Issue
When being discovered by a 3rd party system what names will be seen?
Product Line
EcoStruxure Building Operation
Environment
- Enterprise Server (ES)
- Automation Server (AS-P, AS-B, AS)
Cause
How is an Enterprise Server or Automation seen by a 3rd party system?
Resolution
The Enterprise Server (ES) and Automation Server (AS) conform to a specific BACnet Protocol Revision depending on version and firmware and the capabilities of a particular BACnet implementation are described in the Protocol Implementation Conformance Statement (PICS). The PICS contains, amongst other details, a list of all standard and proprietary object types that are supported. Please see BACnet Testing Laboratories (BTL) for a Listing of Tested Products.
For each object type supported the PICS describes:
- any optional properties that are supported
- which properties can be written-to using BACnet services
- if the objects can be dynamically created or deleted using BACnet services
- any restrictions on the range of data values for properties
For a third party to discover an ES or AS it needs to be a BACnet Operator Workstation (BOWS). Please see BACnet Testing Laboratories (BTL) for a list of tested BACnet Operator Workstation (B-OWS) and BACnet Advanced Operator Workstation (B-AWS)
Of the objects types detailed in the PICS the specific BOWS will determine what properties are shown. An application such as YABE can provide an indication of these properties. For example with a device the Vendor Name (1), Protocol Revision (2), Object Name (3), Model Name (4) and Firmware Revision (5) are amongst the properties available.
For an object such as an analog point the Object Name (6), Present Value (7) and Object Identifier (8) are examples of what will be seen.
Every BACnet device contains a device object that defines certain device information, including the device object identifier or instance number. For additional information please see Introduction to BACnet.
