IoT network with BACnet communication for various sensors in a building management system (BMS) platform

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11768473-B2
Application number	US-202217573485-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 11, 2022
Priority date	May 24, 2021
Publication date	Sep 26, 2023
Grant date	Sep 26, 2023

Abstract

Methods and systems of monitoring and managing a facility including a plurality of end point devices. One system includes a first gateway device. The first gateway device includes a first electronic processor configured to receive fixture data from at least one electro-mechanical element of a fixture associated with the facility, the fixture data related to an operation of the fixture, and enable transmission of the fixture data to a remote device for virtual processing. The system also includes a second gateway device communicatively coupled with the first gateway device. The second gateway device includes a second electronic processor configured to receive, from the first gateway device, the processed fixture data. The second electronic processor configured to convert the processed fixture data pursuant to a networking protocol associated with a building management system and transmit the converted fixture data for display via a visual dashboard associated with the building management system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for converting fixture data for building management solutions, the system comprising:
a fixture located within a facility and comprising an electro-mechanical (EM) element;
a remote server; and
an end-point device communicably coupled to the EM element and configured to:
receive, from the EM element when an action or an operation is detected, fixture data related to the action or the operation of the fixture;
convert the fixture data for transmission pursuant to a first networking protocol consistent with a first network connection with a facility gateway; and
provide, via the facility gateway, the fixture data to the remote server, wherein the remote server is configured to:
receive the fixture data from the end-point device via the facility gateway;
determine an environmental condition of the facility based on the fixture data;
generate an alert based on the determined environmental condition exceeding a threshold; and
provide, via a Building Automation and Control Network (BACnet) gateway, the alert to a building management system, wherein the BACnet gateway is configured to convert the alert pursuant to a second networking protocol consistent with a second network connection with the building management system.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the end-point device is further configured to:
remain in a sleep mode until the action or the operation of the fixture is detected via the EM element.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second networking protocol is a BACnet protocol.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the alert is provided to the BACnet gateway via a Long Range (LoRa) protocol.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the remote server is further configured to:
provide the fixture data to the building management system via the BACnet gateway,
wherein the building management system is configured to:
provide the alert via a visual dashboard configured to integrate, as building data, the fixture data with additional data associated with a building sub-system.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the building sub-system includes a ventilation system, a lighting system, a power system, a fire system, or a security system.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the building management system is further configured to:
receive, via the visual dashboard, a user interaction associated with the building data, and
generate and transmit, based on the user interaction, a control signal associated with at least the building sub-system or the fixture.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the fixture is a thermal mixing valve, a fire protection device, a drain, a contamination monitor, an air quality monitor, a door handle, or a waste receptacle.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the alert includes a contamination alert, a temperature alert, an indoor air pollutant alert, a fire alert, a waste alert, a maintenance alert, a water alert, or a low energy alert.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the environmental condition comprises a scalding condition, a contamination condition, or a fire condition.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the end-point device is further configured to:
maintain a backlog of data packets comprising the fixture data until a connection of the facility gateway is available.

12. A computer-implemented method for converting fixture data for building management solutions, the method being executed by a processor and comprising:
receiving, from an electro-mechanical (EM) element, when an action or an operation is detected, fixture data related to the action or the operation of a fixture, wherein the fixture is located within a facility and comprises the EM element;
converting the fixture data for transmission pursuant to a first networking protocol consistent with a first network connection with a facility gateway; and
providing, via the facility gateway, the fixture data to a remote server configured to provide, to a building management system, an alert generated based on the fixture data.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
remaining in a sleep mode until the action or the operation of the fixture is detected via the EM element.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the alert is generated based on an environmental condition of the facility determined according to the fixture data.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the alert is provided via a Building Automation and Control Network (BACnet) gateway configured to convert the alert pursuant to a second networking protocol consistent with a second network connection with the building management system.

16. A computer-implemented method for converting fixture data for building management solutions, the method being executed by a processor and comprising:
receiving, from an end-point device via a facility gateway, fixture data related to an action or an operation of a fixture located within a facility, wherein the fixture data is converted for transmission pursuant to a first networking protocol;
determining an environmental condition of the facility based on the fixture data;
generating an alert based on the determined environmental condition exceeding a threshold; and
providing, via a Building Automation and Control Network (BACnet) gateway, the alert to a building management system, wherein the BACnet gateway is configured to convert the alert pursuant to a second networking protocol consistent with a second network connection with the building management system.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
providing the fixture data to the building management system via the BACnet gateway,
wherein the building management system is configured to:
provide the alert via a visual dashboard configured to integrate, as building data, the fixture data with additional data associated with a building sub-system.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the building sub-system includes a ventilation system, a lighting system, a power system, a fire system, or a security system.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the building management system is further configured to:
receive, via the visual dashboard, a user interaction associated with the building data, and
generate and transmit, based on the user interaction, a control signal associated with the building sub-system or the fixture.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the environmental condition comprises a scalding condition, a contamination condition, or a fire condition.

Assignees

• Zurn Ind Llc

Inventors

• Chakraborty Arindam
• Anderson Warren
• Trickle Glen

Classifications

• H04L69/08

  Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion · CPC title

• H04L67/10

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title

• H04L67/02

  based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP] · CPC title

• G05B15/02 Primary

  electric · CPC title

• F24F11/63 Primary

  Electronic processing · CPC title