From Heterogeneity to Uniformity in Building Automation Systems via Semantic-based Engineering

Abstract

Building automation (BA) systems usually consist of a multitude of devices, which are often based on different technologies and have to be integrated with each other. To facilitate the engineering of multi-technology BA systems, we propose a semantic-based engineering approach, e.g., based on VDI 3813 guideline, to specify BA functionality in a technology-independent way. This reduces the need for using various tools and manually configuring and integrating devices. Still, the challenge of mapping and commissioning such semantic-based projects to specific technologies remains. This paper tackles this challenge by proposing a set of algorithms to (semi-) automatically map VDI 3813 semantic concepts to various technologies used in BA systems, such as KNX and ZigBee. The realization of these algorithms in a modular and extensible tool architecture is proposed. This tool offers services to enable multi-technology BA systems both at engineering and operational phases.