BACnet International PlugFest - 20 Years and Going Strong

Steve participated in BACnet PlugFest September 10th - 12th, 2019 at The University of New Hampshire's InterOperability Lab in Durham, NH. This year marked the 20th anniversary of the PlugFest Interoperability event.

There were 75 attendees from 35 companies representing six countries who came together to test their products with other BACnet vendors. S4 participated in all 12 pairing sessions and available roundtable test sessions. During the testing process we confirmed proper operation with most of the BACnet clients we tested against. As is typical for PlugFest, we identified a few areas where our S4 Open: BACnet-N2 Router could be improved. Some of these items are minor bugs, others will be scheduled as enhancements for a future release. We also assisted our testing partners in either validating proper operation of their products or identifying areas where they needed to improve. It is always a mutually beneficial process. The environment facilitated at PlugFest is that everyone adheres to a strict non-disclosure policy that does not allow anyone to publicize issues found in other manufacturer’s products. This promotes a productive and cooperative environment that generates positive results for everyone involved.

PlugFest educational sessions covered BACnet Secure Connect (SC) and BACnet Test Packages. BACnet SC enhances the BACnet standard to provide IT-friendly, secure communications while eliminating the need for broadcast messages. The Test Packages session focused on the activities of the volunteers and staff working on defining test packages that the BTL test facilities utilize to confirm that submitted products adhere to the BACnet standard. Typically, the development of test packages has lagged behind changes to the standard, thus requiring the use of interim tests. The BTL Working Group (WG) has been investing a lot of effort to close this gap to improve the overall quality of testing that is being performed.

PlugFest continues to grow each year. S4 will continue to attend each year and continue to encourage others to get involved. This is an event that is almost guaranteed to provide a positive return on your investment! Thank you BACnet International and BACnet Testing Labs for being our hosts.