JP2022138615A - Air conditioner and air conditioning system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an air conditioner that can be added with a novel central device, and to provide an air conditioning system.SOLUTION: An air conditioner includes an indoor unit. The indoor unit includes: a communication unit for performing close-range wireless communication with a device; and a setting changing unit for setting the communication unit so as to operate centrally or peripherally.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

The present invention relates to air conditioners and air conditioning systems.

For example, in short-range wireless communication such as BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) low energy), communication is performed between devices, for example, between the central device and the peripheral device through a predetermined procedure. is established, and necessary data is exchanged.

For example, devices that use BLE include an indoor unit in an air conditioner and a remote control that remotely operates the indoor unit. Air conditioning systems are known that establish communication with.

JP 2012-156691 A

In BLE communication, communication can also be performed between a plurality of devices. Therefore, for example, in an air conditioning system that employs BLE, it is conceivable that a smartphone terminal may be added as a remote control while the indoor unit is being used as a central device and the remote control is being used as a peripheral device.

However, the BLE communication standard limits the number of central devices in the system to one. In addition, smartphone terminals are generally designed as central devices and cannot operate as peripheral devices. Since the air conditioning system described above already has an indoor unit as a central device, there is a problem that a smartphone terminal as a central device cannot be added to the air conditioning system.

An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner and an air conditioning system to which new central equipment can be added.

An air conditioner of the present invention has an indoor unit. The indoor unit has a communication unit that performs short-range wireless communication with a device, and a setting change unit that sets the communication unit to operate either centrally or peripherally.

A new central device can be added to the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the air conditioning system of this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an indoor unit. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a setting table. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the remote controller. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of air conditioning auxiliary equipment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a smartphone terminal. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing operations related to pairing registration in the air conditioning system. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing operations when a smartphone terminal is connected to the air conditioning system. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing operations when a smartphone terminal is connected to the air conditioning system. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing operations related to detachment of the smartphone terminal from the air conditioning system. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing operations related to reconnection processing due to communication disconnection between the indoor unit and the smartphone terminal.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the air conditioning system disclosed in the present application will be described in detail based on the drawings. Note that the disclosed technology is not limited by the present embodiment. Further, each embodiment shown below may be modified as appropriate within a range that does not cause contradiction.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an air conditioning system 1 of this embodiment. An air conditioning system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an air conditioner 2 , air conditioning auxiliary equipment 3 , and a smartphone terminal 4 . The air conditioner 2 is a device that heats or cools indoor air. The auxiliary air-conditioning device 3 is a device that cooperates with the air conditioner 2 to assist air-conditioning of the indoor space in which the indoor unit 21 in the air conditioner 2 is arranged. The air conditioning auxiliary equipment 3 is, for example, a humidifier, a circulator, an air purifier, and the like. The smartphone terminal 4 is, for example, a terminal having a BLE communication function carried by the user of the air conditioner 2 . In addition, it is not limited to the smartphone terminal 4, and may be a tablet terminal, a mobile terminal, or the like having a BLE communication function.

The air conditioner 2 has an indoor unit 21 , an outdoor unit 22 and a remote controller 23 . The indoor unit 21 is, for example, a part of the air conditioner 2 that is placed indoors and heats or cools the indoor air that is the air-conditioned space. It is assumed that the indoor unit 21 is provided in an air-conditioned space such as a room, for example. The outdoor unit 22 includes, for example, an outdoor fan, a compressor, and the like. The remote controller 23 is an operating device that remotely operates the indoor unit 21 by BLE communication. The air conditioning system 1 is capable of short-range wireless communication with the indoor unit 21, the remote controller 23, the auxiliary air conditioning device 3, and the smartphone terminal 4 using BLE communication.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the indoor unit 21. As shown in FIG. The indoor unit 21 shown in FIG. 2 includes a BLE communication unit 31, an outdoor unit communication unit 32, an operation unit 33, a human detection unit 34, an indoor unit body 35, a storage unit 36, and a control unit 37. . The BLE communication unit 31 is an interface that performs BLE communication with other devices. The outdoor unit communication unit 32 is an interface that communicates with the outdoor unit 22 by, for example, a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) method. The operation unit 33 is an interface for inputting various commands to the indoor unit 21 . The human detection unit 34 is a sensor that detects the presence of people in the air-conditioned space where the indoor unit 21 is installed. The indoor unit main body 35 includes an indoor fan, an indoor heat exchanger, and the like (not shown). The room is heated, cooled, dehumidified, etc.

The BLE communication unit 31 establishes BLE communication with other devices through predetermined negotiations in accordance with the specifications defined by the Bluetooth SIG, which is a Bluetooth standardization organization. In the predetermined negotiation, for example, when the indoor unit 21 operates as a central unit, it starts a scanning operation and receives advertisements according to the scanning operation. When the advertisement is received, a scan request for the advertisement is transmitted, and when a scan response to the scan request is received, a connection request is transmitted to the peripheral device, thereby establishing BLE communication with the peripheral device.

Further, in the predetermined negotiation, for example, when the indoor unit 21 operates as a peripheral, the advertisement is broadcasted and a scan request for the advertisement is received from the central device. Then, after receiving the scan request, it transmits a scan response to the central device, and establishes BLE communication with the central device when a connection request in response to the scan response is received from the central device. Advertise is a signal that a peripheral device notifies the presence of its own device within the BLE communication range, and is a signal that includes the device ID of its own device. The scan request is a signal for requesting device information from the peripheral device that sent the advertisement from the central device that received the advertisement, and is a signal that includes the device ID of the peripheral and the device ID of the device that sent the advertisement. . A scan response is a signal that responds to a scan request. The connection request is a signal including, for example, the device ID of the device itself, the device ID of the device of the connection partner, parameters used for data communication, and the like. Note that the device ID is a unique code that is assigned in association with hardware, and corresponds to, for example, a Bluetooth Device Address in the BLE communication standard.

The storage unit 36 stores various information. The storage unit 36 has a setting table 36A and an own device memory 36B. The setting table 36A is, for example, a table that stores device IDs of other devices that operate as peripherals and communicate with the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 when the indoor unit 21 operates as a central device. The own device memory 36B stores a device ID that identifies the indoor unit 21 .

The control unit 37 controls the indoor unit 21 as a whole. The control section 37 has a setting change section 37A. The control unit 37 controls, for example, the BLE communication unit 31 that performs BLE communication with devices such as the remote controller 23 , the air conditioning auxiliary device 3 , and the smartphone terminal 4 .

The setting change unit 37A sets the BLE communication unit 31 to operate either centrally or peripherally in BLE communication. When the indoor unit 21 operates as a peripheral, the setting change unit 37A changes the operation of the BLE communication unit 31 from central to peripheral, and detects other devices operating as the central. Specifically, when the indoor unit 21 operates as a peripheral, the setting change unit 37A changes the BLE communication unit 31 to a peripheral, for example, broadcasts a BLE communication advertisement, and responds to a scan request for the advertisement. to detect the device (smartphone terminal 4) operating as the central. The setting change unit 37A detects the smartphone terminal 4 operating as the central in response to the scan request from the smartphone terminal 4 for advertising. The BLE communication unit 31 establishes BLE communication with the detected smartphone terminal 4 operating as the central. Through these series of operations, the central device is changed from the indoor unit 21 to the smartphone terminal 4 .

When the human detection unit 34 detects the presence of a person in the air-conditioned space, the setting change unit 37A changes the operation of the BLE communication unit 31 from central to peripheral and detects other devices operating as central. This is a case where a user who is a person in the air-conditioned space carries a device operating as a central device, that is, the smartphone terminal 4 .

After establishing BLE communication with the detected other device operating as the central, the BLE communication unit 31 establishes BLE communication with the device that was establishing BLE communication when the BLE communication unit 31 was operating as the central. Send a communication disconnect signal. Specifically, after establishing BLE communication with the detected smartphone terminal 4 operating as the central, the BLE communication unit 31 establishes the BLE communication when the BLE communication unit 31 operates as the central. A BLE communication disconnection signal is transmitted to the remote controller 23 and the air conditioning auxiliary device 3 . After transmitting a BLE communication disconnection signal to the device that has established BLE communication, the BLE communication unit 31 transmits the device operating as a central device, for example, the smartphone terminal 4, to another device, for example, , the remote controller 23 and the auxiliary air conditioning equipment 3 .

The setting change unit 37A changes the setting of the BLE communication unit 31 when the BLE communication is disconnected from a state in which the BLE communication unit 31 operates as a peripheral and establishes BLE communication with a device operating as a central. device to act as a central device and detect devices that act as peripherals. The BLE communication unit 31 establishes BLE communication with the device operating as the detected peripheral.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the setting table 36A. The setting table 36A shown in FIG. 3 is a table that stores device IDs that identify other devices that the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 operates as central or peripheral. The control unit 37 can refer to the setting table 36A and recognize the device ID that operates as the peripheral when the BLE communication unit 31 operates as the central. Furthermore, the control unit 37 can refer to the setting table 36A to recognize the device ID that operates as the central device when the BLE communication unit 31 operates as the peripheral.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the remote control 23. As shown in FIG. The remote controller 23 shown in FIG. 4 has a BLE communication unit 41 , an operation unit 42 , a display unit 43 , a storage unit 44 and a control unit 45 . The BLE communication unit 41 is an interface that performs BLE communication with other devices. The BLE communication unit 41 establishes BLE communication with another device through predetermined negotiation. The operation unit 42 is an input interface for inputting various commands and the like. The display unit 43 displays and outputs various information. The storage unit 44 stores various information. The storage unit 44 has a communication destination memory 44A and an own device memory 44B. The communication destination memory 44A stores a device ID that identifies a device that operates as a central device that is a communication destination of BLE communication. The local device memory 44B stores a device ID for identifying the remote controller 23, which is the local device. The control unit 45 controls the remote control 23 as a whole.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the air conditioning auxiliary equipment 3. As shown in FIG. The air conditioning auxiliary equipment 3 shown in FIG. The BLE communication unit 51 is an interface that performs BLE communication with other devices. The BLE communication unit 51 establishes BLE communication with another device through predetermined negotiation. The operation unit 52 is an input interface for inputting various commands and the like. The display unit 53 displays various information. For example, when the air conditioning auxiliary device 3 is a humidifier, the auxiliary device main body 54 heats water contained in a water supply tank (not shown) incorporated in the humidifier main body to generate steam, and releases the steam into the indoor space. Humidify the indoor space. The humidifier main body has, for example, a water supply tank, an air filter, etc. (not shown).

The storage unit 55 stores various information. The storage unit 55 has a communication destination memory 55A and an own device memory 55B. The communication destination memory 55A stores a device ID that identifies a device that operates as a central device that is a communication destination of BLE communication. The self-device memory 55B stores a device ID for identifying the air-conditioning auxiliary device 3 that is the self-device. The control unit 56 controls the air conditioning auxiliary equipment 3 as a whole.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the smartphone terminal 4. As shown in FIG. The smartphone terminal 4 shown in FIG. 6 has a BLE communication unit 61 , a wireless communication unit 62 , an operation unit 63 , a display unit 64 , a storage unit 65 and a control unit 66 . The BLE communication unit 61 is an interface for BLE communication with other devices. The BLE communication unit 61 establishes BLE communication with another device through predetermined negotiation. The wireless communication unit 62 is, for example, an interface that performs 5G wireless communication. The operation unit 63 is an input interface for inputting various commands. The display unit 64 displays various information. The storage unit 65 has a setting table 65A and an own device memory 65B. The setting table 65A is a table that stores device IDs for identifying devices that operate as peripherals when the BLE communication unit 61 of the smartphone terminal 4, which is the own device, operates as a central device. The local device memory 65B stores a device ID that identifies the smartphone terminal 4 that is the local device. The control unit 66 controls the smartphone terminal 4 as a whole.

Next, the operation of the air conditioning system 1 of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing operations related to pairing registration in the air conditioning system 1. As shown in FIG. It is assumed that the indoor unit 21 , the remote control 23 , and the auxiliary air conditioning equipment 3 are present within the BLE communication range within the air conditioning system 1 . The BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 is set to operate as a central, the BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 as a peripheral, and the BLE communication unit 51 of the air conditioning auxiliary device 3 as a peripheral (step S11).

When the BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 detects the pairing start instruction operation through the operation unit 42 (step S12A), the BLE communication unit 41 broadcasts Advertise (step S13). Also, when the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 detects an operation of instructing to start pairing through the operation unit 33 (step S12B), the scanning operation is started (step S14). When the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 receives the advertisement from the remote controller 23 in response to the scanning operation, the BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 is registered as a peripheral through a predetermined negotiation with the remote controller 23 for pairing registration. Complete (step S15). The indoor unit 21 registers the device ID of the remote controller 23, which is the communication partner, in the setting table 36A. Also, the BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 completes the pairing registration with the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 as the central through a predetermined negotiation with the indoor unit 21 for advertising (step S16). Note that the remote controller 23 registers the device ID of the indoor unit 21, which is the communication partner, in the communication destination memory 44A.

Further, when the BLE communication unit 51 in the air-conditioning auxiliary device 3 detects the pairing start instruction operation through the operation unit 52 (step S17A), the BLE communication unit 51 broadcasts the advertisement (step S18). Also, when the BLE communication unit 31 in the indoor unit 21 detects the pairing start instruction operation through the operation unit 33 (step S17B), the scanning operation is started (step S19). When the BLE communication unit 31 receives an advertisement from the auxiliary air conditioning device 3 in response to the scanning operation, the BLE communication unit 31 performs pairing with the BLE communication unit 51 of the auxiliary air conditioning device 3 as a peripheral through predetermined negotiation with the auxiliary air conditioning device 3. Registration is completed (step S20). The indoor unit 21 registers the device ID of the auxiliary air conditioning device 3, which is the communication partner, in the setting table 36A. Also, the BLE communication unit 51 of the air-conditioning auxiliary device 3 completes pairing registration with the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 as a central through a predetermined negotiation with the indoor unit 21 for advertising (step S21). Incidentally, the auxiliary air conditioning device 3 registers the device ID of the indoor unit 21, which is the communication partner, in the communication destination memory 55A. As a result, the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 becomes ready for BLE communication with the remote controller 23 and the auxiliary air conditioning equipment 3 (step S22).

In the above example, the indoor unit 21 and the remote controller 23 first complete the pairing, and then the indoor unit 21 and the air conditioning auxiliary equipment 3 complete the pairing, but this order is reversed. may In that case, steps S17 to S21 are executed first, and then steps S11 to S16 are executed.

8 and 9 are sequence diagrams showing an example of processing operations when the smartphone terminal 4 operating as a central device is connected to the air conditioning system 1. FIG. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the smartphone terminal 4 enters the BLE communication range while the BLE communication is established between the indoor unit 21 and the remote controller 23 .

It is assumed that the indoor unit 21 is in data communication with the remote controller 23 by BLE communication (step S31). When the setting change unit 37A in the indoor unit 21 detects the presence of a person in the air-conditioned space through the human detection unit 34 (step S32), the BLE communication unit 31 switches from central to peripheral operation (step S33). .

Also, when the smartphone terminal 4 enters the BLE communication range of the air-conditioned space (step S34), it performs a scanning operation for BLE communication (step S35).

When the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 is switched from the central to the peripheral in step S33, the BLE communication unit 31 broadcasts the advertisement (step S36). When the BLE communication unit 61 of the smartphone terminal 4 receives the advertisement from the indoor unit 21 in response to the scan operation, it transmits a scan request to the indoor unit 21 (step S37).

When receiving the scan request from the smartphone terminal 4, the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 transmits a scan response to the smartphone terminal 4 (step S38). Furthermore, when the BLE communication unit 61 of the smartphone terminal 4 receives the scan response from the indoor unit 21, it transmits a connection request to the indoor unit 21 (step S39). The indoor unit 21 registers the device ID of the smartphone terminal 4 as the communication partner in the setting table 36A, and the smartphone terminal 4 registers the device ID of the indoor unit 21 as the communication partner in the setting table 65A. Then, the indoor unit 21 and the smartphone terminal 4 establish BLE communication with the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 as the peripheral and the BLE communication unit 61 of the smartphone terminal 4 as the central, and are ready for data communication (step S40). ).

When the BLE communication unit 41 of the indoor unit 21 is switched to the peripheral in step S33, even if data is transmitted to the indoor unit 21, the BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 cannot perform data communication from the indoor unit 21. will not be able to receive responses to As a result, when the BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 does not receive a response to the data communication from the indoor unit 21, it determines that the data transmission has failed, and performs data transmission to the indoor unit 21 n times (n is, for example, 5) Repeat (step S41). The BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 determines that communication is disconnected when there is no response from the indoor unit 21 even after repeating data transmission to the indoor unit 21 n times. Therefore, the BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 transmits Advertise to the indoor unit 21 (step S42). However, since the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 is operating as a peripheral, it cannot receive advertisements from the remote controller 23 .

After BLE communication with the smartphone terminal 4 is established (step S51), the BLE communication unit 31 in the indoor unit 21 operates as a peripheral when the BLE communication unit 31 operates as a central remote controller. 23 (step S52). When the BLE disconnection signal is received, the BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 broadcasts Advertise (step S53).

The BLE communication unit 61 in the smartphone terminal 4 transmits a scan request to the remote controller 23 when advertising is received from the remote controller 23 according to the scan operation (step S54). When receiving the scan request from the smartphone terminal 4, the BLE communication unit 41 in the remote controller 23 transmits a scan response to the smartphone terminal 4 (step S55). Further, when receiving the scan response from the remote controller 23, the BLE communication unit 61 of the smartphone terminal 4 transmits a connection request to the remote controller 23 (step S56). The smartphone terminal 4 registers the device ID of the remote controller 23, which is the communication partner, in the setting table 65A, and the remote controller 23 registers the device ID of the smartphone terminal 4, which is the communication partner, in the communication destination memory 44A. . As a result, the remote controller 23 and the smartphone terminal 4 establish BLE communication and become ready for data communication (step S57). Then, the BLE communication unit 31 in the smartphone terminal 4 becomes ready for data communication with the indoor unit 21 and the remote controller 23 (step S58). As a result, the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 can also perform data communication with the remote controller 23 via the smartphone terminal 4 .

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing operations related to detachment of the smartphone terminal 4 from the air conditioning system 1. As shown in FIG. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the smartphone terminal 4, the indoor unit 21, and the remote controller 23 are performing BLE communication, the smartphone terminal 4 is operating as a central device, and the indoor unit 21, and the remote controller 23 are operating as peripheral devices.

When the BLE communication unit 61 of the smartphone terminal 4 leaves the BLE communication range of the indoor unit 21 (step S61), the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 and the BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 transmit data to the smartphone terminal 4. is executed, there is no response from the smartphone terminal 4 because the smartphone terminal is out of the BLE communication range. As a result, the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 and the BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 repeat data transmission n times (n is 5, for example) (step S62).

If the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 and the BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 cannot receive a response to the data transmission from the smartphone terminal 4 even after repeating the data transmission n times, the BLE communication with the smartphone terminal 4 is terminated. It is determined that communication has been interrupted. Then, the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 and the BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 transmit Advertise n times (n is 5, for example) to the smartphone terminal 4 (step S63).

The setting change unit 37A of the indoor unit 21 repeats the transmission of the advertisement to the smartphone terminal 4 n times, and if it does not receive the scan request from the smartphone terminal 4, switches the BLE communication unit 31 from the peripheral to the central ( step S64). Further, if the BLE communication unit 41 of the remote controller 23 does not receive a scan request from the smartphone terminal 4 after repeating the transmission of the advertisement to the smartphone terminal 4 n times, it broadcasts the advertisement (step S65). . The BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 starts the scanning operation by being switched to the central. As a result, the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 receives the advertisement of the remote controller 23 in accordance with the scanning operation, and establishes BLE communication with the remote controller 23 after a predetermined negotiation.

FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing operations related to reconnection processing due to disconnection of communication between the indoor unit 21 and the smartphone terminal 4 . For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that during BLE communication between the indoor unit 21 and the smartphone terminal 4, the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 operates as a peripheral, and the BLE communication unit 61 of the smartphone terminal 4 operates as a central.

The BLE communication unit 61 of the smartphone terminal 4 transmits data for controlling the indoor unit 21, for example. Here, if no response is received from the BLE communication unit 61 of the indoor unit 21 (step S71), it is determined that communication has failed, and data transmission is repeated n times (n is 5, for example) (step S72). The number of retries for data transmission is, for example, n times. Then, the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 and the BLE communication unit 61 of the smartphone terminal 4 determine that the communication is disconnected when a response to the data transmission cannot be received even if the data transmission is repeated n times.

Then, the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 starts advertisement transmission, which broadcasts the advertisement (step S73). The BLE communication unit 61 of the smartphone terminal 4 starts scanning operation (step S74). When the BLE communication unit 61 of the smartphone terminal 4 receives the advertisement from the indoor unit 21 according to the scan operation (step S73A), it transmits a scan request to the indoor unit 21 (step S75).

When receiving the scan request from the smartphone terminal 4, the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit 21 transmits a scan response to the smartphone terminal 4 (step S76). When receiving the scan response from the indoor unit 21, the BLE communication unit 61 of the smartphone terminal 4 transmits a connection request to the indoor unit 21 (step S77). The indoor unit 21 registers the device ID of the smartphone terminal 4 as the communication partner in the setting table 36A, and the smartphone terminal 4 registers the device ID of the indoor unit 21 as the communication partner in the setting table 65A. As a result, when the BLE communication unit 31 of the indoor unit receives the connection request from the smartphone terminal 4, it establishes BLE communication with the smartphone terminal 4 (step S78).

The indoor unit 21 of the present embodiment enables the setting of the BLE communication unit 31 to be changed so as to operate either centrally or peripherally, changes the operation of the BLE communication unit 31 from central to peripheral, and operates as central. Detect devices. As a result, the smartphone terminal 4 can be added as a new central within the air conditioning system 1 .

When the human detection unit 34 detects the presence of a person, the indoor unit 21 changes the operation of the BLE communication unit 31 from central to peripheral. As a result, when a user carrying the smartphone terminal 4 enters the air-conditioned space of the indoor unit 21, the smartphone terminal 4 can be automatically added to the air conditioning system 1 as a new central.

After establishing BLE communication with the detected device operating as the central, the indoor unit 21 establishes the BLE communication with the other device with which the BLE communication unit 31 was operating as the central. A BLE communication disconnection signal is transmitted. As a result, even when the indoor unit 21 is changed to the peripheral, it is possible to prompt other devices operating with the indoor unit 21 as the central device to negotiate establishment of BLE communication with the new central device.

After the BLE communication unit 31 transmits the BLE communication disconnection signal to the other device, the indoor unit 21 communicates with the other device via the device operating as a central device. As a result, data communication between peripheral devices can be ensured via the device operating as a central device.

For convenience of explanation, BLE communication is exemplified as short-range wireless communication, but it is also applicable to Bluetooth (registered trademark) versions 3.0 and earlier.

The term "central" may be replaced with "master" or "master", and the term "peripheral" may be replaced with "slave" or "slave". For example, it is applicable to wireless communication that assigns peripherals and central devices to devices within the system, and wireless communication that assigns slaves (child devices) and masters (base device) to devices within the system.

As a predetermined negotiation of BLE communication, a case where a scan request is sent to a peripheral device when a central device receives an advertisement is exemplified. However, when the central device receives the advertisement, the connection request may be sent to the peripheral device without the scan request and scan response, and it can be changed as appropriate.

1 air conditioning system 2 air conditioner 3 air conditioning auxiliary equipment 4 smartphone terminal 21 indoor unit 23 remote control 31 BLE communication unit 37 control unit 37A setting change unit

Claims (9)

An air conditioner having an indoor unit,
The indoor unit
a communication unit that performs short-range wireless communication with the device;
a setting change unit for setting the communication unit to operate either centrally or peripherally;
An air conditioner characterized by comprising: The air conditioner according to claim 1,
The air conditioner, wherein the setting change unit changes the operation of the communication unit from central to peripheral and detects a device operating as the central. The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2,
Equipped with a human detection unit,
An air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the operation of the communication unit is changed from central to peripheral when the human detection unit detects the presence of a person. The air conditioner according to claim 2,
An air conditioner characterized by establishing short-range wireless communication with a detected device operating as a central. The air conditioner according to claim 4,
After establishing short-range wireless communication with the detected device operating as the central, the short-range wireless An air conditioner characterized by sending a disconnection signal for wireless communication. The air conditioner according to claim 5,
After the communication unit transmits a disconnection signal of the short-range wireless communication to the other device, it communicates with the other device via the device operating as the central device. harmony machine. The air conditioner according to claim 1,
When the communication unit operates as a peripheral and establishes short-range wireless communication with a device operating as a central device, if the short-range wireless communication is interrupted, the setting change unit restarts the communication unit. An air conditioner characterized by operating as a central and detecting a device operating as a peripheral. The air conditioner according to claim 7,
An air conditioner characterized by establishing short-range wireless communication with a device operating as a detected peripheral. An air conditioning system having an indoor unit and a first device,
The indoor unit
After establishing short-range wireless communication with the first device by setting the operation of the first communication unit that performs the near-field wireless communication as central, changing the operation of the first communication unit from central to peripheral, and setting the operation of the first communication unit as the central when detecting the operating second device, establish short-range wireless communication with the second device operating as the central;
The first device is
After disconnecting the short-range wireless communication with the indoor unit, when the second device operating as the central is detected, establishing short-range wireless communication with the second device operating as the central. An air conditioning system characterized by:

Images