JP2020022190A - Air conditioning control system, communication method therefor, air conditioner and terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an air conditioning control system which can make an apparatus control network wireless with both high reliability and power saving capability, a communication method of the air conditioning control system, an air conditioner and a terminal device.SOLUTION: The air conditioning control system includes: a plurality of air conditioners which configure a mesh network; and one or more terminal devices which transmit and receive packets, related to air conditioning operation, between the air conditioners and themselves. Each air conditioner includes an air conditioner communication unit and an air conditioner relay unit. The air conditioner communication unit performs wireless communication with the terminal device and other air conditioners. The air conditioner relay unit relays a received packet to the other air conditioner on the basis of a predetermined condition. The terminal device includes a terminal communication unit and a wireless control unit. The terminal communication unit performs wireless communication with the plurality of air conditioners. The wireless control unit controls the output intensity of a wireless signal in such a manner that the wireless signal is received by at least two air conditioners among the plurality of air conditioners.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  An embodiment of the present invention relates to an air conditioning control system, a communication method of the air conditioning control system, an air conditioner, and a terminal device.

  In the construction or renovation work of office buildings, hotels, factories, commercial facilities, etc., shortening of the construction period and a high degree of freedom after completion (flexibility for adding or removing equipment) are required. For environmental management in these buildings, in addition to various sensors for measuring the temperature, humidity or illuminance in the living room, various setting devices for facilities such as lighting equipment and air-conditioning equipment, ceilings (including ceilings). It is necessary to collect information from equipment such as lighting equipment, air conditioning equipment, heat source equipment, various sensors, etc., which are placed in the equipment, and the equipment control system that realizes control of these equipment can communicate information necessary for control (Hereinafter referred to as “device control network”) is indispensable.

  Since high reliability is required for such a device control system, a conventional device control network is generally configured by wire. However, especially when many devices and sensors exist in the device control system, communication wiring for connecting these devices and sensors becomes complicated, and wiring work for building or remodeling a building requires much labor. Against this background, there is a demand for wireless device control networks. However, if the device control network is made wireless, the reliability of communication may be reduced.

JP-A-11-44447 JP 2003-83591 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an air-conditioning control system, a communication method of the air-conditioning control system, an air conditioner, and a terminal device that can make a device control network wireless while ensuring higher reliability. .

  The air-conditioning control system according to the embodiment includes a plurality of air conditioners that can wirelessly communicate with each other through a plurality of communication paths, and one or more packets that transmit and receive a packet related to an air conditioning operation of the plurality of air conditioners to and from the plurality of air conditioners by wireless communication. Terminal device. The plurality of air conditioners constitute a mesh network, and communicate with other air conditioners via a communication path dynamically selected by a protocol of the mesh network among a plurality of communication paths that can be configured by a part or all of the plurality of air conditioners. I do. Each of the plurality of air conditioners has an air conditioner communication unit and an air conditioner relay unit. The air conditioner communication unit transmits and receives packets to and from the terminal device and another air conditioner by wireless communication. The air conditioner relay unit relays the packet received via the air conditioner communication unit to another air conditioner based on a predetermined condition. One or more terminal devices have a terminal communication unit and a wireless control unit. The terminal communication unit transmits and receives the packet to and from a plurality of air conditioners by wireless communication. The wireless control unit controls the output intensity of the wireless signal from the terminal communication unit so that the wireless signal output from the terminal communication unit is received by at least two of the plurality of air conditioners.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a device control system according to a first embodiment. The figure which shows the outline of the network structure of the air conditioning control system 100. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific example of a functional configuration of the control device 1 according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of group information. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific example of a functional configuration of the terminal device 2 according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows the operation example of the upstream communication in the air-conditioning control system 100 of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of the communication packet in uplink communication. The figure which shows the operation example of the downstream communication in the air conditioning control system 100 of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of the communication packet in a downlink communication. The figure which shows the specific example of the function structure of the control apparatus 1a of a modification. The figure which shows the specific example of the function structure of the control apparatus 1b of 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a functional configuration of a terminal device 2b according to the second embodiment. The figure which shows the operation example of the upstream communication in the air conditioning control system 100 of 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a hardware configuration of a communication device 3 according to a third embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of the function structure of the control apparatus 1c of 4th Embodiment. The figure which shows the outline of a structure of the air-conditioning control system 100 of 4th Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an air conditioning control system, a communication method of the air conditioning control system, an air conditioner, and a terminal device of the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the device control system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 shows an air conditioning control system 100 as an example of a device control system according to the first embodiment. The air conditioning control system 100 is a device control system that controls air conditioning in a building. The air-conditioning control system 100 includes an outside air conditioner 10 and an indoor unit 20. Generally, the external air conditioner 10 is called an AHU (Air Handling Unit), and is a facility that takes in air outside the building into the building. The dashed arrow in FIG. 1 indicates the direction in which the air taken in by the outside conditioner 10 flows, and the outside conditioner 10 sends outside air to each living room in the building via a duct 201 laid in the building. .

  The indoor unit 20 is a facility that supplies the air taken into the building by the outside air conditioner 10 to each living room in the building. The indoor unit 20 includes a blower such as a variable air volume (VAV) or an FCU (Fan Coil Unit), and supplies the air taken into the building by the outside air conditioner 10 from above the ceiling into the living room. The indoor unit 20 includes a controller that controls these blowers, and adjusts the amount of air supplied to the living room under the control of the controller. VAV-C in FIG. 1 is a VAV controller, and FCU-C is an FCU controller. The indoor unit 20 acquires information necessary for controlling the blower from a remote controller, various sensors, and the like in the living room.

For example, VRs 21-1 to 21-3 are remote controllers corresponding to indoor units 20-1 to 20-3, respectively. The VR 21 transmits the setting information input by the user to the indoor unit 20 by wireless communication. Further, CO22 is CO ₂ sensor, TH23 is a temperature sensor. CO22 measures the concentration of CO ₂ in the room, TH23 measures the temperature in the room. The CO 22 and the TH 23 transmit measurement information to a DDC (Direct Digital Controller) 40 via wireless communication with the gateway device 30. Here, the DDC 40 is a device that controls the external conditioner 10. The DDC 40 controls the external conditioner 10 based on the measurement information transmitted from the CO 22 or the TH 23.

  Air conditioning control in a building is roughly classified into individual control performed for each air conditioning area 200 in the building and overall control performed in the entire building. The individual control is a control performed only by the devices constituting each air conditioning area 200. For example, the individual control is control of the indoor unit 20 based on the setting information obtained by the VR 21, control of the outside air conditioner 10 based on the measurement information obtained by the CO 22 or TH 23, and the like. It is realized by communication. In the building, the air-conditioning area 200 may be provided in any manner. For example, the air conditioning area 200 may be provided for each floor of a building, or may be provided for each living room on each floor.

  On the other hand, overall control is control based on control information transmitted from the host system 50. For example, the overall control includes control for simultaneously stopping or starting air conditioning in the entire building, and control for setting a target value of air conditioning for each air conditioning area 200. For this overall control, an LCS (Local Control Server) 60 is installed in each air conditioning area 200. The LCS 60 is connected to a wired control network 70 connecting the air-conditioning areas 200 in the building, and communicates with the host system 50 via the control network 70. For example, the LCS 60 acquires measurement information from a sensor such as the CO 22 or the TH 23 via the gateway device 30 and transmits the measurement information to the host system 50. The host system 50 generates control information for setting an air conditioning target value for each air conditioning area 200 based on the measurement information collected from each air conditioning area 200. The host system 50 transmits the generated control information to the LCS 60 of each air conditioning area 200 to be controlled. The LCS 60 of each air conditioning area controls each device of the air conditioning area 200 to which it belongs so that the target value indicated by the control information transmitted from the host system 50 is realized.

  The air-conditioning control system 100 of the present embodiment has a first wireless network 300 and a second wireless network 400 as a device control network of each air-conditioning area 200 that realizes such air-conditioning control. The first wireless network 300 is a wireless network for realizing communication between devices that can stably receive power supply in the air conditioning area 200. For example, the first wireless network 300 realizes communication between devices such as the indoor unit 20 and the gateway device 30 installed behind the ceiling. On the other hand, the second wireless network 400 is a wireless network for realizing communication between a device having a limited power that can be consumed in the air conditioning area 200 and a device connected to the first wireless network 300. For example, the second wireless network 400 is installed in a living room and realizes communication with a remote controller, a sensor, or the like that operates on a finite power supply such as a battery.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a network configuration of the air conditioning control system 100. In FIG. 2, for simplicity of description, a device configuring the first wireless network 300 is described as a control device 1, and a device communicating with the control device 1 via the second wireless network 400 is referred to as a terminal device 2. It is described. Specifically, the control devices 1-1 to 1-3 in FIG. 2 correspond to the indoor units 20 in FIG. 1, and the terminal devices 2-1 to 2-5 in FIG. It supports sensors and the like. Note that the control device 1-4 in FIG. 2 corresponds to the gateway device 30 in FIG. 1 and is connected to the wired network 4 corresponding to the control network 70.

  The first wireless network 300 of the air conditioning control system 100 is configured as a wireless mesh network. The mesh network is a communication network formed in a mesh shape by communication between terminals having a communication function. In particular, a mesh network formed by terminals having a wireless communication function is called a wireless mesh network. In a mesh network, a node constituting the network communicates with one or more other nodes to transfer a transmission packet to a destination node in a bucket brigade manner. The transfer path (communication path) of the transmission packet is dynamically determined according to the state of the network by the protocol of the mesh network. Therefore, even if one node becomes unable to communicate, the wireless mesh network can transfer a transmission packet to a destination node via a transfer path by another communicable node. Thus, the wireless mesh network has high fault tolerance. In the air-conditioning control system 100 of the embodiment, since the first wireless network 300 is configured as such a wireless mesh network, high reliability regarding communication between the control devices 1 can be realized.

  While high reliability can be realized in this way, each node configuring the first wireless network 300 needs a dynamic communication control process according to the state of the network. Therefore, it is required that the nodes constituting the first wireless network 300 are always in a communicable state. Further, since the communication control process is a process with a relatively high load, a stable power supply is required for long-term operation. Therefore, the first wireless network 300 is suitable for a communication network of the control device 1 that requires stable power supply and requires high reliability. However, the first wireless network 300 is installed in each living room and has a limited power supply such as a battery. It is not suitable for a communication network of the terminal device 2 such as a remote controller and a sensor operating on the terminal. Therefore, in the air-conditioning control system 100 of the present embodiment, the communication network between the terminal device 2 and the control device 1 is configured as a tree-type wireless network that does not require high-load communication control processing.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a specific example of a functional configuration of the control device 1 according to the first embodiment. The control device 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, an auxiliary storage device, and the like connected by a bus, and executes a control device program. The control device 1 is a device including a wireless communication unit 11, a first protocol processing unit 12, a second protocol processing unit 13, a transmission / reception unit 14, a control function unit 15, a relay unit 16, and a storage unit 17 by executing a control device program. Function. Note that all or a part of each function of the control device 1 may be realized using hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The control device program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium is, for example, a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, and a CD-ROM, and a storage device such as a hard disk built in a computer system. The control device program may be transmitted via a telecommunication line.

  The wireless communication unit 11 is a wireless communication interface that allows the control device 1 to communicate with the other control devices 1 and the terminal devices 2 configuring the first wireless network 300 and the second wireless network 400. The wireless communication unit 11 performs communication in the first wireless network 300 and communication in the second wireless network 400 using the same wireless frequency band. The wireless communication unit 11 outputs the received packet on the first wireless network 300 side to the first protocol processing unit 12, and outputs the received packet on the second wireless network 400 side to the second protocol processing unit 13. Further, the wireless communication unit 11 converts transmission packets output from the first protocol processing unit 12 and the second packet processing unit 13 into wireless radio waves and outputs the radio waves.

  The wireless communication unit 11 includes a determination unit (not shown) that determines from the header of the packet whether the protocol of the received packet corresponds to the first protocol processing unit 12 or the second protocol processing unit 13. The reception packet may be output only to the protocol processing unit according to the determination result of the determination unit. Further, the wireless communication unit 11 may output all the received packets to both the first protocol processing unit 12 and the second protocol processing unit 13. In this case, the control device 1 may be configured to select the received packet on the first protocol processing unit 12 and the second protocol processing unit 13 side.

  The first protocol processing unit 12 performs a communication process (hereinafter, referred to as “protocol process”) based on a communication protocol on the first wireless network 300 side. Specifically, the first protocol processing unit 12 performs protocol processing based on a communication protocol of a wireless mesh network (hereinafter, referred to as “wireless mesh protocol”). For example, in the wireless mesh protocol, a function of configuring a mesh network with a plurality of nodes (hereinafter, referred to as a “mesh configuration function”), or transfer of received data to a destination node through a route determined according to the destination of the received data. (Hereinafter, referred to as “mesh transfer function”). The first protocol processing unit 12 executes a protocol process for realizing such a mesh configuration function and a mesh transfer function. Hereinafter, the protocol processing performed by the first protocol processing unit 12 is referred to as a first protocol processing.

  Here, the destination means a node that is an end point in a data transfer path. In contrast, hereinafter, a node that is a starting point on a data transfer path is referred to as a transmission source. For example, in FIG. 2, when data transmitted from the terminal device 2-1 is first received by the control device 1-1 and finally transferred to the control device 1-3, the terminal device 2-1 transmits the data to the transmission source. And the control device 1-3 is the destination.

  The second protocol processing unit 13 performs a communication process based on a communication protocol of the second wireless network 400. Hereinafter, the protocol processing performed by the second protocol processing unit 13 is referred to as a second protocol processing.

  The transmission / reception unit 14 inputs / outputs transmission / reception data between the first protocol processing unit 12 and the second protocol processing unit 13, and the control function unit 15 and the relay unit 16. Specifically, the transmission / reception unit 14 acquires the reception data addressed to the own device from each protocol processing unit, outputs the data to the control function unit 15 and the relay unit 16, and outputs the data from the control function unit 15 and the relay unit 16. The transmission data is output to a protocol processing unit corresponding to the communication protocol of the transmission destination.

  The control function unit 15 is a function unit that implements a control function as a control device. For example, in the control device 1 functioning as the indoor unit 20, the control function unit 15 performs processing such as adjustment of air volume (hereinafter, referred to as “control processing”) with VAV, FCU, or the like as a control target. Function as FCU-C. The control function unit 15 transmits / receives information necessary for executing control processing to / from another device via the transmission / reception unit 14.

  The relay unit 16 performs a relay process of relaying data received from the terminal device 2 to another control device 1. Specifically, the relay unit 16 performs the relay process based on the group information indicating the correspondence between the terminal device 2 and the control device 1.

  The storage unit 17 is configured using a storage device such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor storage device. The storage unit 17 stores group information in advance.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the group information. For example, the group information is stored in the storage unit 17 as a group information table 171 shown in FIG. The group information table 171 has a group information record for each group ID. The group information record has items of a terminal device ID, a group ID, and correspondence information. The terminal device ID is identification information of the terminal device 2. The group ID is identification information of a group of control devices 1 associated with each terminal device 2 (hereinafter, referred to as a “control group”). The correspondence information is information indicating the control device 1 associated with each control group. In the example of FIG. 4, the correspondence information has a small item for each control device 1 that indicates the presence or absence of the correspondence by “O”. For example, in the group information record 171-1, the control group identified by the group ID “1001” includes “control device_1”, “control device_3”, “control device_4”, and “control device_n”. It is shown that.

  In this case, for example, when the transmission source of the received data is “air conditioning setter_1”, the relay unit 16 “control device_1 belonging to the group (group ID“ 1001 ”) corresponding to“ air conditioning setter_1 ” , "Control device_3", "control device_4", and "control device_n".

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a specific example of a functional configuration of the terminal device 2 according to the first embodiment. The terminal device 2 includes a CPU, a memory, an auxiliary storage device, and the like connected by a bus, and executes a terminal device program. The terminal device 2 functions as a device including a wireless communication unit 21 (terminal communication unit), a second protocol processing unit 22, a transmission / reception unit 23, a terminal function unit 24, a wireless control unit 25, and a storage unit 26 by executing a terminal device program. I do. Note that all or a part of each function of the terminal device 2 may be realized by using hardware such as an ASIC, a PLD, and an FPGA. The terminal device program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium is, for example, a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, and a CD-ROM, and a storage device such as a hard disk built in a computer system. The terminal device program may be transmitted via a telecommunication line.

  The wireless communication unit 21 is a wireless communication interface for the terminal device 2 to communicate with the control device 1 via the second wireless network 400. The wireless communication unit 21 performs communication in the second wireless network 400 using the same wireless frequency band as the wireless communication unit 11 of the control device 1. The wireless communication unit 21 outputs the received packet to the second protocol processing unit 22 and converts the transmission packet output from the second protocol processing unit 22 into a radio wave and outputs the radio wave.

  The second protocol processing unit 22 is the same as the second protocol processing unit 13 of the control device 1, and the description is omitted.

  The transmission / reception unit 23 inputs / outputs transmission / reception data between the second protocol processing unit 22 and the terminal function unit 24. Specifically, the transmission / reception unit 23 acquires the reception data addressed to the own device from the second protocol processing unit 22 and outputs the data to the terminal function unit 24, and transmits the transmission data output from the terminal function unit 24 to the second protocol Output to the processing unit 22.

  The terminal function unit 24 is a function unit that implements a function as a terminal device. For example, in the terminal device 2 functioning as a remote controller of the indoor unit 20, the terminal function unit 24 receives a setting information input by a user and transmits the input setting information to the corresponding indoor unit 20, A process for displaying information notified from the device 20 is executed. Hereinafter, processing performed to realize such a function as a terminal device is referred to as terminal processing. The terminal function unit 24 transmits / receives information related to terminal processing to / from the control device 1 via the transmission / reception unit 23.

  The wireless control unit 25 controls the operation of the wireless communication unit 21. Specifically, the wireless control unit 25 suppresses power consumption by operating the wireless communication unit 21 intermittently. For example, the wireless control unit 25 may suppress the power consumption of the wireless communication unit 21 by causing the operation of the wireless communication unit 21 to sleep at a predetermined timing. The timing at which the operation of the wireless communication unit 21 is put to sleep may or may not be periodic. Further, the length of the period in which the operation of the wireless communication unit 21 is put to sleep may be a fixed value or may be changed according to the communication state.

  The storage unit 26 is configured using a storage device such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor storage device. The storage unit 26 stores various information necessary for the operation of the terminal device 2.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of uplink communication in the air conditioning control system 100 according to the first embodiment. Examples of the air conditioning control system 100 of FIG. 6 comprises two gateway device 30 (GW ₁ and GW ₂₎ for three air conditioning area 200-1 to 200-3. Here, the uplink communication means a communication in a direction from the terminal device 2 in the living room to the control device 1 behind the ceiling. In each terminal device 2, a control device 1 (hereinafter, referred to as a "corresponding device") to be communicated is set in advance. In FIG. 6, a solid line connecting each terminal device 2 and each control device 1 indicates the correspondence between each terminal device 2 and the corresponding device. 6, a broken line indicated by reference numeral 501 represents a control group indicating the control device 1 associated with the VR ₂₁ . Hereinafter, this control group is referred to as a control group 501.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a communication packet in uplink communication. Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, an example in which the VR ₂₁ transmits data to the control device 1 (that is, VC ₁₂ , VC ₂₁ , VC ₂₂ , VC _31, and VC ₃₂ ) belonging to the control group 501 will be described. The flow of upstream communication will be described below. In this case, first, the transmission / reception unit 23 of the VR ₂₁ transmits data to the VC ₂₁ which is a corresponding device as a destination. The packet transmitted here is, for example, as shown in FIG. The transmission / reception unit 14 of the VC ₂₁ acquires a reception packet addressed to the own device from the second protocol processing unit 13 and outputs data included in the reception packet to the control function unit 15.

On the other hand, the transmission / reception unit 14 of the VC ₂₁ outputs the received packet addressed to the own device to the relay unit 16. The relay unit 16 refers to the group information and identifies the control group 501 corresponding to the VR ₂₁ that is the transmission source of the received packet. The relay unit 16 generates a transmission packet in which a group ID (for example, “1001” here) indicating the control group 501 is set as the destination of the received packet. The transmission packet generated here is, for example, as shown in FIG. The VC ₂₁ sends the transmission packet generated by the relay unit 16 to the first wireless network 300. The transmission packet transmitted to the first wireless network 300 is transferred to another control device 1 belonging to the control group 501 by the wireless mesh network. The process of converting the group ID into the address information of the individual control devices 1 serving as destinations may be performed by the transmission / reception unit 14 or may be performed by the first protocol processing unit 12. In addition, the VR ₂₁ may directly transmit data to the control group in the format of FIG. 7B.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of downlink communication in the air conditioning control system 100 according to the first embodiment. The configuration of the air conditioning control system 100 in the example of FIG. 8 is the same as that of FIG. In addition, the downlink communication here means the communication in the direction from the control device 1 behind the ceiling to the terminal device 2 in the living room.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a communication packet in downlink communication. Hereinafter, the flow of downlink communication will be described with reference to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 taking as an example a case where the VC ₃₁ transmits data to the VR ₂₁ . In this case, first, the transmission / reception unit 14 of the VC ₃₁ determines whether it is possible to directly transmit the packet to the destination VR ₂₁ (hereinafter, referred to as “direct transmission”). For example, this determination is made by the transmission / reception unit 14. For example, the transmission / reception unit 14 actually transmits a packet (arrow 511 in the figure), and determines whether direct transmission is possible or not based on whether a packet reception response (for example, ACK) is obtained from the destination. The packet transmitted here is, for example, as shown in FIG. Further, for example, the transmission / reception unit 14 may determine whether direct transmission is possible based on the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the destination VR ₂₁ .

Here, when it is determined that the direct transmission of the packet is not possible, the transmission / reception unit 14 outputs the transmission packet to the relay unit 16. The relay unit 16 causes another control device 1 to substitute the direct transmission of the packet to the destination VR ₂₁ . Specifically, the relay unit 16 selects a control device 1 (hereinafter, referred to as an “alternative device”) that substitutes for packet transmission from among the control devices 1 belonging to the first wireless network 300, and selects the selected alternative. Transfer the transmission packet to the device. For example, the VC ₃₁ selects the VC ₂₁ as an alternative device and transfers the transmission packet. For example, the packet transmitted here is transferred by the wireless mesh network along the route of VC ₂₃ , VC ₂₂ , and VC ₂₁ (arrow 512 in the figure). Note that one control device 1 may be selected as the alternative device, or a plurality of control devices 1 may be selected.

Here, the alternative device selected by the relay unit 16 may be determined by any method. For example, the relay unit 16 may select an alternative device based on the group information. In this case, the relay unit 16 refers to the group information and selects the control device 1 belonging to the control group corresponding to the terminal device 2 that is the destination of the transmission packet as an alternative device. Specifically, the VC ₃₁ identifies that the control group corresponding to the VR ₂₁ is the control group 501. The relay unit 16 selects a control device 1 (that is, VC ₁₂ , VC ₁₂ , VC _21, and VC ₂₂ ) other than the own device corresponding to the control group 501 as an alternative device.

Further, for example, the relay unit 16 may select the control device 1 having a high received signal strength as an alternative device based on the RSSI of another control device 1. In this case, for example, _{VC 22} and _VC 23, _{VC 32} present relatively close to the _{VC 31} is selected as the substitute system.

Also, for example, the relay unit 16 selects, as an alternative device, the control device 1 that has directly received the packet from the VR ₂₁ among the other control devices 1 that have relayed the upstream communication packet transmitted from the VR ₂₁ to the own device. May be. For example, in this case, when each control device 1 directly receives the transmission packet of the terminal device 2, the control device 1 relays the packet to another control device 1 including the substitute device information indicating the own device in the packet. For example, when the VC ₃₁ receives a transmission packet of the VR ₂₁ directly received by the VC ₂₁ , the packet received by the VC ₃₁ is, for example, as shown in FIG. In this case, the relay unit 16 of the VC ₃₁ selects the VC ₂₁ as an alternative device when transmitting data to the VR ₂₁ .

  Generally, in the air-conditioning control system 100, data transmission from each control device 1 to each terminal device 2 starts from uplink communication of each terminal device 2. Further, as described above, the transmission packet of the terminal device 2 is relayed by the plurality of control devices 1. Therefore, each control device 1 obtains the substitute control information included in the received packet relayed by the other control device 1 from among the received packets in the upstream communication that is the starting point, and transmits the transmission packet to the destination terminal device 2. Can be selected as an alternative device. Note that the selection of the alternative device does not necessarily need to be performed based on the upstream communication serving as the above-described starting point, and may be performed based on any past upstream communication.

Further, for example, the relay unit 16 may use all the control devices 1 belonging to the first wireless network 300 as substitute devices. In this case, the relay unit 16 may broadcast the transmission packet in the first wireless network 300.

  By the way, in the above-described packet relay method, when a plurality of alternative devices are selected, the same packet for the same destination is relayed by the plurality of control devices 1. Therefore, in such a relay method, there is a possibility that the transmission packet amplified by the relay of the plurality of control devices 1 causes network congestion. Therefore, the relay unit 16 of the control device 1 has a function of limiting the number of relays of the transmission packet. Further, the transmitting / receiving unit 14 of the control device 1 and the transmitting / receiving unit 23 of the terminal device 2 have a function of eliminating duplication of received packets.

  For example, the relay unit 16 determines whether to relay the received packet based on the number of times the received packet is relayed. In this case, when relaying the received packet, each control device 1 relays the received packet by including the relay number information indicating the number of relays of the received packet in the received packet. The received packet relayed in this manner is, for example, as shown in FIG. The relay unit 16 relays the received packet to another control device 1 only when the value indicated by the relay number information of the received packet is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold.

Further, for example, the transmission / reception unit 14 eliminates duplication of the received packets based on the transmission order of the received packets. In this case, in each control device 1 and each terminal device 2, the node that is the starting point of data transmission performs data transmission including transmission packet transmission order information indicating the transmission order of the packets. The packet transmitted in this manner is, for example, as shown in FIG. For example, the order information is represented by a numerical value that increases each time data is transmitted. The transmission / reception unit 14 identifies the identity of the transmission packet based on the identity of the value of the order information, and eliminates the duplication of the received packet by discarding the received packet having the duplicated value indicated by the order information. The transmission / reception unit 14 may select any one of the duplicated received packets or select a received packet considered to be highly reliable among the duplicated received packets by such a deduplication method. May be. For example, the transmitting and receiving unit 14 may select a received packet with a small number of relays as a highly reliable received packet, or may select a received packet transmitted from a node with a high RSSI.

  In the control function unit 15 of the control device 1 and the terminal function unit 24 of the terminal device 2, the processing order of the received data may be important. In such a case, the transmission / reception unit 14 of the control device 1 and the transmission / reception unit 23 of the terminal device 2 detect an improper reception order based on the order information of the received packet, and send the control function unit 15 and the terminal function unit 24 The received data can be output in a correct order.

  The air-conditioning control system 100 according to the first embodiment configured as described above includes the control device 1 that relays the received data to another control device 1 based on the group information. The device control network can be made wireless while ensuring reliability. In addition, since the air conditioning control system 100 includes the terminal device 2 that performs wireless communication intermittently, power saving of the terminal device 2 in the air conditioning control system 100 can be improved.

  Hereinafter, a modification of the air-conditioning control system 100 according to the first embodiment will be described.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a functional configuration of a control device 1a according to a modification. The control device 1a is different from the control device 1 of the first embodiment in that a first wireless communication unit 111 and a second wireless communication unit 112 are provided instead of the wireless communication unit 11.
As described above, the control device 1 may include a different wireless communication unit for each of the first wireless network 300 and the second wireless network 400.

  Although the first wireless network 300 and the second wireless network 400 use wireless communication in the same frequency band in the present embodiment, hardware that implements wireless communication by using the same frequency band is used. Can be standardized. Further, communication quality can be further improved by using a sub-giga band (900 MHz to 990 MHz) as a frequency band. The sub-giga band radio has features that can realize stable (easily wrap around) communication even when there is an obstacle between terminals and can realize a high communication speed.

  Therefore, even in wireless communication (the first wireless network 300) between the control devices 1 installed behind the ceiling or the like, the influence of obstacles such as an air conditioner or various wirings installed behind the ceiling is small, and high communication quality is achieved. realizable. Also, in wireless communication (second network 400) between the control device 1 installed behind the ceiling and the terminal device 2 installed in the living room, the influence of the ceiling partitioning the two devices is small, and high communication quality can be realized. is there.

  In addition, in the case where a device that performs wireless communication (Wi-Fi or the like) in the 2.4 GHz band or 5 GHz band is installed in the living room, the wireless communication in the 920 MHz band having different frequency bands is performed by the first wireless network 300 and the second wireless network. By using the network 400, high communication quality can be realized because there is no interference from devices in the living room.

  Further, in a low frequency band of less than 900 MHz, the available bandwidth is small, so that the communication speed is low, and there is a large restriction in realizing a mesh network in the first wireless network 300. Thus, high communication quality can be realized.

[Second embodiment]
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a functional configuration of a control device 1b according to the second embodiment. The control device 1b differs from the control device 1 of the first embodiment in that the control device 1b includes a transmission / reception unit 14b instead of the transmission / reception unit 14, and includes a relay unit 16b instead of the relay unit 16.

  The transmission / reception unit 14b inputs / outputs transmission / reception data between the first protocol processing unit 12 and the second protocol processing unit 13, and the control function unit 15 and the relay unit 16b. Specifically, the transmission / reception unit 14b acquires reception data addressed to the own device from each protocol processing unit and outputs the data to the control function unit 15, and acquires reception data not addressed to the own device from the second protocol processing unit 13. And outputs it to the relay unit 16b. The transmission / reception unit 14b outputs the transmission data output from the control function unit 15 and the relay unit 16b to a protocol processing unit corresponding to the communication protocol of the transmission destination.

  The relay unit 16b performs a relay process of relaying the received data received from the terminal device 2 not addressed to the own device to another control device 1.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the functional configuration of the terminal device 2b according to the second embodiment. The terminal device 2b is different from the terminal device 2 of the first embodiment in that a wireless control unit 25b is provided instead of the wireless control unit 25.

  The wireless control unit 25b controls the operation of the wireless communication unit 21. Specifically, the wireless control unit 25b outputs a wireless radio wave having an intensity capable of receiving the radio wave output from the wireless communication unit 21 to at least two or more of the plurality of control devices 1. The wireless communication unit 21 is controlled as described above. For example, the radio control unit 25b selects some control devices 1 in descending order of the received signal strength based on the RSSI of the control device 1 from which the radio wave has been detected, and selects the receivable strength of the selected control device 1. The wireless communication unit 21 is controlled so that the wireless radio wave is output.

  Further, for example, the wireless control unit 25b may control the wireless communication unit 21 to output a radio wave of a preset minimum intensity (hereinafter, referred to as “set intensity”). In this case, the set intensity is set as an intensity at which the radio wave can be received by at least two or more of the plurality of control devices 1. For example, the set intensity may be set as an intensity at which a radio wave can be received by two of the plurality of control devices 1, or may be set by three of the plurality of control devices 1. May be set as an appropriate strength.

  In addition, the wireless control unit 25b gradually decreases the wireless strength of the wireless communication unit 21 from the set strength within a range in which the radio wave is received by at least two of the plurality of control devices 1. Such control may be performed. For example, when the set intensity is set as an intensity that can be received by the three control devices 1 as an initial value, the wireless communication unit 21 gradually decreases the wireless intensity so that the two control devices 1 can receive. Control that approaches the strength may be performed. Further, the set intensity may be configured to be changeable by an external input. The setting of the minimum signal strength may be input from an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard, or may be input by communication via a network.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of uplink communication in the air conditioning control system 100 according to the second embodiment. Here, the flow of uplink communication will be described using an example in which the VR ₂₁ transmits data to the VC ₃₁ . In this case, under the control of the wireless control unit 25b, the wireless communication unit 21 of the VR ₂₁ transmits a transmission packet destined for the VC ₃₁ at, for example, a wireless strength that can be received by the VC ₂₁ , VC _22, and VC ₂₃ . Relay portion 16b of the VC _{21, VC 22} and _{VC 23,} respectively, when identifying that the destination of the received packet is not the own device, and relays the received packets to the other control device 1. The packets relayed by VC ₂₁ , VC ₂₂ and VC ₂₃ are transferred to the destination VC ₃₁ by the wireless mesh network.

  The air-conditioning control system 100 according to the second embodiment having the above-described configuration includes the control device 1 that relays a received packet transmitted from the terminal device 2 that is not addressed to the own device to another control device 1. By providing such a control device 1, in the air-conditioning control system 100, the device control network can be made wireless while ensuring higher reliability. In addition, the air conditioning control system 100 includes a terminal device 2 that transmits a packet by a radio wave having such a strength as to be received by at least two or more control devices 1. By including such a terminal device 2, power consumption related to the wireless output of the wireless terminal 2 is suppressed within a range in which the redundancy of the connection between the control device 1 and the terminal device 2 in the air conditioning control system 100 can be ensured. Can be.

[Third Embodiment]
In the third embodiment, a communication device 3 that can function as the control device 1 or the terminal device 2 of the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the hardware configuration of the communication device 3 according to the third embodiment. For example, the communication device 3 includes an auxiliary storage device 32, a CPU 33, a memory 34, a wireless communication unit 35 (wireless output unit), and an operation mode switching unit 36 (operation mode setting unit) connected by the bus 31. The auxiliary storage device 32 stores a control device program and a terminal device program in advance. The CPU 33 reads out one of the control device program and the terminal device program stored in the auxiliary storage device 32 into the memory 34 and executes it. The CPU 33 causes the communication device 3 to function as the control device 1 by executing the control device program (first mode), and causes the communication device 3 to function as the terminal device 2 by executing the terminal device program (second mode). The wireless communication unit 35 is a network interface for the communication device 3 to perform wireless communication. The operation mode switching unit 36 sets the CPU 33 to execute either the control device program or the terminal device program.

  For example, the operation mode switching unit 36 may be configured as hardware such as a dip switch, or may be configured as a program to be executed when the communication device 3 is started. When configured as a program, the operation mode switching unit 36 may select either the control device program or the terminal device program based on the user's input in an interactive format, or may select the control device program or the terminal device program in a setting file read at the time of startup. The selection may be made based on this. The operation mode switching unit 36 notifies the CPU 33 of the result of the selection of the control device program or the terminal device program by the above hardware or program.

  Specifically, the CPU 33 functions as the first protocol processing unit 12, the second protocol processing unit 13, the transmitting / receiving unit 14, the control function unit 15, and the relay unit 16 by executing the control device program. In addition, the execution of the control device program by the CPU 33 causes the auxiliary storage device 32 to function as the storage unit 17 and the wireless communication unit 35 to function as the wireless communication unit 11.

  On the other hand, the CPU 33 functions as the second protocol processing unit 22, the transmitting / receiving unit 23, the terminal function unit 24, and the wireless control unit 25 by executing the terminal device program. In addition, when the terminal device program is executed by the CPU 33, the auxiliary storage device 32 functions as the storage unit 26, and the wireless communication unit 35 functions as the wireless communication unit 21.

  In the air-conditioning control system 100 according to the third embodiment configured as described above, the control device 1 and the terminal device 2 can be realized by the same hardware. Furthermore, even when the terminal device 2 is realized by the same hardware as the control device 1, when the hardware is used as the terminal device 2, only the functional units necessary for the terminal device 2 can be operated. Therefore, the power consumption of the terminal device 2 can be reduced.

  In the above description, an example in which the operation of the communication device 3 is switched for each device of the control device 1 or the terminal device 2 has been described. However, the unit for switching the operation of the communication device 3 may be a unit of each functional unit. For example, the function units (for example, the second protocol processing unit 13 and the second protocol processing unit 22) that can be realized by the same program in the control device 1 and the terminal device 2 execute the same program and have a function that cannot be realized by the same program. It is also possible to switch a program to be executed only by a unit (for example, the control function unit 15 and the terminal function unit 24). In addition, a program that implements a function unit that is unnecessary as the control device 1 or the terminal device 2 may not be executed.

  The change of the operation of the communication device 3 may be performed for each function of each function unit. For example, when the communication device 3 is operated as the terminal device 2, only the program for realizing the mesh transfer function of the first protocol processing unit 12 may not be executed, or only the program for realizing the mesh configuration function may not be executed. It may be. The processing load of the communication device 3 functioning as the terminal device 2 may be reduced by changing the setting of the process performed by each functional unit. For example, when the communication device 3 functions as the terminal device 2, the setting may be changed to limit the number of packet relays by the mesh transfer function, or the mesh configuration configured by the mesh configuration function may not be a full mesh. May be changed.

[Fourth embodiment]
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a functional configuration of a control device 1c according to the fourth embodiment. The control device 1c according to the fourth embodiment is different from the control device 1 according to the first embodiment in further including a group information updating unit 18.

  The group information updating unit 18 updates the group information of the own device. Specifically, the group information update unit 18 receives an input of update information indicating the update content of the group information, and updates the group information of the own device with the input update information. The update information may be input from an input device connected to the own device, or may be transmitted from another device via a network. In addition, the group information update unit 18 transmits the update information input to the own device to another control device 1.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an air conditioning control system 100 according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 16 illustrates an example in which the control device 1-11 transmits data transmitted from the terminal device 2 to other control devices 1-11-2-15 belonging to the same group based on the group information. ing. In this case, if the update information is input to the control device 1-11, the group information update unit 18 of the control device 1-11 refers to the updated group information, and sets the control information belonging to the same control group as the own device. The update information is transmitted to the devices 1-11-2-15 and the control device 1-20. Here, the control device 1-20 is the control device 1 newly added by the update information. The control device 1-11 transmits the update information to the control devices 1 in the same group, so that the group information can be expanded to the newly added control device 1-20.

  In FIG. 16, one of the control devices 1 may function as a management device (group management device) that manages group information. For example, when the control device 1-20 functions as a management device, the management device may transmit group information to another control device 1, or each control device 1 may acquire the latest group information from the management device and Is also good.

  With such a configuration, in the air-conditioning control system 100 of the fourth embodiment, the update work of the group information may be performed on any one of the control devices 1, and thus the labor required for updating the group information is reduced. Can be reduced.

  According to at least one embodiment described above, a control device 1 that transmits a received packet to another communication device based on a predetermined condition, and a transmission packet that is transmitted to at least one communication device 1 among a plurality of communication devices 1 And the terminal device 2 that transmits the data so as to be received by the air conditioner, the device control network of the air conditioning control system can be made wireless while achieving both high reliability and power saving.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are provided by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in other various forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof.

100: air conditioning control system, 10: external controller, 20, 20-1 to 20-3: indoor unit, 201: duct, 30: gateway device, 40: DDC (Direct Digital Controller), 50: host system, 60: LCS (Local Control Server), 70: control network, 200, 200-1 to 200-3: air conditioning area, 300: first wireless network, 400: second wireless network, 1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1-1 1 to 20: control device, 11: wireless communication unit, 111: first wireless communication unit, 112: second wireless communication unit, 12: first protocol processing unit, 13: second protocol processing unit, 14, 14b ... Transmission / reception unit, 15: control function unit, 16, 16b: relay unit, 17: storage unit, 171: group information table, 171-1: group information record, 18: group information update unit 2, 2b, 2-1 to 2-5: terminal device, 21: wireless communication unit, 22: second protocol processing unit, 23: transmission / reception unit, 24: terminal function unit, 25, 25b: wireless control unit, 26 ... Storage unit, 3 communication device, 31 bus, 32 auxiliary storage device, 33 CPU, 34 memory, 35 wireless communication unit, 36 operation mode switching unit, 4 wired network, 501 control group, 511 ... arrows indicating packet transmission, 512 ... arrows indicating packet transfer paths

Claims (19)

A plurality of air conditioners capable of wireless communication with each other in a plurality of communication paths, and one or more terminal devices that transmit and receive packets related to the air conditioning operation of the plurality of air conditioners to and from the plurality of air conditioners by wireless communication, An air conditioning control system comprising:
The plurality of air conditioners constitute a mesh network, and other air conditioning is performed by a communication path dynamically selected by a protocol of the mesh network among a plurality of communication paths that can be configured by a part or all of the plurality of air conditioners. Communication with the machine,
Each of the plurality of air conditioners,
An air conditioner communication unit that transmits and receives the packet by wireless communication between the terminal device and another air conditioner,
An air conditioner relay unit that relays the packet received via the air conditioner communication unit to another air conditioner based on a predetermined condition,
With
The one or more terminal devices,
A terminal communication unit that transmits and receives the packet by wireless communication with the plurality of air conditioners;
A wireless control unit that controls an output intensity of a wireless signal by the terminal communication unit, so that the wireless signal output from the terminal communication unit is received by at least two air conditioners of the plurality of air conditioners.
Air conditioning control system comprising: When the destination terminal device cannot receive a wireless signal of a packet transmitted from the own device, the air conditioner relay unit transmits the packet to the terminal device, and a wireless signal to be transmitted is received by the terminal device. Of air conditioners,
The air conditioning control system according to claim 1. The air conditioner relay unit, among the packets directly received from the terminal device by the wireless communication, relays a packet whose destination is not its own device to another air conditioner,
The air conditioning control system according to claim 1. The air conditioner relay unit, among the packets directly received from the terminal device by the wireless communication, relays a packet whose destination is not its own device to an air conditioner belonging to a group corresponding to the terminal device,
The air conditioning control system according to claim 1. The air conditioner relay unit, among the packets directly received from the terminal device by the wireless communication, relays a packet whose destination is not its own device to all of the plurality of air conditioners,
The air conditioning control system according to claim 1. The air conditioner relay unit determines whether to relay the packet to another air conditioner based on information indicating the number of relays of the packet included in the packet, and when relaying the packet, Relay to other air conditioners, including information indicating the number of relays,
The air-conditioning control system according to any one of claims 3 to 5. The air conditioner relay unit, among the packets directly received from the terminal device by the wireless communication, transfer the packet whose destination is the own device to another air conditioner belonging to the same group as the own device,
The air-conditioning control system according to claim 1. The air conditioner communication unit and the terminal communication unit, when receiving the first packet addressed to the own device, when the first packet is the same as the already received second packet addressed to the own device, Discard the first packet,
The air conditioning control system according to claim 1. The air conditioner communication unit,
Communication with another air conditioner, and one wireless output unit that outputs wireless in the same frequency band in communication with the terminal device,
A first protocol processing unit that performs processing related to a communication protocol for communicating with another air conditioner;
A second protocol processing unit that performs processing related to a communication protocol for communicating with the terminal device;
Comprising,
An air conditioning control system according to any one of claims 1 to 8. The terminal device includes the air conditioner communication unit as the terminal communication unit,
The terminal communication unit operates in a state where the first protocol processing unit is disabled;
An air conditioning control system according to claim 9. The terminal device operates in one of a first mode in which the first protocol processing unit and the second protocol processing unit operate and a second mode in which only the second protocol processing unit operates. Further comprising an operation mode setting unit to set the terminal communication unit as,
The air conditioning control system according to claim 10. The wireless control unit gradually reduces the wireless strength of the wireless control unit from a predetermined set strength within a range in which the wireless signal is received by at least two of the plurality of air conditioners. ,
An air conditioning control system according to any one of claims 1 to 11. The air conditioner is
A storage unit that stores group information indicating a correspondence between the group and the plurality of air conditioners,
A group information update unit that transmits update information indicating the update content of the group information to another air conditioner, and updates the group information of the own device based on the update information transmitted from the other air conditioner,
Further comprising,
The air conditioning control system according to claim 4 or 7. At least one of the plurality of air conditioners functions as a group management device that manages the group information,
An air conditioner other than the group management device acquires the group information from the group management device,
An air conditioning control system according to claim 13. The group information updating unit transmits the update information generated in the own device to the group management device, and updates the group information of the own device based on the update information transmitted from the group management device.
The air conditioning control system according to claim 14. The air conditioner communication unit uses a radio wave having a frequency of less than 1 GHz for wireless communication with another air conditioner and the terminal device.
An air conditioning control system according to any one of claims 1 to 15. A plurality of air conditioners capable of wireless communication with each other in a plurality of communication paths, and one or more terminal devices that transmit and receive packets related to the air conditioning operation of the plurality of air conditioners to and from the plurality of air conditioners by wireless communication, A communication method for an air conditioning control system comprising:
The plurality of air conditioners constitute a mesh network, and a plurality of air conditioning units may be configured by a part or all of the plurality of air conditioners. Communicating with the device;
Each of the plurality of air conditioners,
An air conditioner communication step of transmitting and receiving the packet by wireless communication between the terminal device and another air conditioner,
An air conditioner relay step of relaying the packet received in the air conditioner communication step to another air conditioner based on a predetermined condition;
Has,
The one or more terminal devices,
A terminal communication step of transmitting and receiving the packet by wireless communication with the plurality of air conditioners;
A wireless control step of controlling an output intensity of a wireless signal in the terminal communication step, such that the wireless signal output in the terminal communication step is received by at least two of the plurality of air conditioners,
The communication method of the air-conditioning control system which has a. A plurality of air conditioners capable of wireless communication with each other in a plurality of communication paths, and one or more terminal devices that transmit and receive packets related to the air conditioning operation of the plurality of air conditioners to and from the plurality of air conditioners by wireless communication, The air conditioner in the air conditioning control system comprising:
The one or more terminal devices are a terminal communication unit that transmits and receives the packet by wireless communication with the plurality of air conditioners, and a wireless signal output from the terminal communication unit is one of the plurality of air conditioners. A wireless control unit that controls an output intensity of a wireless signal by the terminal communication unit so that the wireless communication unit receives the signal by at least two air conditioners.
A mesh network is configured as one of the plurality of air conditioners, and a communication path dynamically selected by a protocol of the mesh network among a plurality of communication paths that can be configured by a part or all of the plurality of air conditioners. Communicate with other air conditioners,
An air conditioner communication unit that transmits and receives the packet by wireless communication between the terminal device and another air conditioner,
An air conditioner relay unit that relays the packet received via the air conditioner communication unit to another air conditioner based on a predetermined condition,
Air conditioner equipped with. A plurality of air conditioners capable of wireless communication with each other in a plurality of communication paths, and one or more terminal devices that transmit and receive packets related to the air conditioning operation of the plurality of air conditioners to and from the plurality of air conditioners by wireless communication, The terminal device in an air conditioning control system comprising:
The plurality of air conditioners constitute a mesh network, and other air conditioning is performed by a communication path dynamically selected by a protocol of the mesh network among a plurality of communication paths that can be configured by a part or all of the plurality of air conditioners. The air conditioner communicates with each of the air conditioners, the air conditioner communicates with the terminal device and another air conditioner by wireless communication with the air conditioner communication unit, and the packet received via the air conditioner communication unit An air conditioner relay unit that relays the air conditioner to another air conditioner based on a predetermined condition.
A terminal communication unit that transmits and receives the packet by wireless communication with the plurality of air conditioners;
A wireless control unit that controls an output intensity of a wireless signal by the terminal communication unit, so that the wireless signal output from the terminal communication unit is received by at least two of the plurality of air conditioners.
A terminal device comprising:

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