BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITH PROGRAMMABLE IR CODES
First Claim
1. A building control system for controlling one or more building components that service a building, the building control system comprising:
- a central coordinator including;
an input/output port for wirelessly sending and receiving one or more signals to and from at least one building component located within the building;
a memory; and
a controller coupled to the input/output port and the memory;
a discrete air conditioner control unit configured to communicate with and control one or more remotely controllable discrete air conditioner units servicing the building, each of the one or more remotely controllable discrete air conditioner units being wirelessly controllable via an associated handheld remote control;
the discrete air conditioner control unit having a first wireless interface for sending and receiving signals to and from the central coordinator;
the discrete air conditioner controller having a second wireless interface for transmitting control commands to the one or more discrete air conditioner units;
the discrete air conditioner control unit further configured to accept at least one control command codes via the second wireless interface from a handheld remote control unit associated with at least one of the remotely controllable discrete air conditioner units, and to use the at least one control command codes when transmitting one or more control commands to the one or more discrete air conditioner units; and
the discrete air conditioner control unit further configured to transmit the at least one control command codes to the central coordinator via the first wireless interface, wherein the central coordinator is configured to store the at least one control command codes in the memory of the central coordinator.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A discrete air conditioner controller for controlling a discrete air conditioner unit servicing a building may receive an IR code, in some cases in a raw waveform format, from a handheld remote control that is associated with the discrete air conditioner unit during a programming process. The discrete air conditioner controller may associate the IR code with the discrete air conditioner unit and store the IR code and its association in memory. In some cases, the discrete air conditioner controller may transmit the IR code and its association to a central coordinator, where the IR code may be stored in the memory of the central coordinator. The IR code may be subsequently retrieved from the memory of the central coordinator and transmitted to selected discrete air conditioner controller units for use in controlling appropriate discrete air conditioner units.
27 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A building control system for controlling one or more building components that service a building, the building control system comprising:
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a central coordinator including; an input/output port for wirelessly sending and receiving one or more signals to and from at least one building component located within the building; a memory; and a controller coupled to the input/output port and the memory; a discrete air conditioner control unit configured to communicate with and control one or more remotely controllable discrete air conditioner units servicing the building, each of the one or more remotely controllable discrete air conditioner units being wirelessly controllable via an associated handheld remote control; the discrete air conditioner control unit having a first wireless interface for sending and receiving signals to and from the central coordinator; the discrete air conditioner controller having a second wireless interface for transmitting control commands to the one or more discrete air conditioner units; the discrete air conditioner control unit further configured to accept at least one control command codes via the second wireless interface from a handheld remote control unit associated with at least one of the remotely controllable discrete air conditioner units, and to use the at least one control command codes when transmitting one or more control commands to the one or more discrete air conditioner units; and the discrete air conditioner control unit further configured to transmit the at least one control command codes to the central coordinator via the first wireless interface, wherein the central coordinator is configured to store the at least one control command codes in the memory of the central coordinator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An air conditioner control unit for controlling one or more discrete air conditioner units located within a building, the air conditioner control unit comprising:
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a first wireless interface for sending and receiving signals to and from a central coordinator; a second wireless interface for transmitting control commands to the one or more discrete air conditioner units, the first wireless interface using a different communication protocol than the second wireless interface; a memory; a controller coupled to the first wireless interface and the second wireless interface, the controller configured to accept a first set of infrared codes via the second wireless interface for use in controlling a discrete air conditioner unit from a handheld remote control that is associated with the discrete air conditioner unit, and store the first set of infrared codes into the memory; and the controller configured to receive one or more commands from the central controller via the first wireless interface, and based on the one or more received commands, select an appropriate one or more of the first set of infrared codes from the memory, and transmit the selected one or more of the first set of infrared codes to the discrete air conditioner unit via the second wireless interface to control the discrete air conditioner unit. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of controlling one or more discrete air conditioner units that service a building, the method comprising:
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wirelessly receiving at least one IR code for controlling a discrete air conditioner unit from a handheld remote control that is associated with the discrete air conditioner unit, the IR code received as a raw waveform; storing the raw waveform of the at least one code in a memory; associating the raw waveform of the at least one code with a discrete air conditioner unit type, and storing the association; transmitting the raw waveform of the at least one code, and the association, to a central coordinator; and storing the raw waveform of the at least one code in a memory of the central coordinator. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification