Monitoring system, server, wireless adapter, and monitoring method

Abstract

To enable estimation of a physical cause of abnormal communication occurring in an air conditioning system.SOLUTION: A monitoring system 1 comprises a wireless adaptor 4 and a crowd server 5, and monitors an operating condition of an air-conditioning system comprising a plurality of indoor units 3 parallelly connected to an outdoor unit 2 via a cable including a pair of commercial power source lines each constituted of a power source line and a common use line, and a signal line. The wireless adaptor 4 monitors a communication condition of serial communication in the air-conditioning system according to a voltage between the signal line and the common use line. The crowd server 5 monitors the operating condition of the air-conditioning system according to the monitoring result of the wireless adaptor 4.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a monitoring system, a server, a wireless adapter, and a monitoring method. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Technology in which a server remotely monitors an air conditioning system equipped with multiple indoor units is widely known (for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, a server communicates with a management device that manages multiple indoor units installed in a building, etc., collects operating data of each indoor unit via the management device, and monitors each indoor unit. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2010-181073 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in conventional systems of this type that monitor the operating status of air conditioning systems, when a communication abnormality occurs between air conditioners (between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit), it is difficult to determine the physical cause.

[0006] For this reason, there is a demand for the proposal of new technology for systems that monitor the operating status of air conditioning systems.

[0007] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide a monitoring system etc. that is capable of determining the physical cause of a communication abnormality that has occurred in an air conditioning system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, the monitoring system according to the present disclosure comprises: A monitoring system for monitoring the operating status of an air conditioning system in which a plurality of indoor units are connected in parallel to an outdoor unit via a cable including a pair of commercial power lines, each of which is composed of a power line and a shared line, and a signal line, a communication status monitoring means for monitoring a communication status of serial communication in the air conditioning system based on a voltage between the signal line and the common line; an operating status monitoring means for monitoring an operating status of the air conditioning system based on a monitoring result of the communication status monitoring means; 、 the communication status monitoring means determines which of a plurality of predetermined levels the signal level of the communication signal on the signal line is, based on the voltage; The operating status monitoring means includes an abnormality determination means for determining whether or not a communication abnormality has occurred in the air conditioning system based on a history of the signal level of the communication signal determined by the communication status monitoring means, and for determining the cause of the communication abnormality if a communication abnormality has occurred. . Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to guess the physical cause of a communication abnormality that has occurred in an air conditioning system. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a monitoring system and an air conditioning system to be monitored by the monitoring system according to an embodiment; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining serial communication between an outdoor unit and an indoor unit in an embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the operation of a wireless adapter according to an embodiment; [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a waveform of a communication signal during serial communication between an outdoor unit and an indoor unit in an embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a cloud server according to an embodiment. [Figure 6] 1 is a flowchart showing a procedure for abnormality determination processing in an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0012] 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a monitoring system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure and an air conditioning system that is a target of monitoring by the monitoring system 1. The monitoring system 1 is a system that monitors the operating status of the air conditioning system. Details of the monitoring system 1 will be described later.

[0013] <Air conditioning system configuration> The air conditioning system is installed in a building such as a building or a store to provide air conditioning within the building, and includes an outdoor unit 2 and multiple indoor units 3. The multiple indoor units 3 are connected in parallel to the outdoor unit 2 via a three-core cable including a pair of commercial power lines (a power line and a shared line) and a signal line.

[0014] The outdoor unit 2 and the indoor units 3 communicate with each other via a current loop. A current loop is a communication method that transmits signals by changing the communication current. The outdoor unit 2 and the indoor units 3 operate on AC power supplied from an AC power source 6, which is a commercial power source.

[0015] As shown in Fig. 1, the outdoor unit 2 includes a power supply circuit 20, a transmitting photocoupler 21, a receiving photocoupler 22, a control circuit 23, and a load resistor 24. Note that the configuration of the outdoor unit 2 shown in Fig. 1 is a hardware configuration related to communication with the indoor unit 3, and the configuration related to the air conditioning operation is omitted.

[0016] The power supply circuit 20 is a DC power supply that supplies a communication current. The power supply circuit 20 converts AC power supplied from the AC power supply 6 via the power supply line and the common line into DC power required for serial communication. The power supply circuit 20 generates a power supply voltage for communication based on the potential of the common line. The power supply circuit 20 is a half-wave rectifier circuit equipped with resistors, diodes, electrolytic capacitors, Zener diodes, etc., none of which are shown.

[0017] The transmitting photocoupler 21 is an element for transmitting data, and includes a light emitting diode 210 and a phototransistor 211. The receiving photocoupler 22 is an element for receiving data, and includes a light emitting diode 220 and a phototransistor 221.

[0018] The control circuit 23 includes a central processing unit (CPU), read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), resistors, transistors, etc., none of which are shown, and controls communication with the indoor unit 3. The control circuit 23 controls the transmitting photocoupler 21, and transmits data by switching the state of the current loop between a state in which the current value of the communication current is greater than a current threshold and a state in which the current value is equal to or less than the current threshold. The current threshold is a threshold for detecting the presence or absence of a communication current. The control circuit 23 also receives data from the output of the receiving photocoupler 22 by determining whether the current value of the communication current flowing through the current loop is greater than the current threshold.

[0019] The load resistor 24 is a resistor for limiting the communication current flowing through the current loop.

[0020] The indoor unit 3 includes a transmitting photocoupler 30, a receiving photocoupler 31, a control circuit 32, and a load resistor 33. Note that the configuration of the indoor unit 3 shown in Fig. 1 is a hardware configuration related to communication with the outdoor unit 2, and the configuration related to the air conditioning operation is omitted.

[0021] The transmitting photocoupler 30 is an element for transmitting data, and includes a light emitting diode 300 and a phototransistor 301. The receiving photocoupler 31 is an element for receiving data, and includes a light emitting diode 310 and a phototransistor 311.

[0022] The control circuit 32 includes a CPU, ROM, RAM, resistors, transistors, etc., none of which are shown, and controls communication with the outdoor unit 2. The control circuit 32 controls the transmitting photocoupler 30, and transmits data by switching the state of the current loop between a state in which the current value of the communication current is greater than a current threshold and a state in which the current value is equal to or less than the current threshold. The control circuit 32 also receives data from the output of the receiving photocoupler 31 by determining whether the current value of the communication current flowing through the current loop is greater than the current threshold.

[0023] The load resistor 33 is a resistor for limiting the communication current flowing through the current loop.

[0024] <Serial communication between outdoor unit 2 and indoor unit 3> In the air conditioning system configured as above, the outdoor unit 2 controls the conduction / non-conduction of the transmitting photocoupler 21, and switches the state of the current loop between a state where the current value of the communication current is greater than the current threshold and a state where the current value is equal to or less than the current threshold, thereby transmitting data to the indoor unit 3. Similarly, the indoor unit 3 controls the conduction / non-conduction of the transmitting photocoupler 30, and switches the state of the current loop between a state where the current value of the communication current is greater than the current threshold and a state where the current value is equal to or less than the current threshold, thereby transmitting data to the outdoor unit 2.

[0025] Furthermore, the outdoor unit 2 receives data from the indoor unit 3 by determining whether the current value of the communication current flowing in the current loop is greater than the current threshold or less than the current threshold. Similarly, the indoor unit 3 receives data from the outdoor unit 2 by determining whether the current value of the communication current flowing in the current loop is greater than the current threshold or less than the current threshold.

[0026] 2 shows the relationship between the communication direction, the value indicated by the communication signal, the state of the transmitting photocoupler 21 and the receiving photocoupler 22 of the outdoor unit 2, and the state of the transmitting photocoupler 30 and the receiving photocoupler 31 of the indoor unit 3. Note that the assignment of the values ​​of the communication signal is arbitrary and may be reversed from the example shown in FIG.

[0027] <Configuration of monitoring system 1> Next, the monitoring system 1 of this embodiment will be described in detail. The monitoring system 1 includes a wireless adapter 4 and a cloud server 5. The wireless adapter 4 is connected to a terminal of a signal line and a terminal of a shared line in the outdoor unit 2 (hereinafter referred to as an outdoor unit side terminal), or to a terminal of a signal line and a terminal of a shared line in any of the indoor units 3 (hereinafter referred to as an indoor unit side terminal). Fig. 1 shows an example in which the wireless adapter 4 is connected to the outdoor unit side terminal.

[0028] The wireless adapter 4 is an example of a communication status monitoring means according to the present disclosure. The wireless adapter 4 includes monitor resistors 40a-40c, a control circuit 41, and a communication interface 42. The monitor resistors 40a-40c are resistors having resistance values ​​sufficiently larger than the load resistor 24 of the outdoor unit 2 and the load resistor 33 of the indoor unit 3. The current value of the communication current flowing through the monitor resistors 40a-40c is equal to or smaller than a current threshold value when the outdoor unit 2 receives data.

[0029] The control circuit 41 includes a CPU, ROM, RAM, resistors, transistors, etc., none of which are shown. The control circuit 41 monitors the communication signal flowing in the current loop by sampling the voltage value divided by the monitor resistors 40a to 40c at a period sufficiently shorter than the serial communication between the outdoor unit 2 and the indoor unit 3 in the air conditioning system. The control circuit 41 transmits data indicating the monitoring result (hereinafter referred to as communication monitor data) to the cloud server 5 via the communication interface 42.

[0030] The communication interface 42 is hardware for communicating with the cloud server 5 via a wide-area wireless network constructed by the wide-area wireless base station 7. The wide-area wireless base station 7 is a wireless base station installed by a telecommunications business operator known as a carrier, and enables wireless communication based on LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) in 5G (fifth generation mobile communication system), for example.

[0031] The cloud server 5 is an example of an operating condition monitoring means according to the present disclosure, and is also an example of a server according to the present disclosure. The cloud server 5 is a server computer installed and operated by an air conditioning system manufacturer, a sales company, etc. The cloud server 5 includes a communication interface 50, a CPU 51, a ROM 52, a RAM 53, and an auxiliary storage device 54. These components are connected to each other via a bus 55.

[0032] The communication interface 50 is hardware for communicating with the wireless adapter 4 via a wide area wireless network established by the wide area wireless base station 7. The CPU 51 performs overall control of the cloud server 5. The functions of the cloud server 5 realized by the CPU 51 will be described in detail later. The ROM 52 stores multiple pieces of firmware and data used when these firmware are executed. The RAM 53 is used as a working area for the CPU 51.

[0033] The auxiliary storage device 54 is composed of a readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), etc. The readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory is, for example, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), a flash memory, etc. The auxiliary storage device 54 stores various programs including a program for monitoring the operating status of the air conditioning system (hereinafter referred to as a monitoring program), and data used when these programs are executed.

[0034] The above-mentioned monitoring program (including an update program for updating the monitoring program) can be downloaded from another server to the cloud server 5. In addition, the monitoring program (including the update program) can also be stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a magneto-optical disk, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, a memory card, a HDD, or an SSD (Solid State Drive) and distributed.

[0035] Next, a description will be given of the operation of the wireless adapter 4. The voltage between the signal line and the common line fluctuates due to serial communication between the outdoor unit 2 and the indoor unit 3. The wireless adapter 4 monitors the communication status of the serial communication in the air conditioning system based on the voltage between the signal line and the common line.

[0036] In detail, the control circuit 41 of the wireless adapter 4 compares the voltage divided by the monitor resistors 40a to 40c with thresholds (first threshold, second threshold) to determine whether the signal level of the communication signal is one of levels 1 to 4 (see FIG. 3). The first threshold is a voltage value corresponding to a current threshold when the outdoor unit 2 receives data, and the second threshold is a voltage value corresponding to a current threshold when the indoor unit 3 receives data. FIG. 4 shows an example of a waveform of a communication signal during serial communication between the outdoor unit 2 and the indoor unit 3.

[0037] The control circuit 41 transmits communication monitor data indicating the monitoring result (that is, the determined signal level of the communication signal) to the cloud server 5 via the communication interface .

[0038] <Functions of Cloud Server 5> Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of cloud server 5. As shown in Fig. 5, cloud server 5 includes a communication monitor data acquisition unit 500, an abnormality determination unit 501, and a notification unit 502. These functional units of cloud server 5 are realized by CPU 51 executing the above-mentioned monitoring program stored in auxiliary storage device 54.

[0039] The communication monitor data acquisition unit 500 is an example of a monitoring result acquisition means according to the present disclosure. The communication monitor data acquisition unit 500 acquires communication monitor data by receiving the communication monitor data transmitted from the wireless adapter 4, and stores the acquired communication monitor data in the communication monitor data management DB 540. The communication monitor data management DB 540 is a database for managing the communication monitor data transmitted from each wireless adapter 4 connected to the air conditioning system of each building, and is stored in the auxiliary storage device 54.

[0040] The abnormality determination unit 501 is an example of an abnormality determination means according to the present disclosure. The abnormality determination unit 501 determines whether or not a communication abnormality has occurred in the air conditioning system based on the history of communication monitor data corresponding to each air conditioning system stored in the communication monitor data management DB 540. In detail, the abnormality determination unit 501 determines whether or not a communication abnormality has occurred and determines the cause of the communication abnormality based on the history of the communication monitor data.

[0041] For example, if the signal level of the communication signal has not changed from level 1, the abnormality determination unit 501 determines that the communication circuits of all indoor units 3 in the air conditioning system have an open failure (such as constant non-conductivity due to poor control of the transmitting photocoupler 30) or that a break has occurred in the signal line or shared line (however, when the wireless adapter 4 is connected to the outdoor unit side terminal).

[0042] Also, for example, if the signal level of the communication signal has not changed from level 2 or level 3, the abnormality determination unit 501 determines that communication has stopped (such as constant conduction due to poor control of the transmitting photocoupler 21 of the outdoor unit 2).

[0043] Also, for example, if the signal level of the communication signal has not changed from level 4, the abnormality determination unit 501 determines that the communication circuit of the outdoor unit 2 has an open failure (such as constant non-conductivity due to poor control of the transmitting photocoupler 21) or that a break has occurred in the signal line or shared line (however, when the wireless adapter 4 is connected to the indoor unit side terminal).

[0044] Furthermore, for example, when a signal shorter than the communication signal width is detected, the abnormality determination unit 501 determines that external noise has been applied to the signal line. The external noise is, for example, noise caused by the operation of a device (for example, an air conditioning system or an elevator of another system) that receives AC power from the same AC power source (i.e., AC power source 6).

[0045] The notification unit 502 is an example of a notification means according to the present disclosure. When the abnormality determination unit 501 detects a communication abnormality, the notification unit 502 notifies a user (such as an owner of a property in which the air conditioning system is installed, or an administrator of the air conditioning system) of abnormality detection information indicating the abnormality and the cause of the abnormality. For example, the notification unit 502 notifies the user of the abnormality detection information by sending an email to a terminal device such as a smartphone or tablet terminal owned by the user. Alternatively, when an application program for the monitoring system 1 (hereinafter, referred to as a monitoring app) is installed in the terminal device and the monitoring app is running, the notification unit 502 may notify the user of the abnormality detection information by displaying a pop-up on a monitoring screen by the monitoring app.

[0046] 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the abnormality determination process executed by the cloud server 5. The abnormality determination process is periodically and repeatedly executed for each air conditioning system.

[0047] The cloud server 5 checks the status of the signal level of the communication signal by referring to the history of communication monitor data corresponding to the air conditioning system stored in the communication monitor data management DB 540. If the signal level has not changed from level 1 (step S101; YES), the cloud server 5 determines that an open failure has occurred in the communication circuits of all indoor units 3 in the air conditioning system, or that a break has occurred in the signal line or shared line (however, when the wireless adapter 4 is connected to the outdoor unit side terminal) (step S102). After that, the processing of the cloud server 5 proceeds to step S109.

[0048] If the signal level has not changed from level 2 or level 3 (step S103; YES), the cloud server 5 determines that communication has been stopped (step S104). After that, the process of the cloud server 5 proceeds to step S109.

[0049] If the signal level has not changed from level 4 (step S105; YES), the cloud server 5 determines that an open fault has occurred in the communication circuit of the outdoor unit 2, or that a break has occurred in the signal line or the shared line (provided that the wireless adapter 4 is connected to the indoor unit side terminal) (step S106). After that, the process of the cloud server 5 proceeds to step S109.

[0050] When a signal shorter than the communication signal width is detected (step S107; YES), the cloud server 5 determines that external noise has been applied to the signal line (step S108). After that, the process of the cloud server 5 proceeds to step S109.

[0051] In step S109, the cloud server 5 notifies the user of the abnormality detection information indicating that an abnormality has been detected and the cause of the abnormality. After that, the cloud server 5 ends the abnormality determination process for this air conditioning system in this cycle.

[0052] If all of steps S101, S103, S105, and S107 are NO, the cloud server 5 determines that there is no abnormality (step S110) and ends the abnormality determination process for this cycle. In this case, the cloud server 5 analyzes the contents of the communication frame from the history of the communication monitor data, and obtains the operating status of the air conditioning system.

[0053] As described above, in the monitoring system 1 of this embodiment, the wireless adapter 4 monitors the communication signal flowing in the current loop based on the voltage between the signal line and the shared line, and transmits communication monitor data indicating the monitoring result to the cloud server 5. The cloud server 5 monitors the operating status of the air conditioning system based on the communication monitor data received from the wireless adapter 4.

[0054] This makes it possible to pinpoint the physical cause of a communication abnormality that has occurred in the air conditioning system.

[0055] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the gist of the present disclosure.

[0056] (Variation 1) For example, communication between the wireless adapter 4 and the cloud server 5 may be realized by IP (Internet Protocol) communication via a LAN (Local Area Network), a MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), or the Internet.

[0057] (Variation 2) In the above embodiment, the wireless adapter 4 judges the signal level of the communication signal in four stages (levels 1 to 4), but may judge in more stages. In this case, the cloud server 5 further includes a deterioration judgment unit (one example of a deterioration judgment means according to the present disclosure) not shown, and the deterioration judgment unit may detect a change in the signal level of the communication signal by comparing with communication monitor data acquired in the past to judge whether the three-core cable has deteriorated, specifically, whether deterioration of the crimp between the signal line and the shared line (loosening, rust, etc.) has occurred. For example, when the impedance of the indoor unit 3 increases due to deterioration of the crimp of the indoor unit 3, the voltage of levels 2 and 3 becomes higher than normal.

[0058] When deterioration of the three-core cable is detected, the notification unit 502 of the cloud server 5 may notify the user of the fact. This allows the user to take appropriate measures, such as re-crimping the cable during regular inspection, before a communication abnormality occurs, thereby reducing the probability of a communication abnormality occurring.

[0059] (Variation 3) Furthermore, when the wireless adapter 4 determines the signal level of the communication signal in a greater number of stages, the cloud server 5 may further include a period estimation unit (one example of a period estimation means according to the present disclosure) not shown, which estimates the period until the occurrence of an abnormality. For example, the period estimation unit estimates the period from the impedance increase fluctuation of the indoor unit 3 due to deterioration of the crimping of the indoor unit 3 to the occurrence of a communication abnormality by comparing with communication monitor data acquired in the past.

[0060] The notification unit 502 of the cloud server 5 may notify the user of the estimated period until the communication abnormality occurs. This allows the user to take appropriate measures, such as re-crimping during regular inspections, before the communication abnormality occurs, thereby reducing the probability of the communication abnormality occurring.

[0061] (Variation 4) Furthermore, the wireless adapter 4 may determine the signal level of the communication signal in more stages and may further shorten the sampling interval of the voltage value. In this case, the cloud server 5 may further include a noise causing device identifying unit (one example of a noise causing device identifying means according to the present disclosure) not shown, and the noise causing device identifying unit may acquire information such as the shape and frequency of the external noise applied to the signal line to identify the device causing the external noise. When the device is identified, the notification unit 502 of the cloud server 5 may notify the user of information regarding the identified device.

[0062] (Variation 5) Furthermore, the cloud server 5 may not only accumulate and manage the communication monitor data of the air conditioning system, but also acquire, accumulate, and manage data indicating the operating status of other devices that operate by receiving AC power from the AC power source 6, which is the same AC power source as the air conditioning system. In this case, the cloud server 5 may further include a noise causing device identifying unit (one example of a noise causing device identifying means according to the present disclosure) not shown, and the noise causing device identifying unit may identify the device causing the noise by investigating the operating status of the other devices at the timing of application of the external noise.

[0063] (Variation 6) The wireless adapter 4 may also be configured to be communicably connected to an air conditioner's control circuit (the control circuit 23 of the outdoor unit 2 or the control circuit 32 of the indoor unit 3) so as to be able to acquire information on commands received by the air conditioner, etc. In this case, if the wireless adapter 4 cannot detect a communication signal on the signal line at the time when the air conditioner is transmitting data, it may determine that the transmission circuit of the connected air conditioner is faulty and transmit information to that effect to the cloud server 5.

[0064] (Variation 7) Also, the air conditioner (outdoor unit 2 or indoor unit 3) may be configured to monitor the operating status of the air conditioning system. In this case, specifically, the air conditioner includes monitor resistors 40a-40c and a control circuit 41 in the wireless adapter 4, a memory for accumulating and storing communication monitor data, and further includes a configuration for realizing functions similar to those of the abnormality determination unit 501 and the notification unit 502 in the cloud server 5.

[0065] (Variation 8) Moreover, the wireless adapter 4 may include a memory for accumulating and storing communication monitor data, and the control circuit 41 may execute the same processes as the abnormality determination unit 501 and the notification unit 502 in the cloud server 5 without transmitting the communication monitor data to the cloud server 5. In this case, the wireless adapter 4 serves as a kind of service tool.

[0066] (Variation 9) In the above embodiment, the wireless adapter 4 obtains the communication status of the serial communication in the air conditioning system by monitoring the voltage between the signal line and the shared line, but the communication status may be obtained by measuring the current flowing through the signal line using a current transformer (CT) or the like. In this way, the installation of the wireless adapter 4 becomes easier.

[0067] (Variation 10) In addition, all or part of the functional units (see FIG. 5) of the cloud server 5 may be realized by dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware is, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a combination of these.

[0068] The technical ideas according to the above-described modified examples may be realized individually or in appropriate combination. [Explanation of symbols]

[0069] 1 monitoring system, 2 outdoor unit, 3 indoor unit, 4 wireless adapter, 5 cloud server, 6 AC power supply, 7 wide-area wireless base station, 20 power supply circuit, 21, 30 transmitting photocoupler, 22, 31 receiving photocoupler, 23, 32, 41 control circuit, 24, 33 load resistor, 40a to 40c monitor resistor, 42, 50 communication interface, 51 CPU, 52 ROM, 53 RAM, 54 auxiliary storage device, 55 bus, 210, 220, 300, 310 light-emitting diode, 211, 221, 301, 311 phototransistor, 500 communication monitor data acquisition unit, 501 abnormality determination unit, 502 notification unit, 540 communication monitor data management DB

Claims

1. A monitoring system for monitoring the operating status of an air conditioning system in which a plurality of indoor units are connected in parallel to an outdoor unit via a cable including a pair of commercial power lines, each of which is composed of a power line and a shared line, and a signal line, a communication status monitoring means for monitoring a communication status of serial communication in the air conditioning system based on a voltage between the signal line and the common line; an operating status monitoring means for monitoring an operating status of the air conditioning system based on a monitoring result of the communication status monitoring means; the communication status monitoring means determines which of a plurality of predetermined levels the signal level of the communication signal on the signal line is, based on the voltage; The operating status monitoring means determines whether a communication abnormality has occurred in the air conditioning system based on a history of the signal level of the communication signal determined by the communication status monitoring means, and if a communication abnormality occurs, the monitoring system is provided with an abnormality determination means for determining the cause of the communication abnormality.

2. 2. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the driving condition monitoring means further comprises a notification means for notifying a user of a cause of the communication abnormality determined by the abnormality determination means.

3. 3. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the driving status monitoring means further comprises a deterioration determining means for determining whether the cable is deteriorated or not based on a history of a signal level of the communication signal determined by the communication status monitoring means.

4. The monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the operating status monitoring means further includes a period estimation means for estimating a period until a communication abnormality occurs in the air conditioning system based on a history of the signal level of the communication signal determined by the communication status monitoring means.

5. 5. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the operating condition monitoring means further comprises a noise causing device identification means for identifying a device causing the noise when the abnormality determination means determines that noise has been applied to the signal line.

6. A server that monitors the operating status of an air conditioning system in which a plurality of indoor units are connected in parallel to an outdoor unit via a cable including a pair of commercial power lines, each of which is composed of a power line and a shared line, and a signal line, a monitoring result acquiring means for acquiring, via communication from the wireless adapter, a monitoring result of the wireless adapter that monitors a communication status of the serial communication in the air conditioning system based on a voltage between the signal line and the shared line, the monitoring result indicating which of a plurality of predetermined levels a signal level of a communication signal on the signal line is; a server comprising: an abnormality determination means for determining whether a communication abnormality has occurred in the air conditioning system based on the acquired history of monitoring results, and for determining the cause of the communication abnormality if a communication abnormality has occurred.

7. A monitoring method for monitoring the operating status of an air conditioning system in which a plurality of indoor units are connected in parallel to an outdoor unit via a pair of commercial power lines, each of which is composed of a power line and a shared line, and a signal line, comprising: a communication status monitoring means for determining which of a plurality of predetermined levels a signal level of a communication signal on the signal line is, based on a voltage between the signal line and the shared line; A monitoring method in which an abnormality determination means determines whether or not a communication abnormality has occurred in the air conditioning system based on a history of the signal level of the determined communication signal, and if a communication abnormality has occurred, determines the cause of the communication abnormality.

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