KR20060053733A - System for upgrade software of an air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and a method for remotely upgrading outdoor unit software.

An outdoor unit control module for reading outdoor unit software version information from the memory and transmitting the outdoor unit software version information to the memory, and writing the upgrade outdoor unit software file received through the wireless communication unit to the memory;

Receives outdoor unit software version information wirelessly transmitted by the outdoor unit side control module and transmits it to the client side terminal, and in response, downloads the upgraded outdoor unit software file transmitted from the client side terminal to the outdoor unit side control module. A server-side software upgrade relay module;

An application program installed and executed on a client-side terminal, the client-side software upgrade displaying the outdoor unit software version information transmitted by the relay module and transmitting the upgraded outdoor unit software in the storage means selected by the administrator to the relay module. By including an execution module, it is possible to upgrade the outdoor unit software from a remote location without a site visit by a certified expert.

Outdoor unit, software, upgrade.

Description

Outdoor unit software upgrade system {SYSTEM FOR UPGRADE SOFTWARE OF AN AIR CONDITIONER}

1 is a diagram illustrating a general system connection for upgrading outdoor unit software of a system air conditioner.

2 is an exemplary configuration diagram of an outdoor unit software upgrade system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a detailed configuration diagram of the software (S / W) upgrade relay module 70 in FIG.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of upgrading outdoor unit software according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a system air conditioner, and more particularly, to a system and a method for remotely upgrading outdoor unit software.

First of all, system air conditioners are air conditioning facilities that are already common in developed countries such as Europe and Japan. As the city's functions have been advanced and people's living standards have improved since the mid-1990s, interest in the indoor environment has increased, and the demand for system air conditioners has rapidly expanded as the boom of high-rise apartments and villa-type homes have become active. It is becoming.

In general, a system air conditioner is a cooling and heating system that connects a plurality of indoor units to a single outdoor unit through a refrigerant pipe, which is also called a multi-type air conditioner. This system air conditioner does not need additional mechanical equipment such as machine room or cooling tower air conditioner, which is necessary for central air conditioning, so it saves space, construction cost, etc., and it can be turned on and off by simple operation. There is no advantage.

On the other hand, the system air conditioner needs to continuously check the status of multiple indoor units or distributors in one outdoor unit to obtain the optimal cooling and heating effect. Therefore, the outdoor unit software needs to be newly upgraded according to changes in system user requirements and installation environment. This outdoor unit software is stored in a memory mounted in the outdoor unit and accessed by the control unit.

Hereinafter, a general method of upgrading the outdoor unit software of the system air conditioner will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

First, in order to upgrade the outdoor unit 10 software, the operator interconnects the outdoor unit 10 interface unit 16 and the data conversion unit 20 through a cable, and uses another serial cable to connect the data conversion unit 20 with the data conversion unit 20. The worker terminals 30 are interconnected. At this time, the data conversion unit 20 converts (RS-485 ↔ RS-232) so that data can be normally transmitted and received between the control unit 14 and the worker terminal 30 in the outdoor unit 10.

If the cable connection is completed as described above, since the data transmission path between the outdoor unit 10 and the worker terminal 30 is secured, the operator may execute a software (S / W) upgrade execution application installed in his terminal 30. It executes and transmits the outdoor unit software of a system air conditioner to the outdoor unit 10 side. Then, the controller 14 of the outdoor unit 10 records the software downloaded from the operator terminal 30 in the memory 12, and subsequently the outdoor unit 10 based on program data constituting the software recorded in the memory 12. ) To control the operation.

In the general method of upgrading the outdoor unit 10 software of the system air conditioner as described above,

1) Since the worker must secure the data transmission path by connecting the cable between the outdoor unit 10 and the worker terminal 30, the inconvenience of having to repeat the cable connection, disassembly and fastening of the case of the outdoor unit 10 and the circuit box. There is a ship,

2) As the length of the cable becomes longer, the strength of the transmission signal becomes worse. Therefore, it is restricted to move to a location close to the outdoor unit 10 and work while ensuring the stability of the signal.

3) In addition, the upgrade of the outdoor unit software is preferably performed by a certified expert because the version of the software must be managed systematically. However, according to the general method described above, since a certified expert must visit the site and upgrade the outdoor unit software, many certified experts are required to quickly respond to A / S.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide an outdoor unit software upgrade system that can upgrade the outdoor unit software in a wireless manner, but can upgrade the outdoor unit software from a remote location without a professional site visit.

Outdoor unit software upgrade system according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object,

An outdoor unit control module for reading outdoor unit software version information from the memory and transmitting the outdoor unit software version information to the memory, and writing the upgrade outdoor unit software file received through the wireless communication unit to the memory;

Receives outdoor unit software version information wirelessly transmitted by the outdoor unit side control module and transmits it to the client side terminal, and in response, downloads the upgraded outdoor unit software file transmitted from the client side terminal to the outdoor unit side control module. A server-side software upgrade relay module;

An application program installed and executed on a client-side terminal, the client-side software upgrade displaying the outdoor unit software version information transmitted by the relay module and transmitting the upgraded outdoor unit software in the storage means selected by the administrator to the relay module. And an execution module.

According to the configuration features of the present invention described above, the authorized expert checks the version information of the outdoor unit software through the TCP / IP network and transmits the upgrade software file according to the upgrade to the server side relay module, the server side The outdoor unit control module, which is connected to the relay module, can upgrade its outdoor unit software by downloading an upgrade software file from the relay module.

The result is that a certified professional can remotely upgrade each unit's outdoor unit software without visiting the site.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known functions or configurations may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

First, FIG. 2 illustrates an overall configuration diagram of an outdoor unit software upgrade system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 illustrates a detailed configuration diagram of the software (S / W) upgrade relay module 70 of FIG. 2. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of upgrading an outdoor unit software according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the outdoor unit software upgrade system of the present invention includes three modules, namely, the outdoor unit control module 40, the server side software (S / W) upgrade relay module 70, and the client side software (S / W). ) Includes an upgrade execution module 80.

First, the outdoor unit side control module 40 reads the software version information of the currently installed outdoor unit from the internal memory and wirelessly transmits it through the wireless communication unit 50, and then upgrades the outdoor unit software file received through the wireless communication unit 50. Is written to the internal memory. The outdoor unit side control module 40 basically includes a control unit 14 and a memory 12 shown in FIG. 1 and further includes an interface unit 16 for interfacing data with the wireless communication unit 50. Can be assumed.

For reference, the outdoor unit side wireless communication unit 50 connected to the outdoor unit control module 40 receives packet data transmitted from the master side wireless communication unit 60 to be described later, converts the outdoor unit software file data for upgrade, and controls the outdoor unit. It serves to interface with the module 40. The outdoor unit side wireless communication unit 50 may be implemented as an embedded type Bluetooth module mounted on the outdoor unit side main board, or may be implemented as an external module. In the wireless communication unit implemented as an external module, a Bluetooth module for receiving packet data transmitted from the master side wireless communication unit 60 and converting the packet data into upgraded outdoor unit software file data, and converting the file data converted by the Bluetooth module from the outdoor unit control module 40 It may include a serial interface for interfacing with).

On the other hand, the software (S / W) upgrade relay module 70 installed and executed in a computer terminal called a server terminal receives the outdoor unit software version information wirelessly transmitted by the outdoor unit control module 40, which will be described later. The upgraded outdoor unit software file transmitted from the client side terminal 80 is downloaded to the outdoor unit control module 40 in response thereto. The software (S / W) upgrade relay module 70 is an outdoor unit connection control unit 71 for controlling Bluetooth communication with the outdoor unit side wireless communication unit 50, as shown in FIG. The client side control unit 73 for controlling TCP / IP communication with the tile, and the client unit executes the software version information received in response to the request by transmitting the version information of the software to the outdoor unit control module 40. Software version input / output control unit for downloading the software version information access control unit 75 for transmitting to the module 80 and the upgrade software file transmitted from the client-side execution module 80 to the outdoor unit-side wireless communication unit 50. It is a collection of control program modules including (77).

The software file input / output controller 77 checks whether there is a transmission error from the checksum information transmitted together with the upgrade software file, and transmits the result information to the client-side execution module 80. Of course, the display information for indicating whether or not the download progress of the software file is also transmitted to the client-side execution module 80 to increase the reliability of the system.

Reference numerals 72, 74, and 76 not described in FIG. 3 are general technical configurations included in the server-side terminal, and the USB interface unit 72 may include data between the master-side wireless communication unit 60 and the relay module 70 to be described later. The network connection unit 74 also provides a physical communication path to support smooth transmission and reception of data between the relay module 70 and the TCP / IP network. The memory 76 is a storage area accessible by the relay module 70 and temporarily stores software software data for upgrade.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the server terminal on which the software (S / W) upgrade relay module 70 is installed is connected to the master side wireless communication unit 60 for performing wireless communication with the outdoor unit side control module 40. The master side wireless communication unit 60 is a USB connector 64 for coupling with the USB interface unit of the server terminal, and the upgrade outdoor unit software file data transmitted through the USB connector 64 as a packet conforming to the Bluetooth standard. Bluetooth module 62 for wireless transmission. The Bluetooth module 62 is a module that enables communication with a Bluetooth device conforming to the Bluetooth standard. The Bluetooth module has an interface called HCI (Host Control Interface), and a control command and a corresponding message packet are exchanged by sending and receiving a message packet corresponding thereto. Send and receive results and user data.

Finally, the software upgrade execution module 80 will be described. The execution module 80 displays the outdoor unit software version information transmitted by the software (S / W) upgrade relay module 70 on the monitor, and the manager. It transmits the upgrade outdoor unit software file in the storage means selected by the relay module 70. The software upgrade execution module 80 is also an application executable in the computer terminal that is a client side terminal.

Hereinafter, a process of remotely upgrading the outdoor unit software through a TCP / IP network will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4. In the following description, it is assumed that the outdoor unit-side wireless communication unit 50 is a slave Bluetooth module embedded in the mainboard of the outdoor unit, and the software file to be upgraded is already stored in the storage means (HDD) of the client-side terminal 80. Assume that there is.

Under these assumptions, the operator who wants to upgrade the outdoor unit software first connects the wireless communication unit 60 corresponding to the master to the data output port of the operator computer terminal, more specifically, the USB interface unit, and then the software upgrade relay module 70. ). Then, the outdoor unit connection control unit 71, which is one of the software upgrade relay module 70, first checks whether the wireless communication unit 60 is connected to the data output port. If the wireless communication unit 60 is connected as a result of the test, the outdoor unit connection control unit 71 requests the Bluetooth module (hereinafter referred to as a "master Bluetooth module") in the wireless communication unit 60 to establish a connection with the slaves. Then, the master Bluetooth module enters the inquiry mode and acquires the address of the slave Bluetooth module located within the communication radius, and then switches to the page mode and uses each of the addresses located within the communication radius again using the obtained address. The connection with the slave Bluetooth module is established (step 100). By this process, the outdoor unit control module 40 and the software (S / W) upgrade relay module 70 may communicate with each other through the wireless communication units 50 and 60.

As described above, when the connection setting with all slave Bluetooth modules located within the communication radius is completed, the software (S / W) version information access control unit 75 in the relay module 70 is connected through the wireless communication unit 60. The outdoor unit side control module 40 requests the version information of the software (S / W) already installed (step 102). In response to this request, the outdoor unit control module 40 reads the existing outdoor unit software version information recorded in the internal memory and transmits the information to the relay module 70 through the wireless communication unit 50, thereby providing software (S / W). ) Version information access control unit 75 receives the version information of the software (S / W) installed in the outdoor unit (step 104).

Meanwhile, as the wireless data transmission channel is set between the outdoor unit control module 40 and the relay module 70, the client side software (S / W) upgrade execution module 80 and the server side software (S / W) upgrade relay module ( The data transmission channel should also be set up between 70). The relay module 70 and the execution module 80 may be interconnected in a known P2P scheme. That is, a remotely certified expert who receives an upgrade request of the outdoor unit software induces a field worker to establish a connection between the outdoor unit control module 40 and the relay module by using wired / wireless communication and installs the software (S / W) by executing the upgrade execution module 80 is connected to the server terminal in which the relay module 70 is installed through a P2P method (step 200). By requesting the version information transmission of the outdoor unit software through the execution module 80 (step 202), the software version information access control unit 75 in the relay module 70 transmits the outdoor unit software version received from the outdoor unit control module 40. The information is transmitted to the client-side execution module 80 (step 204).

The certified professional checks the transmitted version information to determine whether the outdoor unit software needs to be upgraded, and if it is necessary to upgrade the outdoor unit under check, selects the software file for upgrade from the storage means through the execution module 80 and the server. It transmits to the side relay module 70 (step 206). Thus, the software (S / W) file input / output control unit 77 in the server-side relay module 70 receives the upgrade software (S / W) file. At this time, the software (S / W) file input / output control unit 77 checks the transmission error by counting the size of the upgrade software file received and comparing it with the checksum information transmitted together. Then, by returning the check result information indicating whether there is a transmission error (step 208) to the client-side execution module 80, the authorized expert can confirm whether the upgrade software file is correctly transmitted to the server side.

In addition, the software (S / W) file input / output control unit 77 downloads (step 210) the upgrade software file to the outdoor unit control module 40, which is currently connected, when the upgrade software file is normally transmitted, and downloads the file. The display information indicating whether or not to proceed is transmitted to the client-side execution module 80 (step 216).

Therefore, a new upgrade software file is stored in the memory of the outdoor unit side control module 40 so that the outdoor unit software can be upgraded later, and an expert located on the client side can monitor the upgrade progress of the outdoor unit software.

According to this embodiment of the present invention, since the normal version of the outdoor unit software is wirelessly transmitted to the outdoor unit side without a site visit by a certified expert, remote upgrade of the outdoor unit software can be performed.

As described above, according to the present invention, the software upgrade relay module installed in the server side computer terminal receives the wireless version information of the outdoor unit software from the outdoor unit side and transmits it to the client side computer terminal, and sends the upgrade software file transmitted therefrom back to the outdoor unit side. Because wireless transmission to the control module,

It is possible to remotely upgrade the normal version of the outdoor unit software without the need for a professional site visit. Also, the outdoor unit software can be upgraded remotely, so that it can be expected to respond quickly to the customer's A / S needs.

In addition, since the software is upgraded by a wireless communication method, it is possible to expect the basic effect of upgrading the outdoor unit software quickly and conveniently.

On the other hand, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, which are merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention should be defined only by the appended claims.

Claims (4)

An outdoor unit control module for reading outdoor unit software version information from the memory and transmitting the outdoor unit software version information to the memory, and writing the upgrade outdoor unit software file received through the wireless communication unit to the memory; Receives outdoor unit software version information wirelessly transmitted by the outdoor unit side control module and transmits it to the client side terminal, and in response, downloads the upgraded outdoor unit software file transmitted from the client side terminal to the outdoor unit side control module. A server-side software upgrade relay module; An application program installed and executed on a client-side terminal, the client-side software upgrade displaying the outdoor unit software version information transmitted by the relay module and transmitting the upgraded outdoor unit software in the storage means selected by the administrator to the relay module. The outdoor unit software upgrade system, characterized in that it comprises an execution module. The method of claim 1, wherein the server-side software upgrade relay module, An outdoor unit connection control unit for controlling Bluetooth communication with the outdoor unit side wireless communication unit; A client connection control unit for controlling TCP / IP communication with the client terminal; A software version information access control unit for requesting the version information of the software to be transmitted to the outdoor unit control module and transmitting the software version information received in response to the request to the client-side execution module; And a software file input / output controller for downloading the upgrade software file transmitted from the client side execution module to the outdoor unit wireless communication unit. The method of claim 2, wherein the software file input and output control unit; And checking the transmission error from the checksum information transmitted together with the upgrade software file, and transmitting the result information to the client-side execution module. The method of claim 2, wherein the software file input and output control unit; And display information for indicating whether or not the software file has been downloaded to the client-side execution module.

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