Design patterns for BIM-based service-oriented architectures

Isikdag, Umit (2012) Design patterns for BIM-based service-oriented architectures. Automation in Construction, 25 . pp. 59-71. ISSN 0926-5805

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2012.04.013

Abstract

Today Integrated Project Delivery together with Building Information Modeling is being realized as a process
of managing a project over a single shared information backbone. In the near future, Building Information
Models (BIMs) will be used as unique resources for enabling seamless data level interoperability, which
will greatly facilitate the processes in the Building Life Cycle. In this context, enabling the collaborative use
of BIMs is becoming essential and is much required by the industry for addressing the issues associated
with the poor efficiencies in Information Systems (IS) and productivity. On the other hand, in the new IS architectures,
service and resource orientation are becoming widely used, in terms of supporting collaboration
over distributed environments. This paper introduces three design patterns which will help in facilitating
BIM-based information sharing over the web, and web-based collaborative use of the BIMs. The patterns
were developed to formalize the approaches in interacting with the shared BIMs over the web. The first pattern
– BIM AJAX – explains how AJAX techniques can be used for supporting information retrieval from BIMs.
The second pattern – BIM SOAP Façade – provides a standard coarse-grained interface to reach multiple BIMs
over the web. The third pattern – RESTful BIM – elaborates on how BIM-based systems can benefit from the
REST (Resource Oriented) Architectures. The paper starts with providing an overview on Building Information
Models focusing on their characteristics and functions. Following this, the conventional approaches for
exchanging and sharing BIMs are presented. The third section elaborates on IS Integration, AJAX and Web
Services. Finally, three design patterns that have been developed are presented and discussed in detail.
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


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