This section provides instructions on creating MSIB nodes and configuring the Building Twin Configuration service. From a high level, creating and configuring nodes is a two-part process:

  1. Create a virtual node or nodes in MSIB for the purpose of exposing BACnet IP data from the source.
  2. Configure the Building Twin Configuration service for pushing data to Building Twin.

Before beginning

MSIB for Building Twin is an integral part of the Building Twin workflow. Before creating and configuring the MSIB nodes, you must have completed some of the Building Twin steps because MSIB is dependent on the following:

  • BACnet discovery or EDE output file, filtered to contain the desired data points for transmitting data. The EDE output file must be in comma separated format.
  • Certificates - Every installation needs its own certificate and shall only be allowed to send data for a dedicated building (Building ID) for a dedicated system (e.g. MSIB).
  • AWS IoT connectivity
    • AWS IoT requires outbound TCP port 8443
    • AWS IoT endpoint needs to be white-listed in the firewall
  • Building ID from the building created in the Building Twin application.
  • If a proxy connection is needed for the Building Twin connection, see the section titled Navigating the User Interface for setting up the proxy.
  • For other needs, see System Requirements for MSIB with Building Twin Service in the section titled MSIB Application Requirements.

Collecting data

To create MSIB nodes and configure services, the following source and client information is required:

  • An understanding of both the source and Building Twin site will be necessary in order to configure MSIB nodes for communication.
  • The Building ID must be known.
  • Online access to source data will be necessary to verify communication with the source.

Sending data from a single source to multiple destinations

In order to send data from a single source to multiple destinations, a separate node will need to be created for each destination service.

Creating new nodes

The first step to configuring MSIB is to create a virtual node or nodes. Multiple nodes can be created if you are using the main_discovery_...csv file from a MSIB BACnet discovery. The multiple node creation option allows you to create multiple nodes that come from one output and go to one Building Twin site.

  1. Select Create multiple nodes.
  1. In the Create multiple nodes wizard, select Building Twin Configuration Service from the drop-down list.
  1. In the Building ID field, enter the Building ID. To be able to retrieve data, this must match the building created in the Building Twin application.
  1. Enter the AWS IoT Endpoint address in the provided field.
  1. In the AWS Certificate File Path field, select the client certificate (client-crt).
  1. In the AWS Key File Path field, select the client key (client-key).
  1. In the AWS Key File Protected field, accept the default of No unless you were specifically given a password for your key.
  1. In the AWS CACert File Path field, enter the certificate authority (ca-crt).

For secure communication with Building Twin, both certificates and the client key are required.

  1. Enter a desired AWS Update Interval or leave the default of 900 seconds between polling cycles (15 minutes).
  1. The AWS SSL Port, the port to use for the communication with Building Twin, defaults to 8443.
  1. For Import Type, select Rule Mapping Tool Export File from the drop-down list.
  1. Select Choose file and select the import file.
  1. Select the Source Service to indicate how data is acquired for MSIB. Choose BACnet Polling.
  1. For Polling Interval, Siemens recommends using the same interval as defined for the AWS Update Interval.
  1. Enter a desired Separation for the number of milliseconds between point requests within a polling cycle or leave at the default of 600 milliseconds.

A separation of 600 means that 1.5 points will be polled per second. With a Polling Interval of 900 seconds, a total of 1,350 points can be polled from this source.

The intent of the separation for a polling period is to reduce the amount of data requested from a device at any one time. Older source devices with limited resources are especially prone to going offline when they are being overwhelmed with requests for data.

  1. Select Create and start.
  • You may need to refresh the page before the data displays. This is especially true for larger amounts of data. For details about the operation of nodes, see Working with nodes.
  • MSIB will start reading the BACnet objects and once reached max quality, will send the data to Building Twin. Be aware that depending on the installation and network set up the quality will not reach 100%. The data of the configured BACnet objects will be sent in the configured interval to Building Twin.