Universal controlling devices, that is, for example, remote controls which are adaptable to issue commands to a multiplicity of appliances of different type and/or manufacture, and the features and functionality provided by such controlling devices are well known in the art. Early universal controlling devices such as, for example, that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,887 were generally “learners,” that is, they were adapted to capture, store, and subsequently play back the command signals of the original equipment remote controls corresponding to the appliances to be controlled. However, the required initial teaching process proved tedious and error prone, and universal controlling devices which included preprogrammed libraries of command codes, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,511 or 4,959,810, were introduced to overcome this problem. These universal controlling devices, however, suffer from the potential drawback that an appliance which is “unknown,” i.e., not already present in the preprogrammed library of codes embedded in the device, cannot be controlled. To alleviate this drawback, multiple methods for upgrading a preprogrammed controlling device after it has left the factory, i.e., adding one or more entire command sets to a preprogrammed controlling device, have been proposed. In this regard see, for example, the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,810 or U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,226,077, 5,953,144, 5,537,463, 6,223,348 or U.S. Published Patent Application 2001/0033243. Alternatively, controlling devices which embody a combination of the two technologies (preprogrammed and learning) have also been proposed from time to time. All of these approaches, however, increase expense and/or complexity by requiring the provision of additional hardware either internal to the controlling device (e.g., a built-in modem, an IR receiver, etc.) or externally in the form of cables, adapters, etc., or both.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method to provide upgradeability to a controlling device in a simple manner and with minimal extra expense.
This invention relates generally to a system and method to enable a controlling device to support the addition of a new command code set definition at little or no extra hardware cost. The method contemplates manual entry by a consumer of a relatively short sequence of keystrokes on the keypad of the controlling device which, as will be seen, may serve to define a new set of appliance command codes which were not previously available in the stored library of codes within the controlling device. While manual entry of the data is preferred as a means to reduce the expenses that are associated with providing a controlling device with data receiving hardware, it will be appreciated that the teachings set forth hereinafter may nevertheless be used to determine data that serves to define a new set of appliance command codes which data may be provided to a controlling device in an automatic or semi-automatic manner without limitation.
In one described embodiment, a consumer may access a service hosted on a Web server and identify a needed device command code set by supplying, for example, the model number or other identifying characteristic(s) of the appliance to be controlled. An application on the Web server may then scan a representation of the data library known to be already present in the controlling device for matches on individual elements of the desired command code set such as, for example, function data patterns, protocol encoding, system address, etc. Using the best matches found, the server application may then build a definition of the desired command code set expressed in terms of subsets of data that will already be present in the controlling device, i.e., no new function data patterns, protocol encoding, system address, etc. will need to be downloaded into the controlling device.
This definition may then be encoded into a series of keystrokes, or other form suitable for provision to the controlling device which is to receive the input, which series of keystrokes are presented to the requesting consumer for entry into their controlling device. Since the consumer is not providing to the controlling device an entire command code data set but rather, for example, input data that is representative of a sequence of data flags, pointers, and data maps, the number of keystrokes required in this data entry instance may be minimized. The number of keystrokes required to provide the input data to the controlling device may be further reduced by making use of all the keys available on the keypad of the controlling device (e.g., those beyond labeled keys 0-9 as would preferably be used to provide base 10 encoded input) such that keys on the keypad are used to represent values encoded, for example, as hexadecimal or even duotrigesimal (base 32) values.
A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, properties and relationships of the invention will be obtained from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth illustrative embodiments and which are indicative of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.
For a better understanding of the various aspects of the invention, reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in the attached drawings in which:
Turning now to
With reference to
As will be understood by those skilled in the art, some or all of the memories 304, 305, 306 may include executable instructions (collectively, the program memory) that are intended to be executed by the processor 300 to control the operation of the remote control 100, as well as data 400 which serves to define the aforementioned control protocols and command values to the operational software (collectively, the command data). In this manner, the processor 300 may be programmed to control the various electronic components within the remote control 100, e.g., to monitor the power supply 308, to cause the transmission of signals, control the key illumination means 320, 322, and 324, etc. The non-volatile read/write memory 306, for example an EEPROM, battery-backed up RAM, FLASH, Smart Card, memory stick, or the like, may additionally be provided to store setup data and parameters as necessary. While the memory 304 is illustrated and described as a ROM memory, memory 304 can also be comprised of any type of readable media, such as ROM, FLASH, EEPROM, or the like. Preferably, the memories 304 and 305 are non-volatile or battery-backed such that data is not required to be reloaded after battery changes. In addition, the memories 304, 305 and 306 may take the form of a chip, a hard disk, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and/or the like. Still further, it will be appreciated that some or all of the illustrated memory devices may be physically incorporated within the same IC chip as the microprocessor 300 (a so called “microcontroller”) and, as such, they are shown separately in
To cause the controlling device 100 to perform an action, the controlling device 100 is adapted to be responsive to events, such as a sensed user interaction with the key matrix 316, etc. In response to an event, appropriate instructions within the program memory (hereafter the “operating program”) may be executed. For example, when a function key is actuated on the controlling device 100, the controlling device 100 may retrieve from the command data the command value and control protocol corresponding to the actuated function key and the current device mode, from memory 304, 305, 306 (as will be described in greater detail hereafter) and transmit the command to an intended target appliance, e.g., STB 104, in a format recognizable by that appliance. It will be appreciated that the operating program can be used not only to cause the transmission of command codes and/or data to the appliances, but also to perform local operations. While not limiting, local operations that may be performed by the controlling device 100 may include displaying information/data, favorite channel setup, macro key setup, function key relocation, etc. Examples of local operations can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,481,256, 5,959,751, and 6,014,092. An additional local operation is the ability to “lock” function keys across device operational modes as described in U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2003/0025840.
For creating a correspondence between command data and a function key, data may be entered into the controlling device 100 that serves to identify an intended target appliance by its type and make (and sometimes model) as illustrated in
In one approach to the analysis and storage of appliance command codes described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,052 “Universal Remote Control with Function Synthesis,” of like assignee and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, transmitted appliance commands may in general be fully characterized by three items of data: a definition of the transmission protocol to be used; one or more bytes of system code, or header, applicable to every command destined for a particular appliance; and, typically, a single byte value corresponding to a particular device function to be executed. Accordingly, to provide a controlling device with universal capability, an exemplary set of command data 400 may be structured as illustrated in
As further illustrated in
In accordance with this exemplary embodiment, when a function key is actuated on controlling device 100, for example “Channel Up” 210, the operating program may, based upon the setup parameters previously entered for the current device mode, retrieve a function command data value, e.g., byte 416, from device table 406 and pass this value together with system code values 410 and protocol definition data 408/414 to an IR driver program to cause output of the appropriate appliance command via transmitting circuit 310.
As will be appreciated, practical limitations on the memory size of a controlling device 100 generally mean that the libraries embodied within pre-loaded command data 400 cannot encompass every possible appliance command set. Furthermore, new appliances using as-yet undefined command code sets may be introduced to the market at any time subsequent to the manufacture and sale of controlling device 100. Accordingly, various methods have been proposed to enable an existing controlling device to be upgraded with additional command code data when it is found that a desired command set is not available in the memory of controlling device 100, e.g., by observing an unsuccessful outcome 1702 of the setup process generally illustrated by flowchart 1700. These generally have taken the form of either replacing all or part of the command data 400, or of loading of a supplemental set of data into, for example, non volatile read/write memory 306. In this connection see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,959,810, 5,414,761 or 5,537,463 all of like assignee and incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. However, these previous methods have generally required the provision of additional data coupling means on the controlling device and/or additional external hardware in the form of cables, connectors, modems, etc.
In contrast, the instant invention envisages a system and method whereby a new device definition may be user-installed in controlling device 100 via a sequence of inputs on key matrix 316. No additional specialized data coupling or hardware would therefore be required.
In one exemplary embodiment, a user of controlling device 100, having discovered 1702, as illustrated in
Upon receiving the controlling device 100 and appliance 106 identification data, server 504 may access a global database 510 of all known appliance control codes. The server 504 may also access information regarding the contents of the pre-loaded command code libraries of the various models of controlling device—e.g. 100, 604—that the server 504 is equipped to support. More particularly, using the appliance information (e.g., 702, 704) supplied by the user, server 504 locates a command code set appropriate for the identified appliance in a global database 510 (which itself will be updatable to include the command code sets for appliances as they are introduced into the market). Using the controlling device identity supplied by the user, server 504 then scans a representation 402′, 404′ of the contents of the data libraries known to already be in controlling device 100. In this manner, the server 504 may discern matches within the data libraries already stored within the controlling device 100 to individual elements, e.g. function data patterns, protocol encoding, system address, etc., of the command code set identified as being appropriate for the identified appliance.
Using the best matches found, the server 504 may then build a definition of the desired new command code set, e.g., a command code set to be used to command operations of appliance 106, which command code set will be expressed in terms of sections of other data already known to be present in the remote 100. A description of this definition may then be encoded by the server 504 into a sequence of keystrokes to be entered using the key matrix 316 of controlling device 100, as will be described in greater detail hereafter. To allow a user to provide the definition to the remote control 100, the keystroke sequence 804 so arrived at may be presented to the user in, for example, a result screen 800 together with instructions 802 on how to input the keystroke sequence into controlling device 100 in order to implement a command code set for the device 106. It will be appreciated that although scanning data libraries and encoding keystroke sequences are described above as occurring in conjunction with user interaction, in certain embodiments all or part of these processes may be performed ahead of time and results stored on the sever as pre-defined sequences, in order to optimize response time.
During or after entry into controlling device 100 by the user of the supplied keystroke sequence, the supplied keystroke sequence will be decoded by the operating program and used to construct a new device definition table 420 in non-volatile read/write memory 306. In an alternative embodiment, the keystrokes themselves or representation thereof may be stored in non-volatile memory 306 and used to construct a device table “on the fly,” in keeping with the methodology to be described hereinafter, each time a command is to be issued to appliance 106.
Since the user is not entering data which functions to define an entire device definition table but, as will be seen, data that generally functions as a series of flags, pointers, and data maps, the number of keystrokes required to be entered on the controlling device 100 to define the new device definition table 420 is minimized. The number of keystrokes required to be entered on the controlling device 100 for the purpose of defining the new device definition table 20 may be further reduced by making use of all available keys on key matrix 316, for example by encoding the to be entered data as hexadecimal (base 16) or duotrigesimal (base 32) values.
One exemplary method by which the results of the data library search by server 504 may be encoded into a series of keystrokes for entry into controlling device 100 will now be discussed in further detail. To assist in following the steps of this process which is described in the following paragraphs, reference may be made to the flowchart of
In general, the initial search performed by the server 504 for partial matches within the data libraries already stored within the controlling device 100 to individual elements, e.g. function data patterns, protocol encoding, system address, etc., of the command code set identified as being appropriate for the identified appliance will result in one of four possible outcomes:
In this context it will be understood by those of skill in the art that in searching for a protocol definition, while an exact correspondence is clearly preferable, a similar protocol may also be acceptable. In general, receivers embodied in consumer appliances are designed to accept and decode incoming signals with a degree of tolerance for variations in frequency, timing, etc.—this for example to permit the use of inexpensive components in their original equipment remote controls. Accordingly, a protocol which, for example, although not an exact match but similar in timing and frequency may still be functional to enable control of a particular appliance, perhaps at the expense of some aspect of performance such as range. In this regard data may be collected and made available to server 504 which serves to define the parameters for such functional equivalency in the receipt and processing of command protocols and codes by particular appliances such that searches performed by server 504 in accordance with the inventive concepts described herein yield the broadest set of potentially usable data for use in configuring the subject remote control to command the operation of a new desired appliance. It should thus be understood that in general the use of the term “match” in this context is intended to comprise all instances wherein one item may serve as a functional substitute for another item.
If however even no similar protocol definition can be located by the search and the final outcome is (4) above, a new device code cannot be defined by the exemplary method, and this case will thus not be addressed further.
To cater for the three viable cases set forth above, keys may be activated on the controlling device 100 to identify to the controlling device 100:
By way of more detailed example, if a new device were to be defined as using protocol number ninety (090) 920, reference device type TV (01) 922 and data set number sixty (60) 924 (each in base 10 in the illustrated example) with two system code byte values 31H and 1FH respectively (each in base 16 in the illustrated example), the hexadecimal representation 928 of this bit string would be 2D083C311F. If the keys of key matrix 316 are assigned hexadecimal digit significance as in the exemplary manner illustrated in table 940 during the device definition state, i.e., when the controlling device is placed into the aforementioned state to accept entry of a device definition key sequence, then the key sequence 950 required to enter the data 2D083C311F into controlling device 100 would be:
In the case of outcome (2) above, the header block may be followed by a sequence of keystrokes which serve to map the data values in the reference device table to the desired physical keys on the remote, in the order entered.
In one exemplary embodiment, a terminating keystroke, for example activation of the “Setup” key 214, may be entered at any time during the mapping process. When this is encountered, controlling device 100 exits the device definition state to resume normal operation. It will be understood that, in such a case, the newly defined device will include only the key functions that were mapped prior to exiting the state and any unmapped keys will remain non-functional. Truncation of the key mapping sequence in this manner may be used advantageously to reduce the number of user keystrokes required where only a subset of the available command functions need to be defined. For example, the user of a universal controlling device supplied together with a cable set top box, when configuring the TV mode of that controlling device for use in conjunction with that STB may only be interested in a limited number of functions, e.g. power and volume control only. To this end, it will be appreciated that the key order sequence 1010 maintained by the programming of the controlling device 100 may be adjusted in various controlling devices 100 to place the most desired, i.e., most likely to be setup, functions early in the mapping entry sequence, according to the intended application of the controlling device. It will be further appreciated that in certain applications different key order sequences may be used for different device types, for example, when defining a DVD device it may desirable to place the transport control and menu functions ahead of the digit and channel changing keys, while the opposite may be true when defining a television device.
In the case of outcome (3) above, i.e., where no suitable reference device was located by the search, an explicit definition of command function values will be required. In this instance, a pre-defined reference device number in the header block, for example 7FFH may be use to indicate to the recipient controlling device that special processing is to be performed on the data that follows. In the simplest method, the desired byte values that will define the command function values may be directly entered as hexadecimal values by activating keys in the manner described above. However this approach, while functional, will typically require two keystrokes per value being defined, e.g., to provide to the controlling device the first and second hexadecimal digits of the byte value being defined. Accordingly, in order to reduce the number of user keystrokes, an exemplary embodiment of the instant invention utilizes a “virtual” reference device which can be thought of as containing every possible byte value from 00 to FFH and is accessed using a method which will be referred to hereafter as “dynamic indexing.” Dynamic indexing takes advantage of the fact that in many command code sets, the data values for groups of functions tend to be assigned sequentially rather than completely randomly. For example, the data values for use in digit function transmissions, i.e., 0 through 9, often form an arithmetic sequence, as do the digit values for navigation functions, transport functions, etc. (as practically illustrated in the reference device table 1004 of
More particularly and as illustrated in
In practice, there is no need for an actual physical table of 256 byte values to be stored by a controlling device implementing this algorithm—since each value is always calculated from the previous one, all that actually needs to be maintained in the memory of the controlling device is a single byte representing the current value. Hence the concept of a “virtual” reference. It will also be appreciated that, in practice, the illustrated algorithm will require two items of initialization information: (1) where the “window” should be placed to begin with, i.e. a starting current value upon which the “window” is to be centered; and (2) because the bit order and significance of appliance command code assignments used by various manufacturers differs, whether the expected arithmetic progression should be based on a conventional or a reversed bit order in each byte and/or conventional or inverted bit values. As further illustrated in
By way of more detailed example,
In a related alternative method which may be embodied either in conjunction with those described above or as a separate feature, a special device table and protocol definition may be provided in a controlling device, which table and protocol dynamically base all or a part of the system code value(s) to be transmitted on the configuration information initially entered into the controlling device by the user to identify the intended target appliance. In this manner, provision may be made for future members of a family of appliances which share similar function command values and transmission format and are differentiated only by system code—such as for example a series of appliances of different types from the same manufacturer, or a series of appliances of the same type which are all private labeled from the same original equipment manufacturer.
By way of more detailed example, with reference to
Once a keystroke sequence, such as for example key sequence 950, has been determined for entry into remote control 100 using any of the above described methods, it will be appreciated that various presentation techniques and methodologies may be implemented to ensure that a user is able to correctly and without undue frustration enter the sequence into the remote control to effect setup of the new appliance 106. In this regard it is contemplated that in addition to the ability to simply present the actual string of keystroke data to the user by way of a computer screen, television, email, or telephonically, for certain devices having the ability to receive and interpret command data being sent by the subject remote control (e.g., STB 104 or other appliance with which the remote control is currently configured to communicate), an automated data entry process can be used to ensure accurate keystroke entry by the user. Generally, a device such as STB 104 or other appliance having both access to a server for performing match and keystroke generation functions (such as those described in connection with
While various concepts have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those concepts could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. For example, while one disclosed exemplary embodiment contemplates delivery of device definition key sequences via the Internet or similar interactive electronic means, it will be appreciated that in alternative embodiments these may be delivered to a customer verbally over the telephone by a service representative or an automated dial-in service, mailed to a customer either electronically or by way of the postal service, published on a community bulletin board, electronic or otherwise, distributed as a user manual supplement, etc., all without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that while various exemplary methods for representing and storing controlled device command data are presented herein, many alternative representations may be possible and utilizable in practice. For example system codes may be made part of a protocol definition, carrier pulses may be defined in terms of period rather than frequency and duty cycle, burst data may be defined in terms of numbers of carrier cycles rather than times, command functions may be represented by fewer or more than 8 bits of data, etc., without limitation, and all without departing from the spirit of the described invention.
Further, while various aspects of this invention have been described in the context of functional modules and illustrated using block diagram format, it is to be understood that, unless otherwise stated to the contrary, one or more of the described functions and/or features may be integrated in a single physical device and/or a software module, or one or more functions and/or features may be implemented in separate physical devices or software modules. It will also be appreciated that a detailed discussion of the actual implementation of each module is not necessary for an enabling understanding of the invention. Rather, the actual implementation of such modules would be well within the routine skill of an engineer, given the disclosure herein of the attributes, functionality, and inter-relationship of the various functional modules in the system. Therefore, a person skilled in the art, applying ordinary skill, will be able to practice the invention set forth in the claims without undue experimentation. It will be additionally appreciated that the particular concepts disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any equivalents thereof.
All patents cited within this document are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
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