BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to device discovery and address assignment for various devices on a network. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for dynamic device discovery and address assignment for pool/spa equipment interconnected via a network.

Background of the Invention

Typically, discovery of devices on a half-duplex serial bus is accomplished by incrementing through a pre-defined address range, sending a response request to devices that are connected to a network, and recording the devices that respond. The Modbus communications protocol is one example of this approach.

In Modbus and other similar incremental addressing schemes, device enrollment can present some problematic conditions. For example, each device must be pre-addressed with a unique address to prevent multiple devices from having an identical address. This requirement makes setup and configuration of a network both a time consuming and error prone process.

Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a network device discovery protocol that does not require pre-assignment of device addresses, yet allows any number of like devices to be added to the network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the disadvantages and shortcomings of the prior art by providing a system and method for dynamic device discovery and address assignment for a network. The system transmits a device discovery request from a master device on a network, such as a pool/spa system controller, and receives a discovery response from a slave device which includes an pre-configured identifier. The system determines a network address based on the slave device identifier, and transmits an enrollment instruction with the network address to be used by the slave device. The system could be used to discover and assign addresses to various types of devices on a pool/spa network, such as pumps, underwater lights, chlorinators, water feature controllers, remote controllers, and/or other types of devices.

A pool or spa system for a pool or spa is disclosed that includes components operatively coupled via a communications network supporting dynamic device discovery. The system can include slave devices and a master controller. Each slave device is configured to perform one or more operations with respect to the pool or spa. Each of the slave devices are initially un-configured and have a unique device identifier associated therewith. The master controller is operatively coupled to the slave devices to form a network. The master controller is programmed to assign each of the slave devices a network address based on the unique identifier of each of the slave devices and in response to bidirectional communication between the master controller and the slave devices to configure the slave devices and enable addressed communication between the controller and the slave devices. The slave devices could include a pump, a filter, a sensor, a heater, or other equipment.

The master controller can broadcast a device discovery request on the network requesting a response from the slave devices and can receive, in response to the device discovery request, a response from a first device of the slave devices including the unique identifier associated with the first device. The master controller can correlate the device identifier received from the first device with an available network address, assign the network address to the first device, and can transmit a message on the network that includes the device identifier and the network address. The first device can receive the message, compare the device identifier in the message to the device identifier of the first device, and store the network address as the network address of the first device based on a determination that the device identifier included in the message matches the device identifier of the first device. At least one slave device can be configured such that it does not retain the network address assigned by the master controller when the slave device is powered down. The master controller can be programmed to periodically determine whether the network includes a slave device requiring configuration and/or can be programmed to maintain at least one table correlating the unique device identifier of each of the slave devices with the network address assigned to each of the slave devices.

The pool or spa system can include a gateway device operatively coupled between at least one of the slave devices and the master controller. The gateway communicates with the master controller on behalf of the at least one of the slave devices to facilitate assignment of the network address to the at least one of the slave devices.

A system for dynamic discovery of networked devices in a pool or spa system is disclosed that includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium and a processing device (or master controller). The non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer executable instructions for a process of dynamically discovering networked devices in a pool or spa system. The processing device is programmed to execute the computer executable instructions to transmit a broadcast message including a device discovery request to the networked devices in the pool or spa system, receive a response message from an un-configured pool or spa device in the pool or spa system that includes a unique device identifier associated with the un-configured device, correlate the unique device identifier with a network address, and transmit the network address to the un-configured pool or spa device to transform the un-configured pool or spa device to a configured pool or spa device.

Also provided is a method of dynamically discovering networked devices in a pool or spa system. The method includes the steps of transmitting a broadcast message including a device discovery request to the networked devices in the pool or spa system, receiving a response message from an un-configured pool or spa device in the pool or spa system that includes a unique device identifier associated with the un-configured device, correlating the unique device identifier with a network address, and transmitting the network address to the un-configured pool or spa device to transform the un-configured pool or spa device to a configured pool or spa device.

