Integrating BACnet Fire 3rd Party Devices Through Online Discovery

Scenario: Desigo CC is connected to BACnet Fire 3rd party devices, and you want to run the online discovery.

 

Performing an offline configuration is recommended instead if you want to import data into Desigo CC through an EDE file that addresses complex and non-standard configuration requirements.

 

Reference: For background information on BACnet Fire 3rd party devices, see the reference section.

 

Workflow diagram:

 

 

Prerequisites:

  • The BACnet Fire 3rd Party extension module is installed and included in the active project. The following extension is also selected automatically:
    • Fire Domain Libraries Common
  • System Manager is in Engineering mode.
  • System Browser is in Management View.

 

Steps:

1 – Configure the BACnet Driver
  1. Depending on where the driver runs (on the server or FEP station), in System Browser select one of the following:
    - Project > Management System > Servers > Main Server > Drivers
    - Project > Management System > FEPs > [FEP] > [drivers folder]
    NOTE:     When you work on a FEP station, the drivers folder must be available in System Browser. You can create it using New .
  1. In the Object Configurator, click New , and select New BACnet Driver.
  1. In the New Object dialog box, enter a unique description.
    NOTE: All drivers must have a distinct description, even if they are running on different stations.
  1. Click OK.
  • The newly created driver is automatically selected in System Browser.
  1. Select the BACnet tab and open the Settings expander.
  1. In the Management Station section, enter the Instance number: the BACnet Device Identifier to assign to the driver as a BACnet client (default: 9998).
  1. In the Extended Operation tab, select Manager Status and click Start to fully activate the driver, or click Start Conf… (start in configuration mode) to run the driver without activating any real connection to the field.
  1. Open the BT BACnet Stack Config expander.
  1. In the BT BACnet Stack Gateway Port Table, click Add and select BACnet/IPV4.
  1. In the Port Properties expander, set the Network number where your management station is connected (typically =1).
  1. Select the hardware adapter in the Adapter drop-down list.
    NOTE: You must start the BACnet driver in full mode to select the network adapter. If you are configuring offline, you must postpone this step.
  1. Click Save .

 

NOTICE

If you create more than one BACnet driver, the drivers can be assigned to the same Network Interface Card (NIC) or to different NICs. To avoid configuration conflicts, apply the following guidelines to the physical port configuration:
- The network number of each physical port must be unique.
- The IP address and UDP port (default is 47808) of each physical port must be unique. This means that the physical ports must have a different IP address or a different UDP port. For example, if two drivers are assigned to the same NIC you can use the value 47809 for the UDP port of the physical port of the second driver.

 

2 – Configure the BACnet Network
  1. Select Project > Field Networks.
  1. In the Object Configurator tab, click New and select New BACnet Network.
  • In the New Object dialog box, enter a name and description.
  1. Click OK.
  • The newly created network is automatically selected in System Browser.
  1. Select the BACnet tab and open the Network Settings expander.
  1. In the Monitored by driver drop-down list, select the driver.
  1. Click Save .

 

3 – Scan for Devices from the BACnet Object Browser

The BACnet Object Browser scans the BACnet network for devices and their status.

  • The Protocol Implementation Conformance Statement (PICS) from the manufacturer supports the required devices and objects.
  • In Desigo CC, the BACnet network and driver have been configured.
  1. Open the Windows Start menu and select All Programs > [Vendor name] > Desigo CC > Tools > BACnet Browser.
  • The BACnet Object Browser scans the network for BACnet devices.
    NOTE: If multiple networks were defined, they are not displayed using the defined network names. The designation in the BACnet Object Browser is System1_1, System1_2, System1_3, and so on.
  1. Select a device from the system tree in the left pane.
  • The right pane is updated with all the device information, sorted by property name and value column.
  1. For any subsequent discovery (application of a filter), take note of the following data:
  • Vendor-identifier
  • Object-identifier
  • The scan for devices is completed. The device data needed to set the filter criteria and run the network scan in Desigo CC is now available.

 

4 – Run the Network Scan
NOTICE
Restriction that applies when running the device discovery

- Only standard BACnet objects are supported. Proprietary object and object extensions are lost.

  1. In System Browser, select Project > Field Networks > [Network name].
  1. Select the Discovery tab.
  1. Open the Hierarchies Mapping expander.
  1. Select the logical hierarchy and drag the top node to the column Import this hierarchy under this node.
  1. Click Save .
  1. Open the Discovery Settings expander.
  1. In the Scan timeout in seconds field, set the maximum time for scanning devices (the default value is 60 seconds).
    NOTE: If the Enable auto-discovery of devices option is selected, the scanned devices are immediately imported into the project database.
  1. Select and configure one of the following filter options.
    NOTE: The discovery function scans the entire BACnet network for BACnet devices. To avoid impairing the network unnecessarily, it is recommended to apply one of the available filters.
  • Use network filter and enter the Network number filter.
  • Use instance filter and enter the Beginning instance and Ending instance (object-identifier).
  • Use vendor filter and enter a Vendor ID.
    NOTE 1: The vendor ID list is available at: http://www.bacnet.org/VendorID/.
    Additionally, some suppliers, such as Siemens Ltd., have multiple Vendor IDs.
    NOTE 2: To filter for a vendor ID different from the Siemens one and discover third-party BACnet devices, you must first customize the discovery rules for the relevant third-party panel, and then configure the appropriate settings, including vendor ID. For instructions, see Discovery Rules.
  1. Click Save .
  1. Click Scan.
  • While devices are discovered, in the Network Scan section of the Device Discovery expander, the Library column will display the Family:SubFamilyName of the discovery rules, whose library will be used to create the instances. In this case, BACnet_Fire:Fire.
    NOTE: To stop the network scan, clear all check boxes, and click Save .

 

5 – Import Data Points
  1. Select a device.
  1. Click Objects.
  • All data points of that device are listed.
  1. Select the data points you want to import.
  1. Click Save .
  1. Click Back and repeat the previous steps for each device you want to import.
  1. Click Import.
  • The progress displays in the Discovery Status section. The data points display in System Browser under the selected network.

 

 

6 – (Optional) Manually Assign/Change a Function
  1. Select Project > Field Networks > [network] > Hardware > [device name] > [data point].
  1. Select the Object Configurator tab.
  1. Open the Main expander.
  1. In the Function drop-down list, select the corresponding function.
  1. Click Save .
  1. Repeat steps 1 to 5 for each additional data point.

 

7 – (Optional) Create Additional Views

The discovery function imports data points into Management View. In configurations that require the logical or a user view the imported data points must be manually linked to be available also to these views.

Build up the View Hierarchical Structure of Levels

  • The logical or user view is available.
  1. Select the desired view from the System Browser drop-down list.
  1. In the tree structure, select the root node of this view.
  1. Click Add Aggregator and select the appropriate aggregator.
  1. In the New Object dialog box, do the following:
    a. Enter a name and a description.
    b. Click OK.
  1. Repeat the preceding steps to add more levels to create the required hierarchy structure.
  1. Click Save .

Populate the Levels with Links to System Objects

  1. Select the desired view from the System Browser drop-down list.
  1. In the tree structure, select the root node of the view.
  • The view builder workspace displays in the Views tab.
  1. In System Browser, select the Manual navigation check box.
  1. Select Management View from the System Browser drop-down list.
  • The workspace is fixed. The view does not change when selecting the data points.
  • The System Browser is in Management View and the Views tab displays the selected view.
  1. Select the object that you want to link and drag-and-drop it to the desired level in the Views tab.
    NOTE: If you want to link a subtree (object plus all its children), in the Views tab select the Link children check box. If you want to link only an individual object, in the Views tab clear the Link children check box.
  1. Repeat the preceding steps to link more objects or subtrees.
  1. Click Save .
  • The objects are now available in System Browser, linked to the desired view.