Streaming graphic method and arrangement data for building control systems

• US 8,694,894 B2
• Filed: 06/17/2003
• Issued: 04/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Industry Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens Industry Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Imhof, Raphael
• Primary Examiner(s): Phantana Angkool, David
• Application Number:
  US10/463,818
• Publication Number:
  US 20040049577A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,948 Days
• Field of Search: 745/749, 345/749, 715/749, 715/748, 709/217, 709/218
• US Class Current: 715/749
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1917 using digital means
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data

Abstract

A method for displaying building control system information includes receiving an interpreted program over the Internet using a web-browser. The method further includes executing the interpreted program to display at least a first graphical element, the first graphical element having a fixed element and a variable element, the variable element representative of a first value. The method also includes executing the interpreted program to receive at least a second value over the Internet, the second value comprising non-graphical information, and executing the interpreted program to display the first graphical element such that the variable element is representative of the second value.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

a) receiving at least one interpreted program over the Internet using a web-browser, and receiving at least first data defining a graphical element;

b) executing at least one interpreted software program to display at least a first graphical element, the first graphical element having a fixed element and a variable element, the fixed element derived from the first data defining a graphical element, the variable element representative of a first value, the first value representative of first data from a building control system;

c) executing, subsequent to steps a) and b) at least one interpreted software program to receive at least a second value over the Internet, the second value comprising non-graphical information representative of second data from a building control system;

d) executing at least one interpreted software program to display the first graphical element such that the variable element is representative of the second value, and displaying the fixed element using the first graphical data received in step a).

2. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one interpreted software program is written in the Java programming language.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein step c) further comprises executing at least one interpreted software program to receive the second value, the second value transported in a mark-up language document.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein step c) further comprises executing at least one interpreted software program to receive the second value, the second value transported in an extensible mark-up language document.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein step d) further comprises executing at least one Java programming language software program to:

execute a mark-up language parsing routine to obtain the second value from a received mark-up language document containing the second value; and

generate a graphic using the second value as an operating parameter of a graphics generating routine that causes display of the first graphical element.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein step a) further comprises receiving the parsing routine and receiving the graphics generating routine.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the first graphical element further includes a plurality of variable elements representative of a plurality of building control system values.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein:

step a) further comprises receiving a background graphics file;

step b) further comprises executing at least one interpreted software program to display at least a portion of background graphics file.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before step c):

executing at least one interpreted software program to request the second value from a server.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

e) executing at least one interpreted software program to request a subsequent value from the server;

f) repeating step e) after a predetermined time period.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

e) executing at least one interpreted software program to request a subsequent value from the server when the subsequent value is different from the second value.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the variable element is representative of a measured temperature of a space.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the variable element includes a bar graph.

14. A building control system server, comprising:

a processing device, configured to

receive a request from a remote device for information regarding a building control system;

provide, responsive at least in part to the request for information, at least one interpreted software program and at least first data defining a graphical element over the Internet to the remote device, said interpreted software program, when executed by said remote device via a web-browser, causes the remote device to,

i) display at least a first graphical element, the first graphical element having a fixed element and a variable element, the fixed element derived from the first data defining a graphical element, the variable element representative of a first value, the first value representative of first data from a building control system;

ii) subsequent to receiving the at least first data and displaying the first graphical element, receive at least a second value over the Internet, the second value comprising non-graphical information representative of second data from a building control system;

iii) display the first graphical element such that the variable element is representative of the second value, and display the fixed element using the first graphical data received prior to step i).

15. The building control system server of claim 14 wherein said interpreted software program is written in the Java programming language.

16. The building control system server of claim 14, wherein the processing device is further configured to provide the second value in a mark-up language document to the remote device.

17. The building control system server of claim 16 wherein the mark-up language document further comprises an extensible mark-up language document.

18. The building control system server of claim 14, wherein the processing device is further configured to provide the second value to the remote device responsive to receiving a subsequent request from the remote device.

19. The building control system server of claim 18, wherein said interpreted software program causes the remote device to transmit the subsequent request to the server.

20. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method, said method comprising:

a) receiving at a server a request from a remote device for information regarding a building control system;

b) providing, responsive at least in part to the request for information, at least one interpreted software program and at least first data defining a graphical element over the Internet to the remote device, said interpreted software program, when executed by said remote device via a web-browser, causes the remote device to,

i) display at least a first graphical element, the first graphical element having a fixed element and a variable element, the fixed element derived from the first data defining a graphical element, the variable element representative of a first value, the first value representative of first data from a building control system;

ii) subsequent to receiving the at least first data and displaying the first graphical element, receive at least a second value over the Internet, the second value comprising non-graphical information representative of second data from a building control system;

iii) display the first graphical element such that the variable element is representative of the second value, and display the fixed element using the first graphical data received prior to step i).