The present disclosure relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, an air conditioner having an outdoor unit or an indoor unit capable of performing communications with a central controller using a plurality of communication methods, and a communication apparatus and method thereof.
In general, an air conditioner, as shown in
The central controller 300 is provided, by a user's registration, with network information and setting information relating to the air conditioner, such as device information on the indoor unit 100 and the outdoor unit 200. The central controller 300 includes a control program capable of individually controlling each unit according to the registered setting information.
In recent time, in order to increase management efficiency of the air conditioners installed in public buildings, such as schools, offices and the like, the air conditioner generally includes the central controller 300. Also, as the performance of the outdoor unit 200 is improved, it is a trend to connect a plurality of indoor units 100 to a specific outdoor unit 200 for sharing, and integrally control the plurality of indoor units 100 and the outdoor unit 200 by the central controller 300.
The central controller 300 requires communication lines for communication with the outdoor unit 200 and the indoor unit 100. To this end, separate dedicated lines may be used, or power lines may be used by the indoor unit 100 for data transmission and reception by a power line communication method, whereby a communication line is not separately needed at the indoor unit 100. However, when a transfer path (line) such as the same pipe or the dedicated line is used as a transfer path for communication between the indoor unit 100 and the outdoor unit 200 and communication between the central controller 300 and the outdoor unit 200, signal interference may be caused between signals transferred along the transfer path.
Therefore, to obviate those problems, an aspect of the detailed description is to provide an air conditioner capable of minimizing a signal interference between signals transferred by using the same refrigerant pipe, and a communication apparatus and method thereof.
Another aspect of the detailed description is to provide an air conditioner capable of efficiently operating a system by performing communication with a central controller using a plurality of communication methods, and a communication apparatus and method thereof.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present disclosure, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided an air conditioner including a plurality of indoor units to perform air conditioning, at least one outdoor unit connected to the indoor units via a refrigerant pipe to drive the indoor unit using a first signal, a central controller to control operations of the outdoor unit and the indoor units using a second signal, the second signal having a frequency band spaced from that of the first signal, and a communication apparatus installed in the outdoor unit or one of the indoor units connected to the outdoor unit to communicate with the central controller using the second signal. Here, the communication apparatus may perform communication between the at least one outdoor unit using the first and second signals.
The communication apparatus may include a wireless communication unit to perform communication with the central controller using a wireless communication method, a signal converting unit to convert the second signal into a wireless signal corresponding to the second signal according to the wireless communication method, or convert the wireless signal into the second signal according to a preset communication method, and a communication unit to communicate with the outdoor unit or the indoor units using the first and second signals. Here, the communication unit may be a pipe communication unit or a dedicated line communication unit to perform communication using the first and second signals according to a pipe communication method or a dedicated line communication method.
The wireless communication unit may allow the communication between the outdoor units by using wireless signals corresponding to the first and second signals according to the wireless communication method. Here, the outdoor unit or indoor unit receiving the wireless signal may be installed the closest to the central controller.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present disclosure, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a communication apparatus for an air conditioner, the air conditioner including a plurality of indoor units to perform air conditioning, at least one outdoor unit connected to the indoor units via a refrigerant pipe to drive the outdoor unit using a first signal, and a central controller to control operations of the outdoor unit and the indoor units using a second signal, wherein the communication apparatus may be installed in the outdoor unit or one of the indoor units connected to the outdoor unit to perform communication with the central controller using a wireless communication method, convert the second signal into a wireless signal corresponding to the second signal according to the wireless communication method or the wireless signal into the second signal according to a preset communication method, and communicate with the outdoor unit or the indoor unit using the first and second signals having frequency bands spaced from each other.
In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, the communication apparatus may include a wireless communication unit to perform communication with the central controller according to a wireless communication method, a signal converting unit to convert the second signal into a wireless signal corresponding to the second signal according to the wireless communication method or the wireless signal into the second signal according to a preset communication method, and a communication unit to communicate with the outdoor unit or the indoor unit using the first and second signals according to the preset communication method. Here, the communication unit may be a pipe communication unit or a dedicated line communication unit to perform communication using the first and second signals according to a pipe communication method or a dedicated line communication method.
In one aspect of the present disclosure, the communication unit may include a data transmission/reception portion to receive or transmit data from or to the outdoor unit or the indoor unit, and a communication signal converter to convert the data into a communication signal or the communication signal into the data.
The communication unit may further include a communication signal connection portion to connect the communication signal to the refrigerant pipe.
In one aspect of the present disclosure, the communication unit may further include a communication signal coupling portion positioned between the communication signal converter and the communication signal connection portion to filter the communication signal and block noise and serge.
The communication apparatus may allow communication between the outdoor units according to the wireless communication method. Here, the outdoor unit or indoor unit receiving the wireless signal may be installed the closest to the central controller.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present disclosure, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a communication method for an air conditioner performed via a communication apparatus, the air conditioner including a plurality of indoor units to perform air conditioning, at least one outdoor unit connected to the indoor units via a refrigerant pipe to drive the indoor units using a first signal, a central controller to control operations of the outdoor unit and the indoor units using a second signal, and the communication apparatus to perform communication with the central controller, the method including converting by the central controller a control command into a wireless signal, transmitting the wireless signal corresponding to the second signal to at least one of the outdoor unit and the indoor units, receiving the wireless signal corresponding to the second signal to convert into the second signal, the second signal having a frequency band spaced from that of the first signal, transmitting the second signal to at least one of the outdoor unit and the indoor units, and transmitting the first signal to at least one of the outdoor unit and the indoor units.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present disclosure, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a communication method for an air conditioner performed via a communication apparatus performing communication using a second signal, the air conditioner including a plurality of indoor units to perform air conditioning, and at least one outdoor unit connected to the indoor units via a refrigerant pipe to drive the indoor units using a first signal, the method including converting a control command into a wireless signal, transmitting the wireless signal corresponding to the second signal to the outdoor unit, converting the wireless signal corresponding to the second signal into the second signal, the second signal having a frequency band spaced from that of the first signal, transmitting the second signal from the outdoor unit to at least one of the indoor units, and transmitting the first signal from the outdoor unit to at least one of the indoor unit.
In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, as signals with different frequency bands are used for communication between an outdoor unit and an indoor unit or communication between the outdoor unit or indoor unit and a central controller, signal interference can be avoided beforehand, thereby enhancing safety of a system. Also, the outdoor unit or indoor unit may perform communication with the central controller using a plurality of communication methods including a wireless communication method and a dedicated line communication method, thereby reducing limitations due to an installation environment, which results in an increase in efficiency of a system operation.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings where those components are rendered the same reference number that are the same or are in correspondence, regardless of the figure number, and redundant explanations are omitted. In describing the present disclosure, if a detailed explanation for a related known function or construction is considered to unnecessarily divert the gist of the present disclosure, such explanation has been omitted but would be understood by those skilled in the art. The accompanying drawings are used to help easily understood the technical idea of the present disclosure and it should be understood that the idea of the present disclosure is not limited by the accompanying drawings. The idea of the present disclosure should be construed to extend to any alterations, equivalents and substitutes besides the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
Here, the communication apparatus 400 may perform wireless communication with the central controller 300. Data transmission and reception between the outdoor unit 200 and the indoor units 100 may be performed by one communication method of a pipe communication or a dedicated line communication, other than the wireless communication.
The communication apparatus 400 may preferably be provided in the outdoor unit 200 or the indoor unit 100 which is located the closest to the central controller 300. For example, in case where the communication apparatus 400 is installed in an indoor unit installed the closest to the central controller 300, when the central controller 300 transmits a control command, such as run/stop, cooling/warming, air adjustment, and the like, to the indoor unit by using the wireless communication method, the indoor unit receives the control command and operates accordingly. Here, the central controller 300 may also transmit the control command to another indoor unit in which the communication apparatus 400 is not installed. In this case, when the central controller 300 transmits the control command to the indoor unit having the communication apparatus 400 by using the wireless communication method, the indoor unit which receives the control command may forward the control command to the corresponding indoor unit without the communication apparatus 400 by using the pipe communication or dedicated line communication other than the wireless communication.
Referring to
The outdoor unit 200 may transmit a control command to the second indoor unit 100b as a first signal corresponding to a pipe communication signal by employing a pipe communication method. The central controller 300 may transmit the control command to the outdoor unit 200 as a wireless signal corresponding to a second signal by employing a wireless communication method. The communication apparatus 400 installed in the outdoor unit 200 may convert the wireless signal into the second signal, which is the pipe communication signal, and transmit the second signal to the first indoor unit 100a.
As shown in
A bandwidth (BW) without causing the interference between the first and second signals may be decided by the following Formula 1.
Here, Ts denotes a sampling time of the first and second signals. The sampling time corresponds to a transmission time interval until transmission of the next control signal, with respect to the first and second signals. Therefore, the minimum bandwidth may be the double of an inverse number of the transmission time interval.
When the center frequencies of the first and second signals are first and second frequencies f1, f2, respectively, first and second frequency bandwidths BW1, BW2 should be smaller than (f2−f1)/2, in order for the first and second signals to have spaced frequency bands. For the purpose, in theory, the first signal should have a value of ‘0’ at the second frequency band and the second signal should have a value of ‘0’ at the first frequency band. However, for a communication system in which the first signal is smaller than the second signal by a predetermined size at the second frequency band, and the second signal is smaller than the first signal by a predetermined size at the first frequency band, the signal interference between the first and second signals may be avoided. Here, the predetermined size which can avoid the interference between the first and second signals may depend on the characteristic of the system, for example, have a value below 30 dB.
Referring to
The outdoor unit 200 may transmit a control command as a first signal corresponding to a pipe communication signal to the first indoor unit 100a by employing a pipe communication method. When the central controller 300 transmits the control command to the first indoor unit 100a, it may transmit the control command as a wireless signal to the second indoor unit 100b by employing a wireless communication method. Afterwards, the communication apparatus 400 installed in the second indoor unit 100b may convert the control command into a second signal corresponding to the pipe communication signal, and the second indoor unit 100b may transmit the second signal to the outdoor unit 200. Here, since the first and second signals may use frequency bands spaced from each other, no signal interference may be caused between the first and second signals even if transmitted through the same refrigerant pipe 500.
Referring to
The first and second outdoor units 200a and 200b may transmit a control command as a first signal corresponding to a pipe communication signal to the first and third indoor units 100a and 100c, respectively, using a pipe communication method.
When transmitting the control command to the first indoor unit 100a, the central controller 300 may convert the control command into a wireless signal and transmit the wireless signal to the fourth indoor unit 100d, which is located the closest to the central controller 300, using a wireless communication method. The communication apparatus 400 installed in the fourth indoor unit 100d may convert the wireless signal into a second signal as a pipe communication signal, and the fourth indoor unit 100d may transmit the second signal to the second outdoor unit 200b connected thereto via the refrigerant pipe 500. After reception of the second signal, the second outdoor unit 200b may convert the second signal into the wireless signal and transmit the wireless signal to the first outdoor unit 200a connected to the first indoor unit 100a. Upon reception of the wireless signal, the first outdoor unit 200a may convert the wireless signal into the second signal to transmit to the first indoor unit 100a. Here, since the first and second signals use the frequency bands spaced from each other, no signal interference may be caused even if transmitted through the same refrigerant pipe 500.
The communication apparatus 400 may perform communications with the first and second outdoor units 200a and 200b using the first and second signals. Assuming that the second outdoor unit 200b is a master and the first outdoor unit 200a is a slave, the second outdoor unit 200b may transmit the first signal to the first outdoor unit 200a in form of the wireless signal. Also, the second outdoor unit 200b may transmit the second signal transmitted from the central controller 300 to the first outdoor unit 200a in form of the wireless signal.
Referring to
The communication apparatus 400 may include a wireless communication unit 410 to communicate with the central controller 300 by the wireless communication method, a signal converting unit 420 to convert the second signal into a wireless signal corresponding to the second signal according to the wireless communication method or the wireless signal into the second signal according to the pipe communication method, and a pipe communication unit 430 to communicate with the outdoor unit or the indoor unit using the first and second signals by the pipe communication method.
The wireless communication unit 410 may receive an operation command or control data for the outdoor unit 200 or the indoor unit 100 from the central controller 300 and forward the operation command or control data. The wireless communication unit 410 may employ any type of wireless communication method typically used. For example, the wireless communication unit 410 may use wireless LAN, RF communication, Bluetooth, Infrared Data Association (IrDA) communication and the like.
The pipe communication unit 430 may include a data transmission/reception portion 431 to receive or transmit data from or to the outdoor unit 200 or the indoor unit 100, and a pipe communication signal converter 432 to convert the data into the pipe communication signal or the pipe communication signal into the data. A carrier frequency of the pipe communication signal may be set by considering a characteristic of the refrigerant pipe 500. That is, a frequency signal is connected to the refrigerant pipe 500 and a signal attenuation and external noise interference are reduced, thereby allowing use of a frequency band with higher communication reliability.
The data transmission/reception portion 431 may receive data, such as operation data and the like, from the outdoor unit 200 or the indoor unit 100, and transfer the data to the pipe communication signal converter 432. The pipe communication signal converter 432 may convert the data into the pipe communication signal to transfer to another outdoor unit or indoor unit via the refrigerant pipe.
The pipe communication unit 430 may further include a pipe communication signal connection portion 434 to connect the pipe communication signal to the refrigerant pipe 500. The pipe communication signal connection portion 434 may include a magnetic core to form a predetermined inductance with respect to the pipe communication signal so as to enhance communication reliability.
The pipe communication unit 430 may further include a pipe communication signal coupling portion 433. The pipe communication signal coupling portion 433 may be provided between the pipe communication converter 432 and the pipe communication signal connection portion 434 to filter the pipe communication signal and block noise and serge. The pipe communication signal coupling portion 433 may filter a signal by employing a non-isolated type inductor and a capacitor, or block external noise and serge by employing a transformer-isolated type transformer.
Referring to
The outdoor unit 200 may transmit a control command as a first signal corresponding to a dedicated line communication signal to the second indoor unit 100b using a dedicated line communication method. When the central controller 300 transmits the control command to the first indoor unit 100a, the central controller 300 may convert the control command into a wireless signal by using the wireless communication unit 310, and transmit the wireless signal to the second indoor unit 100b. The communication apparatus 400 installed in the second indoor unit 100b may convert the wireless signal into a second signal as a dedicated line communication signal. The second indoor unit 100b may transmit the converted second signal to the first indoor unit 100a. Here, since the first and second signals use frequency bands spaced from each other, no signal interference may be caused between the first and second signals even if transmitted via the same dedicated line 600.
Referring to
The first outdoor unit 200a may transmit a control command to the second indoor unit 100b in form of (as) a first signal corresponding to a dedicated line communication signal using a dedicated line communication method. When the central controller 300 transmits the control command to the indoor unit 100a, the central controller 300 may convert the control command into a wireless signal and transmit the wireless signal to the fourth indoor unit 100d the closest to the central controller 300 using a wireless communication method. The communication apparatus 400 installed in the fourth indoor unit 100d may convert the wireless signal into a second signal corresponding to a dedicated line communication signal. The fourth indoor unit 100d may then transmit the second signal as the dedicated line communication signal to the second outdoor unit 200b connected thereto via the dedicated line 600. Upon reception of the second signal, the second outdoor unit 200b may convert the second signal into the wireless signal to transmit to the first outdoor unit 200a connected to the first indoor unit 100a. Upon reception of the wireless signal, the first outdoor unit 200a may convert the wireless signal into the second signal to transmit to the first indoor unit 100a. Here, since the first and second signals use frequency bands spaced from each other, no signal interference may be caused between the first and second signals even if transmitted via the same dedicated line 600.
Referring to
The communication apparatus 400 may include a wireless communication unit 410 to communicate with the central controller 300 by the wireless communication method, a signal converting unit 421 to convert the second signal into a wireless signal corresponding to the second signal according to a wireless communication method or the wireless signal into the second signal according to a dedicated line communication method, and a dedicated line communication unit 440 to communicate with the outdoor unit 200 or the indoor unit 100 using the first and second signals by the dedicated line communication method. Here, examples of the dedicated line communication methods may include serial communication, parallel communication, LAN communication and the like, and generally RS-485 communication method is employed.
The dedicated line communication unit 440 may include a data transmission/reception portion 441 to receive or transmit data from or to the outdoor unit 200 or the indoor unit 100, and a dedicated line communication signal converter 442 to convert the data into the dedicated line communication signal or vice versa. Also, the dedicated line communication unit 440 may further include a dedicated line communication signal connection portion 444 to connect the dedicated line communication signal to the dedicated line. The dedicated line communication unit 440 may further include a dedicated line communication signal coupling portion 443. The dedicated line communication signal coupling portion 443 may be provided between the dedicated line communication signal converter 442 and the dedicated line communication signal connection portion 444, and filter the dedicated line communication signal.
The data transmission/reception portion 441 may receive data from the outdoor unit 200 or the indoor unit 100 to transfer to the dedicated line communication signal converter 442, or transfer data received from the dedicated line communication signal converter 442 to the outdoor unit 200 or the indoor units 100. The dedicated line communication signal converter 442 may convert the data into the dedicated line communication signal or the dedicated line communication signal into the data to transfer to the data transmission/reception portion 441.
The dedicated line communication signal coupling portion 443 may block an affection of external noise or serge, or filter the dedicate line communication signal.
The dedicated line communication signal connection portion 444 may include a matching element to connect the dedicated line communication signal to the dedicated line.
Referring to
The corresponding outdoor unit or indoor unit receiving the control command may operate based on the control command. Here, the wireless communication method may be at least one of common wireless communication methods, such as wireless LAN, RF communication, Bluetooth, IrDA communication and the like. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The corresponding outdoor unit or indoor unit which receives the control command may operate based on the control command. Here, the wireless communication method may be at least one of wireless LAN, RF communication, Bluetooth, Infrared Data Association (IrDA) communication and the like. Also, examples of the dedicated line communication methods may include serial communication, parallel communication, LAN communication and the like, and generally RS-485 communication method is employed. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The foregoing exemplary embodiments have employed the pipe communication method or the dedicated line communication method in addition to the wireless communication method. However, the present disclosure may not be limited to those methods. Alternatively, other wired or wireless communication methods such as a power line communication method and the like may also be employed.
As so far described, as signals with different frequency bands are used for communication between an outdoor unit and an indoor unit or communication between the outdoor unit or indoor unit and a central controller, signal interference can be avoided beforehand, thereby enhancing safety of a system. Also, the outdoor unit or indoor unit may perform communication with the central controller using a plurality of communication methods including a wireless communication method and a dedicated line communication method, thereby reducing limitations due to an installation environment, which results in an increase in efficiency of a system operation.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2011-0006536 | Jan 2011 | KR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/KR2011/009536 | 12/12/2011 | WO | 00 | 7/19/2013 |