Integrated information framework for automated performance analysis of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9429960-B2
Application number	US-201314019261-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 5, 2013
Priority date	Sep 5, 2012
Publication date	Aug 30, 2016
Grant date	Aug 30, 2016

Abstract

A computer-implemented method includes, in one aspect, retrieving HVAC system information; converting the retrieved HVAC system information from one or more first data formats to a second data format; storing the converted HVAC system information; identifying first portions of the stored HVAC system information that pertain to a particular component; and generating one or more associations among the identified, first portions of the stored HVAC system information; receiving a request for HVAC system information that is used by a performance analysis algorithm; determining a type of component of the HVAC system that is related to the requested HVAC system information; and identifying one or more items of the stored HVAC system information that is of the requested HVAC system information; and transmitting the identified one or more items of the stored HVAC system information for use in execution of the performance analysis algorithm.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
retrieving, from one or more external data repositories, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system information about an HVAC system;
converting the retrieved HVAC system information from one or more first data formats to a second data format;
storing the converted HVAC system information in a data repository;
for a particular component of the HVAC system,
identifying first portions of the stored HVAC system information that pertain to the particular component; and
generating, in the data repository, one or more associations among the identified, first portions of the stored HVAC system information;

receiving a request for HVAC system information that is used by a performance analysis algorithm to analyze a performance of the HVAC system;
in response to the request,
determining, based on contents of the request, a type of component of the HVAC system that is related to the requested HVAC system information; and
identifying, in the data repository, one or more items of the stored HVAC system information that is of the requested HVAC system information, with identification of the requested HVAC system information being at least partly based on associations among second portions of the stored HVAC system information that pertain to the determined type of component;

transmitting, to a client device, the identified one or more items of the stored HVAC system information for use in execution of the performance analysis algorithm and information for a graphical user interface that when rendered on the client device enables user selection of one or more performance analysis algorithms;
receiving analysis results from execution of a performance analysis algorithm;
and
generating information for a graphical user interface that presents the received analysis results to a user.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein
the retrieved HVAC system information comprises dynamic information indicative of one or more of a sensor reading and a control signal, and wherein the dynamic information is collected from a control network of the HVAC system.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the retrieved HVAC system information comprises a first instance of a data class that is associated with the particular component and a second instance of the data class that is associated with the particular component, and
wherein generating the one or more associations among the identified, first portions of the stored HVAC system information comprises:
combining the first and second instances into a single instance of the data class; and
storing the single instance of the data class in the data repository.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the request comprises:
receiving input that defines a query for the performance analysis algorithm from a user.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 ,
wherein receiving the request for the HVAC system information that is used by the performance analysis algorithm to analyze the performance of the HVAC system comprises:
receiving information indicative of a user selection of at least one of the one or more performance analysis algorithms.

6. A computer-implemented method for providing information from a plurality of data models to a plurality of performance analysis algorithms that analyze performance for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, the method comprising:
collecting system information about the HVAC system, with the system information comprising configuration information collected using the plurality of data models, wherein a first one of the plurality of data models uses a first data structure and a first data format to represent at least a portion of the configuration information, a second one of the plurality of data models uses a second data structure and a second data format to represent another portion of the configuration information, the first data structure differs from the second data structure, the first data format differs from the second data format, and at least two data models of the plurality of data models include an instance of a data class that represents a particular component of the HVAC system;
generating an integrated data model of the collected system information, with the integrated data model using a common structure and a common data format to represent the collected system information, with the integrated data model using a single instance of the data class to represent the particular component of the HVAC system, and with the integrated data model using a control loop data structure to represent components in a control loop of the HVAC system, the control loop data structure including instances of data classes that represent the components in the control loop, and with the control loop data structure specifying functional relationships among the components in the control loop;
receiving information indicative of a selection of a performance analysis algorithm from the plurality of performance analysis algorithms, the received information specifying components of the HVAC system and functional relationships among the components;
identifying, in the integrated data model, information required for execution of the selected performance analysis algorithm, with the identified information being at least partly based on a correspondence among (i) one or more of the functional relationships among the components that are specified in the received information, and (ii) one of more of the functional relationships among the components in the control loop;
accessing analysis results from execution of the selected performance analysis algorithm; and
generating information for a graphical user interface that presents the received analysis results to a user.

7. A system comprising:
one or more processing devices; and
one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that are executable by the one or more processing devices to perform operations comprising:
retrieving, from one or more external data repositories, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system information about an HVAC system;
converting the retrieved HVAC system information from one or more first data formats to a second data format;
storing the converted HVAC system information in a data repository;
for a particular component of the HVAC system,
identifying first portions of the stored HVAC system information that pertain to the particular component; and
generating, in the data repository, one or more associations among the identified, first portions of the stored HVAC system information;

receiving a request for HVAC system information that is used by a performance analysis algorithm to analyze a performance of the HVAC system;
in response to the request,
determining, based on contents of the request, a type of component of the HVAC system that is related to the requested HVAC system information; and
identifying, in the data repository, one or more items of the stored HVAC system information that is of the requested HVAC system information, with identification of the requested HVAC system information being at least partly based on associations among second portions of the stored HVAC system information that pertain to the determined type of component;

transmitting, to a client device, the identified one or more items of the stored HVAC system information for use in execution of the performance analysis algorithm and information for a graphical user interface that when rendered on the client device enables user selection of one or more performance analysis algorithms;

receiving analysis results from execution of a performance analysis algorithm

Assignees

• Univ Carnegie Mellon

Inventors

• Liu Xuesong
• Akinci Burcu
• Berges Mario
• Garrett Jr James H

Classifications

• F24F11/30

  for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring · CPC title

• G05D23/19 Primary

  characterised by the use of electric means {(G05D23/1393 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• F24F11/63

  Electronic processing · CPC title

• F24F11/52

  Indication arrangements, e.g. displays · CPC title

• F24F11/47

  Responding to energy costs · CPC title