Patent ID: 7082353

Claim:
An air conditioning apparatus for integrating multiple areas, comprising: a multi-unit air conditioning system that includes at least one multi-unit air conditioner group, each multi-unit air conditioner group including an outdoor unit configured to perform refrigerant division and refrigerant circulation and indoor units configured to discharge air to individual rooms; a central processing unit connected in parallel to the at least one multi-unit air conditioner group; and at least one gateway that intermediates signals between the at least one multi-unit air conditioner group and the central processing unit so that the at least one multi-unit air conditioner group is networked to the central processing unit, wherein the central processing unit further comprises: at least one communication module configured to process signals communicated over the at least one gateway and to perform different interface functions for the at least one multi-unit air conditioner group; a synchronization processor that synchronizes signals for the at least one communication module; and a controller that recognizes signals synchronized by the synchronization processor, and that generates a control signal according to an entry control command.