Patent Application
20120062468
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of modifying an interface and a system, and more particularly to a method of modifying an interface of a handheld device and related multimedia system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A remote controller allows a user to control an electronic device remotely by transmitting control signals selected by the user to the electronic device. The remote controller may communicate with the electronic device through a wired or wireless connection, the latter being the more popular and flexible option. The remote control may include multiple physical buttons corresponding to functions of the electronic device. For example, if the electronic device is a television set or set-top box, the remote controller may include a power button, multiple numeric buttons, a volume button, and a menu button. The power button may be used for turning the electronic device on and off. The numeric buttons may be used for changing a channel of the electronic device. The volume button may be used for increasing/decreasing speaker volume of the electronic device. The menu button may be used for opening a menu for changing settings of the electronic device, such as brightness, contrast, and other display settings. Traditionally, remote controllers have adopted infrared as a transmission medium for transmitting the control signals to electronic devices. Modern universal remote controllers may include an infrared-to-Bluetooth converter for pairing with Bluetooth-enabled electronic devices.
Handheld devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, and smart phones have increased in functionality to make the handheld devices suitable for performing remote control functions. Many handheld devices now include wireless transceivers for establishing data connections with other electronic devices, either directly or through a wireless network hub, such as a router. For example, a mobile phone may include a Bluetooth transceiver, and a smart phone may include both a Bluetooth transceiver and a wireless network transceiver, such as an IEEE 802.11-series transceiver. Although mobile phones and smart phones provide remote control functions for controlling a personal computer, such functions are limited, inflexible, and insufficient for controlling a television set or set-top box.
According to an embodiment, a method of modifying an interface of a handheld device comprises the handheld device sending an interface request to a device, the handheld device receiving an interface profile from the device, the handheld device modifying the interface to a modified interface according to the interface profile, and the handheld device controlling the device through the modified interface.
According to another embodiment, a multimedia system comprises a multimedia device and a handheld device. The multimedia system comprises a display for displaying image data, a network interface module, a receiver module for receiving a control signal for triggering a function of the multimedia device, a transmitter module for transmitting a device profile, and a processor coupled to the display, the network interface module, the receiver module, and the transmitter module for controlling the display according to the function triggered according to the control signal. The handheld device comprises a control interface, a network interface module for establishing a data connection with the network interface module of the multimedia device, a transmitter module for transmitting an interface request to the multimedia device, a receiver module for receiving an interface profile from the multimedia device, and a processor coupled to the control interface, the network interface module, the transmitter module, and the receiver module of the handheld device for modifying the control interface according to the interface profile, and for sending the control signal to the multimedia device according to the interface profile.
According to another embodiment, a method of modifying an interface of a handheld device comprises the handheld device sending an interface request to an online store, the handheld device receiving an interface profile from the online store in response to the interface request, the handheld device modifying the interface to a modified interface according to the interface profile, and the handheld device controlling a device through the modified interface.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
Please refer to
Please refer to
Step 200: Select remote control application;
Step 202: Trigger download of an interface profile;
Step 204: Send an interface profile request to the electronic device;
Step 206: Receive an interface profile from the electronic device;
Step 208: Apply a modified interface according to the interface profile;
Step 210: Interact with the electronic device through the modified interface; and
Step 212: If profile update is triggered, go to Step 204; else, go to Step 210.
In Step 200, a remote control application is selected. For a smart phone or PDA, which normally may not function as a remote controller, the remote control application may be selected for providing a remote control interface that may run on the smart phone or PDA. For a traditional remote controller, such as a universal remote, Step 200 may be optional.
While the handheld device 110 is operating in a remote control mode, download of an interface profile may be triggered in the handheld device 110 (Step 202). The download operation may be triggered by a button press (hardware or software) or by voice activation.
Based on the trigger, such as the button press or reception of a voice command, the handheld device 110 sends an interface profile request to the electronic device 100 (Step 204). The interface profile request may be sent as an infrared binary code, or may be packetized and sent to the electronic device 100 through the data connection in packet form, such as wireless network communication. The electronic device 100 then sends an interface profile to the handheld device 110.
The handheld device 110 may receive the interface profile from the electronic device 100 (Step 206) through infrared or through the data connection. The interface profile may comprise at least one screen layout and remote control behavior information. The screen layout may be an image comprising a plurality of icons representing software buttons. For a handheld device without a screen, the at least one screen layout may be optional. The behavior information may comprise function definitions for a plurality of control functions for controlling the electronic device 100. The behavior information may also comprise mappings between the plurality of icons of the screen layout and the plurality of control functions. For a handheld device without a touch screen, the mappings may be between the plurality of control functions and a plurality of physical buttons of the handheld device. The behavior information may also comprise a plurality of control signal codes for controlling the electronic device 100 through infrared or wireless network communication. Each control signal code may be a sequence of binary bits corresponding to a predetermined function of the electronic device 100. The behavior information may also define press down, press release, drag, double press, and/or multitouch operations for each icon of the screen layout and/or of each physical button of the handheld device. The behavior information may also comprise voice activation phrase mappings for mapping functions of the handheld device 110 to voice commands.
A modified interface is then applied to the handheld device 110 according to the interface profile (Step 208). The screen layout may be displayed in a display of the handheld device 110. The behavior information may be applied to a processor installed in the handheld device 110 for interpreting touch control of each pixel of a touch screen overlaying the display, for interpreting button presses of each physical button of the handheld device 110, and/or for interpreting voice commands. As shown in
Using the modified interface, the handheld device 110 may interact with the electronic device 100 (Step 210). A user may touch the touch screen, may press a physical button, and/or may use a voice command to perform various functions for controlling the electronic device 100. For example, the user may touch a region of the touch screen overlapping a volume up icon displayed in the display, the handheld device 110 may map the touch to a volume up control signal, and may transmit the volume up control signal to the electronic device 100 through infrared or through the data connection. The user may also select another screen layout. The handheld device 110 may then apply the another screen layout by displaying the another screen layout and mapping different functions to icons displayed in the another screen layout.
The process 20 also allows for updating the interface profile, as shown in
Please refer to
Regarding the image, audio, video, vibration, and/or text data received by the handheld device 400, many applications are provided for use in the multimedia system 40. For example, for interacting with a game console, an interactive map image may be received by the handheld device 400 from the game console (the electronic device 410). For interacting with a television set, the handheld device 400 may be utilized to provide video teleconferencing functions in conjunction with the television set (the electronic device 410). For example, the handheld device may be configured for receiving a telephone number input and an activate dialing signal, the television set may display a video stream of a remote user, and the handheld device may be configured for receiving a hang up signal for hanging up the video conference. Another example is a photo slideshow displayed in the television set through a multimedia device, such as the game console or an optical disc player. The handheld device may be configured for displaying an interactive grid of photo thumbnails. When the user selects one of the photo thumbnails, the handheld device may send a control signal to the game console or optical disc player for displaying an image corresponding to the selected photo thumbnail on a connected monitor, such as a television set.
Please refer to
Step 500: Select online store application;
Step 502: Trigger download of an interface profile;
Step 504: Send an interface profile request to the online store;
Step 506: Receive an interface profile from the online store;
Step 508: Apply a modified interface according to the interface profile;
Step 510: Interact with the electronic device through the modified interface; and
Step 512: If profile update is triggered, go to Step 504; else, go to Step 510.
In Step 500, an online store application is selected. For a smart phone or PDA, which normally may not function as a remote controller, the online store application may be selected for providing a remote control interface that may run on the smart phone or PDA. For a traditional remote controller, such as a universal remote, Step 500 may be optional. Step 500 may be completed in the handheld device. Step 500 may also be completed in a personal computer.
While the handheld device 110 is accessing the online store, download of an interface profile may be triggered in the handheld device 110 (Step 502). The download operation may be triggered by a button press (hardware or software) or by voice activation.
Based on the trigger, such as the button press or reception of a voice command, the handheld device 110 sends an interface profile request to the online store (Step 504). The interface profile request may be packetized and sent to the online store through a data connection in packet form. The online store then sends an interface profile to the handheld device 110.
The handheld device 110 may receive the interface profile from the online store (Step 506) through the data connection. The interface profile may be similar to the interface profile described above for process 20 shown in
The process 50 also allows for updating the interface profile, as shown in
The control signals of the handheld device 110 may include rotational orientation and translation acceleration signals. If the handheld device 110 utilizes an interface profile corresponding to a game console, the interface profile may provide conversion from native format of the orientation and acceleration signals to a game console format compatible with the game console, so that the handheld device 110 may be utilized to control the game console through use of the interface profile. The orientation and acceleration signals are not limited to use with the game console, and may also be applied to any other type of electronic device 100 that the handheld device 110 interacts with through the interface profile.
The processes 20, 50 and the multimedia systems 10, 40 provide a programmable interactive remote control for interacting with an electronic device. The handheld device, by downloading the interactive profile from the electronic device or the online store, is able to interact with any electronic device from any manufacturer, providing great flexibility and convenience of use. Addition of interactive output of audio, image, video, vibration, and/or text in the handheld device further enhances the user experience.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.
