Alarmbridge Service - SCAIP To SIA Mapping

The SCAIP to SIA-DCS event mapping function in the iotcomms.io Alarmbridge Service enables seamless integration of social care alarm devices using the SCAIP protocol with alarm receiving centers (ARCs) that operate on the SIA-DCS protocol.

Protocol Background

• SCAIP (CENELEC 50134-9): A European standard for IP-based alarm event transmission and subsequent voice call connections in social care applications.

• SIA-DCS (SIA-DC-03 & SIA-DC-09): A protocol developed by the Security Industry Association (SIA) for alarm event transmission, originally designed for analog connections, with a newer specification for IP-based transmission.

The Alarmbridge Service standardizes alarm event handling by converting all incoming alarm events into a protocol-agnostic common event format. This internal transformation ensures consistent and reliable event conversion, even when direct one-to-one field mapping is not possible.

SCAIP Event Structure

In a SCAIP-based social care alarm system, alarm events originate from a controller connected to multiple devices (e.g., pendants, fall sensors). The alarm event describes:

Key Properties of a SCAIP Alarm Event:

• controllerId: Identifier of the SCAIP controller.

• deviceId: Identifier of the specific device triggering the alarm.

• deviceType: Type of device (e.g., fall sensor, panic button).

• deviceComponent: Component that raised the alarm (e.g., button 1).

• statusCode: Current status of the device (e.g., alarm, low battery).

• location: Fixed location identifier (e.g., kitchen), or GPS coordinates if supported.

• priority: Alarm priority level (0 = lowest, 9 = highest).

SCAIP devices and controllers are provisioned outside of Alarmbridge, typically through a manufacturer’s provisioning platform.

SIA-DCS Event Structure

SIA-DCS alarm events are transmitted over IP to a pre-provisioned ARC destination defined in Alarmbridge’s Event Sender configuration.

Key Properties of a SIA-DCS Alarm Event:

• accountNumber: Identifies the sending device.

• accountPrefix: Optional extended device identifier.

• receiverNumber: Optional field for additional identification.

• dataType: Defines the event type (e.g., medical alert, fire alarm).

• addressNumber: Context-dependent field used for additional data.

As SCAIP supports more fields than SIA-DCS, Alarmbridge applies a set of built-in transformation rules to align event structures. These rules dynamically extract and map relevant SCAIP properties to SIA-DCS properties.

Mapping Details:

• customerSiteId → accountPrefix: If configured, this site-specific identifier is prepended to accountNumber in SIA-DCS.

• controllerId → accountNumber: Converted into hexadecimal format (max 16 hex digits).

• deviceId → receiverNumber: If present, the deviceId (max 16 chars) is mapped to receiverNumber (max 6 hex digits).

• deviceType, deviceComponent, statusCode → dataType: Mapped based on pre-configured transformation rules. Example:

  • deviceType = fireAlarm & statusCode = alarm → dataType = FA (Fire Alarm Triggered).

  • deviceType = fireAlarm & statusCode = restoral → dataType = FR (Alarm Condition Cleared).

• location → addressNumber: Since SIA-DCS lacks predefined location fields, a custom mapping is required using Mapping Rules in Alarmbridge.

SIA-DCS messages are transmitted in a compact string format, with each section representing key event properties. Below is an example transformation from a common event object to an equivalent SIA-DCS string:

Example Common Alarm Event:

{
    "callingParty": "sip:testuser@mock.dev.com",
    "calledParty": "sip:alarmreceiver@mock.dev.com",
    "eventType": "common",
    "deviceType": "fixedTrigger",
    "deviceComponent": "unspecified",
    "statusCode": "normal",
    "location": "kitchen",
    "priority": 0,
    "controllerId": "+123456",
    "audio": "none",
    "systemConfig": "localUnitAndController",
    "deviceId": "001d940cb800"
}

Corresponding SIA-DCS Event String:

5F590036"SIA-DCS"0004L0#99997[#99997|NMA0]_17:52:02,02-10-2023

Breakdown of the SIA-DCS String:

• Header (5F590036): Message preamble.

• Protocol ("SIA-DCS"): Identifies the format.

• Account (0004L0#99997): Encodes the accountNumber and accountPrefix.

• Event Type ([NMA0]): Represents dataType (NMA = Normal Alarm).

• Timestamp (17:52:02,02-10-2023): Time of the event.

By adhering to SIA-DC-09 and SIA-DC-03, Alarmbridge ensures compliance with industry standards, providing reliable event transmission to ARCs.

1. Navigate to Configurations → Alarmbridge.

2. Click + Event Receiver.

3. Configure the event receiver settings including name, destination match, and inbound protocol (SCAIP).

4. Define customer site ID if required for uniqueness.

5. Click + Event Sender and configure settings including destination address, outbound protocol (SIA-DCS), and optional mapping rules.

6. Connect the Event Receiver to the Event Sender and save the configuration.

The SCAIP to SIA-DCS mapping in Alarmbridge ensures seamless interoperability between social care alarm devices and ARC platforms using different protocols. By leveraging Event Receivers and Event Senders, organizations can standardize alarm event processing while maintaining compatibility across legacy and modern systems.