Promised comments from Open Geospatial Consortum

The message below is an illustration of what I see is the 
bigger game, wherein oBIX devices may be controlled by the guys in Facilities, 
but provide a wealth of ad hoc information to others providing additional value 
that is not even on our radar.

 

Check out the first link especially.

 

tc

 

From: George Percivall 
[mailto:] 
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 
9:50 AM
To: Considine, Toby (Facilities Technology 
Office)
Subject: Re: oBIX, IAI and NBIMS Collaboration 

Toby, 

I am reading with interest the oBIX Specification that you 
attached.  (The link that you sent earlier returned an error from the Oasis 
server, even with a valid authentication.)

To understand the context of this specification I read the oBIX purpose on 
the OASIS site:

"The purpose of oBIX (open Building Information Exchange) is to enable 
mechanical and electrical control systems in buildings to communicate with 
enterprise applications, and to provide a platform for developing new classes of 
applications that integrate control systems with other enterprise functions. 
Enterprise functions include processes such as Human Resources, Finance, 
Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Manufacturing. "

The oBIX specification appears to provide an XML encoding of information 
that is relevant to the oBIX purpose.  Exchange of the oBIX xml documents 
could then be done using a web service that is either SOAP or REST-style.  
This from the oBIX spec: "All oBIX defined contracts are accessible via their 
HTTP URI using both the HTTP and SOAP bindings (hopefully). "

The accessibility of mechanical and electrical control systems 
information from an operational building is key to the operational phase of the 
NBIM lifecyle.  Simple use case: an alert is received indicating a 
malfunction in an HVAC system; operator requests the current values of the 
system and displays them on a 3-D view of the building using the BIM data of the 
building.  oBIX is clearly relevant to the NBIM scope.  I could 
see us testing this use case in an NBIM testbed.

You may be interested that the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is working 
with the IEEE 1451 standard for plug and play access to sensors.  A recent 
demo made use of sensors in and around a warehouse as part of an emergency 
response to a fire.

http://www.opengeospatial.org/demo/ows3/

A key aspect of the NBIM effort is collaboration with the various standards 
developing organizations that are relevant to the NBIM scope. I urge you to 
consider participating in the NBIM effort.  Kent Reed and I co-lead the 
testing team for NBIM. Additional information:

http://www.nibs.org/BIMcommittee.html 

Regards,

George

George Percivall
Chief Architect
Open Geospatial Consortium
http://www.opengeospatial.org/
E-mail: 

Voice: 
1+301-560-6439

On Feb 15, 2006, at 4:18 PM, Considine, Toby ((Facilities Technology 
Office)) wrote:

  
 

  

  
  From: Brodt, William (HQ-LD030) [mailto:] 
Sent: 
  Wednesday, February 15, 2006 11:52 AM
To: Considine, Toby 
  (Facilities Technology Office)
Cc: Grobler, Francois ERDC-CERL-IL; 
  ; ; George 
  Percivall
Subject: oBIX, IAI and NBIMS Collaboration 
  

  

  
I am asked for a user name and password, which I do not 
  have.  When I close that request screen, I go to the OASIS home page 
  where I seem to be able to get access to most pages, but I think the working 
  group pages are for members only.  

  
 

  
Francois Grobler, Technical Director, IAI-North America, 
  should see the oBIX work to see how it fits with the IFC 
  model.  Also Steve Selkowitz and Valdo B. at Lawrence Berkeley 
  National Laboratory and Kent Reed and Mark Palmer at the National Institute 
  for Standards and Technology.  We might also want to have Steve Busby of 
  NIST take a look, but Kent and Mark will know best.  

  
 

  
Trane has been involved with the IAI, at least via the 
  NIBS FMOC OMSI project.  The other firms have not.  
  

  
 

  
I am not familiar with SOAP/REST.

  
 

  

  
  From: Considine, Toby (Facilities Technology 
  Office) [mailto:] 
  
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 9:12 AM
To: Brodt, 
  William (HQ-LD030)
Subject: RE: oBIX 1.0 moving toward plausible 
  Summer finalization

  

  
But does the link below work?\

  
 

  
If not, I can send you the PDF. I would very much like to 
  get some other eyes on the draft - I particularly would like to get an BIM eye 
  on it.

  
 

  
Right now I have commitments to implement by summer from 
  several large vendors - you can help make sure they implement the right thing. 
  I'm hearing NIAGRA/GridLogix/Johnson/Trane/possibly 
  Honeywell/Echelon/...

  
 

  
The one real problem I see in the short term is that many 
  will do their first drafts in REST (because it feels more like the way they 
  always did it)

  
 

  
I programmer shared this perspective on the SOAP/REST 
  spin the other day which I quite liked

  
 

  
    

    
     I feel like REST 
    makes simple things easy and hard things difficult, SOAP/WS-* makes simple 
    things difficult and hard things easy...

REST is about 
    point-to-point, simple invocations where the application defines the meaning 
    of the data.  WS-* has its strength in 'routeability' and 
    composability, along with security, and support of constructs more familiar 
    to message queuing applications, such as reliability and transactional 
    aspects.  The other thing about SOAP is that many of these aspects are 
    'toolable', declarative, and composable (you don't use what you don't need) 
    instead of depending on implementation code.

    
    

  
Clearly the BIM itself is about SOAP. But if we get to 
  common tagging/interaction/eventing standards, we can get to standard 
  transforms to/from BIM/GBXML/Sel Commissioning/Document-based communications 
  as the next step.

  
 

  
Do you know any XML/BIM guru who would be willing to look 
  at the spec and send me some comments?

  
 

  
tc

  
 

  

  
  From: Brodt, William (HQ-LD030) [mailto:] 
Sent: 
  Wednesday, February 15, 2006 8:12 AM
To: Considine, Toby (Facilities 
  Technology Office)
Cc: George Percivall
Subject: RE: oBIX 
  1.0 moving toward plausible Summer finalization

  

  
Good to hear from you.  Not sure if you are 
  aware of all of the work in progress with the International Alliance for 
  Interoperability - now more frequently branded "buildingSMART" and the effort 
  to establish a National Building Information Model Standard through the 
  National Institute of Building Sciences' Facility Information Council.  I 
  sent your name to the Testing Subcommittee which is led by Mark Reinhardt and 
  George Percivall of the Open Geospatial Constortium.  OGC is a member of 
  OASIS.  I have a small project underway funded by NASA and a working 
  group of the National Science and Technology Council which concentrates on 
  implementing the OMSI component of the IFC model within the SpecsIntact 
  software and the Unified Facilities Guide Specifications (Federal construction 
  specifications) and a webtool used by several agencies called ProjNet.  
  The NIBS FMOC will have a meeting and a booth during the National Facilities 
  Management and Technology Conference in Baltimore next month.  If anyone 
  from OBIX will be attending, perhaps you can point them to us.  
  

  
 

  
Being I am not a member of OASIS, I am not sure if I 
  can get to the information on OBIX XML committee, but I expect that George 
  can.

  

  
Bill Brodt 
Experimental Facilities 
  Engineer 
Facilities 
  Engineering and Real Property Division 
NASA HQ  Mail Stop LD030 
  
300 E St SW 
  
Washington DC 20546 
  
202 358 1117 
  
 

  
 

  

  
  From: Considine, Toby (Facilities Technology 
  Office) [mailto:] 
  
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2006 5:12 PM
To: Considine, 
  Toby (Facilities Technology Office)
Subject: oBIX 1.0 moving toward 
  plausible Summer finalization

  

  
I am sending you this 
  note because, if my notes and list editing are correct, you have expressed an 
  interest in oBIX in the past and you are not currently getting OASIS mailings 
  on the subject. I may be wrong, in which case I apologize for any 
  duplication.

  
 

  
The public face of oBIX 
  has been quiet for a while. This must be laid  at my feet, due to some 
  health/rehab issues that have led me to drop many issues (Don’t ask – not 
  because I am sensitive, or shy about them – on the contrary I find the details 
  fascinating will happily tell you *all* about it and there will go the rest of 
  your day)

  

  

  

  
Fortunately, the XML 
  committee has been hard at work, and the XML standard, half-baked when 
  last the public peaked into 
  peaked into the oven, now looks and smells ready to pull out and 
  consume. We will be having a conference call at 
  the end of next week to discuss the timeline for completion. If all goes as 
  anticipated we may have two interoperability fests during May (wan to 
  participate?) and have multiple implementations of a draft standard by 
  Summer.

  
 

  
If you would like to be informed, or to participate, 
  please let me know. If you would like to submit comments and want to know when 
  the formal review process starts, let me know. If you have any questions, let 
  me know.

  
 

  
If you have not read the 
  latest work, please do.

  

  
http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/oBIX-xml/download.php/16590/wd-obix-0.9.0.zip

  

  
thanks

  

  
Toby Considine

  
Co-Chair, 
  oBIX

  
 

  
 

  
  
  
<wd-obix-0[1].9.0.zip>

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