OBJECT ORIENTED FRAMEWORK ARCHITECTURE FOR SENSING AND/OR CONTROL ENVIRONMENTS

An object oriented sensing/control framework architecture includes a sensor/controller framework module, an application services framework module, a signal database, and an application database. The sensor/controller framework module may exist within a sensor/controller gateway; the application services framework module may exist within an application services system. The sensor/controller framework module manages communication between 1) sensing/control subsystem elements, which generate and/or receive data and/or hardware signals; and 2) signal objects in the sensor/controller framework module and/or service objects in the application services framework module, which generate and/or receive event messages. Signal and/or service objects may be selectively associated with particular types of sensing and/or control subsystem elements, and process information within corresponding event messages. Associations between signal and/or service objects and sensing and/or control subsystem elements may be specified in the signal and/or the application database. Signal and/or service objects may be stored upon and distributed by an Object Database Management System.