Patent ID: 8290627

Claim:
A method of adding a control device to a building automation system (BAS) by dynamically extending and automatically configuring an architecture of the BAS, the BAS including a server coupled to a network that is coupled to a plurality of different physical sites within the BAS, each site including one or more control devices for monitoring and/or controlling an environmental aspect of the site, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining a network address at the server of a previously unknown control device at a site coupled to the network; in response to the network address of the previously unknown control device being obtained, causing the server to implement a discovery process to attempt to automatically establish communications with and obtain metadata from the control device utilizing the network address, and further analyzing the metadata from the control device to determine a communication protocol compatible with the control device; in response to metadata being obtained from the control device, causing the server synchronize the site with the architecture of the BAS by evaluating at least one characteristic of the metadata and storing at the server the at least one characteristic as a definition utilized in a program that characterizes at least a part of the architecture of the BAS; altering a status of the control device from unknown to known at the server; and dynamically extending and automatically configuring the architecture to include the control device as a known device that is a part of the architecture of the BAS by executing the program without recompilation.