Patent ID: 11871710
Assignee: HUNTER INDUSTRIES, INC.
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC A  G  H | IPC A  H

Claim 0:
1. An irrigation system comprising:
an irrigation controller configured to provide one or more valve activation signals, each valve activation signal configured to control an associated irrigation valve;
a valve transceiver configured to control a selected irrigation valve;
an auxiliary communication device configured to receive user input and to send a first message over an inductive communication link; and
a controller transceiver configured to receive, from the irrigation controller, a selected activation signal of the one or more valve activation signals, the controller transceiver comprising:
a wireless transceiver in communication, over a wireless communication link, with the valve transceiver;
circuitry for inductive communication in communication, over the inductive communication link, with the auxiliary communication device, the circuitry for inductive communication including a capacitor C and an inductor L configured in parallel to form an LC circuit having a resonant frequency; and
a processor and memory, the processor configured to execute computer instructions stored in the memory to:
receive the first message over the inductive communication link from the auxiliary communication device, the first message including an indication associated with the selected valve activation signal of the one or more valve activation signals, the indication based at least in part on the user input, the first message comprising a signal having a frequency approximately matching the resonant frequency of the LC circuit; and
transmit a second message that includes the indication associated with the selected valve activation signal over the wireless communication link to the valve transceiver, wherein the valve transceiver is further configured to create an association between the selected irrigation valve and the selected activation signal based at least in part on the indication from the first message received over the inductive communication link from the auxiliary communication device.