Translating building automation events into mobile notifications

Abstract

Devices, methods, and systems for translating building automation events into mobile notifications are described herein. One device includes a memory, and a processor configured to execute executable instructions stored in the memory to receive a notification of an event from a building automation system, translate the event into a mobile notification of the event, and transmit the mobile notification of the event to a mobile device.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A computing device for translating a building automation event into a mobile notification, comprising:
 a memory; and   a processor configured to execute executable instructions stored in the memory to:
 receive a notification of an event from a building automation system; 
 translate the event into a mobile notification of the event by:
 retrieving a message template for that event type from a database that stores different message templates for different event types; 
 mapping the event to the message template for that event type retrieved from the database; and 
 adding information about the event to the message template for that event type, such that the mobile notification of the event comprises the message template for that event type with the information about the event added in, wherein the information about the event added to the message template is included in and taken from the received notification and includes data or details about the event to be provided to each respective user of a plurality of mobile devices; and 
 
 push the mobile notification of the event out to each of the plurality of mobile devices. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile notification is translated into a common data format. 
     
     
         3 . The computing device of  claim 2 , wherein the common data format is a self-describing data format that is platform independent. 
     
     
         4 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein the event corresponds to an alarm. 
     
     
         5 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein the event corresponds to a warning. 
     
     
         6 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions to:
 receive the notification of the event from the building automation system via one or more networks including a first network; and   push the mobile notification of the event out to each of the plurality of mobile devices across one or more networks including the first network.   
     
     
         7 . The computing device of  claim 6 , wherein the first network comprises the Internet. 
     
     
         8 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of mobile devices is a smart phone. 
     
     
         9 . The computing device of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device receives an opt-in from each of the plurality of mobile devices to receive notifications of events from the building automation system before the mobile notification of the event is pushed out to each of the plurality of mobile devices. 
     
     
         10 . A method for translating a building automation event into a mobile notification, comprising:
 receiving, by a computing device, notifications of a number of events from a building automation system;   storing each of the number of events in a database that also stores different message templates for different event types;   translating, by the computing device, each respective one of the number of events into a mobile notification of that respective event; and   pushing, by the computing device, the mobile notifications of each of the number of events out to each of a plurality of mobile devices.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein translating each respective one of the number of events into the mobile notification of that respective event includes translating each respective event into a common data format. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the common data format is a self-describing data format that is platform independent. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the method includes:
 receiving, by the computing device, notifications of a number of events from an additional building automation system;   storing each of the number of events from the additional building automation system in the database;   translating, by the computing device, each respective one of the number of events from the additional building automation system into a mobile notification of that respective event; and   pushing, by the computing device, the mobile notifications of each of the number of events from the additional building automation system out to each of the plurality of mobile devices.   
     
     
         14 . A system for translating a building automation event into a mobile notification, comprising:
 a building automation system;   a network-based platform remote to the building automation system;   wherein the building automation system is configured to:
 detect an event occurring in the building automation system; and 
 transmit a notification of the event to the network-based platform; and 
   wherein the network-based platform is configured to:
   translate the event into a mobile notification of the event by:
 retrieving a message template for that event type from a database that stores different message templates for different event types; 
 mapping the event to the message template for that event type retrieved from the database; and 
 adding information about the event to the message template for that event type, such that the mobile notification of the event comprises the message template for that event type with the information about the event added in, wherein the information about the event added to the message template is included in and taken from the notification of the event, and includes data or details about the event to be provided to each respective user of a plurality of mobile devices; and 
 pushing the mobile notification of the event out to each of the plurality of mobile devices. 
   
   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the network-based platform is configured to store the event in the database. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the building automation system is configured to detect the event based on information received by the building automation system. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the building automation system includes an event detection mechanism configured to detect the event. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the event detection mechanism is an alarm system. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the network-based platform is a cloud-based platform. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the building automation system is remote to each of the plurality of mobile devices.