Semantic interface for machine-to-machine communication in building automation

Current trends and advancements in the Internet of Things and the Semantic Web have already found their way into the domain of building automation. As machine-to-machine communication and integration of heterogeneous building automation technologies are of increasing importance, interoperability is a necessary precondition. In order to support building automation communication, a customized set of services needs to be available. Additionally, semantics of exchanged information has to be described in a machine-readable way to enable automatic interpretation of message contents. In this work, an interface based on Web technologies and Semantic Web standards is presented, which supports platform-independent machine-to-machine communication for building automation. A requirements analysis for such an interface leads to the definition of a service-oriented architecture. The semantics of exchanged message contents is described in an ontology that provides the basis for a common understanding. Moreover, feasibility and hardware requirements of the proposed approach are evaluated.