How Air Conditioners Use Radio Signals to Locate Your Remote Control
A system that helps an air conditioner remote find its own location inside a building by comparing radio signal strengths from multiple AC units against its last known position.
Original patent title: “Air conditioning system, operation terminal, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium”
A system that helps an air conditioner remote find its own location inside a building by comparing radio signal strengths from multiple AC units against its last known position. Granted to Mitsubishi Electric Corp in 2025 with 16 claims.
Key facts
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
This system uses a network of air conditioners that constantly broadcast beacon signals. The user's remote control picks up these signals and measures their radio wave intensity. Instead of just guessing where it is, the remote calculates its current position by looking at its previous known location and comparing the current signal strengths to a set of pre-mapped candidate locations in the room. It specifically looks for the best match by comparing the order of signal strengths to the expected distances from each AC unit, using a mathematical method called Levenshtein distance to find the most likely spot.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover systems that rely solely on GPS for indoor positioning
- Does not cover location tracking that ignores the device's previous known position
- Does not cover systems that use visual markers or cameras to determine location
- Does not cover non-radio based proximity detection like ultrasound or infrared
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
What made this novel
It treats the signal strength order as a sequence and uses Levenshtein distance—a technique usually meant for comparing text strings—to match the observed signal pattern to a physical location.
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Commercial office building climate control systems
Hospital HVAC management interfaces
Smart building facility management apps
Why it matters
The bigger picture
In large commercial buildings like offices or hospitals, managing individual climate zones is difficult. This technology allows a mobile controller to automatically adjust the settings for the specific unit closest to the user without manual input. It streamlines building automation by ensuring the control interface always reflects the user's immediate physical environment.
Filed
March 27, 2020
Granted
August 26, 2025
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Mitsubishi Electric is the primary developer here, focusing on integrating this into their proprietary HVAC control ecosystem. Other major players in building automation like Daikin or Johnson Controls are also active in developing similar indoor positioning systems for climate management.
Market impact
This patent represents a shift toward context-aware building automation where the user interface adapts to the user's location. By automating the association between a controller and a specific device, it reduces the complexity of managing large-scale HVAC installations in smart buildings.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
This system uses a network of air conditioners that constantly broadcast beacon signals. The user's remote control picks up these signals and measures their radio wave intensity. Instead of just guessing where it is, the remote calculates its current position by looking at its previous known location and comparing the current signal strengths to a set of pre-mapped candidate locations in the room. It specifically looks for the best match by comparing the order of signal strengths to the expected distances from each AC unit, using a mathematical method called Levenshtein distance to find the most likely spot.
The clever bit
It treats the signal strength order as a sequence and uses Levenshtein distance—a technique usually meant for comparing text strings—to match the observed signal pattern to a physical location.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover systems that rely solely on GPS for indoor positioning
- Does not cover location tracking that ignores the device's previous known position
- Does not cover systems that use visual markers or cameras to determine location
- Does not cover non-radio based proximity detection like ultrasound or infrared
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Application published, typically 18 months after filing
Patent officially issued
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Early stage
Citation count
0/40
No citations yet
Claim breadth
11/20
Broad claimsclaimsThe numbered statements at the end of a patent that legally define what the inventor owns.Read more →
Recency
20/20
Granted within 5 years
Assignee scale
0/20
Independent or smaller assigneeassigneeThe entity that owns the patent — usually the inventor's employer or a company.Read more →
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$23K – $75K
Midpoint $47K · 13.8 yr remaining · industry baseline
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
The original legal language
Original claims
16 claims as filed with the patent office.
Concepts involved
Citations
Patent lineage
Cite this patent
Katsukura, M. (2025). How Air Conditioners Use Radio Signals to Locate Your Remote Control (U.S. Patent No. 12,398,901). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12398901/raptor-thrust-to-weight
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does How Air Conditioners Use Radio Signals to Locate Your Remote Control cover?
A system that helps an air conditioner remote find its own location inside a building by comparing radio signal strengths from multiple AC units against its last known position.
Who owns patent US 12398901?
Mitsubishi Electric Corp owns this patent, granted in 2025.
When does this patent expire?
This patent is expected to expire on August 26, 2045, when the invention enters the public domain.
What problem does this patent solve?
In large commercial buildings like offices or hospitals, managing individual climate zones is difficult. This technology allows a mobile controller to automatically adjust the settings for the specific unit closest to the user without manual input. It streamlines building automation by ensuring the control interface always reflects the user's immediate physical environment.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover systems that rely solely on GPS for indoor positioning
Same assignee
More from Mitsubishi Electric Corp
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