A distributed simulator for large networks used in building automation systems

Abstract

In modern building automation systems an increasing number of devices with computational facilities exchange data and interoperate using underlying control networks. Discontinuous and nonlinear processes, synchronization effects and delays in communication lead to systems with highly complex behavior. Analytical methods often do not meet the demands for the evaluation of such systems. As an alternative approach, discrete event simulation gains more and more importance. The authors present the development of a distributed software simulator especially designed for large automation systems consisting of thousands of microcontroller based devices. An existing and expanding building automation system used to validate the simulator and which forms a base for modeling a large system is also described.