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At least 19 records

A Taxonomy for Classification and Comparison of Dataflows for GNN Accelerators

Recently, Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have received a lot of interest because of their success in learning representations from graph structured data. However, GNNs exhibit different compute and memory characteristics compared to traditional Deep Neural Networks (DNNs). Graph convolutions require feature aggregations from neighboring nodes (known as the aggregation phase), which leads to highly irregular data accesses. GNNs also have a very regular compute phase that can be broken down to matrix multiplications (known as the combination phase). All recently proposed GNN accelerators utilize different dataflows and microarchitecture optimizations for these two phases. Different communication strategies between the two phases have been also used. However, as more custom GNN accelerators are proposed, the harder it is to qualitatively classify them and quantitatively contrast them. In this work, we present a taxonomy to describe several diverse dataflows for running GNN inference on accelerators. This provides a structured way to describe and compare the design-space of GNN accelerators.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

ATCCfinder - Download and Search the ATCC Genome Portal

Much strain-specific sequence data exists in research conducted before the deployment of large sequencing repositories, making it challenging to identify and validate the identity of strains used in these studies through bioinformatics and phenotyping. The American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) is an organization that sells a wide variety of microbes with strain-level taxonomy classification and associated sequenced reference genomes. Currently, ATCC does not provide a method for searching for sequence similarity between a query sequence and their database of reference genomes. Here I propose the software ATCCfinder, which utilizes ATCC application interface software (API) to generate query-able databases from ATCC Genome resources.

Koehler, Samuel↗

Analysis of DSN software anomalies

A categorized data base of software errors which were discovered during the various stages of development and operational use of the Deep Space Network DSN/Mark 3 System was developed. A study team identified several existing error classification schemes (taxonomies), prepared a detailed annotated bibliography of the error taxonomy literature, and produced a new classification scheme which was tuned to the DSN anomaly reporting system and encapsulated the work of others. Based upon the DSN/RCI error taxonomy, error data on approximately 1000 reported DSN/Mark 3 anomalies were analyzed, interpreted and classified. Next, error data are summarized and histograms were produced highlighting key tendencies.

Galorath, D. D.↗

Changes to virus taxonomy, the international code of virus classification and nomenclature, and the ICTV statutes ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (2025)

Abstract The 56th meeting of the Executive Committee (EC) of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) was held in Bari, Italy, in July/August, 2024, and 115 submitted taxonomy proposals were reviewed. A total of 112 were subsequently ratified by the ICTV membership. An additional 9 error correction proposals were also approved in August 2025. This article lists the taxonomy proposals that have now been incorporated into release 40 version v2 of the Master Species List ( https://ictv.global/msl ), the Virus Metadata Resource ( https://ictv.global/vmr ), and associated ICTV databases. In addition to the assignments of 1,563 new virus species, 243genera, 55 families, 11 orders, and 8 classes, there were substantial additions to higher taxonomic ranks. These include the creation of a new realm ( Singelaviria ), which is based on the recognition of a separate evolutionary origin for the hallmark capsid genes of members of the kingdom Helvetiavirae. These express capsid proteins forming a single jelly-roll fold that is structurally and evolutionarily distinct from those of members of the family Bamfordvirae , assigned to the realm Varidnaviria . Furthermore, the realm Varidnaviria underwent a major reorganization, including the addition of a new kingdom, Abadenavirae . Another notable change was the classification of the vertebrate-infecting single-stranded DNA anellovirids into a new phylum Commensaviricota (kingdom Shotokuvirae , realm Monodnaviria ). Archaeal viruses infecting the hyperthermophilic Archaeoglobi were assigned to a new phylum Calorviricota , in the kingdom Trapavirae (realm Monodnaviria ), whereas RNA viruses infecting hyperthermophilic bacteria were classified into a new phylum Artimaviricota (realm Riboviria ). In recognition of his extensive and valuable contributions to virus taxonomic developments in Study Groups and over the period of his EC membership, Stuart Siddell was honoured as a new life member of the ICTV. The ICTV has created a new strategy for disseminating information on taxonomy advances through annual open-access publication of citeable taxonomy proposal summaries from each ICTV Subcommittee. A collective total of 354 co-authors of the seven summaries were drawn from members of each Subcommittee, the EC, and a very large number of contributors from the wider virology community.

Simmonds, Peter (ORCID:0000000279644700)↗

Virus species names have been standardized; virus names remain unchanged

Virus taxonomy, comprising classification and nomenclature, is regulated by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). Taxon names are standardized to facilitate recognition and communication, with defined suffixes for each rank (e.g., the names of orders, families, and genera end in -virales, -viridae, and -virus, respectively). However, until recently, a standard format for species names was lacking. In 2021, following extensive discussion and community consultation, the ICTV decided to adopt a standardized binomial (Linnaean) format for virus species names, consisting of the genus name followed by a "freeform" species epithet. Previously assigned virus species names that were non-compliant with the binomial format have been fully updated. In contrast to taxon names regulated by the ICTV, the names of viruses, or "common" names, such as yellow fever virus or human immunodeficiency virus, are not under the remit of the ICTV and have not been changed.

Zerbini, F Murilo↗

Revisiting Power Systems Time-Domain Simulation Methods and Models

The changing nature of power systems dynamics is challenging present practices related to modeling and study of system-level dynamic behavior. While developing new techniques and models to handle the new modeling requirements, it is also critical to review some of the terminology used to describe existing simulation approaches and the embedded assumptions. This article provides a first-principles review of the simplifications and transformations commonly used in the formulation of time-domain simulation models. It introduces a taxonomy and classification of time-domain simulation models depending on their frequency bandwidth, network representation, and software availability. Furthermore, it focuses on the fundamental aspects of averaging techniques, and model reduction approaches that result in modeling choices, and discusses the associated challenges and opportunities of applying these methods in systems with large shares of Inverter Based Resources (IBRs). The article concludes with an illustrative simulation that compares the trajectories of an IBR-dominated system.

behavioral sciences↗

Metagenome-assembled genomes from Slate River floodplain sediments near Crested Butte, CO, USA (June to October 2020)

Microorganisms play a key role in cycling nutrients and contaminants in the terrestrial environment depending on their genetic potential. Here we present metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for the bacterial and archaeal community in floodplain sediment samples taken June to October 2020 at two locations (OBJ1 and OBJ2) near the confluence of the Oh-Be-Joyful Creek and Slate River. The site is one of the field sites in focus for the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Groundwater Quality Science Focus Area (SFA) program. Sediment samples from a deep soil pit were collected from 30 cm depth below surface to just above the cobble layer (~190-250 cm depth) at discrete depths every 40 cm for microbial analyses. A total of 35 metagenomes were sequenced through the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and can be found under Genomes Online Database (GOLD) sequencing project: Gs0142591. Metagenomes were assembled, binned, and refined using metawrap to generate MAGs (>50% complete and < 10% contamination based on checkM scores). This dataset includes a zip file of 2848 MAG fasta files and a csv file with quality, taxonomic classification (Genome Taxonomy Database Release RS220), and metagenome accessions for MAGs. This dataset also includes a file-level metadata (flmd.csv) file that lists each file contained in the dataset with associated metadata and a data dictionary (dd.csv) file that contains column/row headers used throughout the files along with a definition, units, and data type.Part of this work was performed at SLAC Accelerator Laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Metagenome-assembled genomes from Slate River floodplain sediments near Crested Butte, CO, USA (September 2019)

Microorganisms play a key role in cycling nutrients and contaminants in the terrestrial environment depending on their genetic potential. Here we present metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for the bacterial and archaeal community in floodplain sediment samples taken September 2019 at one locations (OBJ1) near the confluence of the Oh-Be-Joyful Creek and Slate River. The site is one of the field sites in focus for the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Groundwater Quality Science Focus Area (SFA) program. Sediment samples from a deep soil pit were collected from 50 to 150 cm depth below surface at discrete depths every 20 cm for microbial analyses. A total of 6 metagenomes were sequenced through the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and can be found under Genomes Online Database (GOLD) sequencing project: Gs0142591. Metagenomes were assembled, binned, and refined using metawrap to generate MAGs (>50% complete and < 10% contamination based on checkM scores). This dataset includes a zip file of 2562 MAG fasta files and a csv file with quality, taxonomic classification (Genome Taxonomy Database Release RS220), and metagenome accessions for MAGs. This dataset also includes a file-level metadata (flmd.csv) file that lists each file contained in the dataset with associated metadata and a data dictionary (dd.csv) file that contains column/row headers used throughout the files along with a definition, units, and data type.Part of this work was performed at SLAC Accelerator Laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Metagenome-assembled genomes from Slate River floodplain sediments near Crested Butte, CO, USA (June 2018)

Microorganisms play a key role in cycling nutrients and contaminants in the terrestrial environment depending on their genetic potential. Here, we present metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for the bacterial and archaeal community in floodplain sediment samples taken June 2018 at two locations (OBJ1 and OBJ2) near the confluence of the Oh-Be-Joyful Creek and Slate River. The site is one of the field sites in focus for the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Groundwater Quality Science Focus Area (SFA) program. Sediment samples from a deep soil pit were collected from 50 to 150 cm depth below surface at discrete depths every 20 cm for microbial analyses. A total of 12 metagenomes were sequenced through the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and can be found under Genomes Online Database (GOLD) sequencing project: Gs0142591. Metagenomes were assembled, binned, and refined using metawrap to generate MAGs (>50% complete and < 10% contamination based on checkM scores). This dataset includes a zip file of 1233 MAG fasta files and a csv file with quality, taxonomic classification (Genome Taxonomy Database Release RS220), and metagenome accessions for MAGs. This dataset also includes a file-level metadata (flmd.csv) file that lists each file contained in the dataset with associated metadata and a data dictionary (dd.csv) file that contains column/row headers used throughout the files along with a definition, units, and data type.Part of this work was performed at SLAC Accelerator Laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Metagenome-assembled genomes from East River floodplain sediments near Crested Butte, CO, USA (June to September 2019)

Microorganisms play a key role in cycling nutrients and contaminants in the terrestrial environment depending on their genetic potential. Here, we present metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for the bacterial and archaeal community in floodplain sediment samples taken in 2019 in June (flooded conditions) and September (drained conditions) at two locations (MCB1 and MCB3) near the Meander C/Pumphouse floodplain sites of the East River. Sediment cores were collected from 2 depths, a near-surface, generally unsaturated depth (30-40 centimeter (cm) depth below surface) and a deeper depth influenced by flooding with redoximorphic features (70-80 cm depth below surface). Sediments were homogenized from the 10 cm core for microbial analyses. A total of 24 metagenomes were sequenced through the Joint genome institute (JGI) corresponding to 8 samples sequenced in triplicate. These metagenomes can be found under Genomes Online Database (GOLD) sequencing project: Gs0141020. Metagenomes were assembled, binned, and refined using metawrap to generate MAGs (>50% complete and < 10% contamination based on checkM scores). This dataset includes a zip file of 436 MAG fasta files and a csv file with quality, taxonomic classification (Genome Taxonomy Database Release RS220), and metagenome accessions for MAGs. This dataset also includes a file-level metadata (flmd.csv) file that lists each file contained in the dataset with associated metadata and a data dictionary (dd.csv) file that contains column/row headers used throughout the files along with a definition, units, and data type.This work was supported by the Watershed Function Science Focus Area at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. Part of this work was performed at SLAC Accelerator Laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Metagenome-assembled genomes from East River floodplain sediments near Crested Butte, CO, USA (June to September 2017)

Microorganisms play a key role in cycling nutrients and contaminants in the terrestrial environment depending on their genetic potential. Here, we present metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for the bacterial and archaeal community in floodplain sediment samples taken in 2017 in June (flooded conditions) and September (drained conditions) at two locations (MCB1 and MCB3) in an active meander (Meander C) of the East River. Sediment cores were collected from 2 depths, a near-surface, generally unsaturated depth (15-40 centimeter (cm) depth below surface) and a deeper depth influenced by flooding with redoximorphic features (50-88 cm depth below surface). Sediments were homogenized from the ~10 cm cores for microbial analyses. A total of 24 metagenomes were sequenced through the Joint genome institute (JGI) corresponding to 8 samples sequenced in triplicate. These metagenomes can be found under Genomes Online Database (GOLD) sequencing project: Gs0151851. Metagenomes were assembled, binned, and refined using metawrap to generate MAGs (>50% complete and < 10% contamination based on checkM scores). This dataset includes a zip file of 405 MAG fasta files and a csv file with quality, taxonomic classification (Genome Taxonomy Database Release RS220), and metagenome accessions for MAGs. This dataset also includes a file-level metadata (flmd.csv) file that lists each file contained in the dataset with associated metadata and a data dictionary (dd.csv) file that contains column/row headers used throughout the files along with a definition, units, and data type.This work was supported by the Watershed Function Science Focus Area at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. Part of this work was performed at SLAC Accelerator Laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Metagenome-assembled genomes from East River floodplain sediments near Crested Butte, CO, USA (May to September 2018)

Microorganisms play a key role in cycling nutrients and contaminants in the terrestrial environment depending on their genetic potential. Here, we present metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for the bacterial and archaeal community in floodplain sediment samples taken in 2018 in May (flooded conditions) and September (drained conditions) at two locations (MCB1 and MCB3) near the Meander C/Pumphouse floodplain sites of the East River. Sediment cores were collected from 2 depths, a near-surface, generally unsaturated depth (30-40 centimeter (cm) depth below surface) and a deeper depth influenced by flooding with redoximorphic features (70-80 cm depth below surface). Sediments were homogenized from the 10 cm core for microbial analyses. A total of 24 metagenomes were sequenced through the Joint genome institute (JGI) corresponding to 8 samples sequenced in triplicate. These metagenomes can be found under Genomes Online Database (GOLD) sequencing project: Gs0141020. Metagenomes were assembled, binned, and refined using metawrap to generate MAGs (>50% complete and < 10% contamination based on checkM scores). This dataset includes a zip file of 478 MAG fasta files and a csv file with quality, taxonomic classification (Genome Taxonomy Database Release RS220), and metagenome accessions for MAGs. This dataset also includes a file-level metadata (flmd.csv) file that lists each file contained in the dataset with associated metadata and a data dictionary (dd.csv) file that contains column/row headers used throughout the files along with a definition, units, and data type.This work was supported by the Watershed Function Science Focus Area at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. Part of this work was performed at SLAC Accelerator Laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Engineering derivatives from biological systems for advanced aerospace applications

The present study consisted of a literature survey, a survey of researchers, and a workshop on bionics. These tasks produced an extensive annotated bibliography of bionics research (282 citations), a directory of bionics researchers, and a workshop report on specific bionics research topics applicable to space technology. These deliverables are included as Appendix A, Appendix B, and Section 5.0, respectively. To provide organization to this highly interdisciplinary field and to serve as a guide for interested researchers, we have also prepared a taxonomy or classification of the various subelements of natural engineering systems. Finally, we have synthesized the results of the various components of this study into a discussion of the most promising opportunities for accelerated research, seeking solutions which apply engineering principles from natural systems to advanced aerospace problems. A discussion of opportunities within the areas of materials, structures, sensors, information processing, robotics, autonomous systems, life support systems, and aeronautics is given. Following the conclusions are six discipline summaries that highlight the potential benefits of research in these areas for NASA's space technology programs.

Winfield, Daniel L.↗

Orbital Debris Ontology, Terminology, and Knowledge Modeling

The looming threat orbital debris poses to assets in orbit demands solutions. As the orbital population grows, so does this hazard, but so does the sea of data. The problem is also an opportunity for interdisciplinary innovation and cooperation. This paper focuses on the data and information management aspect of developing solutions for a sustainable and safe orbital space environment. The corresponding author’s in-progress work to develop an orbital debris domain ontology is summarized in order to discuss knowledge modeling for this domain. Methodological approaches of this effort can also contribute to standards efforts and address terminological and policy questions. Leveraging the growing volumes of orbital debris and space situational awareness (SSA) data will create a more complete picture of the orbital space environment. Part of the solution will be: consistent and correct data interpretation, sharing orbital debris and SSA data in one form or another, terminology development & harmonization, and knowledge or domain modeling. To facilitate this, [Rovetto, 2015/16] discussed ontology development for the orbital debris domain. This paper lists concepts from that paper, and subsequently developed concepts [2-9]. Ontology engineering is an interdisciplinary field related to knowledge representation and reasoning in artificial intelligence, semantic technologies and the so-called semantic web. An ontology is effectively a computable and semantically rich terminology that presents a knowledge or domain model for a topic area. Expressions of knowledge or assertions are stored using formally defined term. This knowledge base is reasoned over to yield answers to queries, among other things. Ontologies have been developed in knowledge-based projects across various disciplines, and used for such things as search engines, chatbots, enterprise knowledge graphs, etc. Ontologies support: interoperability, automated reasoning, data sharing and integration, data search and retrieval, and communicating the meaning of data. The Orbital Debris Ontology (ODO), and related ontologies [Rovetto & Kelso 2016] [Rovetto 2016, 2017], were proposed to help achieve this. ODO, for instance, is intended as a domain ontology that can be used across federated databases, offering an explicitly specified set of concepts describing the orbital debris domain. Its meaning-rich taxonomy will provide a sharable semantics for orbital debris data to, in part, consistently communicate the meaning of data to both humans and machines, and tag data elements in space object catalogs to help afford inference tasks, decision support, knowledge discovery, and information integration. ODO and the SSA ontology (SSAO) is part of the overall Orbital Space Domain Ontology concept, which is conceived as a broader domain reference ontology. It aims to provide a knowledge representation structure of the orbital space environment, a common semantic model, and develop a sharable terminology. Collectively this will provide common meaning for datasets, a high-level taxonomy or classification for orbital space objects, and thus means to characterize space objects. Ongoing efforts have included using visualizations, R, JSON-LD, and contemporary semantic technologies. Potential applications and interdisciplinary partnerships include web-based platforms, web apps, visualizations, and academia projects. Community input and participation may yield a more widely understood domain model as well as facilitate terminological standards. For example, the proposed conceptual, terminological and ontological analysis may contribute to such efforts as the Space Debris Mitigation Requirements in the International Standards Organization by developing more precise, consistent and coherent terms and definitions. Projects that seek to develop in-house ontologies can use ODO and related ontologies as domain reference ontologies. This paper was developed independent of author affiliations. Readers are encouraged to contact corresponding author(1) with general interest and potential opportunities to support or realize the described project.

Robert J. Rovetto↗

The role of information structures in game-theoretic multi-agent learning

Multi-agent learning (MAL) studies how agents learn to behave optimally and adaptively from their experience when interacting with other agents in dynamic environments. The outcome of a MAL process is jointly determined by all agents’ decision-making. Hence, each agent needs to think strategically about others’ sequential moves, when planning future actions. The strategic interactions among agents makes MAL go beyond the direct extension of single-agent learning to multiple agents. With the strategic thinking, each agent aims to build a subjective model of others decision-making using its observations. Such modeling is directly influenced by agents’ perception during the learning process, which is called the information structure of the agent’s learning. As it determines the input to MAL processes, information structures play a significant role in the learning mechanisms of the agents. This review creates a taxonomy of MAL and establishes a unified and systematic way to understand MAL from the perspective of information structures. Here we define three fundamental components of MAL: the information structure (i.e., what the agent can observe), the belief generation (i.e., how the agent forms a belief about others based on the observations), as well as the policy generation (i.e., how the agent generates its policy based on its belief). In addition, this taxonomy enables the classification of a wide range of state-of-the-art algorithms into four categories based on the belief-generation mechanisms of the opponents, including stationary, conjectured, calibrated, and sophisticated opponents. We introduce Value of Information (VoI) as a metric to quantify the impact of different information structures on MAL. Finally, we discuss the strengths and limitations of algorithms from different categories and point to promising avenues of future research.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Metagenome-assembled genomes from soil samples in control and warming plots in Blodgett Forest, CA (2014-2021)

The pathways of carbon transport and loss through and from soils—soil organic matter (SOM) depolymerization to dissolved organic carbon and mineralization to carbon dioxide (CO2)—are fundamentally driven by microbial activity, which is strongly regulated by environmental conditions. As part of LBNL (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) TES (Terrestrial Ecosystem Science) Belowground Biogeochemistry Science Focus Area (SFA), we have established a novel whole-soil long-term warming experiment at the University of California (UC) Blodgett Forest Research Station (Sierra Nevada) in 2014, where we study the role of biogeochemical, microbial and geochemical process interactions in SOM decomposition and stabilization.Here, we present metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for the bacterial and archaeal community from soil depth profiles collected from 2014 to 2021 from three paired control and warming plots. We collected soil samples across a range of depth profiles (spanning surface to 90 cm deep) from three paired control and warming plots from a temperate mixed forest in Northern California. Each paired plot had been subjected to experimental warming since June 2014 to simulate a predicted climate change scenario for northern California. 101 soil metagenomes were sequenced at JGI (Joint Genome Institute) and UCSF (University of California San Francisco) Center for Advanced Technology and can be found under the JGI (Joint Genome Institute) GOLD (Genomes Online Database) Sequencing project Gs0151586 and NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) Projects PRJNA1225762 and PRJEB39497. Metagenomes were assembled using JGI (Joint Genome Institute) Metagenome Workflow (10.1128/mSystems.00804-20). For each metagenome, the assembled contigs were binned into genomes using 3 binning algorithms (cocacola, metabat, and maxbin) and the resulting bins were consolidated using dastool. The consolidated bins from all metagenomes were pooled, filtered by completeness (>50%) and contamination (<25%), and dereplicated at 99% ANI (average nucleotide identity) using dRep (https://github.com/MrOlm/drep).The dataset includes a zip file of 2321 MAG (Metagenome Assembled Genome) fasta files, the accession numbers for the underlying metagenomes, and a csv file with MAG (Metagenome Assembled Genome) quality metrics and taxonomic classification (GTDB -Genome Taxonomy Database-RS220). This dataset also includes a file-level metadata (flmd.csv) file that lists each file contained in the dataset with associated metadata and a data dictionary (dd.csv) file that contains column/row headers used throughout the files along with a definition, units, and data type. A sample metadata file (samples.csv) that contains site information has also been included.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Development of a Unified Taxonomy for HVAC System Faults

Detecting and diagnosing HVAC faults is critical for maintaining building operation performance, reducing energy waste, and ensuring indoor comfort. An increasing deployment of commercial fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) software tools in commercial buildings in the past decade has significantly increased buildings’ operational reliability and reduced energy consumption. A massive amount of data has been generated by the FDD software tools. However, efficiently utilizing FDD data for ‘big data’ analytics, algorithm improvement, and other data-driven applications is challenging because the format and naming conventions of those data are very customized, unstructured, and hard to interpret. This paper presents the development of a unified taxonomy for HVAC faults. A taxonomy is an orderly classification of HVAC faults according to their characteristics and causal relations. The taxonomy includes fault categorization, physical hierarchy, fault library, relation model, and naming/tagging scheme. The taxonomy employs both a physical hierarchy of HVAC equipment and a cause-effect relationship model to reveal the root causes of faults in HVAC systems. A structured and standardized vocabulary library is developed to increase data representability and interpretability. The developed fault taxonomy can be used for HVAC system ‘big data’ analytics such as HVAC system fault prevalence analysis or the development of an HVAC FDD software standard. A common type of HVAC equipment-packaged rooftop unit (RTU) is used as an example to demonstrate the application of the developed fault taxonomy. Two RTU FDD software tools are used to show that after mapping FDD data according to the taxonomy, the meta-analysis of the multiple FDD reports is possible and efficient.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗