Patent Application
20110141378
1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to channel management, and more particularly to an electronic device and a method of channel management.
2. Description of Related Art
While widely used, with growing availability of device features, TV remote controls have developed to presenting an increased plurality of controls, with confusion and difficulty of operation the frequent result.
The disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one.
In general, the word “module” as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, C, or assembly. One or more software instructions in the module may be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be appreciated that module may comprise connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and may comprise programming units, such as programming gate arrays or processors. The module described herein may be implemented as either software and/or hardware module and may be stored in any type of computer-readable medium or other computer storage device.
The electronic device 20 may operates in a normal mode and a predetermined channel mode. The normal mode is a default mode of the electronic device 20. At first, the electronic device 20 executes a full scan of all available channels of the television 10 and stores channel codes of the received channels to the channel table.
The storage unit 102 is electronically connected to the management system 30, the input unit 100, the processor 101, the communication module 103 and the output unit 104. The storage unit 102 further stores an operating system of the electronic device 20. In addition, the storage unit 102 is operable to store data such as computerized code of the management system 30 and the information of the channel table of the electronic device 20. The storage unit 102 may include a hard disk drive, flash memory, RAM, ROM, cache, or external storage media.
As shown in
The communication module 103 is operable to receive and transfer the channel codes between the electronic device 20 and the television 10. In some embodiments, the communication module 103 may transfer the channel code from the electronic device 20 to the television 10 to change an active channel of the television 10. The active channel is a channel being displayed by the television 10. In other embodiments, the receiving module 108 may receive the channel code of the active channel from the television 10.
The output unit 104 is operable to output the active channel or the information of the active channel on the television. In addition, the output unit 104 is operable to output a confirmation message upon adding the active channel to the channel table. The output unit 104 may be a display screen or a speaker. Accordingly, the message may be a text message or an audio message.
The management system 30 including an input module 105, a generation module 106, a checking module 107, a receiving module 108, a channel adding module 109 and a determination module 110. The modules 105-110 may comprise computerized code in the form of one or more programs that are stored in the storage unit 102. The computerized code includes instructions that are executed by the at least one processor 101 to provide functions for modules 105-110 of the management system 30.
The input module 105 is operable to receive at least one input from the input unit 100 and to generate at least one corresponding input signal. The input module 105 assigns a corresponding identification to each key on the electronic device 20. For example, the input module 105 assigns “1”, “2”, “3” and “4” to the volume up key “+”, the volume down key “−”, the channel up key “+” and the channel down key “−”, respectively.
The generation module 106 is operable to generate a corresponding code according to the input signal from the input module 105. The generation module 106 sets a time threshold to receive the corresponding input signal. For example, the generation module 106 sets the time threshold to be 5 seconds. If the corresponding input signal of volume up key “+”, the volume down key “−”, the channel up key “+” and the channel down key “−” are received within 5 seconds, the generation module 106 input module 105 generates the corresponding channel code “1234.”
The checking module 107 is operable to determine whether the operating mode of the electronic device 20 is in the predetermined channel mode. In addition, the checking module 107 is operable to determine whether the corresponding channel code is stored in the channel table upon the condition that the operating mode of the electronic device 20 is in the predetermined channel mode.
Upon the condition that the corresponding channel code is stored in the channel table, the determination module 110 transfers the corresponding channel code to the television 10 by the communication module 103. The television 10 then changes the active channel according to the corresponding channel code.
Upon the condition that the corresponding channel code is not stored in the channel table, the determination module 110 sends an alert notification indicative of a channel addition to the output unit 104. In addition, the receiving module 108 is operable to receive the channel code of the active channel from the television 10 and the channel adding module 109 is operable to add the channel code to the channel table.
In block S10, the input module 105 receives at least one input from the input unit 100 and generates at least one corresponding input signal.
In block S11, the generation module 106 generates a corresponding channel code according to the input signal from the input module 105.
In block S12, the checking module 107 determines whether the electronic device 20 is in the predetermined channel mode. If the electronic device 20 is in the predetermined channel mode, in block 13, the checking module 107 determines whether the corresponding channel code is stored in a channel table. If the corresponding channel code is stored in the channel table, in block S14, the determination module 110 transfers the corresponding channel code to the television 10 to change the active channel.
If the corresponding channel code is not stored in the channel table, in block S15, the receiving module 108 receives the channel code the active channel from the television 10.
In block S16, the channel adding module 109 adds the channel code to the channel table.
In block S17, the output unit 104 outputs the alert notification indicative of a channel addition. The output unit 104 may be a speaker or a display screen, for example, and the message may be a text message or a voice message.
Although certain inventive embodiments of the present disclosure have been specifically described, the present disclosure is not to be construed as limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200910311655.X | Dec 2009 | CN | national |
