Eindhoven University of Technology MASTER A universal architecture for integration of control networks in an Internet environment Jaspers, D. Award date: 2002 Link to publication Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain A Universal Architecture for Integration of Control Networks in an Internet Environment Author: D.M. Jaspers Master Thesis Eindhoven University of Technology Department Electrical Engineering Research chair ECO Coach ir. J.J.B. Kwaaitaal Supervisor prof. ir. A.MJ. Koonen Location WG Special Products Sleutel 4 Eindhoven Coach ing. M. Middel Eindhoven, September 2002 Preface The report is a master thesis of my study Electro Engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology. The assignment activities were at the company WG Special Products, located at industry park "De Hurk" in Eindhoven. WG Special Products is a company founded in 1986 as part of the WG Elektrotechnologie Installation Group, but has the ambition to gradually become an independent company. It focuses on bUilding control systems, products and innovations. All involved people are thanked for their support, Jacco Kwaaitaal and Arnold Waters for making this project possible and Marchines Middel for the daily support. David Jaspers [email protected] A Universal Architecture for Integration cfControl Networks in an Internet Environment 2 Abstract A control network is a set of modules that are connected in a network. The modules are used as a bUilding control system with tasks like light and temperature control, fire and intruder detection. Problem Description WG Special Products has developed a building control system consisting of several modules that can have mutual interaction via a control bus (BatiBus compatible). The system has a central controller that is used to program specific actions based on timers or triggers from the modules. Furthermore, this central controller provides a user-interface to the system. Two problems with the system are not yet solved satisfactory: (1) The user-interface and configuration is not convenient and easy-to­ use, (2) remote access to the system is not possible. Additional constraints: (1) A solution must be based on Internet technology, which is deemed very promising, especially for further extensions of the system, (2) a solution must be designed in such fashion that it can also work with competitive control networks available in the market. The architecture to tackle these problems is the in this report described control network interface. To make it work with different control networks, are control networks fit in a control network object model based on services. The model results in an architecture of a control network interface based on Internet technology to enable remote controlling of service functionality. The proof of concept implementation is a demonstrator of the control network interface with a BatiBus control network. The demonstrator application is an easy to use user interface website. This demonstrator uses the control network interface to control the services of the control network. A Universal Architecture for Integration of Control Networks in an Internet Environment 3 Table of Contents 1 Introduction 5 2 Control Networks and the Internet 6 3 Control Network Object Model 8 4 Control Network Interface 10 4.1 Communication media and protocols 10 4.2 Control Network Interface Protocol 11 5 Proof of Concept Implementation 14 5.1 Problem Description 14 5.2 Architecture 14 5.3 Hardware set up 14 5.4 Control Network Interface Software 16 5.4.1 Main process and XML database 17 5.4.2 Communicator 19 5.4.3 Controller 22 5.5 Demonstrator Application 24 Ei c:ol1c:llJ!iiol1!i ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ~Ei 7 List of References 27 A Universal Arthitecture for Integration ofControl Networks in an Internet Environment 4 1 Introduction A control network is a set of modules that are connected in a network. The modules are used as a bUilding control system with tasks like light- and temperature control, fire and intruder detection. Problem Description WG Special Products has developed a bUilding control system consisting of several modules that can have mutual interaction via a control bus (BatiBus compatible). The system has a central controller that is used to program specific actions based on timers or triggers from the modules. Furthermore, this central controller provides a user-interface to the system. Two problems with the system are not yet solved satisfactory: (1) The user-interface and configuration is not convenient and easy-to­ use, (2) remote access to the system is not possible. Additional constraints: (1) A solution must be based on Internet technology, which is deemed very promising, especially for further extensions of the system, (2) a solution must be designed in such fashion that it can also work with competitive control networks available in the market. The architecture to tackle these problems is the in this report described control network interface. After an introduction to control networks is the control network object model described to fit all kinds of control networks in an architecture based on services. A Universal Architecture for Integration r:i Control Networks in an Internet Environment 5 2 Control Networks and the Internet A control network consists of a number of modules that communicate with a defined protocol, making it possible to interact with each other. The primary interaction tasks involve service discovery, service description, actual state information and invoking actions. Each module part of a control network can be remote controlled by any other authorised module in the control network. The control networks that are available nowadays consists of a control bus. A large number of modules especially designed for that type of control bus can be connected. This means the data link communication and the protocol to control the modules on the network are defined in a standard. A more universal interface to all these control networks is preferable, because integration brings user advantages, for example one central remote control for all control network services. Control networks in the residential environment are also known as Home Automation l\Ietworks, and introduced to the market in the late 70s and the 80s. At that time there was less attention of manufactures to address the problems of cross product compatibility and complete system integration. $r:.:.n!,. $;{'$/t'fT1 " r~._;·'~_·"'_~ __ _ r-------(i--:tPIrUl : ···:!·I··.·.·,.,T~~'~~~'t CC(7;'rr:~-" r~.cmt'.7f .1,r:}((!f-,:-:t1 !J'(~(!:J l;;t ,;",4; .• '· , ~/.L~"\:;. ......,;.i II ~PC : ~5 ,,~,·.7fmJ~".':'"t _. o\;I;,;(.~C':" I ./ ~J ::r::1,r~~" 0 ;~:":, ~~"".,~.'I' " ~f\'e! ~; Figure 2.1 : Possible automation tasks of a control network Hence, a variety of products that could only be individually controlled were introduced to do automation tasks (figure 2.1), like: • Secu rity systems • Building lighting control A Universal Ardlitec.ture for Integration of Control Networks in an Internet Environment 6 • Energy management International efforts have been under way to develop standards covering the communication between different products. To name some standards: • LonWorks [1] • EIB [2] • BatiBus [3] • X-l0 [4] • CEBus [5] The standards differ in the key elements: • Physical media portability (power line, wired, wireless) • Data bandwidth • Computer and internet interfacing • Easy to install and control protocol • Data structure (level of OSI layer implementation) Internet Internet usage is not limited to web surfing but is applicable to any kind of software application needing to communicate. To integrate the automation services of a control network in an Internet environment, a control network interface is needed to make remote access by Internet possible. This creates new possibilities like controlling your house from anywhere on the world. Some more advantages are: • Remote monitoring and control • Automatic hardware/software firmware upgrades • Intelligent behaviour using web data resources • Connecting to other systems or devices But no to forget serious complications: • Security • Ethic issues Because Internet technology is deemed very promising the universal control network interface architecture needs to be based on Internet protocols and standards. The next chapter explains how all kinds of control networks are fit in a control network object model based on services. A Universal Architecture for Integration ciControl Networks in an Internet Environment 7 3 Control Network Object Model Control network manufacturers use specific