Building and industrial protocols
These references cover interfaces used by building and industrial systems. Define the required data exchange and approval for any control functions before planning an integration.
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Overview#
Physical security systems frequently exchange occupancy, door, lift, HVAC, power, fire interface, and equipment health state with operational technology. A shared cable or Ethernet network doesn't imply a shared object model, safety classification, timing contract, or trust boundary.
References#
| Family | Pages | Integration centre of gravity |
|---|---|---|
| Modbus | Family, RTU, TCP, Security | Register/coils, simple request response, serial and TCP gateways |
| BACnet | Family, BACnet/IP, MS/TP, BACnet/SC | Building automation objects, services, discovery, routing |
| KNX | KNX, KNX Secure | Distributed building controls and group communication |
| OPC UA | OPC UA | Rich typed information models, client/server and PubSub |
| DNP3 | DNP3 | Telecontrol and utility event reporting |
| IEC telecontrol | IEC 60870-5-101 and -104 | Telecontrol ASDUs over serial and TCP profiles, with IEC 62351 security context |
| Power utility automation | IEC 61850 | Logical nodes, ACSI, SCL, MMS, GOOSE, Sampled Values, and IEC 62351 boundaries |
| Matter | Matter | IP based smart building/home device fabrics, commissioning, ACLs, attestation, and multi ecosystem control |
| CAN ecosystems | CAN, CANopen, and J1939 | Embedded controllers, vehicles, gates, lifts, machinery |
| Industrial Ethernet | PROFINET, EtherNet/IP and CIP | Cyclic I/O, controller/device data, diagnostics, safety profiles |
Integration rule#
Treat every cross domain point as a contract containing: authoritative source, engineering unit, valid range, update model, stale threshold, quality, command authority, safe fallback, ownership, and audit requirements. A protocol bridge must never silently turn unknown, bad quality, timeout, or stale state into false, closed, secure, or normal.
Safety boundary#
Don't write to live controllers, simulate field devices on an operational network, change routing, clear alarms, or operate connected equipment from examples or discovery tools. Use offline fixtures and simulation for research; hardware acceptance belongs under site change control, manufacturer procedures, independent observation, and the asset owner's recovery plan. Life safety, process safety, and machinery safety functions require their own certified path.