Line communication with twinned HVAC units
View Patent ↗Disclosed are exemplary embodiments of systems and methods to communicate data over at least one wire line between units each associated with a control system. In an exemplary embodiment, a conditioned input AC signal serves as a reference signal for data to be transmitted. In phase or out of phase state of the conditioned reference signals is determined by dividing the reference signal into predetermined number of segments, generating a template signal frame and a data signal frame at predetermined segments, generating an interrupt signal in each control system on a predetermined location on the reference signal, logically ORing the template and data signal frames, transmitting the ORed signal, and analyzing the ORed signal to determine phase of the reference signal provided to each control system. If the reference signal is out of phase, the interrupting signal is shifted to correct the out of phase state of the reference signal.
1. A line communication method to communicate data over at least one wire line between a plurality of units, each of the plurality of units being associated with a control system comprising a controller, the method comprising:
providing a voltage signal to each controller;
providing an input AC power supply to each of the plurality of units;
conditioning each of the input AC power supplies to generate a conditioned reference signal for each controller;
determining in phase or out of phase state of the conditioned reference signals; the determining comprising:
feeding the conditioned reference signal to each controller;
dividing the conditioned reference signal into a predetermined number of segments, each of the segments associated with a time period;
generating a template signal frame and a data signal frame at predetermined segments of the conditioned reference signal;
generating an interrupt signal in each controller on a first predetermined location on the conditioned reference signal, the interrupt signal being a reference point on each of the conditioned reference signals, the first predetermined location being identical for each controller;
logically ORing of the template signal frame and the data signal frame; transmitting the logically ORed signal over the at least one wire line; and
analyzing the transmitted ORed signal relative to the reference point for detecting existence or non-existence of the template signal frame thereby determining the in phase or out of phase state of the conditioned reference signals;
correcting the out of phase state of the conditioned reference signal in the event that non-existence of the template signal frame is detected, the correcting comprising shifting the interrupt signal, thereby the reference point of at least one controller to a second predetermined location on the conditioned reference signal, to align the reference point on each of the conditioned reference signals; and
transmitting the data from the data signal frame of the phase corrected conditioned reference signal over the at least one wire line based on predetermined priority.
2. The line communication method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the data further comprises the step of noise elimination by at least one method that includes Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC), checksum, and parity bits.
3. The line communication method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of units is selected from the group consisting of HVAC units, furnace, air handler units, air conditioner units, heat pump units, and thermostats.
4. The line communication method of claim 1 , wherein the controller is selected from the group consisting of microcontrollers, microprocessors, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), and Digital Signal Processors (DSP).
5. The line communication method of claim 1 , wherein the template signal frame is a constant reserved data.
6. The line communication method of claim 1 , wherein the data signal frame is a variable frame depending on the application of the unit and representing the data being transmitted.
7. The line communication method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined priority is determined by the controller and the data is transmitted by the unit having highest priority.
8. The line communication method of claim 1 , wherein the data transmitted over the at least one wire line is logical AND-ing of data transmitted by each of the plurality of units.
9. The line communication method of claim 1 , wherein the controller assigns a pre-determined time slot to each of the plurality of units for transmitting the data in a circular manner.
10. The line communication method of claim 1 , wherein the data transmitted over the at least one wire line is queued data transmitted in a predetermined order based on the predetermined priority.
11. A system comprising at least two units operable for communicating data based on the line communication method of claim 1 .
12. A system comprising:
a first control system associated with a first unit, the first control system including a first controller;
a second control system associated with a second unit, the second control system including a second controller;
at least one communication line between the first and second control systems over which the first and second control systems may communicate with each other;
when a voltage signal is provided to each controller and an input AC power supply is provided to each of the first and second units, at least one of the first and second control systems are operable for:
conditioning input AC power supplies to the first and second units to generate a conditioned reference signal for each controller;
determining in phase or out of phase state of the conditioned reference signals, the determining comprising:
feeding the conditioned reference signal to each controller;
dividing the conditioned reference signal into a predetermined number of segments, each of the segments associated with a time period;
generating a template signal frame and a data signal frame at predetermined segments of the conditioned reference signal;
generating an interrupt signal in each controller on a first predetermined location on the conditioned reference signal, the interrupt signal being a reference point on each of the conditioned reference signals, the first predetermined location being identical for each controller;
logically ORing of the template signal frame and the data signal frame;
transmitting the logically ORed signal over the at least one communication line; and
analyzing the transmitted ORed signal relative to the reference point for detecting existence or non-existence of the template signal frame thereby determining the in phase or out of phase state of the conditioned reference signals;
correcting the out of phase state of the conditioned reference signal in the event that non-existence of the template signal frame is detected, the correcting comprising shifting the interrupt signal, thereby the reference point of at least one controller to a second predetermined location on the conditioned reference signal, to align the reference point on each of the conditioned reference signals; and
transmitting the data from the data signal frame of the phase corrected conditioned reference signal over the at least one communication line based on predetermined priority.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein:
the first and second units are selected from the group consisting of HVAC units, furnace, air handler units, air conditioner units, heat pump units, and thermostats; and/or
the first and second controllers are selected from the group consisting of microcontrollers, microprocessors, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), and Digital Signal Processors (DSP).
14. The system claim 12 , wherein:
the template signal frame is a constant reserved data; and/or
the data signal frame is a variable frame depending on the application of the unit and representing the data being transmitted;
the predetermined priority is determined by the first and/or second controller and the data is transmitted by the unit having highest priority;
the data transmitted over the at least one communication line is logical AND-ing of data transmitted by each of the first and second units;
the first and/or second controller assigns a pre-determined time slot to each of the first and second units for transmitting the data in a circular manner.
15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the data transmitted over the at least one communication line is queued data transmitted in a predetermined order based on the predetermined priority.
16. The system of claim 12 , wherein:
each of the first and second control systems is individually connected to a voltage supply;
each of the first and second control systems comprises a switching device for switching a voltage connection to ground;
the first and second controllers include an input port pin and an output port pin, whereby operation of the switch is controlled by the corresponding first or second controller by driving the output port pin, and whereby data on the at least one communication line is represented by the presence or absence of voltage on the at least one communication line which is determined by the first and second controllers by means of the switching devices.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein each of the first and second control systems comprises a signal conditioner connected to the corresponding input port pin for conditioning the signal to be read by the controller for further processing.
18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the switch comprise at least one of a Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT), a Field Effect Transistor (FET), or a semiconductor transistor.
19. The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one communication line comprises a twin line connected to a connector on each of the first and second control systems.
20. The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one communication line comprises a single physical electrically-conductive wire connected to a connector on each of the first and second control systems.