Building automation system using common platform program and common function package for controlling facility loads and monitoring terminals

• US 6,144,993 A
• Filed: 12/01/1997
• Issued: 11/07/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Electric Works Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Asahi Matsushita Electric Works Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Murakami, Kazumasa, Fukunaga, Masaichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu, Le Hien
• Application Number:
  US08/980,870
• Time in Patent Office: 1,072 Days
• Field of Search: 320/252, 320/400, 320/396, 320/398, 320/241, 709/224, 709/222, 709/208, 370/225
• US Class Current: 709/208
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A building automation system is constituted by a distributed process controller which includes a common platform, per-usage package, and common function package, and the common platform is provided with a mechanism which can standardize a service program for operating and controlling hardwares mainly with CPU irrespective of their scale and usage and can prepare all data transmission for local transmission with the same program function, the mechanism being commonly utilizable in air conditioning and fire alarm system, to render the administration system easily expandable and flexible in system arrangement.

Claims

1. A building automation system comprising a system management computer, distributed process controllers connected through a network to the system management computer, and terminal units connected to the distributed process controllers through control signal lines, the terminal units including controlling terminals for controlling facility loads and monitoring terminals for monitoring states of such input elements as sensors and switches;

the distributed process controllers respectively comprising a common platform in which programs capable of operating and controlling hardwares are standardized, a common function package having a function of delivering data to one of object data, event data and application program performing a processing on the basis of the one of the object and event data, and a per-usage package comprising application programs respectively for every usage and exchangeable in accordance with the usage and scale of the system;

wherein the distributed process controllers perform the monitoring and controlling of the respective terminals, and giving and reception of monitoring data and controlling data on the facility loads through the network between the system management computer and the distributed process controllers or mutually between the respective distributed process controllers.

2. The system according to claim 1 wherein the terminals connected to the distributed process controllers are arranged to have an information to be sent to the distributed process controllers upon rising of the system for causing the particular terminal which has sent the information to be linked in the distributed process controller to a data base of a directivity to the object.

4. The system according to claim 2 wherein the terminals connected to the distributed process controllers are arranged to have an information to be sent to the distributed process controllers upon rising of the system for causing the particular terminal which has sent the information to be linked in the distributed process controller to a data base of a directivity to the object.

3. A building automation system comprising system management computer, distributed process controllers connected through a network to the system management computer, and terminal units connected to the distributed process controllers through control signal lines, the terminal units including controlling terminals for controlling facility loads and monitoring terminals for monitoring states of such input elements as sensors and switches;

the distributed process controllers respectively including packaged object sheets, event sheets, and control algorithm sheets in which controlling processes are capsulized for every one of functions, the object sheets housing therein such objects as monitoring data as to the terminals and setting data for controlling data, respective contents in the object sheets being rewritten in accordance with any change in the state of the terminals, the monitoring data and controlling data in accordance with the change in the terminals being transmitted through the network to other distributed process controllers and system management computers registered in the event sheets as notifying destination, and, in the presence of the object sheet corresponding to the data received through the network, this object sheet being rewritten to have an event generated, to cause a corresponding one of the terminals to perform corresponding ones of the monitoring and controlling; and

the distributed process controllers performing the monitoring and controlling of the respective terminals, and giving and reception of monitoring data and controlling data on the facility laods through the network between the system management computer and the distributed process controllers or mutually between the respective distributed process controllers.

5. A building auotmation system comprising:

a plurality of system management computers;

a plurality of distributed process controllers connected through a network to the respective system management computers;

means for connecting building facilities to the respective distributed process controllers;

means for setting, from a predetermined one of the system management computers, individual discrimination data and facility classification data at the respective corresponding distributed process controllers and at management points of the building facilities connected to the distributed process controllers, and storing the set data in memories of the distributed process controllers;

means for causing the system management computers which manage their own building facilities to provide a command to the distributed process controller for having the data at the management point of the set facility classification of the objective building facilities transmitted; and

means for managing the respective building facilities on the basis of the facility classification data being sent from the respective distributed process controllers in correspondence to the respective managing points, after providing to the classification data a required relationship for the building administration by means of the data transmitted from the distributed process controller on the basis of the command.

6. The system according to claim 5 which further comprises means for setting a plurality of types of the facility classifications with respect to each sensor provided to the management point of the building facilities.