Air conditioning system, system controller, air conditioner, server, and remote control activation method

Abstract

This air conditioning system comprises: an activation code issuance unit (202) that issues an activation code for a remote control; a remote control authentication unit (205) that authenticates a remote control (5) on the basis of the activation code and a remote control input code which is a code inputted to the remote control (5) by a user; and an activation unit (503) that activates the remote control (5) when the remote control (5) is successfully authenticated by the remote control authentication unit (205).

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an air conditioning system, a system controller, an air conditioner, a server, and a remote control activation method. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, cyber attacks on field networks in factories and the like have been increasing, and there is a growing demand for security measures in air conditioning systems (for example, Patent Document 1) that provide air conditioning to buildings, stores, facilities, etc. In particular, there is a demand for measures to prevent unauthorized use of remote controls (see paragraph 0037 of Patent Document 1) that accept user operations related to air conditioning (for example, instructions to start / stop operation, switching operation modes, changing the set temperature, etc.). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4165581 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] For example, in this type of air conditioning system, if a third party fraudulently installs an unauthorized remote control, it is possible to determine that the remote control is an unauthorized remote control through authenticity authentication, thereby preventing unauthorized operation of the air conditioning system via that remote control. However, in the past, when a genuine remote control was fraudulently installed in this type of air conditioning system, it was difficult to detect the genuine remote control as an unauthorized remote control, which posed a problem that unauthorized operation of the air conditioning system was possible.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an activation method for an air conditioning system, a system controller, an air conditioner, a server, and a remote control that can prevent unauthorized operation of an air conditioning system using a genuine remote control that has been illegally installed by a third party. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the air conditioning system according to the present disclosure comprises: an issuance request operation receiving means for receiving an operation from a user requesting the issuance of an activation code for a remote control; When the issuing request operation accepting means accepts the operation, an activation code issuing means for issuing an activation code; an activation code display means for displaying the activation code issued by the activation code issuing means; a remote control authentication means for authenticating the remote control based on the activation code and a remote control input code that is a code input into the remote control by a user; a system controller comprising: and an activation means for activating the remote controller when the authentication of the remote controller by the remote controller authentication means is successful. picture, the remote control authentication means transmits the authentication result of the remote control to the device including the activation means; The activation means activates the remote control when the authentication result indicates successful authentication. . [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to prevent unauthorized operation of an air conditioning system using a genuine remote control that has been illegally installed by a third party. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a system controller according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an outdoor unit according to a first embodiment. [Figure 4]Block diagram showing the hardware configuration of an indoor unit according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a remote control according to a first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a system controller and a remote controller according to a first embodiment. [Figure 7] Flowchart showing the procedure of remote control authentication processing in the first embodiment [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart showing the procedure of activation processing according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an outdoor unit according to a second embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of an outdoor unit and a remote controller according to a second embodiment. [Figure 12] Flowchart showing the procedure of remote control authentication processing in the second embodiment [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of activation processing in the second embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an outdoor unit according to a third embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a communication terminal according to a third embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of an outdoor unit and a communication terminal according to a third embodiment. [Figure 18] 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of activation code issuance request processing according to the third embodiment. [Figure 19] Flowchart showing the procedure of remote control authentication processing in the third embodiment [Figure 20] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning system according to a fourth embodiment. [Figure 21]FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a remote control according to a fourth embodiment. [Figure 22] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a communication terminal according to a fourth embodiment. [Figure 23] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a server according to a fourth embodiment. [Figure 24] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a remote control and a communication terminal according to a fourth embodiment. [Figure 25] Block diagram showing the functional configuration of a server according to the fourth embodiment. [Figure 26] 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of activation code issuance request processing according to the fourth embodiment. [Figure 27] Flowchart showing the procedure of remote control authentication processing in the fourth embodiment [Figure 28] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning system according to a fifth embodiment. [Figure 29] Block diagram showing the hardware configuration of an indoor unit according to a fifth embodiment. [Figure 30] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a remote control according to a fifth embodiment. [Figure 31] A block diagram showing the functional configuration of a system controller, an indoor unit, and a remote controller according to a fifth embodiment. [Figure 32] Flowchart showing the procedure of remote control authentication processing in the fifth embodiment [Figure 33] 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of activation processing in the fifth embodiment. [Figure 34] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning system according to a sixth embodiment. [Figure 35] FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a repeater according to a sixth embodiment. [Figure 36] FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a communication terminal according to a sixth embodiment. [Figure 37] FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a repeater and a communication terminal according to a sixth embodiment. [Figure 38]Block diagram showing the functional configuration of a server according to the sixth embodiment. [Figure 39] 13 is a flowchart showing the procedure of activation code issuance request processing according to the sixth embodiment. [Figure 40] Flowchart showing the procedure of remote control authentication processing in the sixth embodiment [Figure 41] 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of activation processing in the sixth embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0010] (Embodiment 1) 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning system 1 according to the first embodiment. The air conditioning system 1 is an example of an air conditioning system according to the present disclosure. The air conditioning system 1 is a system for air conditioning a building such as a building, a store, or a facility, and includes a system controller 2, outdoor units 3a and 3b, indoor units 4a and 4b, and a remote control 5.

[0011] <System Controller 2> The system controller 2 is an example of a system controller according to the present disclosure. The system controller 2 is a device for centrally controlling multiple devices (i.e., outdoor units 3a, 3b and indoor units 4a, 4b) that make up the air conditioning system 1, and is installed in a location that is off-limits to unauthorized personnel, such as a control room within the building. As shown in Fig. 2, the system controller 2 includes, as its hardware configuration, a control circuit 20, an operation reception unit 21, a display 22, a communication unit 23, and an auxiliary storage device 24.

[0012] The control circuit 20 is configured to include a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read-Only Memory), RAM (Random-Access Memory), etc., and comprehensively controls the system controller 2. Details of the functions of the system controller 2 realized by the control circuit 20 will be described later. The operation reception unit 21 is configured to include one or more input devices, such as a keyboard, mouse, keypad, push button, touch panel, touchpad, etc., and receives operations by an administrator (e.g., an installer, system administrator, etc.) and outputs a signal related to the received operation to the control circuit 20.

[0013] The display 22 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electroluminescence) display. Under the control of the control circuit 20, the display 22 displays screens for installation and maintenance, screens for monitoring the operation of each device that constitutes the air conditioning system 1, screens for controlling each device, etc. The communication unit 23 is a communication interface including a communication driver IC (Integrated Circuit) and the like, and performs communication via the transmission line 6, which is a centralized transmission line, in accordance with instructions from the control circuit 20. Hereinafter, communication via the centralized transmission line will be referred to as centralized communication. The centralized communication is encrypted, and the common key for this is stored in the auxiliary storage device 24.

[0014] The auxiliary storage device 24 is composed of a readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), etc. Examples of the readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory include an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), a flash memory, etc. The auxiliary storage device 24 stores various programs including a remote control authentication program that is a program for authenticating the remote control 5 when the air conditioning system 1 is started up, and a centralized control program that is a program for centrally controlling the air conditioning system 1, as well as data used when these programs are executed.

[0015] The system controller 2 can acquire the above programs or update programs for updating the above programs via communication from a server, terminal, or the like (not shown) and store them in the auxiliary storage device 24. These programs can also be stored and distributed on computer-readable recording media such as CD-ROMs (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory), DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs), magneto-optical disks, USB (Universal Serial Bus) memories, HDDs, SSDs (Solid-State Drives), and memory cards. When such a recording medium is directly or indirectly attached to the system controller 2, the system controller 2 can read the above programs or update programs from the recording media and store them in the auxiliary storage device 24.

[0016] <Outdoor units 3a, 3b, indoor units 4a, 4b> The outdoor unit 3a is connected to the transmission line 6 and also to the transmission line 7a, which is an indoor / outdoor transmission line. The outdoor unit 3a, the indoor unit 4a, and the remote control 5 are connected to each other via the transmission line 7a so that they can communicate with each other. Hereinafter, communication via the indoor / outdoor transmission line will be referred to as indoor / outdoor system communication. The outdoor unit 3a and the indoor unit 4a are also connected via a first refrigerant pipe (not shown) for circulating the refrigerant. In other words, the outdoor unit 3a and the indoor unit 4a belong to the same refrigerant system.

[0017] The outdoor unit 3b is connected to the transmission line 6 and to the transmission line 7b, which is an indoor / outdoor transmission line. The outdoor unit 3b and the indoor unit 4b are connected to each other via the transmission line 7b so that they can communicate with each other, and are also connected via a second refrigerant pipe that is different from the first refrigerant pipe. In other words, the outdoor unit 3b and the indoor unit 4b belong to the same refrigerant system.

[0018] In the following, when describing what is common to outdoor units 3a and 3b, we will refer to it as outdoor unit 3 without specifying the individual units, when describing what is common to indoor units 4a and 4b, we will refer to it as indoor unit 4 without specifying the individual units, and when describing what is common to transmission lines 7a and 7b, we will refer to it as transmission line 7 without specifying the individual units.

[0019] <Outdoor unit 3> 3, the outdoor unit 3 includes, as a hardware configuration, a control board 30. In addition, like a general outdoor unit, the outdoor unit 3 includes actuators such as a compressor, an outdoor fan, and an electronic expansion valve, as well as sensors such as a pipe temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the refrigerant pipes and an outdoor air temperature sensor that measures the outdoor air temperature, but illustration and description of these components will be omitted.

[0020] The control board 30 includes a control circuit 31, a first communication unit 32, a second communication unit 33, and an auxiliary storage device 34. The control circuit 31 is configured to include a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc., and performs overall control of the outdoor unit 3. The first communication unit 32 is a communication interface configured to include a communication driver IC, etc., and performs centralized communication in accordance with instructions from the control circuit 31. The centralized communication is encrypted, and a common key for this is stored in the auxiliary storage device 34. The second communication unit 33 is a communication interface configured to include a communication driver IC, etc., and performs internal and external communication in accordance with instructions from the control circuit 31. The internal and external communication is encrypted, and a common key for this is stored in the auxiliary storage device 34.

[0021] The auxiliary storage device 34 is composed of, for example, a readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as an EPROM, an EEPROM, or a flash memory. The auxiliary storage device 34 stores an outdoor unit program, which is a program for controlling the outdoor unit 3, and data used when executing the outdoor unit program. The outdoor unit 3 can acquire the outdoor unit program or an update program for updating the outdoor unit program via communication from the system controller 2, a terminal (not shown), or the like, and store the program in the auxiliary storage device 34. These programs can also be stored and distributed on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD, optical magnetic disk, USB memory, HDD, SSD, or memory card. When such a recording medium is directly or indirectly attached to the outdoor unit 3, the outdoor unit 3 can read the outdoor unit program or the update program from the recording medium and store it in the auxiliary storage device 34.

[0022] <Indoor unit 4> 4, the indoor unit 4 includes, as its hardware configuration, a control board 40. In addition, like a typical indoor unit, the indoor unit 4 includes an indoor fan, actuators such as an indoor solenoid valve, a pipe temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the refrigerant pipe, an indoor temperature sensor that measures the indoor temperature, and other sensors, but these components are not shown or described here.

[0023] The control board 40 includes a control circuit 41, a communication unit 42, and an auxiliary storage device 43. The control circuit 41 includes a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc., and performs overall control of the indoor unit 4. The communication unit 42 is a communication interface including a communication driver IC, etc., and performs internal and external communication according to instructions from the control circuit 41. The internal and external communication is encrypted, and a common key for this is stored in the auxiliary storage device 43. The auxiliary storage device 43 is configured, for example, by a readable and writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as an EPROM, EEPROM, or flash memory. The auxiliary storage device 43 stores an indoor unit program, which is a program for controlling the indoor unit 4, and data used when the indoor unit program is executed.

[0024] The indoor unit 4 can acquire the indoor unit program or an update program for updating the indoor unit program via communication from the system controller 2, a terminal (not shown), or the like, and store it in the auxiliary storage device 43. These programs can also be stored and distributed on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD, optical magnetic disk, USB memory, HDD, SSD, or memory card. When such a recording medium is directly or indirectly attached to the indoor unit 4, the indoor unit 4 can read the indoor unit program or update program from the recording medium and store it in the auxiliary storage device 43.

[0025] <Remote Control 5> The remote control 5 is an example of a remote control according to the present disclosure, and is an example of a device equipped with an activation means. The remote control 5 is, for example, a remote controller for receiving air conditioning-related operations from a user who regularly uses the building. As shown in FIG. 5 , the remote control 5 includes, as its hardware configuration, a control circuit 50, an operation receiving unit 51, a display 52, a communication unit 53, and an auxiliary storage device 54. The control circuit 50 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., and comprehensively controls the remote control 5. The functions of the remote control 5 realized by the control circuit 50 will be described in detail below.

[0026] The operation reception unit 51 is configured to include one or more input devices such as push buttons, touch panels, touch pads, slide switches, rotary switches, and toggle switches, and receives operations from users, managers, etc. of the building, and outputs signals related to the received operations to the control circuit 50. The display 52 is configured to include a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic electroluminescence (EL) display. The display 52 displays various screens under the control of the control circuit 50. For example, the display 52 displays an air conditioning operation screen for receiving air conditioning-related operations from users of the building. Air conditioning-related operations include, for example, switching between operation start / stop, switching between operation modes such as cooling, heating, dehumidification, and fan operation, and changing the set temperature, air speed, etc.

[0027] Furthermore, the display 52 displays an activation code input screen for receiving input of an activation code from an administrator when starting up the air conditioning system 1. The communication unit 53 is a communication interface including a communication driver IC and the like, and performs internal and external communication according to instructions from the control circuit 50. The internal and external communication is encrypted, and a common key for this is stored in the auxiliary storage device 54. The auxiliary storage device 54 is configured, for example, by a readable and writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as an EPROM, an EEPROM, or a flash memory. The auxiliary storage device 54 stores a remote control program, which is a program for controlling the remote controller 5, and data used when the remote control program is executed.

[0028] The remote control 5 can acquire a remote control program or an update program for updating the remote control program via communication from the system controller 2, a terminal (not shown), or the like, and store the program in the auxiliary storage device 54. These programs can also be stored in and distributed on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD, magneto-optical disk, USB memory, HDD, SSD, or memory card. When such a recording medium is directly or indirectly attached to the remote control 5, the remote control 5 can read the remote control program or update program from the recording medium and store it in the auxiliary storage device 54.

[0029] <Functional configuration of the system controller 2 and the remote control 5> 6, the system controller 2 includes, as characteristic functions according to the present disclosure, an administrator authentication unit 200, an issuance request operation acceptance unit 201, an activation code issuing unit 202, an activation code display unit 203, an activation code receiving unit 204, and a remote control authentication unit 205. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 20 of the system controller 2 executing the above-mentioned remote control authentication program stored in the auxiliary storage device 24. In addition to these, the system controller 2 also includes functions such as monitoring and controlling the operation of each device, as with a general system controller, but a description of such general functions will be omitted.

[0030] The remote control 5 has characteristic functions according to the present disclosure, including an activation code input acceptance unit 500, an activation code transmission unit 501, an authentication result reception unit 502, an activation unit 503, and a user notification unit 504. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 50 of the remote control 5 executing the above-mentioned remote control program stored in the auxiliary storage device 54. In addition to these, like a general remote control, the remote control 5 has functions such as accepting air conditioning operations from the user and sending commands corresponding to the accepted operations (hereinafter referred to as "air conditioning operation commands") to the indoor / outdoor transmission line (i.e., transmission line 7), but a description of these general functions will be omitted.

[0031] The remote control 5 is in an inactive state when it is started up (in other words, when the power is turned on). A user cannot perform operations on the air conditioning system 1, such as air conditioning operations, using an inactive remote control 5 that has not been activated, even if it is a genuine product. For example, an inactive remote control 5 will not accept operations from the user by hiding or graying out the air conditioning operation screen described above. Alternatively, an inactive remote control 5 will not send commands corresponding to air conditioning operations entered by the user (i.e., air conditioning operation commands) to the internal and external transmission lines.

[0032] For this reason, when starting up the air conditioning system 1, the administrator must perform an operation (hereinafter referred to as "activation operation") to activate the remote control 5 and make it available for use with the air conditioning system 1. In the activation operation, the administrator first operates the operation reception unit 21 of the system controller 2 to input an administrator ID (identifier) ​​and an administrator password. The administrator authentication unit 200 of the system controller 2 authenticates the validity of the administrator based on the input administrator ID and administrator password.

[0033] The issuance request operation receiving unit 201 is an example of an issuance request operation receiving means included in the system controller according to the present disclosure. The issuance request operation receiving unit 201 receives a request for issuance of an activation code for the remote control 5 from an administrator who has been authenticated as a legitimate administrator by the administrator authentication unit 200. Specifically, when the administrator authentication unit 200 authenticates the legitimacy of the administrator, the issuance request operation receiving unit 201 displays an administrator menu screen (not shown) on the display 22. When the administrator performs an operation to select the "Issue activation code for remote control" item on the administrator menu screen, the issuance request operation receiving unit 201 receives the operation and notifies the activation code issuing unit 202 that it has received a request from the administrator to issue an activation code for the remote control 5.

[0034] The activation code issuing unit 202 is an example of an activation code issuing means according to the present disclosure. Upon receiving the notification from the issuance request operation receiving unit 201, the activation code issuing unit 202 issues an activation code for the remote control 5 and stores the issued activation code in the information storage unit 240. The information storage unit 240 is a memory area provided by the auxiliary storage device 24. The activation code display unit 203 displays the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 202 on the display 22. The activation code display unit 203 is an example of an activation code display means included in the system controller according to the present disclosure.

[0035] The administrator visually checks the activation code displayed on the display 22 of the system controller 2. The administrator then goes to the location where the remote control 5 is installed and inputs the activation code issued by the system controller 2 into the remote control 5. Specifically, the activation code input acceptance unit 500 of the remote control 5 displays an activation code input screen (not shown) on the display 52 in response to an operation by the administrator. The administrator inputs the activation code issued by the system controller 2 into the remote control 5 via the activation code input screen. The activation code input acceptance unit 500 notifies the activation code transmission unit 501 that the activation code has been input by the administrator.

[0036] The activation code transmission unit 501 is an example of a remote control input code transmission means according to the present disclosure. The activation code transmission unit 501 transmits an activation code (an example of a remote control input code according to the present disclosure) input by an administrator to the system controller 2 via the transmission line 7, which is an internal / external transmission line. The activation code transmitted from the remote control 5 is received by the activation code reception unit 204 of the system controller 2 via the outdoor unit 3 (i.e., outdoor unit 3a). The activation code reception unit 204 notifies the remote control authentication unit 205 that it has received the activation code from the remote control 5.

[0037] The remote control authentication unit 205 is an example of a remote control authentication means according to the present disclosure. The remote control authentication unit 205 authenticates the remote control 5 based on the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 202 and the activation code input into the remote control 5 by the administrator. Specifically, the remote control authentication unit 205 compares the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 202, which is stored in the information storage unit 240, with the activation code received from the remote control 5. If the two codes match, the remote control authentication unit 205 determines that the remote control 5 is a legitimate remote control (i.e., determines that the authentication is successful), and if the two codes do not match, determines that the remote control 5 is not a legitimate remote control (i.e., determines that the authentication is unsuccessful).

[0038] The remote control authentication unit 205 transmits an authentication result indicating either authentication success or authentication failure to the remote control 5, i.e., the remote control 5 that transmitted the activation code. Note that the remote control authentication unit 205 invalidates the activation code after a certain period of time (for example, several hours to 24 hours) has passed since the activation code issuance unit 202 issued the activation code, and if an activation code identical to the invalid activation code is subsequently transmitted from the remote control 5, the remote control authentication unit 205 transmits an authentication result indicating authentication failure to the remote control 5.

[0039] Furthermore, if the remote control authentication unit 205 determines that the authentication is successful, it registers information indicating that the remote control 5 has been authenticated (hereinafter referred to as "authenticated information") in a remote control management table (not shown). The remote control management table is a data table for managing the authenticated information of remote controls 5 that have been authenticated as legitimate remote controls, and is stored in the information storage unit 240. The authenticated information includes identification information and an address of the remote control 5. The identification information is unique information about the remote control 5, such as a serial number. The address is an address for communication in the air conditioning system 1, and more specifically, an address for indoor and outdoor communication.

[0040] When the air conditioning system 1 is started up, the remote control 5 sends information including its own identification information and address (hereinafter referred to as "remote control information") to the indoor / outdoor transmission line. The address of the remote control 5 is assigned in advance by an administrator via the operation reception unit 51 of the remote control 5. The remote control information sent from the remote control 5 to the indoor / outdoor transmission line is received by the system controller 2 via the outdoor unit 3a. Upon receiving the remote control information, the system controller 2 stores it in the information storage unit 240. When the remote control authentication unit 205 determines that authentication of the remote control 5 is successful, it generates authenticated information based on the remote control information corresponding to the remote control 5 stored in the information storage unit 240, and registers the generated authenticated information in the remote control management table.

[0041] When the remote control authentication unit 205 receives the above remote control information at the start-up of the air conditioning system 1, it refers to the remote control management table to determine whether the remote control 5 has already been authenticated, and if it has been authenticated, it automatically sends an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the remote control 5 without comparing the activation codes, etc. This means that for remote controls 5 that have already been authenticated, there is no need to perform activation work when the air conditioning system 1 is started up, reducing the workload of the administrator.

[0042] The authentication result receiving unit 502 of the remote control 5 receives the authentication result from the system controller 2. If the received authentication result indicates successful authentication, the authentication result receiving unit 502 notifies the activating unit 503 of that fact. On the other hand, if the received authentication result indicates unsuccessful authentication, the authentication result receiving unit 502 notifies the user notifying unit 504 of that fact. The activating unit 503 is an example of an activating means according to the present disclosure. When the activating unit 503 receives notification from the authentication result receiving unit 502 that the authentication result indicating successful authentication has been received, the activating unit 503 activates itself, i.e., the remote control 5, and puts it into an active state.

[0043] Specifically, the activation unit 503 turns on an active state flag stored in the RAM of the control circuit 50 or the auxiliary storage device 54. When the active state flag is turned on, the remote control 5 enables operation of the air conditioning system 1 via the remote control 5. When the power of the remote control 5 is turned off, the active state flag is turned off.

[0044] When the user notification unit 504 receives a notification from the authentication result receiving unit 502 that an authentication result indicating authentication failure has been received, the user notification unit 504 notifies the user, i.e., the administrator, that authentication of the remote control 5 has failed. For example, the user notification unit 504 displays information indicating that authentication has failed, that the entered activation code is incorrect, etc. on the display 52, and prompts the administrator to enter the activation code again.

[0045] It should be noted that when the air conditioning system 1 is started up, the system controller 2 separately authenticates the remote controller 5 as a genuine product.

[0046] <Remote control authentication process> FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the remote control authentication process executed by the system controller 2.

[0047] (Step S100) The system controller 2 determines whether or not the administrator has performed an operation to request the issuance of an activation code for the remote control 5. If the administrator has performed an operation to request the issuance of an activation code (step S100; YES), the processing of the system controller 2 proceeds to step S101. If the administrator has not performed this operation (step S100; NO), the system controller 2 continues the processing of step S100.

[0048] (Step S101) The system controller 2 issues an activation code for the remote control 5 and displays the issued activation code on the display 22. After that, the processing of the system controller 2 proceeds to step S102.

[0049] (Step S102) The system controller 2 determines whether or not an activation code has been received from the remote control 5. If an activation code has been received from the remote control 5 (step S102; YES), the processing of the system controller 2 proceeds to step S103. If an activation code has not been received from the remote control 5 (step S102; NO), the system controller 2 continues the processing of step S102.

[0050] (Step S103) The system controller 2 compares the issued activation code with the activation code received from the remote control 5 and determines whether they match. If they match (step S103; YES), the process of the system controller 2 proceeds to step S104. If they do not match (step S103; NO), the process of the system controller 2 proceeds to step S105.

[0051] (Step S104) The system controller 2 transmits an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the remote controller 5. After that, the system controller 2 ends the remote controller authentication process.

[0052] (Step S105) The system controller 2 transmits an authentication result indicating a failure of authentication to the remote controller 5. After that, the system controller 2 ends the remote controller authentication process.

[0053] <Activation process> FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the activation process executed by the remote controller 5.

[0054] (Step S200) The remote control 5 determines whether an activation code has been input to itself by the administrator. If an activation code has been input to itself (step S200; YES), the processing of the remote control 5 proceeds to step S201. If an activation code has not been input to itself (step S200; NO), the remote control 5 continues the processing of step S200.

[0055] (Step S201) The remote control 5 transmits the activation code input by the administrator to the system controller 2. After that, the process of the remote control 5 proceeds to step S202.

[0056] (Step S202) The remote control 5 determines whether or not the authentication result has been received from the system controller 2. If the authentication result has been received (step S202; YES), the processing of the remote control 5 proceeds to step S203. If the authentication result has not been received (step S202; NO), the remote control 5 continues the processing of step S202.

[0057] (Step S203) The remote control 5 determines whether the received authentication result indicates successful authentication. If the authentication result indicates successful authentication (step S203; YES), the processing of the remote control 5 proceeds to step S204. If the authentication result does not indicate successful authentication, that is, if the authentication result indicates unsuccessful authentication (step S203; NO), the processing of the remote control 5 proceeds to step S205.

[0058] (Step S204) The remote control 5 activates itself and enters an active state, after which the remote control 5 ends the activation process.

[0059] (Step S205) The remote control 5 notifies the user (i.e., the administrator) that the authentication has failed, and then the remote control 5 ends the activation process.

[0060] As described above, in the air conditioning system 1 of this embodiment, a user cannot perform operations on the air conditioning system 1, such as operations related to air conditioning, using an inactive remote control 5 for which activation has not been completed. Therefore, when starting up the air conditioning system 1, a manager such as an installer performs an activation process to activate the remote control 5. In the activation process, the manager operates the system controller 2 to issue an activation code for the remote control 5. The manager inputs the activation code issued by the system controller 2 into the remote control 5. The remote control 5 transmits the activation code input by the manager to the system controller 2.

[0061] The system controller 2 compares the activation code it issued with the activation code received from the remote control 5, and if they match, sends an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the remote control 5. If they do not match, the system controller 2 sends an authentication result indicating unsuccessful authentication to the remote control 5. The remote control 5 activates itself and enters an active state only when it receives an authentication result indicating successful authentication from the system controller 2.

[0062] As described above, the system controller 2 is installed in a location that is off-limits to unauthorized personnel, and furthermore, it accepts activation code issuance requests only from authenticated administrators. This makes it difficult for a third party other than the administrator to perform activation work. As a result, the air conditioning system 1 of this embodiment can prevent unauthorized operation of the air conditioning system 1 using a genuine remote control that has been illegally installed by a third party.

[0063] Furthermore, although the remote control 5 is in an inactive state when the power is turned off, if activation has previously been completed in the air conditioning system 1, the remote control authentication unit 205 of the system controller 2 automatically sends an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the remote control 5 when the air conditioning system 1 is started up. As a result, for remote controls 5 that have already been authenticated, there is no need to perform activation work when the air conditioning system 1 is started up, reducing the workload of the administrator.

[0064] (Variation 1) The air conditioning system 1 in embodiment 1 has two outdoor units 3 (3a, 3b), two indoor units 4 (4a, 4b), and one remote control 5, but there is no limit to the number of outdoor units 3, indoor units 4, and remote controls 5 that can be installed, as long as there is one or more of each.

[0065] (Variation 2) In the air conditioning system 1 in the first embodiment, when the received authentication result indicates that the authentication has failed, the remote control 5 notifies the user (i.e., the administrator) that the authentication has failed, but further, when the authentication result indicates that the authentication has succeeded, the remote control 5 may notify the user by, for example, displaying information indicating that the authentication has succeeded on the display 52. ​​Furthermore, the system controller 2 may notify the user of the success or failure of the authentication by, for example, displaying information based on the authentication result on the display 22.

[0066] (Variation 3) In the air conditioning system 1 according to the first embodiment, the administrator authentication unit 200 of the system controller 2 authenticates the administrator using the input administrator ID and administrator password, but there are no limitations on the method of authenticating the administrator. For example, the administrator authentication unit 200 may authenticate the administrator using two-step authentication that uses a secret keyword in addition to the administrator ID and administrator password, or may authenticate the administrator using biometric authentication such as a fingerprint or retina, or authentication using an IC card carried by the administrator.

[0067] (Variation 4) In the air conditioning system 1 in the first embodiment, the remote control 5 is connected to the transmission line 7a, which is an indoor / outdoor transmission line, and is configured to perform indoor / outdoor communication with the indoor unit 4a and the outdoor unit 3a, but the remote control 5 may be configured to communicate directly with the indoor unit 4a by wire or wirelessly without being connected to the indoor / outdoor transmission line. In this case, the remote control 5 communicates with the outdoor unit 3a etc. via the indoor unit 4a.

[0068] (Variation 5) All or part of the functional units of the system controller 2 (see FIG. 6) may be implemented by dedicated hardware. Also, all or part of the functional units of the remote control 5 (see FIG. 6) may be implemented by dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware may be, 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 thereof.

[0069] The technical ideas according to the above-described modifications may be realized independently or in appropriate combination.

[0070] (Embodiment 2) Next, a description will be given of embodiment 2 of the present disclosure. In the following description, components and the like common to embodiment 1 will be given the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0071] 9 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning system 1A according to embodiment 2. Air conditioning system 1A is an example of an air conditioning system according to the present disclosure. Air conditioning system 1A is a system that conditions the air of a building such as a building, a store, or a facility, and includes an outdoor unit 3A, an indoor unit 4, and a remote control 5A.

[0072] <Outdoor unit 3A> The outdoor unit 3A is an example of an air conditioner according to the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 10, the outdoor unit 3A includes a control board 30A as a hardware configuration. In addition, like a general outdoor unit, the outdoor unit 3A includes a compressor, an outdoor fan, actuators such as an electronic expansion valve, a pipe temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the refrigerant pipes, an outdoor air temperature sensor, and other sensors, but these components are not shown or described here.

[0073] The control board 30A includes a control circuit 31, a first communication unit 32, a second communication unit 33, an auxiliary storage device 34, and a setting reception unit 35. The hardware configuration of the outdoor unit 3A differs from the hardware configuration of the outdoor unit 3 in the first embodiment (see FIG. 3) in that it newly includes a setting reception unit 35, but in other respects the two configurations are similar. However, unlike the outdoor unit 3 in the first embodiment, the first communication unit 32 of the outdoor unit 3A is not connected to a centralized transmission line. The setting reception unit 35 is implemented, for example, by a DIP switch, and receives settings such as an address for internal and external communication and an activation code from an administrator (for example, an installer, a system administrator, etc.). Details of the functions of the outdoor unit 3A realized by the control circuit 31 of the control board 30A will be described later.

[0074] <Remote Control 5A> The remote control 5A is an example of a remote control according to the present disclosure. The remote control 5A is, for example, a remote controller for receiving air conditioning-related operations from a user who regularly uses the building. The hardware configuration of the remote control 5A is the same as that of the remote control 5 according to the first embodiment (see FIG. 5). Details of the functions of the remote control 5A realized by the control circuit 50 of the remote control 5A will be described later.

[0075] <Functional configuration of outdoor unit 3A and remote control 5A> 11, the outdoor unit 3A has, as characteristic functions according to the present disclosure, an activation code input acceptance unit 300, an activation code issuing unit 301, an activation code receiving unit 302, and a remote control authentication unit 303. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 31 of the outdoor unit 3A executing a remote control authentication program stored in the auxiliary storage device 34, which is a program for authenticating the remote control 5A when the air conditioning system 1A is started up. In addition to these, the outdoor unit 3A has functions for performing the same operations as a general outdoor unit, but a description of these general functions will be omitted.

[0076] The remote control 5A includes, as characteristic functions according to the present disclosure, an activation code input acceptance unit 500, an activation code transmission unit 501A, an authentication result reception unit 502A, an activation unit 503, and a user notification unit 504. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 50 of the remote control 5A executing a remote control program, which is a program for controlling the remote control 5A and is stored in the auxiliary storage device 54. In addition to these, like a general remote control, the remote control 5A also includes functions such as accepting air conditioning-related operations from the user and sending air conditioning operation commands, which are commands corresponding to the accepted operations, to the indoor / outdoor transmission line (i.e., transmission line 7), but a description of such general functions will be omitted.

[0077] The functional configuration of the remote control 5A differs from the functional configuration of the remote control 5 of embodiment 1 (see FIG. 6) in that it includes an activation code transmission unit 501A and an authentication result reception unit 502A instead of the activation code transmission unit 501 and the authentication result reception unit 502, but in other respects the configurations of the two are similar. Like the remote control 5 of embodiment 1, the remote control 5A is in an inactive state when started up. A user cannot perform operations on the air conditioning system 1A, such as operations related to air conditioning, using an inactive remote control 5A that has not been activated, even if it is a genuine product.

[0078] In the outdoor unit 3A, the activation code input receiving unit 300 is an example of a setting value input receiving means according to the present disclosure. The activation code input receiving unit 300 receives input of an activation code for the remote control 5 from an administrator. The activation code input by the administrator is an example of a setting value according to the present disclosure. In the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the administrator must activate the remote control 5A when starting up the air conditioning system 1A, thereby performing an activation procedure to make the remote control 5A usable with the air conditioning system 1A.

[0079] In the activation process, first, the administrator operates the setting reception unit 35, which is provided on the control board 30A of the outdoor unit 3A and is composed of dip switches and the like, to input the setting value, i.e., the activation code for the remote control 5A, into the outdoor unit 3A. The activation code input reception unit 300 notifies the activation code issuing unit 301 that the administrator has input the activation code.

[0080] The activation code issuing unit 301 is an example of an activation code issuing means according to the present disclosure. The activation code issuing unit 301 issues an activation code for the remote control 5A based on an activation code input by an administrator. Specifically, the activation code issuing unit 301 issues the activation code input by the administrator as the activation code for the remote control 5A. The activation code issuing unit 301 stores the issued activation code in the information storage unit 340. The information storage unit 340 is a memory area provided by the auxiliary storage device 34.

[0081] The administrator then goes to the installation location of the remote control 5A and inputs the same activation code into the remote control 5A as the activation code input into the outdoor unit 3A. The activation code input accepting unit 500 of the remote control 5A notifies the activation code transmitting unit 501A that the activation code has been input by the administrator. The activation code transmitting unit 501A is an example of a remote control input code transmitting means according to the present disclosure. The activation code transmitting unit 501A transmits the activation code input by the administrator (an example of a remote control input code according to the present disclosure) to the outdoor unit 3A via the transmission line 7, which is an indoor / outdoor transmission line.

[0082] The activation code receiving unit 302 of the outdoor unit 3A receives the activation code sent from the remote control 5A and notifies the remote control authentication unit 303 that the activation code has been received. The remote control authentication unit 303 is an example of a remote control authentication means according to the present disclosure. The remote control authentication unit 303 authenticates the remote control 5A based on the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 301 and the activation code input into the remote control 5A by the administrator. Specifically, the remote control authentication unit 303 compares the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 301, which is stored in the information storage unit 340, with the activation code received from the remote control 5A. If the two codes match, the remote control authentication unit 303 determines that the remote control 5A is a legitimate remote control (i.e., determines that authentication is successful); if the two codes do not match, the remote control authentication unit 303 determines that the remote control 5A is not a legitimate remote control (i.e., determines that authentication is unsuccessful).

[0083] The remote control authentication unit 303 transmits an authentication result indicating either authentication success or authentication failure to the remote control 5A, i.e., the remote control 5A that transmitted the activation code. Note that the remote control authentication unit 303 invalidates the activation code after a certain period of time (for example, several hours to 24 hours) has passed since the activation code issuance unit 301 issued the activation code, and if an activation code identical to the invalid activation code is subsequently transmitted from the remote control 5A, the remote control authentication unit 303 transmits an authentication result indicating authentication failure to the remote control 5A.

[0084] Furthermore, if the remote control authentication unit 303 determines that the authentication is successful, it registers authenticated information indicating that the remote control 5A has been authenticated in a remote control management table (not shown). The remote control management table is a data table for managing authenticated information of remote controls 5A that have been authenticated as legitimate remote controls, and is stored in the information storage unit 340. The authenticated information includes identification information and an address of the remote control 5A. The identification information is unique information about the remote control 5A, such as a serial number. The address is an address for communication in the air conditioning system 1A, and more specifically, an address for internal and external communication.

[0085] Like the remote control 5 in the first embodiment, the remote control 5A transmits remote control information including its own identification information and address to the indoor / outdoor transmission line when the air conditioning system 1A is started up. The address of the remote control 5A is assigned in advance by an administrator via the operation reception unit 51 of the remote control 5A. The remote control information transmitted from the remote control 5A to the indoor / outdoor transmission line is received by the outdoor unit 3A. Upon receiving the remote control information, the outdoor unit 3A stores it in the information storage unit 340. If the remote control authentication unit 303 determines that authentication of the remote control 5A has been successful, it generates authenticated information based on the remote control information corresponding to the remote control 5A stored in the information storage unit 340, and registers the generated authenticated information in the remote control management table.

[0086] When the above remote control information is received at the start-up of the air conditioning system 1A, the remote control authentication unit 303 refers to the remote control management table to determine whether the remote control 5A has been authenticated, and if it has been authenticated, automatically sends an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the remote control 5A without comparing the activation codes, etc. This eliminates the need to perform activation work on already authenticated remote controls 5A at the start-up of the air conditioning system 1A, reducing the workload on the administrator.

[0087] The authentication result receiving unit 502A of the remote control 5A receives the authentication result sent from the outdoor unit 3A. If the received authentication result indicates successful authentication, the authentication result receiving unit 502A notifies the activation unit 503 to that effect. On the other hand, if the received authentication result indicates unsuccessful authentication, the authentication result receiving unit 502A notifies the user notification unit 504 to that effect. The activation unit 503 and the user notification unit 504 perform the same processes as those of the remote control 5 of the first embodiment.

[0088] It is assumed that when the air conditioning system 1A is started up, the outdoor unit 3A separately certifies that the remote control 5A is a genuine product.

[0089] <Remote control authentication process> FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the remote control authentication process executed by the outdoor unit 3A.

[0090] (Step S300) The outdoor unit 3A determines whether or not an activation code has been input to the outdoor unit 3A by the administrator. If an activation code has been input to the outdoor unit 3A (step S300; YES), the processing of the outdoor unit 3A proceeds to step S301. If an activation code has not been input to the outdoor unit 3A (step S300; NO), the outdoor unit 3A continues the processing of step S300.

[0091] (Step S301) The outdoor unit 3A issues the activation code input by the administrator as an activation code for the remote control 5A. Thereafter, the process of the outdoor unit 3A proceeds to step S302.

[0092] (Step S302) The outdoor unit 3A determines whether or not an activation code has been received from the remote control 5A. If an activation code has been received from the remote control 5A (step S302; YES), the processing of the outdoor unit 3A proceeds to step S303. If an activation code has not been received from the remote control 5A (step S302; NO), the outdoor unit 3A continues the processing of step S302.

[0093] (Step S303) The outdoor unit 3A compares the issued activation code with the activation code received from the remote control 5A and determines whether they match. If they match (step S303; YES), the processing of the outdoor unit 3A proceeds to step S304. If they do not match (step S303; NO), the processing of the outdoor unit 3A proceeds to step S305.

[0094] (Step S304) The outdoor unit 3A transmits an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the remote control 5A, after which the outdoor unit 3A ends the remote control authentication process.

[0095] (Step S305) The outdoor unit 3A transmits an authentication result indicating a failure in authentication to the remote control 5A, and then the outdoor unit 3A ends the remote control authentication process.

[0096] <Activation process> FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the activation process executed by the remote controller 5A.

[0097] (Step S400) The remote control 5A determines whether or not an activation code has been input to itself by the administrator. If an activation code has been input to itself (step S400; YES), the processing of the remote control 5A transitions to step S401. If an activation code has not been input to itself (step S400; NO), the remote control 5A continues the processing of step S400.

[0098] (Step S401) The remote control 5A transmits the activation code input by the administrator to the outdoor unit 3A. After that, the process of the remote control 5A proceeds to step S402.

[0099] (Step S402) The remote control 5A determines whether or not an authentication result has been received from the outdoor unit 3A. If an authentication result has been received (step S402; YES), the processing of the remote control 5A proceeds to step S403. If an authentication result has not been received (step S402; NO), the remote control 5A continues the processing of step S402.

[0100] (Step S403) The remote control 5A determines whether the received authentication result indicates successful authentication. If the authentication result indicates successful authentication (step S403; YES), the processing of the remote control 5A proceeds to step S404. If the authentication result does not indicate successful authentication, that is, if the authentication result indicates unsuccessful authentication (step S403; NO), the processing of the remote control 5A proceeds to step S405.

[0101] (Step S404) The remote control 5A activates itself. That is, the remote control 5A puts itself into an active state. After that, the remote control 5A ends the activation process.

[0102] (Step S405) The remote control 5A notifies the user (i.e., the administrator) that the authentication has failed, and then the remote control 5A ends the activation process.

[0103] As described above, in the air conditioning system 1A of this embodiment, a user cannot perform operations on the air conditioning system 1A, such as operations related to air conditioning, using an inactive remote control 5A that has not been activated. Therefore, when starting up the air conditioning system 1A, a manager such as an installer performs an activation process to activate the remote control 5A. In the activation process, the manager inputs a setting value, i.e., an activation code for the remote control 5A, into the outdoor unit 3A, causing the outdoor unit 3A to issue an activation code for the remote control 5A. The manager then inputs into the remote control 5A the same activation code as the activation code input into the outdoor unit 3A. The remote control 5A transmits the activation code input by the manager to the outdoor unit 3A.

[0104] The outdoor unit 3A compares the activation code it issued with the activation code received from the remote control 5A, and if the two match, it sends an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the remote control 5A, but if the two do not match, it sends an authentication result indicating unsuccessful authentication to the remote control 5A. The remote control 5A activates itself and enters an active state only when it receives an authentication result indicating successful authentication from the outdoor unit 3A.

[0105] Because the outdoor unit 3A is generally installed on a rooftop or similar location, it is difficult for unauthorized personnel to easily access the installation location. Furthermore, to enter the activation code, the casing of the outdoor unit 3A must be removed and the setting reception unit 35 on the control board 30A must be directly operated. This makes it difficult for a third party other than the administrator to perform the activation process. As described above, the air conditioning system 1A of this embodiment can prevent unauthorized operation of the air conditioning system 1A using a genuine remote control that has been illegally installed by a third party.

[0106] Furthermore, although the remote control 5A is inactive when the power is turned off, if activation has previously been completed in the air conditioning system 1A, the remote control authentication unit 303 of the outdoor unit 3A automatically sends an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the remote control 5A when the air conditioning system 1A is started up. As a result, for an already authenticated remote control 5A, there is no need to perform activation work when the air conditioning system 1A is started up, reducing the workload of the administrator.

[0107] (Variation 1) The indoor unit 4 may be configured as an example of an air conditioner according to the present disclosure, instead of the outdoor unit 3A. In this modification, the indoor unit 4 has the same functions as the outdoor unit 3A (see FIG. 11) and executes the remote control authentication process shown in FIG.

[0108] (Variation 2) The air conditioning system 1A in embodiment 2 is equipped with one outdoor unit 3A, one indoor unit 4, and one remote control 5A, but there is no limit to the number of outdoor units 3A, indoor units 4, and remote controls 5A that can be installed, as long as there is one or more of each.

[0109] (Variation 3) In the air conditioning system 1A in embodiment 2, when the received authentication result indicates that the authentication has failed, the remote control 5A notifies the user (i.e., the administrator) that the authentication has failed. However, when the authentication result indicates that the authentication has been successful, the remote control 5A may also notify the user by, for example, displaying information indicating that the authentication has been successful on the display 52.

[0110] (Variation 4) In the air conditioning system 1A in the second embodiment, the remote control 5A is connected to the transmission line 7, which is an indoor / outdoor transmission line, and is configured to perform indoor / outdoor communication with the indoor unit 4 and the outdoor unit 3A, but the remote control 5A may be configured to communicate directly with the indoor unit 4 by wire or wirelessly without being connected to the indoor / outdoor transmission line. In this case, the remote control 5A communicates with the outdoor unit 3A via the indoor unit 4.

[0111] (Variation 5) All or part of the functional units of the outdoor unit 3A (see FIG. 11) may be realized by dedicated hardware. Also, all or part of the functional units of the remote control 5A (see FIG. 11) may be realized by dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware may be, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a combination thereof.

[0112] The technical ideas according to the above-described modifications may be realized independently or in appropriate combination.

[0113] (Embodiment 3) Next, a description will be given of embodiment 3 of the present disclosure. In the following description, components and the like common to embodiments 1 and 2 will be given the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0114] 14 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning system 1B according to embodiment 3. Air conditioning system 1B is an example of an air conditioning system according to the present disclosure. Air conditioning system 1B is a system that conditions the air of a building such as a building, a store, or a facility, and includes an outdoor unit 3B, an indoor unit 4, a remote control 5A, and a communication terminal 8.

[0115] <Outdoor unit 3B> The outdoor unit 3B is an example of an air conditioner according to the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 15, the outdoor unit 3B includes a control board 30B as a hardware configuration. In addition, like a general outdoor unit, the outdoor unit 3B includes a compressor, an outdoor fan, actuators such as an electronic expansion valve, a pipe temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the refrigerant pipes, an outdoor air temperature sensor that measures the outdoor air temperature, and other sensors, but these components are not shown or described here.

[0116] The control board 30B includes a control circuit 31, a second communication unit 33, an auxiliary storage device 34, and a third communication unit 36. The hardware configuration of the control board 30B differs from the hardware configuration of the outdoor unit 3 in the first embodiment (see FIG. 3) in that the control board 30B includes the third communication unit 36 ​​instead of the first communication unit 32, but in other respects the configurations of the two are similar. The third communication unit 36 ​​is a communication interface including a communication driver IC and the like, and performs wired or wireless communication with the communication terminal 8 and the like in accordance with instructions from the control circuit 31. As wireless communication, the third communication unit 36 ​​performs communication via, for example, BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), NFC (Near Field Communication), etc.

[0117] <Communication Terminal 8> The communication terminal 8 is an example of a communication terminal according to the present disclosure. The communication terminal 8 is an electronic device carried by an administrator (e.g., an installer, a system administrator, etc.). As shown in FIG. 16 , the communication terminal 8 includes, as hardware components, a control circuit 80, an operation reception unit 81, a display 82, a communication unit 83, and an auxiliary storage device 84. The control circuit 80 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., and performs overall control of the communication terminal 8. The functions of the communication terminal 8 realized by the control circuit 80 will be described in detail below.

[0118] The operation reception unit 81 is configured to include one or more input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, keypad, push button, touch panel, or touchpad, and receives operations from the administrator and outputs a signal related to the received operation to the control circuit 80. The display 82 is configured to include a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display. The display 82 displays a screen or the like for receiving operations from the administrator under the control of the control circuit 80. The communication unit 83 is a communication interface configured to include a communication driver IC or the like, and performs wired or wireless communication with devices such as the outdoor unit 3B in accordance with instructions from the control circuit 80. As wireless communication, the communication unit 83 performs communication using, for example, BLE, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), NFC, or the like.

[0119] The auxiliary storage device 84 is composed of a readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory, a HDD, etc. Examples of the readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory include an EPROM, an EEPROM, and a flash memory. The auxiliary storage device 84 stores various programs including an application program (hereinafter referred to as an "administrator app") for supporting the administrator's work, and data used when these programs are executed.

[0120] Communications terminal 8 can acquire the administrator app or an update program for updating the administrator app via communication from a server, terminal, or the like (not shown) and store the program in auxiliary storage device 84. These programs can also be stored and distributed on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD, optical magnetic disk, USB memory, HDD, SSD, or memory card. When such a recording medium is directly or indirectly attached to communications terminal 8, communications terminal 8 can read the administrator app or update program from the recording medium and store the program in auxiliary storage device 84.

[0121] <Functional configuration of outdoor unit 3B and communication terminal 8> 17, the outdoor unit 3B has, as characteristic functions according to the present disclosure, an activation code issuing unit 301A, an activation code receiving unit 302, a remote control authentication unit 303, an issuance request receiving unit 304, and an activation code transmitting unit 305. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 31 of the outdoor unit 3B executing a remote control authentication program stored in the auxiliary storage device 34, which is a program for authenticating the remote control 5A when the air conditioning system 1B is started up. In addition to these, the outdoor unit 3B has functions for performing the same operations as a general outdoor unit, but a description of these general functions will be omitted.

[0122] The functional configuration of the outdoor unit 3B differs from the functional configuration of the outdoor unit 3A of embodiment 2 (see FIG. 11) in that it has an issuance request receiving unit 304, an activation code issuing unit 301A, and an activation code transmitting unit 305 instead of the activation code input receiving unit 300 and the activation code issuing unit 301, but in other respects the configurations of the two are similar.

[0123] The communications terminal 8 includes an administrator authentication unit 800, an issuance request operation receiving unit 801, an issuance request transmitting unit 802, an activation code receiving unit 803, and an activation code display unit 804. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 80 of the communications terminal 8 executing the above-described administrator app stored in the auxiliary storage device 84. The administrator authentication unit 800 authenticates the administrator, who is the operator. As in the second embodiment, when starting up the air conditioning system 1B, the administrator activates the remote control 5A and performs an activation operation to make it usable with the air conditioning system 1B. In the activation operation, first, the administrator operates the operation receiving unit 81 of the communications terminal 8 to input an administrator ID and an administrator password. The administrator authentication unit 800 authenticates the legitimacy of the administrator based on the input administrator ID and administrator password.

[0124] The issuance request operation receiving unit 801 is an example of an issuance request operation receiving means included in the communication terminal according to the present disclosure. The issuance request operation receiving unit 801 receives an operation requesting the issuance of an activation code for the remote control 5A from an administrator who has been authenticated as a legitimate administrator by the administrator authentication unit 800. Specifically, when the administrator authentication unit 800 authenticates the legitimacy of the administrator, the issuance request operation receiving unit 801 displays an administrator menu screen (not shown) on the display 82. When the administrator performs an operation to select the "Issue activation code for remote control" item on the administrator menu screen, the issuance request operation receiving unit 801 receives the operation and notifies the issuance request transmission unit 802 that it has received a request for issuance of an activation code from the administrator.

[0125] The issuance request transmitting unit 802 is an example of an issuance request transmitting means according to the present disclosure. Upon receiving the notification from the issuance request operation receiving unit 801, the issuance request transmitting unit 802 transmits an activation code issuance request to the outdoor unit 3B.

[0126] In the outdoor unit 3B, the issuance request receiving unit 304 receives a request to issue an activation code from the communication terminal 8. The issuance request receiving unit 304 notifies the activation code issuing unit 301A that the issuance request for the activation code has been received. The activation code issuing unit 301A is an example of an activation code issuing means according to the present disclosure. Upon receiving the notification, the activation code issuing unit 301A issues an activation code for the remote control 5A. The activation code issuing unit 301A stores the issued activation code in the information storage unit 340. The activation code transmitting unit 305 transmits the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 301A to the communication terminal 8. The activation code transmitting unit 305 is an example of an activation code transmitting means provided in an air conditioner according to the present disclosure.

[0127] The activation code receiving unit 803 of the communications terminal 8 receives the activation code from the outdoor unit 3B and notifies the activation code display unit 804 that the activation code has been received. The activation code display unit 804 is an example of an activation code display means provided in the communications terminal according to the present disclosure. Upon receiving the notification, the activation code display unit 804 displays the activation code received from the outdoor unit 3B on the display 82. The administrator visually checks the activation code displayed on the display 82 of the communications terminal 8. The administrator then goes to the installation location of the remote control 5A and inputs the activation code issued by the outdoor unit 3B into the remote control 5A. The subsequent operations of the remote control 5A and the outdoor unit 3B are the same as those of the remote control 5A and the outdoor unit 3A in the second embodiment.

[0128] It is assumed that when the air conditioning system 1B is started up, the outdoor unit 3B separately certifies that the remote control 5A is a genuine product.

[0129] <Activation code issuance request process> FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the activation code issuance request process executed by the communication terminal 8.

[0130] (Step S500) The communication terminal 8 determines whether or not an operation to request the issuance of an activation code for the remote control 5A has been performed by the administrator. If an operation to request the issuance of an activation code has been performed (step S500; YES), the processing of the communication terminal 8 proceeds to step S501. If the operation has not been performed (step S500; NO), the communication terminal 8 continues the processing of step S500.

[0131] (Step S501) The communication terminal 8 transmits a request to issue an activation code for the remote control 5A to the outdoor unit 3B. After that, the processing of the communication terminal 8 proceeds to step S502.

[0132] (Step S502) The communications terminal 8 determines whether or not an activation code has been received from the outdoor unit 3B. If an activation code has been received from the outdoor unit 3B (step S502; YES), the processing of the communications terminal 8 proceeds to step S503. If an activation code has not been received from the outdoor unit 3B (step S502; NO), the communications terminal 8 continues the processing of step S502.

[0133] (Step S503) The communications terminal 8 displays the activation code received from the outdoor unit 3B, i.e., the activation code issued by the outdoor unit 3B, on the display 82. Thereafter, the communications terminal 8 ends the activation code issuance request process.

[0134] <Remote control authentication process> FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the remote control authentication process executed by the outdoor unit 3B.

[0135] (Step S600) The outdoor unit 3B determines whether or not it has received a request to issue an activation code from the communication terminal 8. If it has received a request to issue an activation code (step S600; YES), the processing of the outdoor unit 3B proceeds to step S601. If it has not received a request to issue an activation code (step S600; NO), the outdoor unit 3B continues the processing of step S600.

[0136] (Step S601) The outdoor unit 3B issues an activation code for the remote control 5A. After that, the process of the outdoor unit 3B proceeds to step S602.

[0137] (Step S602) The outdoor unit 3B transmits the issued activation code to the communication terminal 8. Thereafter, the process of the outdoor unit 3B proceeds to step S603.

[0138] (Step S603) The outdoor unit 3B determines whether or not it has received an activation code from the remote control 5A. If it has received an activation code from the remote control 5A (step S603; YES), the processing of the outdoor unit 3B proceeds to step S604. If it has not received an activation code from the remote control 5A (step S603; NO), the outdoor unit 3B continues the processing of step S603.

[0139] (Step S604) The outdoor unit 3B compares the issued activation code with the activation code received from the remote control 5A and determines whether they match. If they match (step S604; YES), the processing of the outdoor unit 3B proceeds to step S605. If they do not match (step S604; NO), the processing of the outdoor unit 3B proceeds to step S606.

[0140] (Step S605) The outdoor unit 3B transmits an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the remote control 5A, and then the outdoor unit 3B ends the remote control authentication process.

[0141] (Step S606) The outdoor unit 3B transmits an authentication result indicating a failure in authentication to the remote control 5A, and then the outdoor unit 3B ends the remote control authentication process.

[0142] As described above, in the air conditioning system 1B of this embodiment, a user cannot perform operations on the air conditioning system 1B, such as operations related to air conditioning, using an inactive remote control 5A that has not been activated. Therefore, when starting up the air conditioning system 1B, a manager such as an installer performs an activation process to activate the remote control 5A. In the activation process, the manager operates the communication terminal 8 to request the outdoor unit 3B to issue an activation code for the remote control 5A. Upon receiving the request from the communication terminal 8, the outdoor unit 3B issues an activation code for the remote control 5A. The outdoor unit 3B transmits the issued activation code to the communication terminal 8, and the communication terminal 8 displays the activation code received from the outdoor unit 3B on the display 82.

[0143] The administrator enters the activation code issued by the outdoor unit 3B into the remote control 5A. The remote control 5A transmits the activation code entered by the administrator to the outdoor unit 3B. The outdoor unit 3B compares the activation code it issued with the activation code received from the remote control 5A, and if the two match, it transmits an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the remote control 5A. If the two do not match, it transmits an authentication result indicating unsuccessful authentication to the remote control 5A. The remote control 5A activates itself and enters an active state only when it receives an authentication result indicating successful authentication from the outdoor unit 3A.

[0144] As described above, the outdoor unit 3B issues an activation code for the remote control 5A in response to a request from the communication terminal 8 carried by the administrator, making it difficult for a third party other than the administrator to perform the activation work. As described above, the air conditioning system 1B in this embodiment makes it possible to prevent unauthorized operation of the air conditioning system 1B using a genuine remote control that has been fraudulently installed by a third party.

[0145] Furthermore, the outdoor unit 3B issues an activation code without the administrator operating the dip switches or the like on the control board 30B, so even if a third party were to be able to check the switch settings on the control board 30B of the outdoor unit 3B, the issued activation code would not be known to the third party.

[0146] Furthermore, the activation code for the remote control 5A issued by the outdoor unit 3B is displayed on the communication terminal 8 carried by the administrator, so the administrator can easily block third parties from peeking.

[0147] Furthermore, although the remote control 5A is inactive when the power is turned off, if activation has previously been completed in the air conditioning system 1B, the remote control authentication unit 303 of the outdoor unit 3B automatically sends an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the remote control 5A when the air conditioning system 1B is started up. As a result, for an already authenticated remote control 5A, there is no need to perform activation work when the air conditioning system 1B is started up, reducing the workload of the administrator.

[0148] (Variation 1) The indoor unit 4 may be configured as an example of an air conditioner according to the present disclosure, instead of the outdoor unit 3B. In this modification, the indoor unit 4 has the same functions as the outdoor unit 3B (see FIG. 17) and executes the remote control authentication process shown in FIG.

[0149] (Variation 2) The air conditioning system 1B in embodiment 3 is equipped with one outdoor unit 3B, one indoor unit 4, and one remote control 5A, but there is no limit to the number of outdoor units 3B, indoor units 4, and remote controls 5A that may be installed, as long as there is one or more of each.

[0150] (Variation 3) In the air conditioning system 1B of embodiment 3, when the received authentication result indicates that the authentication has failed, the remote control 5A notifies the user (i.e., the administrator) that the authentication has failed. However, when the authentication result indicates that the authentication has been successful, the remote control 5A may also notify the user by, for example, displaying information indicating that the authentication has been successful on the display 52.

[0151] (Variation 4) In the air conditioning system 1B of the third embodiment, the administrator authentication unit 800 of the communication terminal 8 authenticates the administrator using the input administrator ID and administrator password, but there are no limitations on the method of authenticating the administrator. For example, the administrator authentication unit 800 may authenticate the administrator using two-step authentication that uses a secret keyword in addition to the administrator ID and administrator password, or may authenticate the administrator using biometric authentication such as a fingerprint or retina, or authentication using an IC card carried by the administrator.

[0152] (Variation 5) The configuration may be such that the communications terminal 8 issues an activation code for the remote control 5A and transmits the issued activation code to the outdoor unit 3B. The outdoor unit 3B in this modification includes an activation code receiving unit (not shown) that receives an activation code from the communications terminal 8, instead of the issuance request receiving unit 304, activation code issuing unit 301A, and activation code transmitting unit 305 in FIG.

[0153] (Variation 6) In the air conditioning system 1B of the third embodiment, the remote control 5A is connected to the transmission line 7, which is an indoor / outdoor transmission line, and is configured to perform indoor / outdoor communication with the indoor unit 4 and the outdoor unit 3B, but the remote control 5A may be configured to communicate directly with the indoor unit 4 by wire or wirelessly without being connected to the indoor / outdoor transmission line. In this case, the remote control 5A communicates with the outdoor unit 3B via the indoor unit 4.

[0154] (Variation 7) During communication between the communication terminal 8 and the outdoor unit 3B, the outdoor unit 3B may be configured to authenticate the communication terminal 8 using a challenge and response method. For example, the outdoor unit 3B and the communication terminal 8 each hold a common password, and when the communication terminal 8 sends a request to issue an activation code to the outdoor unit 3B, the outdoor unit 3B generates a challenge and sends the generated challenge to the communication terminal 8. The communication terminal 8 generates a response (hereinafter referred to as a "first response") based on the challenge received from the outdoor unit 3B and the password it holds, and sends the generated first response to the outdoor unit 3B.

[0155] The outdoor unit 3B generates a response (hereinafter referred to as the "second response") based on the generated challenge and the password it holds. The outdoor unit 3B compares the first response received from the communication terminal 8 with the generated second response, and if the two match, it determines that the communication terminal 8 is a legitimate communication terminal and issues an activation code for the remote control 5A. By doing this, even if the communication between the communication terminal 8 and the outdoor unit 3B is intercepted and a command requesting the issuance of an activation code is discovered, it is not possible to make the outdoor unit 3B issue an activation code using a terminal other than the communication terminal 8, making it possible to more reliably prevent the activation of an unauthorized remote control.

[0156] (Variation 8) All or part of the functional units of the outdoor unit 3B (see FIG. 17) may be realized by dedicated hardware. Also, all or part of the functional units of the communication terminal 8 (see FIG. 17) may be realized by dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware is, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a combination thereof.

[0157] The technical ideas according to the above-described modifications may be realized independently or in appropriate combination.

[0158] (Fourth embodiment) Next, a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. In the following description, components that are common to the first to third embodiments will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

[0159] 20 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning system 1C according to the fourth embodiment. The air conditioning system 1C is an example of an air conditioning system according to the present disclosure. The air conditioning system 1C is a system for air conditioning a building such as a building, a store, or a facility, and includes an outdoor unit 3, an indoor unit 4, a remote control 5B, a communication terminal 8A, and a server 9.

[0160] <Remote Control 5B> The remote control 5B is an example of a remote control according to the present disclosure. The remote control 5B is, for example, a remote controller for receiving air conditioning-related operations from a user who regularly uses the building. As shown in FIG. 21 , the hardware configuration of the remote control 5B includes a control circuit 50, an operation receiving unit 51, a display 52, a communication unit 53, an auxiliary storage device 54, and a second communication unit 55. The hardware configuration of the remote control 5B differs from the hardware configuration of the remote control 5 in the first embodiment (see FIG. 5 ) in that the second communication unit 55 is newly included, but in other respects the two configurations are similar.

[0161] The second communication unit 55 is a communication interface including a communication driver IC and the like, and performs wired or wireless communication with the communication terminal 8A in accordance with instructions from the control circuit 50. As wireless communication, the second communication unit 55 performs communication using, for example, BLE, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), NFC, etc. Details of the functions of the remote control 5B realized by the control circuit 50 of the remote control 5B will be described later.

[0162] <Communication terminal 8A> The communication terminal 8A is an example of a communication terminal according to the present disclosure. The communication terminal 8A is an electronic device carried by an administrator (e.g., an installer, a system administrator, etc.). As shown in FIG. 22, the communication terminal 8A includes, as its hardware configuration, a control circuit 80, an operation reception unit 81, a display 82, a communication unit 83, an auxiliary storage device 84, and a second communication unit 85. The hardware configuration of the communication terminal 8A differs from the hardware configuration of the communication terminal 8 in the third embodiment (see FIG. 16) in that the communication terminal 8A newly includes the second communication unit 85, but in other respects the configurations of the two are similar.

[0163] The second communication unit 85 is a communication interface including a communication driver IC and the like, and performs long-distance communication with devices such as the server 9 in accordance with instructions from the control circuit 80. For example, the second communication unit 85 performs communication using a cellular system (e.g., LTE (Long-Term Evolution), LPWA (Low Power Wide Area), etc.), BLE, etc. Details of the functions of the communication terminal 8A realized by the control circuit 80 of the communication terminal 8A will be described later.

[0164] <Server 9> The server 9 is an example of a server according to the present disclosure. The server 9 is a cloud server or an on-premise server, installed in a location different from the building where the air conditioning system 1C is installed, and provides a service for supporting activation of the remote control 5B. As shown in FIG. 23 , the server 9 includes, as its hardware configuration, a control circuit 90, a communication unit 91, and an auxiliary storage device 92. The control circuit 90 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., and performs overall control of the server 9. Details of the functions of the server 9 realized by the control circuit 90 will be described later. The communication unit 91 is a communication interface including a communication driver IC, etc., and performs long-distance communication with devices such as the communication terminal 8A according to instructions from the control circuit 90. For example, the communication unit 91 performs communication using a cellular system (e.g., LTE, LPWA, etc.), BLE, etc.

[0165] The auxiliary storage device 92 is composed of a readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory, a HDD, etc. Examples of the readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory include an EPROM, an EEPROM, a flash memory, etc. The auxiliary storage device 92 stores various programs including a remote control authentication program that is a program for authenticating the remote control 5B, and data used when these programs are executed.

[0166] The server 9 can acquire the above-mentioned programs or update programs for updating the above-mentioned programs via communication from other servers, terminals, etc. (not shown) and store them in the auxiliary storage device 92. These programs can also be stored and distributed on computer-readable recording media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, magneto-optical disks, USB memories, HDDs, SSDs, memory cards, etc. When such a recording medium is directly or indirectly attached to the server 9, the server 9 can read the above-mentioned programs or update programs from the recording medium and store them in the auxiliary storage device 92.

[0167] <Functional Configuration of Remote Control 5B and Communication Terminal 8A> 24, the remote control 5B includes, as characteristic functions according to the present disclosure, an activation code input acceptance unit 500, an activation code transmission unit 501B, an authentication result reception unit 502B, an activation unit 503, and a user notification unit 504. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 50 of the remote control 5B executing a remote control program, which is a program for controlling the remote control 5B and is stored in the auxiliary storage device 54. In addition to these, like a general remote control, the remote control 5B also includes functions such as accepting air conditioning operations from the user and sending air conditioning operation commands, which are commands corresponding to the accepted operations, to the indoor / outdoor transmission line (i.e., transmission line 7), but a description of such general functions will be omitted.

[0168] The functional configuration of the remote control 5B differs from the functional configuration of the remote control 5 of embodiment 1 (see FIG. 6) in that it includes an activation code transmission unit 501B and an authentication result reception unit 502B instead of the activation code transmission unit 501 and the authentication result reception unit 502, but in other respects the configurations of the two are similar. Like the remote control 5 of embodiment 1, the remote control 5B is in an inactive state when started up. A user cannot perform operations on the air conditioning system 1C, such as air conditioning operations, using an inactive remote control 5B that has not been activated, even if it is a genuine product. For this reason, when starting up the air conditioning system 1C, an administrator activates the remote control 5B and performs an activation process to make it usable with the air conditioning system 1C.

[0169] The communications terminal 8A includes an administrator authentication unit 800, an issuance request operation reception unit 801, an issuance request transmission unit 802A, an activation code reception unit 803A, an activation code display unit 804, a system information input reception unit 805, a system information transmission unit 806, an activation code transfer unit 807, and an authentication result transfer unit 808. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 80 of the communications terminal 8A executing an administrator app, which is an application program stored in the auxiliary storage device 84 and which supports the work of the administrator.

[0170] The functional configuration of communications terminal 8A differs from the functional configuration of communications terminal 8 of embodiment 3 (see FIG. 17) in that it includes an issuance request transmitting unit 802A, an activation code receiving unit 803A, a system information input accepting unit 805, a system information transmitting unit 806, an activation code forwarding unit 807, and an authentication result forwarding unit 808 instead of the issuance request transmitting unit 802 and the activation code receiving unit 803, but in other respects the configurations of both are similar. System information input accepting unit 805 accepts input of system information from an administrator who has been authenticated as a legitimate administrator by administrator authentication unit 800.

[0171] The administrator must register in advance (at least before performing work on the air conditioning system 1C) the account of the air conditioning system 1C to be worked on in the server 9. The system information is information required when registering the account. The system information includes, for example, system attribute information including unique information such as the serial number of each device (outdoor unit 3, indoor unit 4, and remote control 5B), and worker attribute information including the worker's contact information (telephone number, email address, etc.), login password, etc. The system information transmission unit 806 transmits the system information entered by the administrator to the server 9 together with a request to register the account.

[0172] When the administrator performs an operation to request the issuance of an activation code for the remote control 5B during the activation process, the issuance request transmission unit 802A transmits an activation code issuance request to the server 9. The issuance request transmission unit 802A is an example of an issuance request transmission means according to the present disclosure. The activation code reception unit 803A receives the activation code transmitted from the server 9 after the issuance request transmission unit 802A transmits the activation code issuance request. The activation code display unit 804 displays the activation code received by the issuance request transmission unit 802A on the display 82. The administrator visually checks the activation code displayed on the display 82 of the communication terminal 8A.

[0173] The administrator then goes to the location where the remote control 5B is installed and inputs the activation code issued by the server 9 into the remote control 5B. The activation code input accepting unit 500 of the remote control 5B notifies the activation code transmitting unit 501B that the activation code has been input by the administrator. The activation code transmitting unit 501B is an example of a remote control input code transmitting means according to the present disclosure. The activation code transmitting unit 501B transmits the activation code input by the administrator (an example of a remote control input code according to the present disclosure) to the communication terminal 8A.

[0174] The activation code transfer unit 807 of the communication terminal 8A is an example of a remote control input code transfer means provided in the communication terminal according to the present disclosure. The activation code transfer unit 807 transfers the activation code sent from the remote control 5B to the server 9. The authentication result transfer unit 808 is an example of an authentication result transfer means according to the present disclosure. After the activation code transfer unit 807 transfers the activation code to the server 9, the authentication result transfer unit 808 transfers the authentication result sent from the server 9 to the remote control 5B.

[0175] The authentication result receiving unit 502B of the remote control 5B receives the authentication result sent from the server 2 via the communication terminal 8A. If the received authentication result indicates successful authentication, the authentication result receiving unit 502B notifies the activation unit 503 to that effect. On the other hand, if the received authentication result indicates unsuccessful authentication, the authentication result receiving unit 502B notifies the user notification unit 504 to that effect. The activation unit 503 and the user notification unit 504 perform the same processes as those of the remote control 5 of the first embodiment.

[0176] <Server 9 functional configuration> 25, the server 9 includes a system information receiving unit 900, an account generating unit 901, an issuance request receiving unit 902, an activation code issuing unit 903, an activation code transmitting unit 904, an activation code receiving unit 905, and a remote control authentication unit 906. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 90 of the server 9 executing the above-mentioned remote control authentication program stored in the auxiliary storage device 92.

[0177] The system information receiving unit 900 receives the system information sent from the communication terminal 8A together with the account registration request, and notifies the account generating unit 901 of this fact. The account generating unit 901 generates an account in the air conditioning system (i.e., the air conditioning system 1C) based on the received system information. At that time, the account generating unit 901 sends a one-time password to the contact information (telephone number, email address, etc.) of the worker, and generates an account only when the worker inputs the one-time password. This makes it possible to prevent the generation of an account based on system information that includes fraudulent contact information.

[0178] The account generation unit 901 registers the generated account for the air conditioning system 1C in an account management table (not shown) stored in the information storage unit 920. The information storage unit 920 is a memory area provided by the auxiliary storage device 92. If an account for an air conditioning system including a device (which may be only one device) with the same serial number is already registered in the account management table, the account generation unit 901 notifies the communication terminal 8A that has requested the registration that the registration is not possible, and also notifies the contact information corresponding to the registered account that a registration request has been made for an air conditioning system including the same device.

[0179] This prevents the registration of unauthorized accounts for the same air conditioning system after a legitimate account has been registered, and also notifies the authorized worker that a request to register an unauthorized account has been made. Furthermore, if an unauthorized account has been registered previously, the authorized worker can be notified of this when he or she requests to register an account.

[0180] The issuance request receiving unit 902 receives a request to issue an activation code from the communication terminal 8A. The issuance request receiving unit 902 notifies the activation code issuing unit 903 that the issuance request for the activation code has been received. The activation code issuing unit 903 is an example of an activation code issuing means according to the present disclosure. Upon receiving the notification, the activation code issuing unit 903 issues an activation code for the remote control 5B. The activation code issuing unit 903 stores the issued activation code in the information storage unit 920. The activation code transmitting unit 904 transmits the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 903 to the communication terminal 8A. The activation code transmitting unit 904 is an example of an activation code transmitting means included in the server according to the present disclosure.

[0181] The activation code receiving unit 905 receives the activation code that is input into the remote control 5B by the administrator and transmitted from the remote control 5B via the communication terminal 8A. The activation code receiving unit 905 notifies the remote control authentication unit 906 that the activation code has been received.

[0182] The remote control authentication unit 906 is an example of a remote control authentication means according to the present disclosure. The remote control authentication unit 906 authenticates the remote control 5B based on the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 903 and the activation code input into the remote control 5B by the administrator. Specifically, the remote control authentication unit 906 compares the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 903, which is stored in the information storage unit 920, with the activation code received from the communication terminal 8A. If the two codes match, the remote control authentication unit 906 determines that the remote control 5B is a legitimate remote control (i.e., determines that the authentication is successful), and if the two codes do not match, determines that the remote control 5B is not a legitimate remote control (i.e., determines that the authentication is unsuccessful).

[0183] The remote control authentication unit 906 transmits an authentication result indicating either authentication success or authentication failure to the communication terminal 8A. Note that the remote control authentication unit 906 invalidates the activation code when a certain time (for example, several hours to 24 hours) has elapsed since the activation code issuance unit 903 issued the activation code, and if the communication terminal 8A subsequently sends an activation code identical to the invalid activation code, the remote control authentication unit 906 transmits an authentication result indicating authentication failure to the communication terminal 8A.

[0184] It is assumed that when the air conditioning system 1C is started up, the outdoor unit 3 separately certifies that the remote control 5B is a genuine product.

[0185] <Activation code issuance request process> FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the activation code issuance request process executed by the communications terminal 8A.

[0186] (Step S700) The communication terminal 8A determines whether or not an operation to request the issuance of an activation code for the remote control 5B has been performed by the administrator. If an operation to request the issuance of an activation code has been performed (step S700; YES), the processing of the communication terminal 8A proceeds to step S701. If the operation has not been performed (step S700; NO), the communication terminal 8A continues the processing of step S700.

[0187] (Step S701) The communication terminal 8A transmits a request to issue an activation code for the remote control 5B to the server 9. After that, the process of the communication terminal 8A proceeds to step S702.

[0188] (Step S702) The communications terminal 8A determines whether or not an activation code has been received from the server 9. If an activation code has been received from the server 9 (step S702; YES), the processing of the communications terminal 8A proceeds to step S703. If an activation code has not been received from the server 9 (step S702; NO), the communications terminal 8A continues the processing of step S702.

[0189] (Step S703) The communications terminal 8A displays the activation code received from the server 9, that is, the activation code issued by the server 9, on the display 82. Thereafter, the processing of the communications terminal 8A proceeds to step S704.

[0190] (Step S704) The communications terminal 8A determines whether or not an activation code has been received from the remote control 5B. If an activation code has been received from the remote control 5B (step S704; YES), the processing of the communications terminal 8A proceeds to step S705. If an activation code has not been received from the remote control 5B (step S704; NO), the communications terminal 8A continues the processing of step S704.

[0191] (Step S705) The communication terminal 8A transfers the received activation code to the server 9. After that, the process of the communication terminal 8A proceeds to step S706.

[0192] (Step S706) The communication terminal 8A determines whether or not the authentication result has been received from the server 9. If the authentication result has been received from the server 9 (step S706; YES), the processing of the communication terminal 8A proceeds to step S707. If the authentication result has not been received from the server 9 (step S706; NO), the communication terminal 8A continues the processing of step S706.

[0193] (Step S707) The communication terminal 8A transfers the received authentication result to the remote control 5B, after which the communication terminal 8A ends the activation code issuance request process.

[0194] <Remote control authentication process> FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the remote control authentication process executed by the server 9.

[0195] (Step S800) The server 9 determines whether or not it has received a request to issue an activation code for the remote control 5B from the communication terminal 9A. If it has received a request to issue an activation code (step S800; YES), the process of the server 9 proceeds to step S801. If it has not received a request to issue an activation code (step S800; NO), the server 9 continues the process of step S800.

[0196] (Step S801) The server 9 issues an activation code for the remote control 5 B. After that, the process of the server 9 proceeds to step S802.

[0197] (Step S802) The server 9 transmits the issued activation code to the communication terminal 8 A. After that, the process of the server 9 proceeds to step S803.

[0198] (Step S803) The server 9 determines whether or not an activation code has been received from the communication terminal 8A. If an activation code has been received from the communication terminal 8A (step S803; YES), the process of the server 9 proceeds to step S804. If an activation code has not been received from the communication terminal 8A (step S803; NO), the server 9 continues the process of step S803.

[0199] (Step S804) The server 9 compares the issued activation code with the activation code received from the communication terminal 8A (i.e., input to the remote control 5B) and determines whether they match. If they match (step S804; YES), the process of the server 9 proceeds to step S805. If they do not match (step S804; NO), the process of the server 9 proceeds to step S806.

[0200] (Step S805) The server 9 transmits an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the communication terminal 8A, after which the server 9 ends the remote control authentication process.

[0201] (Step S806) The server 9 transmits an authentication result indicating authentication failure to the communication terminal 8 A. After that, the server 9 ends the remote control authentication process.

[0202] As described above, in the air conditioning system 1C of this embodiment, a user cannot perform operations on the air conditioning system 1C, such as operations related to air conditioning, using an inactive remote control 5B that has not been activated. Therefore, when starting up the air conditioning system 1C, a manager such as an installer performs an activation process to activate the remote control 5B. In the activation process, the manager operates the communication terminal 8A to request the server 9 to issue an activation code for the remote control 5B. Upon receiving the request from the communication terminal 8A, the server 9 issues an activation code for the remote control 5B. The server 9 transmits the issued activation code to the communication terminal 8A, and the communication terminal 8A displays the activation code received from the server 9 on the display 82.

[0203] The administrator enters the activation code issued by the server 9 into the remote control 5B. The remote control 5B transmits the activation code entered by the administrator to the communication terminal 8A. The communication terminal 8A transfers the activation code sent from the remote control 5B to the server 9. The server 9 compares the activation code it issued with the activation code received from the communication terminal 8A, and if the two match, it transmits an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the communication terminal 8A. If the two do not match, it transmits an authentication result indicating unsuccessful authentication to the communication terminal 8A. The communication terminal 8A transfers the authentication result sent from the server 9 to the remote control 5B. The remote control 5B activates itself and enters an active state only when it receives an authentication result indicating successful authentication from the communication terminal 8A.

[0204] As described above, the server 9 issues an activation code for the remote control 5B in response to a request from the communication terminal 8A carried by the authorized administrator of the air conditioning system 1C, making it difficult for a third party who is not the administrator to perform the activation work. As described above, the air conditioning system 1C in this embodiment makes it possible to prevent unauthorized operation of the air conditioning system 1C using an authorized remote control that has been illegally installed by a third party.

[0205] Furthermore, since the activation code for the remote control 5B issued by the server 9 is displayed on the communication terminal 8A carried by the administrator, the administrator can easily block third parties from peeking.

[0206] (Variation 1) The air conditioning system 1C in embodiment 4 is equipped with one outdoor unit 3, one indoor unit 4, and one remote control 5B, but there is no limit to the number of outdoor units 3, indoor units 4, and remote controls 5B that can be installed, as long as there is one or more of each.

[0207] (Variation 2) There are no limitations on the method for authenticating the administrator by the administrator authentication unit 800 of the communication terminal 8A. For example, the administrator authentication unit 800 may authenticate the administrator by two-step authentication using a secret keyword in addition to the administrator ID and administrator password, or may authenticate the administrator by biometric authentication using a fingerprint, retina, or the like, or authentication using an IC card carried by the administrator, or the like.

[0208] (Variation 3) In the air conditioning system 1C in the fourth embodiment, when the received authentication result indicates that the authentication has failed, the remote control 5B notifies the user (i.e., the administrator) that the authentication has failed, but further, when the authentication result indicates that the authentication has succeeded, the remote control 5B may notify the user by, for example, displaying information indicating that the authentication has succeeded on the display 52. ​​Furthermore, instead of or in addition to the notification by the remote control 5B, the communication terminal 8A may notify the user of the success or failure of the authentication by, for example, displaying information based on the authentication result on the display 82.

[0209] (Variation 4) In the air conditioning system 1C in the fourth embodiment, the remote control 5B is connected to the transmission line 7, which is an indoor / outdoor transmission line, and is configured to perform indoor / outdoor communication with the indoor unit 4 and the outdoor unit 3. However, the remote control 5B may be configured to communicate directly with the indoor unit 4 by wire or wirelessly without being connected to the indoor / outdoor transmission line. In this case, the remote control 5B communicates with the outdoor unit 3 via the indoor unit 4.

[0210] (Variation 5) In the air conditioning system 1C of the fourth embodiment, the activation code input to the remote control 5B is notified from the remote control 5B to the server 9 via the communication terminal 8A, but the activation code may also be notified from the remote control 5B to the server 9 via a predetermined device other than the communication terminal 8A (for example, the outdoor unit 3, a system controller (not shown), etc.). In this case, the device has a communication interface capable of long-distance communication with the server 9. Furthermore, the authentication result transmitted from the server 9 may be notified to the remote control 5B via the device.

[0211] (Variation 6) All or part of the functional units of the remote control 5B (see FIG. 24) may be realized by dedicated hardware. Also, all or part of the functional units of the communication terminal 8A (see FIG. 24) may be realized by dedicated hardware. Also, all or part of the functional units of the server 9 (see FIG. 25) may be realized by dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware is, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a combination thereof.

[0212] The technical ideas according to the above-described modifications may be realized independently or in appropriate combination.

[0213] (Embodiment 5) Next, a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. In the following description, components that are common to the first to fourth embodiments will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

[0214] 28 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning system 1D according to embodiment 5. Air conditioning system 1D is an example of an air conditioning system according to the present disclosure. Air conditioning system 1D is a system that conditions the air of a building such as a building, a store, or a facility, and includes a system controller 2A, an outdoor unit 3, an indoor unit 4A, and a remote control 5C.

[0215] <System Controller 2A> The system controller 2A is an example of a system controller according to the present disclosure. The system controller 2A is a device for centrally controlling multiple devices (i.e., the outdoor unit 3 and the indoor unit 4A) that make up the air conditioning system 1D, and is installed in a location that is off-limits to unauthorized personnel, such as a control room within the building. The hardware configuration of the system controller 2A is the same as that of the system controller 2 in the first embodiment (see FIG. 2). Details of the functions of the system controller 2A realized by a control circuit 20 of the system controller 2A will be described later.

[0216] <Indoor unit 4A> The indoor unit 4A is an example of an air conditioner according to the present disclosure, and is an example of a device equipped with activation means. As shown in Fig. 29, the indoor unit 4A is equipped with a control board 40A as a hardware configuration. In addition, like a general indoor unit, the indoor unit 4 is equipped with actuators such as an indoor fan and an indoor solenoid valve, sensors such as a pipe temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the refrigerant pipes, and an indoor temperature sensor that measures the indoor temperature, but these components are not shown or described here.

[0217] The control board 40A includes a control circuit 41, a communication unit 42, an auxiliary storage device 43, and an infrared receiving unit 44. The hardware configuration of the indoor unit 4A differs from the hardware configuration of the indoor unit 4 in embodiment 1 (see FIG. 4) in that it newly includes an infrared receiving unit 44, but in other respects the two configurations are similar. The infrared receiving unit 44 is a communication interface for infrared communication that includes a communication driver IC and the like, and receives information such as air conditioning operation commands that are commands corresponding to user operations related to air conditioning that are sent from the remote control 5C. The functions of the indoor unit 4A that are realized by the control circuit 41 of the control board 40A will be described in detail later.

[0218] <Remote Control 5C> The remote control 5C is an example of a remote control according to the present disclosure. The remote control 5C is, for example, a remote controller for receiving air conditioning-related operations from a user who regularly uses the building. As shown in FIG. 30, the hardware configuration of the remote control 5C includes a control circuit 50, an operation receiving unit 51, a display 52, an auxiliary storage device 54, and an infrared transmission unit 56. The hardware configuration of the remote control 5C differs from the hardware configuration of the remote control 5 in the first embodiment (see FIG. 5) in that the remote control 5C includes the infrared transmission unit 56 instead of the communication unit 53, but in other respects the configurations of the two are similar.

[0219] The infrared transmitter 56 is a communication interface for infrared communication that includes a communication driver IC and the like, and transmits information such as air conditioning operation commands to the indoor unit 4A in accordance with instructions from the control circuit 50. The functions of the remote control 5C that are realized by the control circuit 50 of the remote control 5C will be described in detail later.

[0220] <Functional configuration of the system controller 2A, indoor unit 4A, and remote control 5C> 31, the system controller 2A includes, as characteristic functions according to the present disclosure, an administrator authentication unit 200, an issuance request operation acceptance unit 201, an activation code issuing unit 202, an activation code display unit 203, an activation code receiving unit 204, and a remote control authentication unit 205A. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 20 of the system controller 2A executing a remote control authentication program stored in the auxiliary storage device 24, which is a program for authenticating the remote control 5C when starting up the air conditioning system 1D. In addition to these, the system controller 2A also includes functions such as monitoring and controlling the operation of each device, as with a general system controller, but a description of such general functions will be omitted.

[0221] The functional configuration of system controller 2A differs from that of system controller 2 of embodiment 1 (see FIG. 6) in that it includes remote control authentication section 205A instead of remote control authentication section 205, but in other respects the two configurations are similar.

[0222] The indoor unit 4A has characteristic functions according to the present disclosure, including an activation code transfer unit 400, an authentication result receiving unit 401, and an activation unit 402. These functional units are realized when the control circuit 41 of the indoor unit 4A executes an activation program, which is a program for activating the remote control 5C and is stored in the auxiliary storage device 43. In addition to these, the indoor unit 4A also has functions for performing the same operations as a general indoor unit, but a description of these general functions will be omitted.

[0223] The remote control 5C has, as characteristic functions according to the present disclosure, an activation code input acceptance unit 500 and an activation code transmission unit 501C. These functional units are realized when the control circuit 50 of the remote control 5C executes a remote control program, which is a program for controlling the remote control 5C and is stored in the auxiliary storage device 54. In addition to these, like a general remote control, the remote control 5C also has a function for accepting air conditioning-related operations from the user and transmitting air conditioning operation commands, which are commands corresponding to the accepted operations, to the indoor unit (here, indoor unit 4A) via infrared communication, but a description of such general functions will be omitted.

[0224] When a new remote control 5C is added to the air conditioning system 1D through an expansion or replacement, the user cannot operate the air conditioning system 1D via the remote control 5C, even if it is a genuine product, until activation of the remote control 5C is completed by the indoor unit 4A. Specifically, the indoor unit 4A discards commands, such as air conditioning operation commands, received from the remote control 5C before activation is completed and does not reflect them in the operation of the air conditioning system 1D. For this reason, when starting up the air conditioning system 1D, an administrator (e.g., an installer, a system administrator, etc.) activates the remote control 5C and performs activation work to make it usable with the air conditioning system 1D.

[0225] The administrator's work in the activation work of this embodiment is the same as the administrator's work in the activation work of Embodiment 1. That is, the administrator operates the operation acceptance unit 21 of the system controller 2A to enter an administrator ID and an administrator password to be authenticated, and once authenticated, requests the issuance of an activation code for the remote control 5C. Specifically, once the administrator authentication unit 200 has authenticated the legitimacy of the administrator, the issuance request operation acceptance unit 201 displays an administrator menu screen (not shown) on the display 22. When the administrator performs an operation to select the "Issue activation code for infrared remote control" item on the administrator menu screen, the issuance request operation acceptance unit 201 accepts the operation and notifies the activation code issuing unit 202 that it has accepted the administrator's request to issue an activation code for the remote control 5C.

[0226] Upon receiving the above notification from the issuance request operation reception unit 201, the activation code issuing unit 202 issues an activation code for the remote control 5C and stores the issued activation code in the information storage unit 240. The activation code display unit 203 displays the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 202 on the display 22. The administrator visually checks the activation code displayed on the display 22 of the system controller 2A.

[0227] The administrator then goes to the location where the remote control 5C is installed and inputs the activation code issued by the system controller 2A into the remote control 5C. The activation code transmission unit 501C of the remote control 5C transmits the activation code input by the administrator (an example of a remote control input code according to the present disclosure) to the indoor unit 4A via infrared communication. The activation code transmission unit 501C is an example of a remote control input code transmission means according to the present disclosure.

[0228] The activation code transfer unit 400 of the indoor unit 4A receives the activation code sent from the remote control 5C via infrared communication and transfers the received activation code to the system controller 2A via the indoor / outdoor transmission line 7. The activation code transfer unit 400 is an example of a remote control input code transfer means provided in an air conditioner according to the present disclosure. The activation code sent to the indoor / outdoor transmission line 7 and addressed to the system controller 2A is received by the activation code receiving unit 204 of the system controller 2A via the outdoor unit 3 and the centralized transmission line 6. The activation code receiving unit 204 notifies the remote control authentication unit 205A that it has received the activation code from the remote control 5C.

[0229] The remote control authentication unit 205A is an example of a remote control authentication means according to the present disclosure. The remote control authentication unit 205A authenticates the remote control 5C based on the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 202 and the activation code input into the remote control 5C by the administrator. Specifically, the remote control authentication unit 205A compares the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 202 and the activation code received from the remote control 5C, which are stored in the information storage unit 240. If the two codes match, the remote control authentication unit 205A determines that the remote control 5C is a legitimate remote control (i.e., determines that the authentication is successful), and if the two codes do not match, the remote control authentication unit 205A determines that the remote control 5C is not a legitimate remote control (i.e., determines that the authentication is unsuccessful).

[0230] The remote control authentication unit 205A transmits an authentication result indicating either authentication success or authentication failure to the indoor unit 4A. Note that the remote control authentication unit 205A invalidates the activation code after a certain time (for example, several hours to 24 hours) has passed since the activation code was issued, and if an activation code identical to the invalidated activation code is sent from the remote control 5C thereafter, the remote control authentication unit 205A transmits an authentication result indicating authentication failure to the indoor unit 4A. Note that the system controller 2A may notify the user (i.e., the administrator) of the success or failure of the authentication by, for example, displaying information based on the authentication result on the display 22.

[0231] The authentication result receiving unit 401 of the indoor unit 4A receives the authentication result sent from the system controller 2A and notifies the activating unit 402 that the authentication result has been received. The activating unit 402 is an example of an activating means according to the present disclosure. If the authentication result received by the authentication result receiving unit 401 indicates successful authentication, the activating unit 402 activates the remote control 5C. Specifically, if the received authentication result indicates successful authentication, the activating unit 402 stores information indicating that activation of the remote control 5C has been completed (hereinafter referred to as "activated information") in the information storage unit 430. The information storage unit 430 is a memory area provided by the auxiliary storage device 43. The activated information includes information unique to the remote control 5C whose activation has been completed. The unique information is, for example, a serial number. In the present embodiment, all information transmitted from the remote control 5C includes the unique information of the remote control 5C.

[0232] When the indoor unit 4A receives an air conditioning operation command from the remote control 5C, it determines whether the remote control 5C has been activated by determining whether activation information corresponding to the remote control 5C has been stored in the information storage unit 430. If the remote control 5C has been activated, the indoor unit 4A validates the received air conditioning operation command, and if the remote control 5C has not been activated, it invalidates and discards the received air conditioning operation command.

[0233] It is assumed that when the air conditioning system 1D is started up, the system controller 2A separately authenticates the remote control 5C as a genuine product.

[0234] <Remote control authentication process> FIG. 32 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the remote control authentication process executed by the system controller 2A.

[0235] (Step S900) The system controller 2A determines whether or not an operation to request the issuance of an activation code for the remote control 5C has been performed by the administrator. If an operation to request the issuance of an activation code has been performed by the administrator (step S900; YES), the processing of the system controller 2A proceeds to step S901. If such an operation has not been performed (step S900; NO), the system controller 2A continues the processing of step S900.

[0236] (Step S901) The system controller 2A issues an activation code for the remote control 5C and displays the issued activation code on the display 22. Thereafter, the processing of the system controller 2A proceeds to step S902.

[0237] (Step S902) The system controller 2A determines whether or not an activation code has been received from the indoor unit 4A. That is, it determines whether or not the activation code transmitted from the remote control 5C has been received via the indoor unit 4A. If an activation code has been received from the indoor unit 4A (step S902; YES), the processing of the system controller 2A proceeds to step S903. If an activation code has not been received from the indoor unit 4A (step S902; NO), the system controller 2A continues the processing of step S902.

[0238] (Step S903) The system controller 2A compares the issued activation code with the activation code received from the indoor unit 4A and determines whether they match. If they match (step S903; YES), the processing of the system controller 2A proceeds to step S904. If they do not match (step S903; NO), the processing of the system controller 2A proceeds to step S905.

[0239] (Step S904) The system controller 2A transmits an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the indoor unit 4A, and then the system controller 2A ends the remote control authentication process.

[0240] (Step S905) The system controller 2A transmits an authentication result indicating a failure in authentication to the indoor unit 4A, and then the system controller 2A ends the remote control authentication process.

[0241] <Activation process> FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the activation process executed by the indoor unit 4A.

[0242] (Step S1000) The indoor unit 4A determines whether or not an activation code has been received from the remote control 5C. If an activation code has been received from the remote control 5C (step S1000; YES), the processing of the indoor unit 4A proceeds to step S1001. If an activation code has not been received from the remote control 5C (step S1000; NO), the indoor unit 4A continues the processing of step S1000.

[0243] (Step S1001) The indoor unit 4A transfers the received activation code to the system controller 2A. Thereafter, the processing of the indoor unit 4A proceeds to step S1002.

[0244] (Step S1002) The indoor unit 4A determines whether or not an authentication result has been received from the system controller 2A. If an authentication result has been received (step S1002; YES), the processing of the indoor unit 4A proceeds to step S1003. If an authentication result has not been received (step S1002; NO), the indoor unit 4A continues the processing of step S1002.

[0245] (Step S1003) The indoor unit 4A determines whether the received authentication result indicates successful authentication. If the authentication result indicates successful authentication (step S1003; YES), the processing of the indoor unit 4A proceeds to step S1004. If the authentication result does not indicate successful authentication, that is, if the authentication result indicates unsuccessful authentication (step S1003; NO), the indoor unit 4A ends the activation processing.

[0246] (Step S1004) The indoor unit 4A activates the remote control 4C. Specifically, the indoor unit 4A stores activation completion information indicating that activation of the remote control 5C has been completed in the information storage unit 430. Thereafter, the indoor unit 4A ends the activation process.

[0247] As described above, in the air conditioning system 1D of this embodiment, a user cannot perform operations on the air conditioning system 1D, such as operations related to air conditioning, using a remote control 5C that has not been activated. Therefore, when starting up the air conditioning system 1D, a manager such as an installer performs an activation process to activate the remote control 5C. In the activation process, the manager operates the system controller 2A to issue an activation code for the remote control 5C. The manager inputs the activation code issued by the system controller 2A into the remote control 5C. The remote control 5C transmits the activation code input by the manager to the indoor unit 4A via infrared communication. The indoor unit 4A forwards the activation code received from the remote control 5C to the system controller 2A.

[0248] The system controller 2A compares the activation code it issued with the activation code received from the indoor unit 4A, and if the two match, sends an authentication result indicating successful authentication to the indoor unit 4A, but if the two do not match, sends an authentication result indicating unsuccessful authentication to the indoor unit 4A. Only when the indoor unit 4A receives an authentication result indicating successful authentication from the system controller 2A does it activate the remote control 5C in question and make it available for use with the air conditioning system 1D.

[0249] As described above, the system controller 2A is installed in a location that is off-limits to unauthorized personnel, and furthermore, it accepts activation code issuance requests only from authenticated administrators. This makes it difficult for a third party other than the administrator to perform activation work. As a result, the air conditioning system 1D of this embodiment makes it possible to prevent unauthorized operation of the air conditioning system 1D using a genuine remote control that has been illegally installed by a third party.

[0250] (Variation 1) The outdoor unit 3 may be configured as an example of an air conditioner according to the present disclosure, instead of the indoor unit 4A. In this modification, the outdoor unit 3 includes, as a hardware configuration, an infrared receiving unit (not shown) similar to the infrared receiving unit 44 of the indoor unit 4A. Furthermore, as a functional configuration, the outdoor unit 3 includes the same functions as the indoor unit 4A (see FIG. 31), and executes the activation process shown in FIG. 33.

[0251] (Variation 2) The air conditioning system 1D in embodiment 5 has one outdoor unit 3, one indoor unit 4A, and one remote control 5C, but there is no limit to the number of outdoor units 3, indoor units 4A, and remote controls 5C that can be installed, as long as there is one or more of each.

[0252] (Variation 3) In the air conditioning system 1D of the fifth embodiment, the administrator authentication unit 200 of the system controller 2A authenticates the administrator using the input administrator ID and administrator password, but there are no limitations on the method of authenticating the administrator. For example, the administrator authentication unit 200 may authenticate the administrator using two-step authentication that uses a secret keyword in addition to the administrator ID and administrator password, or may authenticate the administrator using biometric authentication such as a fingerprint or retina, or authentication using an IC card carried by the administrator, etc.

[0253] (Variation 4) All or part of the functional units of the system controller 2A (see FIG. 31) may be realized by dedicated hardware. Also, all or part of the functional units of the indoor unit 4A (see FIG. 31) may be realized by dedicated hardware. Also, all or part of the functional units of the remote control 5C (see FIG. 31) may be realized by dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware may be, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a combination thereof.

[0254] The technical ideas according to the above-described modifications may be realized independently or in appropriate combination.

[0255] (Sixth embodiment) Next, a sixth embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. In the following description, components that are common to the first to fifth embodiments will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

[0256] 34 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning system 1E according to the sixth embodiment. The air conditioning system 1E is an example of an air conditioning system according to the present disclosure. The air conditioning system 1E is a system that conditions the air of a building such as a building, a store, or a facility, and includes an outdoor unit 3, an indoor unit 4, a repeater 10, a communication terminal 8B, and a server 9A.

[0257] <Repeater 10> The repeater 10 is a device that enables remote control of the air conditioning system 1E by the communication terminal 8B and other terminals (not shown) (hereinafter collectively referred to as user terminals), and is an example of a remote controller according to the present disclosure. The repeater 10 receives user operation information, which is information related to user operations, sent from the user terminal via the server 9A. The repeater 10 then generates an air conditioning operation command based on the received user operation information and transmits the generated air conditioning operation command to each device (the outdoor unit 3 and the indoor unit 4) via the transmission line 7, which is an indoor / outdoor transmission line.

[0258] 35, the repeater 10 includes, as its hardware configuration, a control circuit 100, an operation reception unit 101, a display unit 102, a first communication unit 103, a second communication unit 104, and an auxiliary storage device 105. The control circuit 100 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., and performs overall control of the repeater 10. Details of the functions of the repeater 10 realized by the control circuit 100 will be described later. The operation reception unit 101 includes one or more input devices, such as a push button, a touch panel, a touch pad, a slide switch, a rotary switch, a toggle switch, etc., and receives operations from an administrator (e.g., an installer, a system administrator, etc.) and outputs a signal related to the received operation to the control circuit 100.

[0259] The display unit 102 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or an LED (Light-Emitting Diode). Under the control of the control circuit 100, the display unit 102 displays information to be notified to an administrator. The first communication unit 103 is a communication interface including a communication driver IC and the like, and performs internal and external communication according to instructions from the control circuit 100. The internal and external communication is encrypted, and a common key for this is stored in the auxiliary storage device 105. The second communication unit 104 is a communication interface including a communication driver IC and the like, and performs long-distance communication with the server 9A according to instructions from the control circuit 100. For example, the second communication unit 104 performs communication using a cellular system (e.g., LTE, LPWA, etc.), BLE, etc.

[0260] The auxiliary storage device 105 is configured with, for example, a readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as an EPROM, an EEPROM, a flash memory, etc. The auxiliary storage device 105 stores a repeater program, which is a program for controlling the repeater 10, and data used when the repeater program is executed.

[0261] The repeater 10 can acquire the repeater program or an update program for updating the repeater program via communication from the server 9A, another server (not shown), a terminal, etc., and store it in the auxiliary storage device 105. These programs can also be stored and distributed on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD, optical magnetic disk, USB memory, HDD, SSD, or memory card. When such a recording medium is directly or indirectly attached to the repeater 10, the repeater 10 can read the repeater program or update program from the recording medium and store it in the auxiliary storage device 105.

[0262] <Communication terminal 8B> The communication terminal 8B is an example of a communication terminal according to the present disclosure. The communication terminal 8B is an electronic device carried by an administrator. As shown in FIG. 36, the communication terminal 8B includes, as its hardware configuration, a control circuit 80, an operation reception unit 81, a display 82, an auxiliary storage device 84, and a second communication unit 85. The hardware configuration of the communication terminal 8B differs from the hardware configuration of the communication terminal 8A in the fourth embodiment (see FIG. 22) in that the communication terminal 8B does not include the communication unit 83, but otherwise the configurations of the two are similar. Details of the functions of the communication terminal 8B realized by the control circuit 80 of the communication terminal 8B will be described later.

[0263] <Server 9A> The server 9A is an example of a server according to the present disclosure. The server 9A is a cloud server or an on-premise server, and is installed in a location different from the building in which the air conditioning system 1E is installed. The server 9A supports activation of the repeater 10 and provides a service supporting remote operation of the air conditioning system 1E. The hardware configuration of the server 9A is the same as that of the server 9 according to the fourth embodiment (see FIG. 23). The functions of the server 9A realized by the control circuit 90 of the server 9A will be described in detail later.

[0264] <Functional configuration of the repeater 10 and the communication terminal 8B> 37, the repeater 10 includes, as characteristic functions according to the present disclosure, an activation code input receiving unit 1000, an activation code transmitting unit 1001, an authentication result receiving unit 1002, an activating unit 1003, and a user notifying unit 1004. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 100 of the repeater 10 executing the repeater program described above stored in the auxiliary storage device 105. In addition to these, the repeater 10 also includes the functions of receiving user operation information sent from a user terminal via the server 9A, generating an air conditioning operation command based on the received user operation information, and transmitting the generated air conditioning operation command to each device (the outdoor unit 3 and the indoor unit 4) via the transmission line 7, which is an indoor / outdoor transmission line.

[0265] The repeater 10 is in an inactive state when it is started up (in other words, when the power is turned on). Even if it is a genuine product, an inactive repeater 10 that has not been activated will not function as a repeater during remote operation. In other words, remote operation via an inactive repeater 10 is disabled, and no air conditioning operation commands will be sent from that repeater 10 to the indoor / outdoor transmission line. For this reason, when starting up the air conditioning system 1E, the administrator must activate the repeater 10 and perform the activation procedure described below to make it usable with the air conditioning system 1E.

[0266] The communications terminal 8B includes an administrator authentication unit 800, an issuance request operation receiving unit 801, an issuance request transmitting unit 802A, an activation code receiving unit 803A, an activation code display unit 804, a system information input receiving unit 805, and a system information transmitting unit 806. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 80 of the communications terminal 8B executing an administrator app, which is an application program for supporting the work of an administrator and is stored in the auxiliary storage device 84. The functional configuration of the communications terminal 8B differs from the functional configuration of the communications terminal 8A of the fourth embodiment (see FIG. 24 ) in that the communications terminal 8B does not include an activation code transfer unit 807 and an authentication result transfer unit 808, but in other respects the configurations of the two are similar.

[0267] As in the fourth embodiment, the administrator must operate the operation reception unit 81 of the communications terminal 8B in advance (at least before performing work on the air conditioning system 1E) to input system information related to the air conditioning system 1E and register an account for the air conditioning system 1E in the server 9A. In this embodiment, the system information includes, for example, system attribute information including unique information such as the serial number of each device (outdoor unit 3, indoor unit 4, and repeater 10), and worker attribute information including the worker's contact information (telephone number, email address, etc.), login password, etc. The system information transmission unit 806 transmits the system information input by the administrator to the server 9A together with a request to register the account.

[0268] When the administrator performs an operation to request the issuance of an activation code for repeater 10 during the activation process, issuance request transmitter 802A transmits an activation code issuance request to server 9A. Activation code display unit 804 displays the activation code transmitted from server 9A after issuance request transmitter 802A transmits the activation code issuance request on display 82. The administrator visually checks the activation code displayed on display 82 of communication terminal 8B.

[0269] The administrator then moves to the location where the repeater 10 is installed and inputs the activation code issued by the server 9A into the repeater 10. The activation code input receiving unit 1000 of the repeater 10 receives the activation code input by the administrator and notifies the activation code transmitting unit 1001 that the activation code has been input. The activation code transmitting unit 1001 is an example of a remote control input code transmitting means according to the present disclosure. The activation code transmitting unit 1001 transmits the activation code input by the administrator (an example of a remote control input code according to the present disclosure) to the server 9A. The authentication result receiving unit 1002 receives the authentication result transmitted from the server 9A after the activation code transmitting unit 1001 transmits the activation code.

[0270] If the received authentication result indicates successful authentication, the authentication result receiving unit 1002 notifies the activating unit 1003 of that fact. On the other hand, if the received authentication result indicates unsuccessful authentication, the authentication result receiving unit 1002 notifies the user notification unit 1004 of that fact. The activating unit 1003 is an example of an activating means according to the present disclosure. When the activating unit 1003 receives notification from the authentication result receiving unit 1002 that the authentication result indicating successful authentication has been received, the activating unit 1003 activates itself, i.e., the relay 10, and places it in an active state. Specifically, the activating unit 1003 turns on an active state flag stored in the RAM of the control circuit 100 or the auxiliary storage device 105. When the active state flag is turned on, the relay 10 enables operation of the air conditioning system 1E via itself. Note that when the power of the relay 10 is turned off, the active state flag is turned off.

[0271] When the user notification unit 1004 receives notification from the authentication result receiving unit 1002 that an authentication result indicating authentication failure has been received, the user notification unit 1004 notifies the user, i.e., the administrator, that authentication of the repeater 10 has failed. For example, the user notification unit 1004 displays information indicating that authentication has failed or that the entered activation code is incorrect on the display unit 102, and prompts the administrator to enter the activation code again. Note that the user notification unit 1004 may notify the user of the authentication failure by changing the color of light, blinking, etc.

[0272] <Functional configuration of Server 9A> 38, the server 9A includes, as characteristic functions according to the present disclosure, a system information receiving unit 900, an account generating unit 901, an issuance request receiving unit 902, an activation code issuing unit 903, an activation code transmitting unit 904, an activation code receiving unit 905A, and a repeater authentication unit 907. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 90 of the server 9A executing a repeater authentication program, which is a program for authenticating the repeater 10 and is stored in the auxiliary storage device 92. In addition to these, the server 9A also includes a function related to remote control of the air conditioning system 1E.

[0273] The functional configuration of server 9A differs from the functional configuration of server 9 of embodiment 4 (see FIG. 25) in that it includes an activation code receiving unit 905A and a repeater authentication unit 907 instead of activation code receiving unit 905 and remote control authentication unit 906, but in other respects the configurations of both are similar. Activation code receiving unit 905A receives the activation code that has been sent from repeater 10 and entered into repeater 10 by the administrator. Activation code receiving unit 905A notifies repeater authentication unit 907 that the activation code has been received.

[0274] The repeater authentication unit 907 is an example of a remote control authentication means according to the present disclosure. The repeater authentication unit 907 authenticates the repeater 10 based on the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 903 and the activation code input into the repeater 10 by the administrator. Specifically, the repeater authentication unit 907 compares the activation code issued by the activation code issuing unit 903, which is stored in the information storage unit 920, with the activation code received from the repeater 10. If the two codes match, the repeater authentication unit 907 determines that the repeater 10 is a legitimate remote control (i.e., determines that authentication is successful). If the two codes do not match, the repeater authentication unit 907 determines that the repeater 10 is not a legitimate remote control (i.e., determines that authentication is unsuccessful).

[0275] The repeater authentication unit 907 transmits an authentication result indicating either authentication success or authentication failure to the repeater 10. After a certain period of time (for example, several hours to 24 hours) has elapsed since the issuance of the activation code, the repeater authentication unit 907 invalidates the activation code, and if an activation code identical to the invalid activation code is subsequently sent from the repeater 10, the repeater authentication unit 907 transmits an authentication result indicating authentication failure to the repeater 10.

[0276] It is assumed that the outdoor unit 3 separately certifies the relay device 10 as a genuine product when the air conditioning system 1E is started up.

[0277] <Activation code issuance request process> FIG. 39 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the activation code issuance request process executed by the communications terminal 8B.

[0278] (Step S1100) The communication terminal 8B determines whether or not the administrator has performed an operation to request the issuance of an activation code for the repeater 10. If an operation to request the issuance of an activation code has been performed (step S1100; YES), the processing of the communication terminal 8B transitions to step S1101. If the operation has not been performed (step S1100; NO), the communication terminal 8B continues the processing of step S1100.

[0279] (Step S1101) The communication terminal 8B transmits to the server 9A a request to issue an activation code for the relay 10. After that, the process of the communication terminal 8B transitions to step S1102.

[0280] (Step S1102) The communications terminal 8B determines whether or not an activation code has been received from the server 9A. If an activation code has been received from the server 9A (step S1102; YES), the processing of the communications terminal 8B proceeds to step S1103. If an activation code has not been received from the server 9A (step S1102; NO), the communications terminal 8B continues the processing of step S1102.

[0281] (Step S1103) The communication terminal 8B displays the activation code received from the server 9A, that is, the activation code issued by the server 9A, on the display 82. Thereafter, the communication terminal 8B ends the activation code issuance request process.

[0282] <Remote control authentication process> FIG. 40 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the remote control authentication process executed by the server 9A.

[0283] (Step S1200) Server 9A determines whether or not it has received a request from communication terminal 9B to issue an activation code for relay 10. If it has received a request to issue an activation code (step S1200; YES), the process of server 9A proceeds to step S1201. If it has not received a request to issue an activation code (step S1200; NO), server 9A continues the process of step S1200.

[0284] (Step S1201) The server 9A issues an activation code for the relay 10. After that, the process of the server 9A transitions to step S1202.

[0285] (Step S1202) The server 9A transmits the issued activation code to the communication terminal 8B. After that, the process of the server 9A proceeds to step S1203.

[0286] (Step S1203) The server 9A determines whether or not an activation code has been received from the relay 10. If an activation code has been received from the relay 10 (step S1203; YES), the process of the server 9A proceeds to step S1204. If an activation code has not been received from the relay 10 (step S1203; NO), the server 9A continues the process of step S1203.

[0287] (Step S1204) Server 9A compares the issued activation code with the activation code received from relay 10 (i.e., input to relay 10) and determines whether they match. If they match (step S1204; YES), the process of server 9A proceeds to step S1205. If they do not match (step S1204; NO), the process of server 9A proceeds to step S1206.

[0288] (Step S1205) Server 9A transmits an authentication result indicating successful authentication to repeater 10. After that, server 9A ends the remote control authentication process.

[0289] (Step S1206) Server 9A transmits an authentication result indicating authentication failure to repeater 10. After that, server 9A ends the remote control authentication process.

[0290] <Activation process> FIG. 41 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the activation process executed by the relay 10.

[0291] (Step S1300) The repeater 10 determines whether an activation code has been input to itself by the administrator. If an activation code has been input to itself (step S1300; YES), the process of the repeater 10 proceeds to step S1301. If an activation code has not been input to itself (step S1300; NO), the repeater 10 continues the process of step S1300.

[0292] (Step S1301) The relay device 10 transmits the activation code input by the administrator to the server 9 A. After that, the process of the relay device 10 proceeds to step S1302.

[0293] (Step S1302) The repeater 10 determines whether or not an authentication result has been received from the server 9A. If an authentication result has been received (step S1302; YES), the process of the repeater 10 proceeds to step S1303. If an authentication result has not been received (step S1302; NO), the repeater 10 continues the process of step S1302.

[0294] (Step S1303) The repeater 10 determines whether the received authentication result indicates successful authentication. If the authentication result indicates successful authentication (step S1303; YES), the process of the repeater 10 proceeds to step S1304. If the authentication result does not indicate successful authentication, that is, if the authentication result indicates unsuccessful authentication (step S1303; NO), the process of the repeater 10 proceeds to step S1305.

[0295] (Step S1304) The repeater 10 activates itself. That is, the repeater 10 puts itself into an active state. After that, the repeater 10 ends the activation process.

[0296] (Step S1305) The repeater 10 notifies the user (i.e., the administrator) that the authentication has failed, and then the repeater 10 ends the activation process.

[0297] As described above, in the air conditioning system 1E of this embodiment, a relay 10 in an inactive state where activation has not been completed does not function as a relay during remote operation. Therefore, when starting up the air conditioning system 1E, a manager, such as an installer, performs an activation process to activate the relay 10. In the activation process, the manager operates the communication terminal 8B to request the server 9A to issue an activation code for the relay 10. Upon receiving the request from the communication terminal 8B, the server 9A issues the activation code for the relay 10. The server 9A transmits the issued activation code to the communication terminal 8B, and the communication terminal 8B displays the activation code received from the server 9A on the display 82.

[0298] The administrator inputs the activation code issued by server 9A into repeater 10. Repeater 10 transmits the activation code input by the administrator to server 9A. Server 9A compares the activation code it issued with the activation code received from repeater 10, and if the two match, it transmits an authentication result indicating successful authentication to communication terminal 8A. If the two do not match, it transmits an authentication result indicating unsuccessful authentication to repeater 10. Only when repeater 10 receives an authentication result indicating successful authentication from server 9A, does it activate itself and enter an active state.

[0299] As described above, the server 9A issues an activation code for the repeater 10 in response to a request from the communication terminal 8B carried by the authorized administrator of the air conditioning system 1E, making it difficult for a third party other than the administrator to perform the activation work. As described above, the air conditioning system 1E of this embodiment makes it possible to prevent unauthorized operation of the air conditioning system 1E using an authorized repeater that has been illegally installed by a third party.

[0300] Furthermore, since the activation code for the repeater 10 issued by the server 9A is displayed on the communication terminal 8B carried by the administrator, the administrator can easily block third parties from peeking.

[0301] (Variation 1) The air conditioning system 1E in embodiment 6 has one outdoor unit 3, one indoor unit 4, and one repeater 10, but there is no limit to the number of outdoor units 3, indoor units 4, and repeaters 10 that can be installed, as long as there is one or more of each.

[0302] (Variation 2) In the air conditioning system 1E of embodiment 6, when the received authentication result indicates that the authentication has failed, the repeater 10 notifies the user (i.e., the administrator) that the authentication has failed. However, when the authentication result indicates that the authentication has been successful, the repeater 10 may also notify the user by, for example, displaying information indicating that the authentication has been successful on the display unit 102.

[0303] (Variation 3) There are no limitations on the method for authenticating the administrator by the administrator authentication unit 800 of the communication terminal 8B. For example, the administrator authentication unit 800 may authenticate the administrator by two-step authentication using a secret keyword in addition to the administrator ID and administrator password, or may authenticate the administrator by biometric authentication using a fingerprint, retina, or the like, or authentication using an IC card carried by the administrator, or the like.

[0304] (Variation 4) In the air conditioning system 1E of the sixth embodiment, the repeater 10 is connected to the transmission line 7, which is an indoor / outdoor transmission line, and is configured to perform indoor / outdoor communication with the indoor unit 4 and the outdoor unit 3. However, the repeater 10 may be configured to communicate directly with the indoor unit 4 by wire or wirelessly without being connected to the indoor / outdoor transmission line. In this case, the repeater 10 communicates with the outdoor unit 3 via the indoor unit 4.

[0305] (Variation 5) In the air conditioning system 1E of the sixth embodiment, the activation code input to the repeater 10 is notified directly to the server 9A by long-distance communication from the repeater 10. However, the activation code may be notified to the server 9A from the repeater 10 via a predetermined device (e.g., the outdoor unit 3, a system controller (not shown), etc.). In this case, the device has a communication interface capable of long-distance communication with the server 9A. Furthermore, the authentication result transmitted from the server 9A may be notified to the repeater 10 via the predetermined device.

[0306] (Variation 6) All or part of the functional units of the repeater 10 (see FIG. 37) may be realized by dedicated hardware. Also, all or part of the functional units of the communication terminal 8B (see FIG. 37) may be realized by dedicated hardware. Also, all or part of the functional units of the server 9A (see FIG. 38) may be realized by dedicated hardware. Dedicated hardware is, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a combination thereof.

[0307] The technical ideas according to the above-described modifications may be realized independently or in appropriate combination.

[0308] The present disclosure allows various embodiments and modifications without departing from the broad spirit and scope. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments are intended to explain the present disclosure and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims, not the embodiments. Various modifications made within the scope of the claims and within the meaning of the disclosure equivalent thereto are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure. [Industrial Applicability]

[0309] The present disclosure can be suitably employed in a system for air conditioning a building. [Explanation of symbols]

[0310] 1, 1A to 1E air conditioning system, 2, 2A system controller, 3, 3A, 3B, 3a, 3b outdoor unit, 4, 4A, 4a, 4b indoor unit, 5, 5A to 5C remote control, 6, 7, 7a, 7b transmission line, 8, 8A, 8B communication terminal, 9, 9A server, 10 repeater, 20, 31, 41, 50, 80, 90, 100 control circuit, 21, 51, 81, 101 operation reception unit, 22, 52, 82 display, 23, 42, 53, 83, 91 communication unit, 24, 34, 43, 54, 84, 92, 105 auxiliary storage device, 30, 30A, 30B, 40, 40A control board, 32, 103 first communication unit, 33, 55, 85, 104 second communication unit, 35 Setting reception unit, 36 Third communication unit, 44 Infrared reception unit, 56 Infrared transmission unit, 102 Display unit, 200, 800 Administrator authentication unit, 201, 801 Issuance request operation reception unit, 202, 301, 301A, 903 Activation code issuance unit, 203, 804 Activation code display unit, 204, 302, 803, 803A, 905, 905A Activation code reception unit, 205, 205A, 303, 906 Remote control authentication unit, 240, 340, 430, 920 Information storage unit, 300, 500, 1000 Activation code input reception unit, 304, 902 Issuance request reception unit, 305, 501, 501A to 501C, 904, 1001 Activation code transmission unit, 401, 502, 502A, 502B, 1002 authentication result reception unit, 402, 503, 1003 activation unit, 504, 1004 user notification unit, 802, 802A issuance request transmission unit, 805 system information input reception unit, 806 system information transmission unit, 400, 807 activation code transfer unit, 808 authentication result transfer unit, 900 system information reception unit, 901 account generation unit, 907 repeater authentication unit

Claims

1. An issue request operation receiving means for receiving an operation from a user requesting the issuance of an activation code for a remote control; an activation code issuing means for issuing the activation code when the issuance request operation accepting means accepts the operation; an activation code display means for displaying the activation code issued by the activation code issuing means; a system controller including a remote control authentication means for authenticating the remote control based on the activation code and a remote control input code that is a code input into the remote control by a user; an activation means for activating the remote controller when the authentication of the remote controller by the remote controller authentication means is successful; the remote control authentication means transmits the authentication result of the remote control to the device including the activation means; The activation means activates the remote control when the authentication result indicates successful authentication. Air conditioning system.

2. The remote control is a remote control input code transmitting means for transmitting the remote control input code to the system controller; The activation means. The air conditioning system of claim 1 .

3. the activation means; a remote control input code transfer means for transferring the remote control input code transmitted from the remote controller to the system controller, The remote controller includes a remote controller input code transmitting means for transmitting the remote controller input code to the air conditioner. The air conditioning system of claim 1 .

4. An activation code issuing means for issuing an activation code for a remote control; an air conditioner including a remote control authentication means for authenticating the remote control based on the activation code and a remote control input code that is a code input into the remote control by a user; an activation means for activating the remote controller when the authentication of the remote controller by the remote controller authentication means is successful; the remote control authentication means transmits an authentication result of the remote control to the remote control; The remote control is a remote control input code transmitting means for transmitting the remote control input code to the air conditioner; the activation means, The activation means activates the remote control when the authentication result indicates successful authentication. Air conditioning system.

5. the air conditioner includes a setting value input receiving means for receiving a setting value input from a user, the activation code issuing means issues the activation code based on the setting value input by the user; 5. The air conditioning system of claim 4.

6. an issuance request operation receiving means for receiving an operation from a user requesting the issuance of the activation code; an issuance request sending means for sending an activation code issuance request to the air conditioner when the issuance request operation receiving means receives the operation; a communication terminal including an activation code display means for displaying the activation code issued by the air conditioner; the activation code issuing means issues the activation code when the issuance request is received from the communication terminal; the air conditioner includes an activation code sending means that sends the activation code issued by the activation code issuing means to the communication terminal; 5. The air conditioning system of claim 4.

7. A communication terminal and a server are provided, The communication terminal an issuance request operation receiving means for receiving an operation from a user requesting the issuance of an activation code for a remote control; an issuance request sending means for sending an activation code issuance request to the server when the issuance request operation receiving means receives the operation; an activation code display means for displaying the activation code issued by the server; The server an activation code issuing means for issuing the activation code; an activation code transmitting means for transmitting the activation code issued by the activation code issuing means to the communication terminal; a remote control authentication means for authenticating the remote control based on the activation code and a remote control input code that is a code input into the remote control by a user; the activation code issuing means issues the activation code when the issuance request is received from the communication terminal; the remote controller includes an activation means for activating itself when authentication of the remote controller by the remote controller authentication means is successful; Air conditioning system.

8. the remote controller includes a remote controller input code transmitting means for transmitting the remote controller input code to the communication terminal; the remote control authentication means transmits an authentication result of the remote control to the communication terminal; The communication terminal a remote control input code transfer means for transferring the remote control input code transmitted from the remote controller to the server; an authentication result transfer means for transferring the authentication result transmitted from the server to the remote controller, 8. The air conditioning system of claim 7.

9. the remote controller includes a remote controller input code transmitting means for transmitting the remote controller input code to the server; The remote control authentication means transmits the authentication result of the remote control to the remote control.

8. The air conditioning system of claim 7.

10. an issuance request operation receiving means for receiving an operation from a user requesting the issuance of an activation code for a remote control; an activation code issuing means for issuing the activation code; an activation code display means for displaying the activation code issued by the activation code issuing means; a remote control authentication means for authenticating the remote control based on the activation code and a remote control input code that is a code input into the remote control by a user, and transmitting the authentication result of the remote control to a device having an activation means for activating the remote control; System controller.

11. an activation code issuing means for issuing an activation code for the remote control; a remote control authentication means for authenticating the remote control based on the activation code and a remote control input code that is a code input into the remote control by a user, and transmitting the authentication result of the remote control to the remote control; Air conditioner.

12. an activation code issuing means for issuing an activation code for a remote controller when a request for issuing the activation code is received from a communication terminal; an activation code transmitting means for transmitting the activation code issued by the activation code issuing means to the communication terminal; and a remote control authentication means for authenticating the remote control based on the activation code and a remote control input code that is a code input into the remote control by a user, and transmitting the authentication result of the remote control to the remote control via the communication terminal or without via the communication terminal. server.

13. A system controller comprising: Accepts an operation from the user requesting the issuance of an activation code for the remote control, issuing the activation code when the operation is accepted; Display the issued activation code; authenticating the remote controller based on the activation code and a remote controller input code that is a code input into the remote controller by a user, and transmitting the authentication result of the remote controller to the device; the device activates the remote control if the authentication result indicates successful authentication; How to activate the remote control.

14. An air conditioner that issues an activation code for a remote control, The remote controller transmits a remote controller input code, which is a code input by a user, to the air conditioner; the air conditioner authenticates the remote controller based on the activation code and the remote controller input code, and transmits the authentication result of the remote controller to the remote controller; the remote control activates itself if the authentication result indicates successful authentication; How to activate the remote control.

15. A communication terminal, Accepts an operation from the user requesting the issuance of an activation code for the remote control, When the operation is accepted, a request for issuing the activation code is sent to a server; the server issues the activation code when receiving the issuance request from the communication terminal, and transmits the issued activation code to the communication terminal; the communication terminal displays the activation code issued by the server; the server authenticates the remote control based on the activation code and a remote control input code that is a code input into the remote control by a user; the remote control activates itself if it is successfully authenticated by the server; How to activate the remote control.

Images