The Experts below are selected from a list of 360 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Wolfgang Kastner - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Knowledge-based Building management combining human perception and Building Automation systems
2019 First International Conference on Societal Automation (SA), 2019Co-Authors: Wolfgang Kastner, Stefan Gaida, Hilda TelliogluAbstract:User feedback offers high potential for improving comfort satisfaction and adapting processes in Building operation and management. However, comfort in Building zones is usually quantified using sensor devices of Building Automation systems while feedback of Building users is only manually analyzed by facility managers. The goal of the recently started project `HumBAS' is to combine subjective human perception and objective data originating from Building Automation systems to improve comfort for Building users and infer recommendations for facility managers using knowledge engineering. An intuitive interface for the acquisition of human perception as well as a knowledge-based integration of objective and subjective comfort measurements are developed in order to describe an automatic process for direct consideration of user feedback and detection of problems in Building management. The paper presents related work, gives an outlook on the overall project goals and addresses first results.
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Enabling hardware-in-the-loop for Building Automation networks: A case study for BACnet and PowerDEVS
IECON 2017 - 43rd Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, 2017Co-Authors: Stefan Seifried, Franz Josef Preyser, Wolfgang KastnerAbstract:Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) is a well-established concept for developing and testing embedded systems. While it is widely used in industrial Automation and the automotive area, it is rarely applied to Building Automation Systems (BAS). This work proposes the interconnection of a prominent Building Automation protocol, namely Building Automation and Control network (BACnet), and a simulator, PowerDEVS, to facilitate HIL testability of new and existing Building Automation networks. The Discrete Event Systems Specification formalism, used by PowerDEVS, is especially geared towards systems that show both discrete event and continuous state characteristics. Hence, the field of BAS is a prime candidate for such simulators. Further, the interconnection of HIL simulation and BAS via Building Automation networks allows for easy and location-independent testing of single field devices on one hand, and distributed BAS applications on the other hand. Therefore, design issues, and the pros and cons of a bridging solution between BAS and simulators are discussed throughout the course of this work. The paper introduces a modular software architecture for the interconnection of Building Automation networks and simulation. This allows for easy portability of the proposed design to other HIL simulators or Building Automation network protocols. The feasibility of the proposed approach is validated by means of a proof-of-concept.
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semantics for smart control of Building Automation
International Symposium on Industrial Electronics, 2016Co-Authors: Daniel Schachinger, Wolfgang KastnerAbstract:Building Automation is an important part of state-of-the-art Building management in order to attain most efficient operation in accordance with comfort requirements, energy consumption, or budget allowance. For this purpose, current Building management systems enable communication with subjacent systems at the field and Automation level by definition of mostly syntactical technology mappings. However, integration of Building Automation systems for management and control purposes also needs to address the semantics of these subsystems, their cooperation, and their interference. In this work, such an integration approach is presented that enables smart control of Building Automation resources by the use of semantic technologies. An OWL ontology is developed in order to represent and link knowledge of all relevant domains. Furthermore, an interface concept for seamless and interoperable cross-border communication in the heterogeneous Building Automation environment is introduced. Finally, an application scenario illustrates the functional capabilities of this approach for smart control in Building management.
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a generic dependability layer for Building Automation networks
2016 IEEE World Conference on Factory Communication Systems (WFCS), 2016Co-Authors: Lukas Krammer, Wolfgang Kastner, Thilo SauterAbstract:This paper introduces a concept for bringing dependability into the area of Building Automation. The proposed approach is able to extend existing Building Automation networks with dependability features. For this purpose, the communication stack of a particular system is extended by adding an intermediate layer. This so-called dependability layer is transparent to allow seamless integration. Thereby, reliability is addressed in terms of fault tolerance by offering redundant network topologies. A heartbeat mechanism and an acknowledgment procedure as well as a specific message format satisfy the safety requirements. Moreover, the dependability layer offers security mechanisms that establish a secured channel among communicating nodes.
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Interoperable integration of Building Automation systems using RESTful BACnet Web services
IECON 2015 - 41st Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, 2015Co-Authors: Daniel Schachinger, Christoph Stampfel, Wolfgang KastnerAbstract:Building Automation domain is affected by a diversity of standards and technologies. With the upcoming Internet of Things heading for a pervasive network of interconnected smart things and the need for efficient and intelligent energy management systems, the necessity of integrating these heterogeneous Building Automation environments soars. Thus, standardized, interoperable, secure, and scalable solutions are required. Well-established Web service technologies based on the Internet Protocol act as key enabler to realize this vision. In this work, an approach for the seamless and interoperable integration of Building Automation systems based on RESTful BACnet/WS is presented. In order to ease the integration process, the BAC-net/WS specification is described as formal, machine-readable object model. Additionally, most common Building blocks of Building Automation systems including logical as well as physical resources are specified in the form of type definitions to unify integration. Furthermore, a proof-of-concept implementation of a BACnet/WS server is realized in order to illustrate the functional capability of the presented approach.
Wolfgang Granzer - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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security analysis of open Building Automation systems
International Conference on Computer Safety Reliability and Security, 2010Co-Authors: Wolfgang Granzer, Wolfgang KastnerAbstract:With the integration of security-critical services into Building Automation Systems (BAS), the demands on the underlying network technologies increase rapidly. Relying on physically isolated networks and on "Security by Obscurity", as it is still common today, is by no means an adequate solution. To be reliable and robust against malicious manipulations, the used communication services must support advanced security mechanisms that counteract potential security threats. This paper identifies important security requirements and challenges within the Building Automation domain. Based on this analysis, state-of-the-art technologies are carefully examined. Finally, an outlook on advanced security concepts is given.
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Security in Building Automation systems
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 2010Co-Authors: Wolfgang Granzer, Fritz Praus, Wolfgang KastnerAbstract:Building Automation systems are traditionally concerned with the control of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, as well as lighting and shading, systems. They have their origin in a time where security has been considered as a side issue at best. Nowadays, with the rising desire to integrate security-critical services that were formerly provided by isolated subsystems, security must no longer be neglected. Thus, the development of a comprehensive security concept is of utmost importance. This paper starts with a security threat analysis and identifies the challenges of providing security in the Building Automation domain. Afterward, the security mechanisms of available standards are thoroughly analyzed. Finally, two approaches that provide both secure communication and secure execution of possibly untrusted control applications are presented.
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Integration of heterogeneous Building Automation systems using ontologies
2008 34th Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics, 2008Co-Authors: Christian Reinisch, Wolfgang Granzer, Fritz Praus, Wolfgang KastnerAbstract:The challenge of integrating heterogeneous systems in order to combine their functionality is of utmost importance for the further deployment of Building Automation systems. The goal is to allow comprehensive communication among the systems. This will provide enhanced possibilities thus making way for intelligent Buildings. Traditionally, integration is achieved using gateways which require considerable configuration effort. To alleviate this overhead and provide a unified system view, a generic application model is proposed that can accommodate all functionality found in Building Automation systems. The employment of this model promises several benefits such as a central point for configuration and system access. The method of choice are ontologies, which allow to offer a seminal representation of knowledge, an abstraction of the heterogeneous network infrastructure and automatic reasoning on the stored knowledge.
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wireless technologies in home and Building Automation
International Conference on Industrial Informatics, 2007Co-Authors: Christian Reinisch, Wolfgang Kastner, G. Neugschwandtner, Wolfgang GranzerAbstract:The use of wireless technologies in Automation systems offers attractive benefits, but introduces a number of new technological challenges. The paper discusses these aspects for home and Building Automation applications. Relevant standards are surveyed. A wireless extension to KNX/EIB based on tunnelling over IEEE 802.15.4 is presented. The design emulates the properties of the KNX/EIB wired medium via wireless communication, allowing a seamless extension. Furthermore, it is geared towards zero-configuration and supports the easy integration of protocol security.
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A modular architecture for Building Automation systems
2006 IEEE International Workshop on Factory Communication Systems, 2006Co-Authors: Wolfgang Granzer, Wolfgang Kastner, G. Neugschwandtner, Fritz PrausAbstract:The deployment of Building Automation systems (BAS) allows to increase comfort, safety and security and to reduce operational cost. Today such systems typically follow a two-layered hierarchical approach. While control networks interconnect distributed sensors, actuators and controllers, a backbone provides the necessary infrastructure for management tasks hosted by configuration and management devices. In addition, devices interconnecting the control network with the backbone and the backbone with further networks (e.g., the Internet) play a strategic role. All BAS devices contributing to a particular functionality differ in their requirements for hardware. This paper discusses requirements for devices used in the Building Automation domain and presents our work in progress to assemble platforms with different purposes relying on a modular architecture.
Tongquan Wei - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Guest editorial special section on Building Automation, smart homes, and communities
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 2014Co-Authors: Dietmar Bruckner, Shiyan Hu, Peter Palensky, Tharam Dillon, Tongquan WeiAbstract:Building Automation is the key to sustainable, safe and comfortable Buildings as well as to the integration of Buildings into smart grids and with other external applications such as cloud computing. In a typical smart community scenario, various household appliances of multiple residential users are connected via a Home Area Network. HANs are further connected to the local power distribution network via smart meters, forming a LAN, where also renewables communicate. Methods are needed to design and integrate networks with hundred thousands of nodes in a cost-efficient way. The key to providing improved services in Building Automation is to process complex scenarios in an adequate way. Furthermore, Building Automation systems must be seen as dependable systems covering both safety and security aspects. The main objective of this Special Section is to bring the ideas of the worldwide research community into a common platform, to present the latest advances and developments.
Dietmar Bruckner - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Guest editorial special section on Building Automation, smart homes, and communities
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 2014Co-Authors: Dietmar Bruckner, Shiyan Hu, Peter Palensky, Tharam Dillon, Tongquan WeiAbstract:Building Automation is the key to sustainable, safe and comfortable Buildings as well as to the integration of Buildings into smart grids and with other external applications such as cloud computing. In a typical smart community scenario, various household appliances of multiple residential users are connected via a Home Area Network. HANs are further connected to the local power distribution network via smart meters, forming a LAN, where also renewables communicate. Methods are needed to design and integrate networks with hundred thousands of nodes in a cost-efficient way. The key to providing improved services in Building Automation is to process complex scenarios in an adequate way. Furthermore, Building Automation systems must be seen as dependable systems covering both safety and security aspects. The main objective of this Special Section is to bring the ideas of the worldwide research community into a common platform, to present the latest advances and developments.
Alexander Fay - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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software support for Building Automation requirements engineering an application of semantic web technologies in Automation
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 2011Co-Authors: Stefan Runde, Alexander FayAbstract:Modern Building Automation systems consist of up to several thousands of components (e.g., sensors, controllers, actuators) with numerous attributes and dependencies. Additionally, different crafts of the Building Automation domain, e.g., heating, ventilation, lighting, access control, are involved in the design and implementation of such a Building Automation system. In addition, various engineering standards have to be considered within the requirements engineering phase. Although the modeling of the requirements for decentralized Building Automation systems requires a huge effort, there is little software support available for this task today. This offers optimization potential not only for the requirements engineering, but also for subsequent phases of the engineering process in Building Automation. Within this paper, the authors describe a knowledge-based requirements engineering approach and a supporting software, which is based on Semantic Web technology.
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engineering of Building Automation systems state of the art deficits approaches
Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, 2010Co-Authors: Stefan Runde, Alexander Fay, Achim Heidemann, Peer SchmidtAbstract:Growing flexibility along with conversion, growing employee productivity and improvements in security are increasingly become the focus of interest in state-of-the-art Buildings. Energy efficiency is a further essential aspect, which is associated with factors such as lower utilization costs. A modern and integrated Building Automation system is necessary to fulfill these demands. The engineering process provides the basis for developing such systems. However, today's engineering process exhibits a number of shortcomings in the demands for implementing such systems. This paper focuses on the topic, describes today's engineering process of Building Automation systems and identifies its deficits. It also reports on two approaches designed to largely eliminate the deficits. These approaches have been proved and tested in a reference project, which is also outlined.
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Knowledge-based Requirement-Engineering of Building Automation systems by means of Semantic Web technologies
2009 7th IEEE International Conference on Industrial Informatics, 2009Co-Authors: Stefan Runde, Alexander Fay, Wagner-otto WutzkeAbstract:Modern Building Automation systems consist of up to 30,000 components (e.g. sensors, actuators, and controllers). Additionally, different assembly sections of the Automation system, e.g. heating, ventilation, and lighting, are integrated in such a Building Automation system. Besides this complexity, engineering standards and aspects of energy efficiency are to be considered within the Requirement-Elicitation phase. Therefore, modelling of the requirements for decentralized Building Automation systems, which are to be planned, requires a huge effort. The software support is on a low level within today's Requirement-Engineering phase. This allows to optimize the engineering process in Building Automation. The whole engineering process can benefit from an “intelligent” software-based Requirement-Engineering. Within this paper, the authors propose a solution for a knowledge-based Requirement-Engineering software by means of Semantic Web technologies.
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A data exchange format for the engineering of Building Automation systems
2008 IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, 2008Co-Authors: Stefan Runde, Alexander FayAbstract:In Building Automation, various engineering tools for the different sub-domains of the Automation system, e.g. heating, ventilation, and lighting, are used by different planners. Data exchange between these tools is at a low degree, which causes a lot of work to be done manually. This bears optimization potential for the engineering process in Building Automation. The whole planning process can benefit from a data exchange format that covers the different sub-domains and is independent of vendor specific tools. Such a format offers the chance of data exchange at a high degree of interchangeability. Within this paper, the authors propose a solution for a vendor-independent data exchange format for an improved engineering process of Building Automation systems, which provides the basis for the automated design of Building Automation systems.
