Yusuke Aoyama
IPv6Style
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The "Facility Networking Interoperability Consortium" was established in March of this year. It was formed in order to test interoperability among building and facility management networks and to promote the propagation of open systems.
Before its establishment, it was a sub-working group in the IPv6 Promotion Council; they performed tests by connecting building management systems that are based on industry standard protocols, such as Echelon’s LonWorks and BACnet. Then, they established an independent consortium in order to promote further cooperation among businesses, research institutes, such as universities, and related government agencies in anticipation of the international standardization of technologies and specifications that were developed during field trials.
They exhibited the results of their first interoperability field trial, started in March, at the NGI Technology Showcase at Interop. At this exhibition, they demonstrated making building control systems, which are operated remotely using BACnet and LonWorks, accessible via a web-service. They also demonstrated centrally controlling all the systems via an IPv6 network by accessing them through a web browser on a computer that was setup at the Interop site.
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The consortium plans to found a permanent interoperability-testing lab in Kawasaki by the end of fiscal year 2006. They aim to develop common interface standards based off test results at the lab and to internationally standardize them by performing even larger scale tests.
If networking for facilities is standardized in the near future, not only does it become possible to manage just one building, but it also becomes possible to centrally manage an entire area, which makes it possible to take efficient energy conservation measures.
