Week 7 - Internet

Though I have used the Internet for the majority of my life, I found reading the encyclopedia entry that I knew relatively little about its history and what happens in the background to make it work. It was interesting to read about Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol as these were entirely new topics for me. It makes sense that there would have to be standards and rules for how data is broken down so it can be effectively transferred across the Internet. I liked the analogy of data moving like mail through post offices and distribution centers. Each piece of data sent seems to make many stops along the way as its directed to its final destination. I also like the explanation of the relationship between IP addresses and the domain name system as I was unfamiliar with how they related to one another. Reading about how intranets work got me thinking about how building sensors could feed information into an intranet allowing building operators to track trends about many aspects of the building. It seems to me that an intranet would be the most likely way the type of sensors we have been discussing would be implemented in an intelligent building.

The first article I found, The Pervasive Internet and the Progress of Intelligent Buildings, focuses on why building managers like Internet-enabled applications for monitoring their facilities. The author writes that any building manager’s goal is to be responsive to the need of those that work, shop or live withing their building. Networked sensors, switches and systems built into the building’s infrastructure, which are capable of communicating with building operators and one another, allow managers to easily adjust to changes in the building environment to satisfy its occupants. The author points out that not only is interoperability a compatibility issue (devices being able to speak the same language), it is also a connectivity issue. For example he writes about a fire emergency. A smoke detector bought at Walmart simply runs on a battery. To improve safety, building managers would like the smoke detector to tell the HVAC system to pressurize stairwells so occupants can safely escape or shutdown elevators while dropping off passengers at a safe floor. The author makes a case for Internet enabled devices that would make data more transferable and pervasive. Using their Internet connection, the many devices that are part of the building infrastructure could send data to the proper destination in which Internet-enabled application would allow building managers to react to the incoming information or other devices react accordingly.

The second article I found was about defining what an intelligent building is and did so with a significant focus on what role the Internet plays in the definition. The article is called The Realization of Intelligent Buildings. The main points of the author’s definition of intelligent buildings include the integration of disparate building systems so they can be controlled by a centralized common user interface using a shared network for all building-system communications. The author compares the usage of a single IP network to multiple proprietary networks with a detailed image showing how multiple monitoring system controls can be linked through the Internet to a central monitoring and control station. She writes that intelligent buildings successfully merge building management and IT systems to optimize system performance and facility operations, with everything operation on a common network infrastructure. With systems integrated onto a single IP or Ethernet network, routers and switches are converted into IP by a centralized control system so that data can be delivered across the network where it is accessible from secure Web browsers. This allows systems to be monitored 24/7 even when the central monitoring station is unmanned.