JP7292408B2 - Air-conditioning system, air-conditioning equipment, air-conditioning management method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an air conditioning system, air conditioning equipment, air conditioning management method and program.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for connecting a plurality of air conditioners such as an outdoor unit and a centralized remote controller so as to be able to communicate with each other through a daisy chain.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-20092

In a plurality of air conditioners connected by a daisy chain, the amount of communication on the communication path between the air conditioners varies greatly depending on the order in which the air conditioners are connected. Therefore, there is a demand to connect the air conditioners in a connection order in which congestion is unlikely to occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioning system and the like that proposes a connection order of a plurality of air conditioners connected by a daisy chain in view of the above circumstances.

In order to achieve the above object, the air conditioning system according to the present invention includes:
Equipped with a plurality of air conditioners communicatively connected to each other by a daisy chain,
At least one air conditioner among the plurality of air conditioners is a connection order proposal device,
The connection order proposing device,
Based on the amount of communication between the plurality of air conditioners, the amount of communication on a communication line connecting two air conditioners is calculated, and the order of connection of the plurality of air conditioners is determined based on the calculated amount of communication on the communication line. connection order determining means;
a proposing means for proposing to a user the connection order determined by the connection order determining means;
Prepare.

According to the present invention, it is possible to propose a connection order for a plurality of air conditioners connected by a daisy chain.

A diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioning system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. A diagram showing an example of changing the connection order of air conditioners in the air conditioning system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. A diagram showing a functional configuration of a centralized remote controller according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of traffic data stored in the storage unit of the centralized remote controller according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; A diagram showing a functional configuration of an outdoor unit according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. A diagram showing an example of traffic data stored in the storage unit of the outdoor unit according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. A diagram showing a functional configuration of an indoor unit according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a centralized remote controller according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; Flowchart showing an example of the operation of proposing a connection order by the centralized remote controller according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of communication traffic between air conditioners calculated by the communication traffic calculation unit of the centralized remote controller according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; 3 is a flow chart showing an example of the connection order determination operation by the centralized remote controller according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the amount of traffic referred to when the connection order determining unit of the centralized remote controller according to the first embodiment of the present invention calculates the amount of traffic on the communication line; FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the amount of traffic referred to when the connection order determining unit of the centralized remote controller according to the first embodiment of the present invention calculates the amount of traffic on the communication line; The figure which shows the structure of the air-conditioning system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration of a capture device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention; Flowchart showing an example of operation of capturing support during reception by the centralized remote controller according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention Flowchart showing an example of operation of capturing support at the time of transmission by the centralized remote controller according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining temporary correction of communication traffic by the connection order determining unit of the centralized remote controller according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining temporary correction of communication traffic by the connection order determining unit of the centralized remote controller according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

Hereinafter, air conditioning systems according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same code|symbol is attached|subjected to the same or equivalent part.

(Embodiment 1)
An air conditioning system 1 according to Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The air conditioning system 1 includes a central remote controller 10 , a plurality of outdoor units 20 and a plurality of indoor units 30 . The central remote controller 10 and each outdoor unit 20 are connected by a daisy chain through a communication line L so as to be able to communicate with each other. The outdoor unit 20 is communicably connected to the indoor unit 30 under the control of the outdoor unit 20 through a bus connection via a transmission bus B. As shown in FIG. The air conditioning system 1 is a system that proposes a new connection order of the central remote controller 10 and the outdoor units 20 that are connected by a daisy chain. The air conditioning system 1 is an example of an air conditioning system according to the present invention.

Note that four outdoor units 20 are shown in FIG. Hereinafter, when distinguishing between the outdoor units 20, the outdoor units 20 are referred to as an outdoor unit 20a, an outdoor unit 20b, an outdoor unit 20c, and an outdoor unit 20d, as shown in FIG. Also, in FIG. 1, only one outdoor unit 20 is connected to the centralized remote controller 10, but since the centralized remote controller 10, like the outdoor units 20, also supports connection by daisy chain, for example, a new outdoor unit 20 can also be connected to the central remote controller 10 .

Next, each configuration of the air conditioning system 1 will be schematically described.

The central remote controller 10 communicates with the outdoor unit 20 and controls the outdoor unit 20 and the indoor units 30 under the control of the outdoor unit 20 . A centralized remote controller 10 is installed, for example, in a management room of an office building and controls an outdoor unit 20 and an indoor unit 30 installed in the office building. As described above, since the central remote controller 10 and each outdoor unit 20 are connected by a daisy chain, the central remote controller 10 communicates not only with the directly connected outdoor units 20 but also with the outdoor units 20 that are not directly connected. It communicates indirectly via other outdoor units 20 .

Furthermore, the centralized remote controller 10 newly proposes a connection order of the centralized remote controller 10 and the outdoor units 20 connected by a daisy chain based on the amount of communication between the air conditioners. The central remote controller 10 is an example of an air conditioner and connection order proposal device according to the present invention. Since the centralized remote controller 10 is a device related to air conditioning that controls the outdoor unit 20 and the indoor unit 30, the centralized remote controller 10 is also included in air conditioning equipment. Hereinafter, the central remote controller 10 and the outdoor unit 20 may be collectively referred to as "air conditioner".

An outline of the connection order proposal will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 2, illustration of the indoor unit 30 is omitted. 1, the centralized remote controller 10 is connected to the end of the daisy chain, while in FIG. 2, the centralized remote controller is connected to the center of the daisy chain.

In FIG. 1, all communications between the centralized remote controller 10 and each outdoor unit 20 go through a communication line L connecting the centralized remote controller 10 and the outdoor units 20a. As a result, the amount of communication on the communication line L connecting the centralized remote controller 10 and the outdoor unit 20a increases, which may cause congestion.

On the other hand, in FIG. 2, the communication between the centralized remote controller 10 and each outdoor unit 20 is performed via the communication line L connecting the centralized remote controller 10 and the outdoor unit 20a, and the communication between the centralized remote controller 10 and the outdoor unit 20c. and communication via the communication line L. Therefore, since communications are not concentrated on one communication line L, the possibility of congestion occurring is reduced.

As described above, by changing the order of connection, it can be expected to reduce the possibility of congestion. However, the order of connection shown in FIG. 2 is not determined based on a specific amount of traffic, and is not necessarily appropriate. As described above, the centralized remote controller 10 newly proposes a connection order of the centralized remote controller 10 and the outdoor units 20 based on the amount of communication between the air conditioners. Therefore, the centralized remote controller 10 can propose an appropriate connection order for the centralized remote controller 10 and each outdoor unit 20 .

Refer to FIG. 1 again. The outdoor unit 20 communicates with the central remote controller 10 and other outdoor units 20 . In particular, the outdoor unit 20 receives commands from the centralized remote controller 10 and performs operations according to the received commands. A command is a command for executing an operation related to air conditioning control, such as a set temperature change command, a status acquisition command, or the like. Also, the outdoor unit 20 communicates with the indoor unit 30 under management. In particular, the outdoor unit 20 controls the indoor unit 30 according to commands received from the centralized remote controller 10 . The outdoor unit 20 is, for example, a plurality of outdoor units concentratedly installed on the roof of an office building. The centralized installation of the outdoor units 20 facilitates the wiring work according to the connection order proposed by the centralized remote controller 10 . The outdoor unit 20 is an example of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

The indoor unit 30 communicates with the outdoor unit 20 . In particular, the indoor unit 30 receives commands from the outdoor unit 20 and performs operations according to the received commands. The indoor unit 30 is, for example, an indoor unit 30 installed in an indoor space of an office building.

Next, the functional configuration of the centralized remote controller 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The central remote controller 10 includes a control section 100 , a first communication section 110 , a second communication section 120 , a storage section 130 , a display section 140 and an operation section 150 .

The control unit 100 performs centralized control of the central remote controller 10 . The control unit 100 includes a communication control unit 101 , a communication amount data acquisition unit 102 , a communication amount calculation unit 103 , a connection order determination unit 104 and a proposal unit 105 . Details of each function of the control unit 100 will be described later.

The first communication unit 110 communicates with the outdoor unit 20 connected via the communication line L. The first communication unit 110 is a wired communication interface to which the communication line L can be connected, for example. The second communication unit 120 has functions similar to those of the first communication unit 110 . By providing the centralized remote controller 10 with the first communication unit 110 and the second communication unit 120, the centralized remote controller 10 and the outdoor units 20 can be communicatively connected by a daisy chain.

The storage unit 130 stores, for each destination, communication traffic data indicating the traffic of data communication with the central remote controller 10 as a transmission source and each outdoor unit 20 as a destination. The traffic data is data in which destinations and traffic are associated with each other, as shown in FIG. 4, for example. Here, the unit of communication traffic is ms (milliseconds) because the time required for data transmission is stored as communication traffic. Of course, instead of the time required for data transmission, for example, the amount of transmitted data expressed in units of bytes may be stored as the amount of communication. The amount of communication here does not include the amount of communication caused by transfer by the communication control unit 101, which will be described later. The storage unit 130 is an example of storage means according to the present invention.

Refer to FIG. 3 again. The display unit 140 displays information regarding management of the air conditioning system 1 . In particular, the display unit 140 displays information indicating the connection order proposed by the proposal unit 105, which will be described later. The user can confirm the proposed connection order on the display unit 140 . The display unit 140 is, for example, a touch screen integrated with an operation unit 150 described later.

The operation unit 150 receives user operations. For example, the operation unit 150 receives an operation representing an instruction to propose a connection order. The operation unit 150 is, for example, a touch screen integrated with the display unit 140 .

The communication control section 101 controls communication by the first communication section 110 and the second communication section 120 . In particular, when the data received by the first communication unit 110 is not addressed to the central remote controller 10, the communication control unit 101 transfers the received data to the outdoor unit 20 connected to the second communication unit 120. . Similarly, when the data received by the second communication unit 120 is not addressed to the central remote controller 10, the communication control unit 101 transfers the received data to the outdoor unit 20 connected to the first communication unit 110. do. Such communication control realizes communication by daisy chain connection.

Further, the communication control unit 101 updates the traffic data stored in the storage unit 130 when transmitting data from the centralized remote controller 10 itself.

The traffic data acquisition unit 102 acquires traffic data from each outdoor unit 20 via the first communication unit 110 or the second communication unit 120 . Although the details will be described later, the outdoor unit 20, like the centralized remote controller 10, stores communication volume data for data communication originating from itself.

The communication amount calculation unit 103 calculates the communication amount between the air conditioners based on the communication amount data stored in the storage unit 130 and the communication amount data obtained from the outdoor units 20 by the communication amount data obtaining unit 102. calculate. The amount of communication between air conditioners here does not include the amount of communication related to data transfer that does not originate from itself. How to calculate the amount of communication between air conditioners will be described later. The communication traffic calculation unit 103 is an example of communication traffic calculation means according to the present invention.

The connection order determination unit 104 determines the connection order of each air conditioner (that is, the central remote controller 10 and each outdoor unit 20) based on the communication traffic between each air conditioner calculated by the communication traffic calculation unit 103. FIG. How to determine the connection order will be described later. The connection order determination unit 104 is an example of connection order determination means according to the present invention.

The proposing unit 105 makes the display unit 140 display information indicating the connection order determined by the connection order determining unit 104, thereby proposing the connection order to the user. The proposing unit 105 is an example of proposing means according to the present invention.

Next, the functional configuration of the outdoor unit 20 will be described with reference to FIG. The outdoor unit 20 includes a control section 200 , a first communication section 210 , a second communication section 220 , a storage section 230 , a third communication section 240 and a main unit 250 .

The control unit 200 comprehensively controls the outdoor unit 20 . The control unit 200 has a communication control unit 201 . In particular, the controller 200 controls the main unit 250 and the indoor units 30 according to commands received from the centralized remote controller 10 . The control unit 200 controls the indoor unit 30 via a third communication unit 240 which will be described later.

The communication control unit 201 controls communication by a first communication unit 210 and a second communication unit 220 described later, like the communication control unit 101 of the centralized remote controller 10 . In particular, the communication control unit 201 transfers the received data to the air conditioner connected to the second communication unit 220 when the data received by the first communication unit 210 is not addressed to the outdoor unit 20 itself. Similarly, when the data received by the second communication unit 220 is not addressed to the outdoor unit 20 itself, the communication control unit 201 transfers the received data to the air conditioner connected to the first communication unit 210. . Such communication control realizes communication by daisy chain connection. Further, the communication control unit 201 updates the communication amount data stored in the storage unit 230, which will be described later, when transmitting data from the outdoor unit 20 itself. Further, the communication control unit 201 transmits communication amount data stored in a storage unit 230 described later to the centralized remote controller 10 in response to a request from the centralized remote controller 10 .

The first communication unit 210 communicates with the air conditioner connected via the communication line L, like the first communication unit 110 of the centralized remote controller 10 . The first communication unit 210 is a wired communication interface to which the communication line L can be connected, for example. The second communication section 220 has functions similar to those of the first communication section 210 . Since the outdoor unit 20 includes the first communication unit 210 and the second communication unit 220, the central remote controller 10 and each outdoor unit 20 can be communicatively connected by a daisy chain.

The storage unit 230, like the storage unit 130 of the centralized remote controller 10, stores, for each destination, communication volume data indicating the volume of data communication with the outdoor unit 20 itself as the transmission source and the other air conditioning equipment as the destination. . The traffic data stored in the storage unit 230 is, for example, as shown in FIG. The traffic data shown in FIG. 6 is traffic data of the outdoor unit 20a. The communication volume data shown in FIG. 6 is generally the same as the communication volume data stored in the storage unit 130 of the centralized remote controller 10 shown in FIG. 4, except that the destination is different. The storage unit 230 is an example of storage means according to the present invention.

Refer to FIG. 5 again. The third communication unit 240 communicates with the indoor unit 30 connected via the transmission bus B. The third communication unit 240 is a wired communication interface to which the transmission bus B can be connected, for example.

The main unit 250 includes devices necessary for air conditioning, such as compressors, valves, fans, and temperature sensors. The main unit 250 is controlled by the controller 200 so that the outdoor unit 20 can perform air conditioning in cooperation with the indoor unit 30 .

Next, the functional configuration of the indoor unit 30 will be described with reference to FIG. The indoor unit 30 includes a control section 300 , a communication section 310 and a main unit 320 .

The control unit 300 comprehensively controls the indoor unit 30 . The controller 300 especially controls the main unit 320 according to the control from the outdoor unit 20 .

The communication unit 310 communicates with the outdoor unit 20 and other indoor units 30 via the transmission bus B. FIG. The communication unit 310 is a wired communication interface to which the transmission bus B can be connected, for example.

The main unit 320 includes devices necessary for air conditioning, such as fans, louvers, temperature sensors, and humidity sensors. The main unit 320 is controlled by the controller 300 so that the indoor unit 30 can perform air conditioning in cooperation with the outdoor unit 20 .

Next, an example of the hardware configuration of the centralized remote controller 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The centralized remote controller 10 shown in FIG. 8 is implemented by a computer such as a personal computer or a microcontroller.

The central remote controller 10 includes a processor 1001 , a memory 1002 , an interface 1003 , and a secondary storage device 1004 which are interconnected via a bus 1000 .

The processor 1001 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Each function of the centralized remote controller 10 is realized by the processor 1001 reading the operation program stored in the secondary storage device 1004 into the memory 1002 and executing it.

The memory 1002 is, for example, a main memory configured by RAM (Random Access Memory). The memory 1002 stores an operating program read by the processor 1001 from the secondary storage device 1004 . The memory 1002 also functions as a work memory when the processor 1001 executes the operating program.

The interface 1003 is an I/O (Input/Output) interface such as a serial port, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, or a network interface. The interface 1003 implements the functions of the first communication unit 110 and the second communication unit 120 . Further, by connecting a touch screen to the interface 1003, the functions of the display unit 140 and the operation unit 150 are realized.

The secondary storage device 1004 is, for example, a flash memory, HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive). The secondary storage device 1004 stores operation programs executed by the processor 1001 . The function of the storage unit 130 is implemented by the secondary storage device 1004 .

Next, an example of the operation of proposing a connection order by the centralized remote controller 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The operation shown in FIG. 9 is performed, for example, at the timing when the user operates the operation unit 150 to instruct the proposal of the connection order.

The communication amount data acquisition unit 102 of the control unit 100 of the centralized remote controller 10 acquires communication amount data from each outdoor unit 20 (step S11).

The communication amount calculation unit 103 of the control unit 100 calculates each air conditioner based on the communication amount data of the centralized remote controller 10 itself stored in the storage unit 130 and the communication amount data of each outdoor unit 20 acquired in step S1. The amount of communication between is calculated (step S12).

Calculation of communication traffic between air conditioners by the communication traffic calculation unit 103 will be described with reference to FIG. 10 . Each cell in FIG. 10 indicates the amount of communication between two air conditioners. According to FIG. 10, for example, the amount of communication from the centralized remote controller 10 to the outdoor unit 20a is 400 ms, and the amount of communication from the outdoor unit 20a to the outdoor unit 20b is 60 ms. The communication amount calculation unit 103 calculates each communication amount shown in FIG. 10 by integrating the communication amount data of each air conditioner shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 6, and the like.

Refer to FIG. 9 again. The connection order determination unit 104 of the control unit 100 determines the connection order of the central remote controller 10 and the outdoor units 20 based on the amount of communication between the air conditioners calculated in step S12 (step S13). The details of connection order determination will be described later.

The proposal unit 105 of the control unit 100 proposes the connection order determined in step S13 to the user (step S14). Then, the control unit 100 ends the operation of proposing the connection order.

Next, an example of the connection order determination operation in step S14 will be described with reference to FIG.

The connection order determination unit 104 tentatively determines the connection order of the central remote controller 10 and each outdoor unit 20 (step S1301). The connection order determination unit 104 may provisionally determine the connection order based on, for example, the current connection order. Alternatively, the connection order determination unit 104 may tentatively determine the connection order based on empirical rules, for example, according to the connection order in which the central remote controller 10 is connected to the center of the daisy chain as shown in FIG.

The connection order determining unit 104 calculates the communication traffic of each communication line L based on the communication traffic between the air conditioners calculated in step S12 shown in FIG. 9 (step S1302).

Calculation of the communication traffic of each communication line L by the connection order determining unit 104 will be described with a specific example. An example of calculating the traffic of the communication line L connecting the outdoor unit 20a and the outdoor unit 20b will be described below.

First, when the connection order is as shown in FIG. 1, the following communication is communication via the communication line L connecting the outdoor unit 20a and the outdoor unit 20b.
(1) Communication between centralized remote controller 10 and outdoor unit 20b (2) Communication between centralized remote controller 10 and outdoor unit 20c (3) Communication between centralized remote controller 10 and outdoor unit 20d (4) Outdoor unit 20a and outdoor unit 20b (5) Communication between the outdoor unit 20a and the outdoor unit 20c (6) Communication between the outdoor unit 20a and the outdoor unit 20d

Therefore, when the connection order is as shown in FIG. Become. For example, if the amount of communication between each air conditioner is as shown in FIG. 10, the total amount of communication with checkmarks in FIG. amount.

Next, when the connection order is as shown in FIG. 2, the following communication is communication via the communication line L connecting the outdoor unit 20a and the outdoor unit 20b.
(i) communication between the central remote controller 10 and the outdoor unit 20b (ii) communication between the outdoor unit 20a and the outdoor unit 20b (iii) communication between the outdoor unit 20b and the outdoor unit 20c (iv) communication between the outdoor unit 20b and the outdoor unit 20d communication of

Therefore, when the connection order is as shown in FIG. Become. For example, if the communication traffic between the air conditioners is as shown in FIG. 10, the total communication traffic marked with check marks in FIG. amount.

The connection order determination unit 104 calculates the traffic of each communication line L based on the traffic between the air conditioners and the provisionally determined connection order, as described above.

Please refer to FIG. 11 again. The connection order determination unit 104 identifies, among the communication lines L, the communication line L having the largest amount of communication calculated in step S1302. The connection order determining unit 104 acquires the maximum traffic Tmax, which is the traffic of the communication line L (step S1303).

The connection order determining unit 104 identifies the air conditioners P and Q connected to the communication line L identified in step S1303 (step S1304). Codes P and Q are codes provided provisionally for the following explanation.

The connection order determination unit 104 acquires the maximum communication volume T1 in the connection order when the air conditioner P connected to the air conditioner P but not the air conditioner Q is switched with the air conditioner P (step S1305). Specifically, the connection order determination unit 104 calculates the communication traffic of each communication line L in the connection order in the case of switching, as in step S1302, and identifies the communication line L with the largest communication traffic in the same manner as in step S1303. and obtain the maximum traffic T1.

The connection order determination unit 104 acquires the maximum traffic T2 in the connection order when the air conditioner P and the air conditioner Q are interchanged (step S1306). The details are the same as in step S1305, and therefore omitted.

The connection order determination unit 104 acquires the maximum communication volume T3 in the connection order when the air conditioner Q connected to the air conditioner Q and not the air conditioner P is switched (step S1307). The details are the same as in step S1305, and therefore omitted.

The connection order determining unit 104 determines whether all of T1, T2, and T3 are greater than Tmax (step S1308). When all of T1, T2, and T3 are greater than Tmax (step S1308: Yes), the connection order tentatively determined in step S1301 is determined as the connection order to be proposed (step S1309). That all of T1, T2, and T3 are greater than Tmax means that even if the air conditioner P or Q is replaced, the maximum traffic volume will not be improved. Therefore, the connection order tentatively determined at the present time is the connection order to be proposed.

When the connection order to be proposed is determined, the control unit 100 ends the operation of determining the connection order, and executes the operations from step S14 shown in FIG.

When at least one of T1, T2, and T3 is equal to or less than Tmax (step S1308: No), the connection order determination unit 104 tentatively determines the connection order in which the maximum traffic is the smallest among T1, T2, and T3 ( step S1310). For example, when T2 is the minimum, the connection order determination unit 104 provisionally determines the connection order in the connection order when the air conditioner P and the air conditioner Q are interchanged.

Then, the connection order determining unit 104 repeats the operation from step S1302.

By the operation of determining the connection order and proposing the connection order described above, the centralized remote controller 10 can determine a new connection order in which the maximum communication traffic of the communication line L is reduced, and propose the new connection order to the user. Therefore, by wiring each air conditioner according to the connection order proposed by the centralized remote controller 10, the user can reduce the maximum traffic of the communication line L and reduce the possibility of congestion.

The air conditioning system 1 according to Embodiment 1 has been described above. According to the air conditioning system 1, it is possible to propose a connection order of a plurality of air conditioners connected by a daisy chain. In particular, the central remote controller 10 acquires communication traffic data from each outdoor unit 20, calculates the communication traffic between the air conditioners, and based on the calculated communication traffic, sets a new communication line L with a reduced maximum communication traffic. Since the connection order is determined, the air conditioning system 1 can propose to the user a connection order with a low possibility of causing congestion.

(Modification of Embodiment 1)
In Embodiment 1, the centralized remote controller 10 acquires communication traffic data from each outdoor unit 20, calculates the communication traffic between each air conditioner, determines the connection order based on the calculated communication traffic, and proposes the connection order. bottom. However, one or more outdoor units 20 may have similar functions. In other words, the air conditioning system 1 may include the outdoor unit 20 having functional units similar to the traffic data acquisition unit 102 , the traffic calculation unit 103 , the connection order determination unit 104 and the proposal unit 105 . In this case, the outdoor unit 20 including the functional unit is an example of the connection order proposing device according to the present invention. In this case, the outdoor unit 20 can have the same hardware configuration as the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 8, for example.

In this case, the central remote controller 10 does not have to include the traffic data acquisition unit 102 , the traffic calculation unit 103 , the connection order determination unit 104 and the proposal unit 105 . In other words, the centralized remote controller 10 does not have to have a function for proposing a connection order. Furthermore, in this case, since the outdoor unit 20 can suggest the order of connection, the air conditioning system 1 does not need to be equipped with the centralized remote controller 10 .

In the first embodiment, the centralized remote controller 10 proposes the connection order to the user by displaying information indicating the connection order on the display unit 140 provided therein. However, the centralized remote controller 10 may suggest the connection order to the user by a method other than displaying on the display unit 140 . For example, each outdoor unit 20 may be provided with a display unit, and the display unit of the outdoor unit 20 may display information indicating other air conditioners to be connected to the outdoor unit 20 itself. Alternatively, the centralized remote controller 10 may be provided with an Internet connection function, and information indicating the order of connection may be displayed on the portable terminal owned by the user.

In Embodiment 1, the communication amount data stored in the storage unit of each air conditioner is the communication amount data for data transmission with the air conditioner itself as the transmission source and the other air conditioner as the destination. However, the communication amount data may be communication amount data for data reception whose destination is the air conditioner itself and whose transmission source is another air conditioner. Alternatively, the traffic data may be traffic data for both transmission and reception.

In Embodiment 1, the centralized remote controller 10 acquires traffic data from all the outdoor units 20 . However, for example, when it is clear that the amount of communication when the centralized remote controller 10 transmits to each outdoor unit 20 is large enough to ignore the amount of other communication, the centralized remote controller 10 is stored in the storage unit 130. The amount of communication between each air conditioner may be calculated based only on its own communication amount data. In this case, the central remote controller 10 does not need to acquire traffic data of other air conditioners, so the outdoor unit 20 does not need to include the storage unit 230 .

In Embodiment 1, the centralized remote controller 10 proposes the connection order of the air conditioners currently provided in the air conditioning system 1 . However, the centralized remote controller 10 may propose a connection order when adding new air conditioners to the air conditioning system 1 . For example, the central remote controller 10 provisionally sets some amount of communication for the air conditioner to be added, temporarily determines the connection order of each air conditioner including the air conditioner to be added, and then executes the connection order determination operation. . The traffic volume provisionally set for the air conditioner to be added is, for example, the maximum traffic volume indicated by the traffic volume data of each air conditioner. If the temporarily set amount of communication is small, there is an adverse effect when the amount of communication in actual operation is large.

(Embodiment 2)
An air conditioning system 1 according to Embodiment 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 14 . The air-conditioning system 1 according to Embodiment 2 is a system that proposes the connection order of each air-conditioning equipment when the capture device 40 is added to the air-conditioning system 1 and connected by a daisy chain. Since the capture device 40 is an air conditioner that will be added in the future, it is indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 14 . Note that the capture device 40 is not necessarily connected as shown in FIG. Further, illustration of the indoor unit 30 is omitted in FIG. 14 .

The capture device 40 captures data transmitted by each air conditioner. The user can utilize the data captured by the capture device 40 for troubleshooting, for example. Capture device 40 is an example of a capture device according to the present invention.

A functional configuration of the capture device 40 will be described with reference to FIG. The capture device 40 includes a control section 400 , a first communication section 410 , a second communication section 420 and a storage section 430 .

The control unit 400 performs overall control of the capture device 40 . Also, the control unit 400 includes a communication control unit 401 and a capture unit 402 .

The first communication unit 410 communicates with the air conditioner connected via the communication line L, like the first communication unit 110 of the centralized remote controller 10 . The first communication unit 410 is a wired communication interface to which the communication line L can be connected, for example. The second communication section 420 has functions similar to those of the first communication section 410 . By providing the capture device 40 with the first communication unit 410 and the second communication unit 420, the capture device 40 and each air conditioner can be communicatively connected by a daisy chain.

The storage unit 430 stores data captured by the capture unit 402, which will be described later.

The communication control unit 401 transfers the data received by the first communication unit 410 to the air conditioner connected to the second communication unit 420, and transfers the data received by the second communication unit 420 to the data connected to the first communication unit 410. Transfer to air conditioning equipment.

The capture unit 402 acquires data received by the first communication unit 410 and the second communication unit 420 and stores the data in the storage unit 430 .

Refer to FIG. 14 again. In order for the capture device 40 to capture all data transmissions, the centralized remote control 10 and each outdoor unit 20 also need to have a function to support capture.

For example, consider capturing data transmission from the centralized remote controller 10 to the outdoor unit 20b in the connection order shown in FIG. If the air conditioner does not have a function to support capture, data transmission from the centralized remote controller 10a to the outdoor unit 20b is performed by the outdoor unit 20a receiving data from the centralized remote controller 10 and transmitting it to the outdoor unit 20b. completed when received. Therefore, the data is not transferred to the capture device 40, and the capture device 40 cannot capture the data.

Also, regarding data transmission from the outdoor unit 20c to the outdoor unit 20b, if the air conditioner does not have a function to support capture, the data is not transferred to the capture device 40, so the capture device 40 cannot capture the data. Can not.

Therefore, in order to support the capture by the capture device 40, the air conditioner needs a function for appropriately transferring the data to be transmitted and received to the capture device 40. FIG. The communication control unit 101 of the centralized remote controller 10 and the communication control unit 201 of the outdoor unit 20 are provided with a function for supporting capture. Specifically, a function for assisting capture is realized by the communication control unit 101 and the communication control unit 201 executing operations described below.

An example of the capture support operation during reception by the centralized remote controller 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 16 . The operation shown in FIG. 16 is performed when the first communication unit 110 or the second communication unit 120 receives data. Note that the capture support operation during reception by the outdoor unit 20 is also the same.

The communication control unit 101 of the control unit 100 of the centralized remote controller 10 determines whether or not the destination of the received data is the centralized remote controller 10 itself (step S21). When the destination is not the centralized remote controller 10 itself (step S21: No), the communication control section 101 transfers the received data (step S22). Data not addressed to the centralized remote controller 10 itself is data intended to be transferred to either another air conditioner or the capture device 40, so the communication control unit 101 transfers the data.

When the destination is the centralized remote controller 10 itself (step S21: Yes), the communication control unit 101 causes the communication unit that can communicate with the capture device 40 among the first communication unit 110 and the second communication unit 120 to receive the data. It is determined whether or not (step S23). The “communication unit capable of communicating with the capture device 40” is not only a communication unit capable of directly communicating with the capture device 40 by being connected to the capture device 40 via the communication line L, but also indirectly through other air conditioning equipment. It also includes a communication unit capable of communicating with the capture device 40 . In other words, the “communication unit capable of communicating with the capture device 40” is the communication unit closer to the capture device 40 of the two communication units.

When the communication unit that can communicate with the capture device 40 receives the data (step S23: Yes), the communication control unit 101 terminates the capture support operation without transferring any data. This is because when the communication unit that can communicate with the capture device 40 receives the data, other air conditioners that can communicate with the communication unit transfer the data to the capture device 40 by a similar capture support function. be.

When the communication unit that cannot communicate with the capture device 40 receives the data (step S23: No), the communication control unit 101 transfers the data to the communication unit that can communicate with the capture device 40 (step S24). End the assist operation. This is because when the communication unit that cannot communicate with the capture device 40 receives the data, the data has not yet been transferred to the capture device 40 .

An example of the capture support operation during transmission by the centralized remote controller 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 17 . The operation shown in FIG. 17 is performed when transmitting data originating from the centralized remote controller 10 itself. The capture support operation during transmission by the outdoor unit 20 is also the same.

The communication control unit 101 of the control unit 100 of the centralized remote controller 10 determines whether or not the communication unit used for data transmission can communicate with the capture device 40 (step S31).

When the communication unit used to transmit the data can communicate with the capture device 40 (step S31: Yes), the communication control unit 101 terminates the capture support operation without transferring any new data. When the communication unit used to transmit the data can communicate with the capture device 40, another air conditioner capable of communicating with the communication unit captures the transmitted data by the capture support function at the time of reception described above. This is because the data is transferred to the device 40 .

When the communication unit used to transmit the data cannot communicate with the capture device 40 (step S31: No), the communication control unit 101 transfers the transmitted data to the communication unit that can communicate with the capture device 40. (step S32), and the capture support operation ends. This is because the transmitted data cannot be transferred to the capture device 40 when the communication unit used to transmit the data cannot communicate with the capture device 40 .

Assuming that the capture device 40 has been added to the air conditioning system 1, the connection order determination unit 104 of the centralized remote controller 10 performs the operation shown in FIG. Determines the connection order when adding However, before the connection order determining unit 104 calculates the traffic of each communication line L in steps S1302 and steps S1305 to S1307 shown in FIG. are temporarily modified as described below. In other words, the connection order determining unit 104 temporarily corrects the traffic volume each time the connection order changes in the operation shown in FIG.

The above-described temporary correction of the traffic volume will be described while exemplifying a case where each air conditioning equipment and the capture device 40 are connected in the connection order shown in FIG. 14 and the traffic volume between each air conditioning equipment is as shown in FIG. do.

First, the connection order determining unit 104 assumes that both the traffic volume for transmission from the capture device 40 to each air conditioner and the traffic volume for transmission from each air conditioner to the capture device 40 are zero. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an integrated amount of communication between the air conditioners shown in FIG. 10 and the amount of communication related to the capture device 40. As shown in FIG. (i) and (ii) shown in FIG. 18 will be described later.

The positional relationship among the source, the destination, and the capture device 40 can be classified into the following (i) to (iii) when focusing on the air conditioning equipment of a certain source.
(i) there is a destination between the source and the capture device 40;
(ii) there is a source between the destination and the capture device 40;
(iii) there is a capture device 40 between the source and the destination;

For example, in FIG. 14, if the source is the centralized remote controller 10 and the destination is the outdoor unit 20b, the positional relationship between the source, the destination, and the capture device 40 corresponds to (i) above. When the transmission source is the outdoor unit 20b and the destination is the centralized remote controller 10, the positional relationship between the transmission source, the destination, and the capture device 40 corresponds to (ii) above. When the transmission source is the centralized remote controller 10 and the destination is the outdoor unit 20b, the positional relationship between the transmission source, the destination, and the capture device 40 corresponds to (iii) above.

Although the details will be described later, it is necessary to correct the amount of communication between the air conditioners whose positional relationships correspond to (i) and (ii) above. Therefore, in FIG. 18, descriptions of (i) and (ii) are given for communication traffic between air conditioners whose positional relationships correspond to the above (i) and (ii).

Next, the connection order determining unit 104 corrects the communication traffic between the air conditioners whose positional relationships correspond to (i) and (ii) above according to the procedure described below. At this time, the connection order determination unit 104 also corrects the amount of communication for transmission from the air conditioner to the capture device 40 . For example, as a result of correcting the traffic shown in FIG. 18, the traffic shown in FIG. 19 is obtained.

If the positional relationship between the source, the destination, and the capture device 40 corresponds to (i) above, the connection order determining unit 104 changes the traffic from the source to the destination to 0, is added to the traffic from the transmission source to the capture device 40 .

For example, as described above, in FIG. 14, if the source is the centralized remote controller 10 and the destination is the outdoor unit 20b, the positional relationship between the source, the destination, and the capture device 40 corresponds to (i) above. Therefore, the amount of communication from the centralized remote controller 10 to the outdoor unit 20b, which is 420 ms in FIG. 18, is 0 in FIG. Instead, in FIG. 19, 420 ms is added to the amount of communication from the centralized remote controller 10 to the capture device 40 . The same applies to the other communication traffic indicated as (i) in FIG. 18 .

When the positional relationship between the source, the destination, and the capture device 40 corresponds to (i) above, when the destination receives data from the source, it further transmits the data to the capture device 40 using the capture support function. Therefore, in the above case (i), the data flow is the same between the transmission from the transmission source to the destination and the transmission from the transmission source to the capture device 40 . Therefore, in case (i) above, the connection order determining unit 104 regards the transmission from the source to the destination as the transmission from the source to the capture device 40, and corrects the traffic as described above.

If the positional relationship between the source, the destination, and the capture device 40 corresponds to (ii) above, the connection order determination unit 104 does not change the traffic from the source to the destination, but increases the traffic from the source to the destination. is added to the traffic from the transmission source to the capture device 40 .

For example, as described above, if the source is the outdoor unit 20b and the destination is the centralized remote controller 10 in FIG. Therefore, the amount of communication from the outdoor unit 20b to the central remote controller 10, which is 110 ms in FIG. 18, is added to the amount of communication from the outdoor unit 20b to the capture device 40 in FIG. The same is true for other communication amounts described as (ii) in FIG. 18 .

If the positional relationship between the source, the destination, and the capture device 40 corresponds to (ii) above, the source also transmits the data transmitted to the destination to the capture device 40 using the capture support function. Therefore, in the above case (ii), the connection order determination unit 104 considers that transmission from the source to the capture device 40 is also performed when transmission from the source to the destination is performed, and Correct traffic.

In the case of (iii) above, the connection order determination unit 104 does not correct the traffic. This is because, in the case of (iii) above, the capture device 40 exists between the source and the destination, so the capture device 40 can receive data transmitted from the source to the destination.

The connection order determination unit 104 performs the above-described temporary correction of the traffic each time the connection order is changed in the operation shown in FIG. 11 . By temporarily correcting the communication traffic, the connection order determination unit 104 can determine the connection order based on the communication traffic when it is assumed that communication will occur between each air conditioner and the capture device 40 .

The air conditioning system 1 according to Embodiment 2 has been described above. According to the air-conditioning system 1 according to Embodiment 2, it is possible to propose a connection order when adding the capture device 40 to the air-conditioning system 1 . Therefore, by connecting the central remote controller 10, the outdoor unit 20, and the capture device 40 according to the proposed connection order, the user can reduce the possibility of congestion during capture.

(Modification of Embodiment 2)
In Embodiment 2, the central remote controller 10 and the outdoor unit 20 may transfer only a specific type of data among the data to be transmitted with capture support. For example, the central remote controller 10 and the outdoor unit 20 may transfer only data for control commands with capture support, and may not transfer data for status acquisition commands with capture support. By limiting the types of data to be transferred, the amount of data to be transferred is reduced, so the amount of communication can be reduced.

(Other modifications)
In the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 8, the centralized remote controller 10 has a secondary storage device 1004 . However, the configuration is not limited to this, and the secondary storage device 1004 may be provided outside the centralized remote controller 10 and the centralized remote controller 10 and the secondary storage device 1004 may be connected via the interface 1003 . In this form, removable media such as USB flash drives, memory cards, etc. can also be used as the secondary storage device 1004 .

Further, instead of the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 8, the centralized remote controller 10 may be configured by a dedicated circuit using an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or the like. . Moreover, in the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 8, part of the functions of the centralized remote controller 10 may be implemented by a dedicated circuit connected to the interface 1003, for example.

The program used by the centralized remote controller 10 should be stored and distributed in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), USB flash drive, memory card, HDD, or the like. is possible. By installing such a program on a specific or general-purpose computer, the computer can be made to function as the centralized remote controller 10 .

Alternatively, the above program may be stored in a storage device owned by another server on the Internet, and the above program may be downloaded from the server.

The present invention is capable of various embodiments and modifications without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. Moreover, the embodiment described above is for explaining the present invention, and does not limit the scope of the present invention. In other words, the scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims rather than the embodiments. Various modifications made within the scope of the claims and within the meaning of the invention equivalent thereto are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

1 air conditioning system, 10 centralized remote control, 20, 20a-20d outdoor unit, 30 indoor unit, 40 capture device, 100 control unit, 101 communication control unit, 102 communication amount data acquisition unit, 103 communication amount calculation unit, 104 connection order determination Unit 105 Proposing Unit 110 First Communication Unit 120 Second Communication Unit 130 Storage Unit 140 Display Unit 150 Operation Unit 200 Control Unit 201 Communication Control Unit 210 First Communication Unit 220 Second Communication Unit , 230 storage unit, 240 third communication unit, 250 main unit, 300 control unit, 310 communication unit, 320 main unit, 400 control unit, 401 communication control unit, 402 capture unit, 410 first communication unit, 420 second communication Section 430 Storage Section 1000 Bus 1001 Processor 1002 Memory 1003 Interface 1004 Secondary Storage Device B Transmission Bus L Communication Line.

Claims (8)

Equipped with a plurality of air conditioners communicatively connected to each other by a daisy chain,
At least one air conditioner among the plurality of air conditioners is a connection order proposal device,
The connection order proposing device,
Based on the amount of communication between the plurality of air conditioners, the amount of communication on a communication line connecting two air conditioners is calculated, and the order of connection of the plurality of air conditioners is determined based on the calculated amount of communication on the communication line. connection order determining means;
a proposing means for proposing to a user the connection order determined by the connection order determining means;
air conditioning system. Each air conditioner of the plurality of air conditioners has storage means for storing communication traffic data indicating communication traffic between the air conditioner itself and other air conditioners,
The connection order proposing device further comprises communication traffic calculation means for calculating communication traffic between the plurality of air conditioning equipment based on the communication traffic data stored in the storage means of each of the plurality of air conditioning equipment.
The air conditioning system of Claim 1. The connection order determining means further determines a connection order when a new air conditioner is added to the air conditioning system.
The air conditioning system according to claim 1 or 2 . The connection order determining means further determines the connection order when a capture device for capturing data transmitted by each of the plurality of air conditioners is added to the air conditioning system. Determined based on the amount of communication when it is assumed that communication occurs with the capture device,
The air conditioning system according to any one of claims 1-3 . Equipped with a plurality of air conditioners communicatively connected to each other by a daisy chain,
At least one air conditioner among the plurality of air conditioners is a connection order proposal device,
The connection order proposing device,
connection order determining means for determining a connection order of the plurality of air conditioners based on communication traffic between the plurality of air conditioners;
a proposing means for proposing to a user the connection order determined by the connection order determining means;
with
The connection order determining means further determines the connection order when a capture device for capturing data transmitted by each of the plurality of air conditioners is added to the air conditioning system. Determined based on the amount of communication when it is assumed that communication occurs with the capture device,
air conditioning system. An air conditioner connected to another air conditioner by a daisy chain,
A connection order determining means for determining a connection order of a plurality of air conditioners, including the air conditioners, which are communicably connected to each other by a daisy chain, wherein the two air conditioners are determined based on communication traffic between the plurality of air conditioners. connection order determination means for calculating the communication traffic of a communication line connecting the air conditioner, and determining the connection order of the plurality of air conditioners based on the calculated communication traffic of the communication line;
a proposing means for proposing to a user the connection order determined by the connection order determining means;
air conditioning equipment. An air conditioning management method for proposing to a user a connection order of a plurality of air conditioners communicatively connected to each other by a daisy chain,
calculating the amount of communication on a communication line connecting two air conditioners based on the amount of communication between the plurality of air conditioners;
determining the connection order of the plurality of air conditioners based on the calculated communication traffic of the communication line ;
suggesting the determined connection order to the user;
Air conditioning control method. A computer equipped with an air conditioner connected to other air conditioners by a daisy chain,
A connection order determining means for determining a connection order of a plurality of air conditioners, including the air conditioners, which are communicably connected to each other by a daisy chain, wherein the two air conditioners are determined based on communication traffic between the plurality of air conditioners. connection order determining means for calculating the communication traffic of the communication line connecting the and determining the connection order of the plurality of air conditioners based on the calculated communication traffic of the communication line;
proposal means for proposing to a user the connection order determined by the connection order determination means;
A program that acts as a

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