In-network Self-Learning Algorithms for BEMS Through a Collaborative Fog Platform

Building Energy Management System (BEMS) is a vital approach in constructing a global energy-efficient environment. It can be operated by analyzing data collected from sensors located in designated indoor areas. The key is to improve the data processing results while reducing the total data processing/communication volume required in the whole Internet of Things (IoT) networks as much as possible. In this work, a novel in-network self-learning algorithm for BEMS through a collaborative Fog platform is proposed. In particular, we devise an emerging Fog computing enabled IoT network architecture, where most of data can be processed in the Sensor-to-Fog and Fog-to-Fog layers. Data processing on Cloud is only required if anomalous sensor data are detected, and thus, the energy consumption due to heavy data processing on Cloud will be significantly reduced. The proposed algorithm makes the best use of Fog node capability to realize distributed data collection and processing. Via Fog-to-Fog connections, it can examine the sensor data by collecting them from different search ranges, whose values are meanwhile optimized. Numerical experiments conducted in a real indoor environment demonstrate that our algorithm achieve a high prediction accuracy for anomaly detection even with relatively small sensor data for processing. The effectiveness of Fog node placement is also verified. The overall scheme is expected to be a feasible solution to construct a cost-effective IoT network to minimize energy consumption while maximizing the indoor user's comfort, from the perspective of achieving a high prediction accuracy in BEMS data monitoring.