Patent ID: 8781634

Claim:
An air conditioning system comprising: a plurality of indoor units for air conditioning; a plurality of outdoor units connected to some or all of the plurality of indoor units via a refrigerant pipe and configured to drive the plurality of indoor units; one or more controllers configured to control operations of the plurality of indoor units and the plurality of outdoor units; and a communication unit connected to or equipped as part of the outdoor units or part of the indoor units, and configured to allow communications between the indoor units, the outdoor units, and the controllers using one or more communication technologies, wherein the one or more controllers sends a control command to one of plurality of indoor units, the indoor unit transfers the control command to a first outdoor unit connected to the indoor unit via a refrigerant pipe using a pipe communication technology, and the first outdoor unit transfers the control command to a second outdoor unit or to one of the plurality of indoor units as a target of the control command.