Appeal No. 2000-1944
Application 08/738,157
We reverse.
BACKGROUND
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for
determining the operability of heating, ventilating, and air
conditioning (HVAC) devices connected through a communication
network to a network control device. Each HVAC device has a
visible display, such as a panel of light emitting diodes (LEDs).
The network control device sends a message to the HVAC devices to
initiate a visible display. The message is received and
processed to initiate a visible display which may be easily
observed by a person to confirm that the HVAC device is
responding to the message from the network control device.
Claim 1 is reproduced below.
1. A process for verifying the operability of at least
one HVAC device in a communication network, said process
comprising the steps of:
sending a message from a network control device to the
HVAC device, the message including information for prompting
the HVAC device to initiate a visible display on the HVAC
device if the message is successfully processed by the HVAC
device;
receiving, at the HVAC device, the message from the
network control device and thereafter processing the
information for prompting the HVAC device to initiate a
visible display; and
automatically initiating a visible display on the HVAC
device when the message is received and processed by the
HVAC device whereby the visible display may be easily
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