Approach for automatically setting the device instance of a bacnet device

Abstract

An approach for automatically setting the device instance of a device such as a unitary controller without reliance on a router and/or global controller, or something like a special extension to an associated router and/or global controller. The approach may be implementable entirely by logic in the unitary controller.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for setting a device instance setting of a unitary controller, comprising:
 receiving via a network port of a unitary controller a global controller identifier;   setting the device instance setting of the unitary controller to a device instance that is based, at least in part, on the received global controller identifier; and   using the device instance setting when subsequently communicating on a building control network via the network port of the unitary controller.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the unitary controller has a default device instance, and wherein the setting step sets the device instance setting of the unitary controller to a device instance that is based, at least in part, on the received global controller identifier and the default device instance. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the default device instance comprises a MAC address. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving via the network port of the unitary controller a global controller MAC address; and   wherein the device instance is set based, at least in part, on the received global controller identifier, the default device instance, and the received global controller MAC address.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the device instance setting is stored in a flash memory of the unitary controller, and the setting step updates the device instance setting in the flash memory. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving via the network port of the unitary controller a global controller MAC address; and   wherein the device instance is set based, at least in part, on the received global controller identifier and the received global controller MAC address.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the global controller identifier is provided by a global controller via the building control network. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network port of a unitary controller communicates using a BACnet master-slave/token-passing protocol. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the global controller identifier is provided by a router via the building control network. 
     
     
         10 . A control unit for use in a building automation system, comprising:
 a network port for communicating on a building control network;   a non-volatile memory for storing a device instance setting, wherein the device instance setting is used as a network address for the control unit when communicating on the building control network;   a controller coupled to the network port and non-volatile memory, the controller configured to:
 receive via the network port a global controller identifier; 
 set the device instance setting in the non-volatile memory to a device instance that is based, at least in part, on the received global controller identifier; and 
 use the device instance setting when subsequently communicating on the building control network via the network port. 
   
     
     
         11 . The control unit of  claim 10 , wherein the control unit has a default device instance, and wherein the controller of the control unit is configured to set the device instance setting in the non-volatile memory to a device instance that is based, at least in part, on the received global controller identifier and the default device instance. 
     
     
         12 . The control unit of  claim 11 , wherein the default device instance comprises a MAC address. 
     
     
         13 . The control unit of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 receive via the network port a global controller MAC address; and   set the device instance based, at least in part, on the received global controller identifier, the default device instance, and the received global controller MAC address.   
     
     
         14 . The control unit of  claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 receive via the network port a global controller MAC address; and   set the device instance based, at least in part, on the received global controller identifier and the received global controller MAC address.   
     
     
         15 . The control unit of  claim 10 , wherein the global controller identifier is provided by a global controller via the building control network. 
     
     
         16 . The control unit of  claim 10 , wherein the network port is configured to communicate using a BACnet master-slave/token-passing protocol. 
     
     
         17 . The control unit of  claim 10 , wherein the global controller identifier is provided by a router via the building control network. 
     
     
         18 . A control unit for use in a building automation system, comprising:
 a network port for communicating on a building control network; and   a controller coupled to the network port, the controller configured to receive a seed value via the network port and to self-generate a unique device instance setting that is based on the seed value, wherein the unique device instance setting is used as a network address for the control unit when subsequently communicating on the building control network.   
     
     
         19 . The control unit of  claim 18 , wherein the seed value comprises a global controller identifier that is provided by a global controller on the building control network. 
     
     
         20 . The control unit of  claim 18 , wherein the controller is configured to self-generate the unique device instance setting based, at least in part, on the seed value and a locally stored default device instance.