Patent Application
20060033636
The invention generally relates to controlling a device that is responsive to infrared signals.
A conventional remote control device may use infrared communication to control a particular target device, such as a television set, VCR, DVD player, stereo tuner, etc. A potential challenge in using infrared communication is that this type of communication may require a “line of sight” between the remote control and target devices. In other words, a direct or unobstructed path typically must exist between the infrared light emitting diode (LED) of the remote control device and the infrared photo sensor of the target device. Thus, for example, one may be prevented from storing a particular target device, such as a stereo tuner, DVD player, etc., in an enclosed cabinet for aesthetic purposes due to the line of sight restriction. Furthermore, even when the infrared photo sensor of the target device is generally exposed, the available control angles between the target and remote control devices may be limited by intervening obstructions. Another challenge in using infrared communication is that the distance between the target and control devices may be limited to a relatively short range, as compared to other types of communication, such as wireless radio frequency communication, for example.
Thus, there is a continuing need for better ways to control an infrared responsive device.
Referring to
As examples, the infrared target device 12, in some embodiments of the invention, may be a disc player (such as a DVD player or CD player), a television tuner, a radio tuner, a stereo tuner, etc., which is controlled by commands that are communicated to the target device 12 by infrared signals or waves that propagate over a wireless infrared communication link 22. The radio frequency devices may include, for example, the remote control device 16 and a host computer 14 that communicate with the communication module 20 over a wireless radio frequency communication link 18. In some embodiments of the invention, the communication module 20, remote control device 16 and host computer system 14 are all capable of communicating with each other over the radio frequency communication link 18; and each of these devices may be capable of bi-directional communication over the link 18, in some embodiments of the invention.
Although the radio frequency communication link 18 is depicted in
The communication module 20 is designed, as described below, to receive radio frequency signals (over the radio frequency communication link 18) into which are encoded commands, some of which may be commands for the infrared target device 12. In some embodiments of the invention, the radio frequency signals communicate command packets, and at least some of these command packets include commands (“tune to a specific channel,” “start recording,” “turn up volume,” etc.) to control the infrared target device 12. As described below, a particular command packet may include a command for the infrared target device 12 as well as include data (a channel assignment, setup data, etc.) for use in controlling the infrared target device 12.
Additionally, as described below, the command packet may indicate that further processing of the command packet by a device other than the communication module 20 (a host computer 14, for example) is needed before the communication module 20 communicates with the target device 12. Thus, the host computer 14 and communication module 20 may work together (as described below) in the processing of one or more command packets for purposes of ultimately generating an infrared data stream to communicate a command to the infrared target device 12. Therefore, the communication module 20 is constructed to establish communication between the remote control device 16, the target device 12 and the host computer 14 (depending on the particular embodiment of the invention) for purposes of controlling the infrared target device 12. As described below, this communication may include unidirectional and bidirectional communication.
Among the possible advantages of the system 10 is that a direct line of sight for controlling the infrared target device 12 is not needed. Additionally, because communication module 20 serves as a communication bridge, devices, such as the remote control device 16 and the host computer 14, are able to use radio frequency communication to control the infrared target device 12. Thus, as compared to infrared-only control, the infrared target 12 may be controlled over longer distances in light of the radio frequency communication.
The communication module 20 may be located in proximity (within one foot, for example) of the infrared target device 12. This is particularly advantageous in that the communication module 20 and the infrared target device 12 may be stored together out of sight (such as in a cabinet or in a particular corner of a room) away from radio frequency devices, such as remote control device 16 or host computer 14, which are the sources of potential commands for the infrared target device 12.
The phrase “radio frequency,” in the context of this application, may include but is not limited to, frequencies that are broadcast over the FM and AM frequency spectrum. More generally, “radio frequency,” in the context of this application, means a frequency between audio frequency and infrared frequency, such as a frequency in the range of about 3 kHz to about 250 GHz, for example.
More specifically, in some embodiments of the invention, the frequency of communication over the radio frequency communication link 18 may primarily fall in the 1-3 GHz range. Additionally, in some embodiments of the invention, the communication link 18 may be a Bluetooth communication link (a link having most spectral energy near 2.4 GHz) that operates pursuant to the Bluetooth Specification, Version 1.2 (November 2003), available from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), Inc., at on the worldwide web at bluetooth.org. As another example, in some embodiments of the invention, the radio frequency communication link 18 may be part of a wireless local area network (WLAN), such as the communication in a WiFi™ network that is governed by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Specification 802.11 (1999). Thus, many variations are possible and are within the scope of the appended claims.
In the context of this application, “infrared is used to refer to light that has a wavelength that is smaller than visible light. For example, in some embodiments of the invention, infrared signals having wavelengths between approximately 870-950 nanometers (nm) may be communicated over the infrared communication link 22. In some embodiments of the invention, the infrared light, pursuant to IrDA, may have a wavelength between approximately 850-900 nm. The infrared signal may be highly directional, which means that infrared devices that communicate with each other must be placed in a direct and unobstructed “line of sight” between these devices. However, in other embodiments of the invention, the infrared communication link 22 may use a diffusion or scatter mode so that a direct line of sight is not required between the communication module 20 and the infrared target device 12.
Thus, as can be seen from the description above, infrared signals that propagate over the infrared communication link 22 have higher frequencies than the radio frequency signals that propagate over the radio frequency communication link 18.
In some embodiments of the invention, the remote control device 12 may be a wireless device, such as a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), notebook computer, etc. that is capable of receiving input (a voice input, keypad input, etc.) from a user converting this input into a command packet; and communicating the command packet over the radio frequency link 18. For communication to control the infrared target device 12, the remote control device embeds an address in the command packet identifying the infrared target device 12, or at least the communication module 20, as the target of the packet. The host computer 14 has similar capabilities for constructing and communicating a command packet to control the infrared target device 12. Furthermore, in some embodiments of the invention, the remote control device 16 may be part of the host computer 14 (a wireless add-in card or USB attachment to the host computer 14, as examples).
In embodiments of the invention in which the radio frequency communication link 18 is a Bluetooth communication link, a relatively low power wireless link may be used to control infrared devices out of sight. Use of the system 10 allows users to combine an old infrared technology-based device with newer technology, such as a newer home computer (for example) that has a Bluetooth transmitter that may be used to control the IR-based device.
In some embodiments of the invention, the communication module 20 may have an architecture that is generally depicted in
Instruction code 40 to control the possible extraction (depending on the particular embodiment of the invention) of the command as well as other routines that are described herein may be stored in a memory 38 of the communication module 20. The memory 38 may store other data, such as for example, table data 42 that maps the translation of the command received through the communication channel 18 to a pulse stream of data that is generated via the infrared communication link 22 to communicate the command to the infrared target device 12. As depicted in
In some embodiments of the invention, the communication module 20 includes an infrared transmission circuit 48 that communicates with the processor 34 for purposes of forming infrared light pulses on a light emitting diode (LED) 49. The processor 34 controls the infrared transmission circuit 48 to cause the circuit 48 to, in response to an infrared stream of data, turn on and off the LED 49 to communicate a command over the infrared communication link 22 to the target device 12 (
The communication module 20, in some embodiments of the invention, may have features that allow bidirectional communication over the infrared communication link 22 in addition to the bidirectional communication over the radio frequency link 18. As a more specific example, in some embodiments of the invention, the communication module 20 may include an infrared receiver. The infrared receiver includes an infrared receiver circuit 52 that is coupled to the bus 33 and an infrared photo receptor 53 that senses pulses of infrared light that is communicated over the infrared communication link 22. The infrared receiver may be used to train the transmitter module 20 to the infrared command encoding for the target device 12, in some embodiments of the invention.
Depending on the particular embodiment of the invention, the communication module 20 may receive power from one or more batteries 59, may receive power from an AC wall plug 57 or may be coupled to the infrared target device 12 (as part of the infrared target device 12, for example) to receive power from the device 12, depending on the particular embodiment of the invention.
Referring to
For example, in some embodiments of the invention, a remote control device (not depicted) that is designed to communicate infrared pulses to the infrared target device 12 may be pointed toward the photo receptor 53 of the communication module 12. During the training mode, a user may be directed to depress certain buttons of the infrared remote control for purposes of learning the infrared pulse data streams for particular commands. In other embodiments of the invention, a user may use the remote control device 16 (or other radio frequency device) to communicate a code to the communication module 20 identifying the type of infrared remote control device that is used by the infrared target device 12. Thus, many variations are possible and are within the scope of the appended claims.
Still referring to
Thus, in some embodiments of the invention, if the processor 34 determines (diamond 81) that additional processing of the command packet is needed, then the processor 34 transmits (block 90) an indication of the received command packet to the host computer 14 over the radio frequency communication link 18. Therefore, the bidirectional communication capability of the communication module 20 permits devices other than the communication module 20 to aid in the processing of command packets. Once the host computer 14 further processes the command packet to extract a specific command for the infrared target device 12, then the host computer 14 communicates (via the radio frequency communication link 18) the command back to the transmitter module 20.
When the communication module 20 receives a command packet that does not need further processing, the processor 34, pursuant to the technique 70, converts (block 82) the command into a data stream for communication over the infrared communication channel 22. The processor controls (block 86) the infrared transmission circuit 48 to communicate the command over the infrared communication channel 22.
Alternatively, in some embodiments of the invention, the remote control device 16 may directly offload (via the radio frequency communication link 18) a particular command packet to the host computer 14 for further processing, and after the processing, the host computer 14 communicates the resultant command packet to the communication module 20.
For example, in some embodiments of the invention, a user may dictate a voice command (ultimately for the infrared target device 12) that is digitally captured by the remote control device 16. Because neither the remote control device 16 nor the communication module 20 have voice recognition capability, the remote control device 16 generates a command packet that contains the raw voice data and communicates this command packet to the host computer 14. The host computer 14 uses voice recognition to extract the command for the infrared target device 12 from the raw voice data, generates another command packet that contains this command and then communicates the generated command packet (via the radio frequency communication link 18) to the communication module 20.
Referring to
On receipt of the command packet 100a, the communication module 20 determines that further processing of the command packet 100a is needed. Therefore, the communication module 20 communicates the command packet 100a over the radio frequency communication link 18 to the host computer 14. The host computer 14 performs voice recognition on the raw voice data to extracts a specific command for the infrared target device 12. The host computer 14 then generates another command packet 100b containing a specific command 102 for the target device 12. The command packet 100b may or may not include additional data 104 for the specific command 102. Upon receipt of the command packet 100b, the communication module 20, assuming no further processing of the command packet 100b is needed by another device, generates an infrared pulse stream 110 to communicate the command to the infrared target device 12 via the infrared communication link 22.
As a more specific example,
The processor 34 converts (block 128) the command contained in the command packet into a data stream for use in generating an infrared pulse stream over the infrared communication channel 22. Next, the processor controls (block 129) the infrared transmit circuit 48 to communicate the command over the infrared communication channel 22 to the infrared target device 12.
In some embodiments of the invention, the host computer 14 may have a general architecture that is depicted in
The memory 208 may store various data, such as, for example, instructions 210 to cause the host computer 14 to perform a technique 250 (
In some embodiments of the invention, the host computer 14 may perform a technique 250 that is depicted in
In some embodiments of the invention, a technique 300 that is depicted in
The selected function is associated with a plurality of commands for the infrared target device 12 or a plurality of infrared target devices 12. For example, the key may select a particular show to be recorded. Thus, the function may include turning on a TV (a first infrared target device 12), turning on a VCR (another target device 12), setting a channel of the TV, instructing the VCR to record, etc., all of which may be associated with separate commands.
Still referring to
While the invention has been disclosed with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having the benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
