nodes, wherein the node comprises at least one of the entity descriptive information, the entity category, or the entity name.

10. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein constructing the entity datablock includes:

receiving from one or more user devices, a request to create a new entity datablock;

generating an entity identifier for the new entity datablock;

instantiating a new data structure element with the entity identifier, wherein the entity database comprises a plurality of data structure elements;

storing in the new data structure element, entity information, wherein the entity information comprises entity descriptive information, an entity category, an entity name, and entity relationships.

11. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9, wherein the GUI node editor is further configured to establish the entity relationships by linking the two disparate entities with a pair of unique identifiers, wherein the pair of unique identifiers are associated with the two disparate entities and are stored in the entity datablock of each of the two disparate entities.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9, wherein the GUI node editor is further configured to represent the entity datablock as a node by displaying an interactive GUI element configured to facilitate editing the entity datablock associated with the node.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9, wherein the GUI node editor is further configured to represent the entity relationships as lines by displaying an interactive GUI element configured to facilitate editing the entity relationships of the two disparate entities.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9, wherein the GUI node editor is configured to form a digital representation of one or more physical entities, and wherein the GUI node editor is further configured to control the one or more physical entities.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9, wherein the physical entity is at least one of a person, equipment, or object.

14. (canceled)

15. (canceled)

17. A building automation system comprising:

a processing circuit including a processor and memory having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the processing circuit to implement a GUI node editor, the GUI node editor comprising;

one or more entity datablocks, wherein the one or more entity datablocks are a data structure representing one or more physical entities and comprise entity descriptive information, an entity category, an entity name, entity relationships, and an entity identifier;

one or more bi-directional entity relationships, wherein the one or more bi-directional entity relationships link two disparate entities;

a plurality of nodes and a plurality of lines connecting two nodes, wherein the plurality of nodes comprise at least one of the entity descriptive information, the entity category, or the entity name.

18. The processing circuit of claim 17, wherein the one or more bi-directional entity relationships link the two disparate entities with a pair of unique identifiers, wherein the pair of unique identifiers are associated with the two disparate entities and are stored in an entity datablock of each of the two disparate entities.

19. The processing circuit of claim 17, wherein the GUI node editor represents the one or more entity datablocks as one or more nodes by displaying an interactive GUI element configured to facilitate editing the one or more entity datablocks associated with the one or more nodes.

20. The processing circuit of claim 17, wherein the GUI node editor represents the one or more bi-directional relationships as one or more lines by displaying an interactive GUI element configured to facilitate editing the one or more entity relationships of the two disparate entities.

23. The processing circuit of claim 17, wherein the one or more physical entities are at least one of a person, equipment, or object.