This invention relates generally to remote control systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for setting up and configuring a universal remote control to command functions of one or more types of remotely controllable appliances of one or more manufacturers. Exemplary types of appliances include, but are not limited to televisions, video cassette recorders (VCRs), cable boxes, disk players, digital video recorders (DVRs), thermostats, game consoles, etc.
Manufacturers typically provide a remote control with an appliance and, as such, different appliance types of different manufacturers are often commanded with different remote controls. To minimize the number of individual remote controls a user requires, universal remote controls have been developed. Accordingly, universal remote controls for commanding various functions of various types of appliances of various manufacturers have become quite widespread. By way of example, universal remote controls are described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,959,810, 5,255,313 and 5,552,917.
In a common method of setting up a universal remote control, codes for commanding functions of an appliance are learned from a remote control supplied by the manufacturer with that appliance. The learned codes, which are stored within the universal remote control, are then available for subsequent transmission to the appliance. Alternatively, codes for commanding functions of appliances of various types and various manufacturers can be preprogrammed into the universal remote control. The user then interacts with the universal remote control to identify to the universal remote control which appliance(s) the user desires to command, i.e., the user manually enters an appliance or brand code, usually obtained from a tabulation in a printed user manual or the like, into the universal remote control and the universal remote control uses that user provided identity information to access those preprogrammed codes that are appropriate for commanding the identified appliance(s). In this regard, examples of known methods for performing an initial setup of an universal remote control may be found in, for example, the above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,810 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,906, entitled “Method for Selecting a Remote Control Command Set,” or U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,359 entitled “Universal Remote Control Unit with Model Identification Capability,” each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
An additional system and method for setting up a universal remote control is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,650,248.
While known setup methods do work for their intended purpose, it has been seen that the process of setting up and configuring a universal remote control can be demanding, exacting, and generally frustrating for many users. For example, user manuals or other documents containing setup codes and entry instructions may be lost or misplaced, or may be superseded as brand and/or model names evolve, etc. Accordingly, a need exists for a simplified and more user friendly system and method for manually setting up and configuring a universal remote control.
In accordance with this need, the following describes a system and method for allowing a universal remote control to be easily setup and configured to command appliances of various types and various manufacturers.
A better appreciation of the objects, advantages, features, properties, and relationships of the system and method for setting up and configuring a universal remote control will be obtained from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth illustrative embodiments which are indicative of the various ways in which the principles of the system and method may be employed.
For use in better understanding the exemplary systems and methods for setting up a universal remote control which are described hereinafter, reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in the following drawings in which:
The following describes a system and methods for setting up and configuring a universal remote control to command one or more functions of one or more types of appliances of one or more manufacturers. By way of example,
For use in remotely commanding a device to perform a common and/or extended operational function (i.e., a function that may not be widely supported by devices of a common device type), the universal remote control 100, an example of which is illustrated in
By way of further example, referring to
To cause the universal remote control 100 to perform an action, the universal remote control 100 is adapted to be responsive to events, such as a sensed consumer interaction with the key matrix 302, receipt of a transmission, etc. In response to an event appropriate instructions and/or data within the memory devices are executed and/or accessed. For example, when a command key is activated on the universal remote control 100, the universal remote control 100 may retrieve a code data value corresponding to the activated command key from a memory device and access instructions to transmit the retrieved code data value to a device in a format recognizable by the device. It will be appreciated that the instructions within the memory devices can be used not only to cause the transmission of command codes and/or data to the devices but also to perform local operations. While not limiting, local operations that may be performed by the universal remote control 100 include displaying information/data, favorite channel setup, macro button setup, command function key relocation, etc. Since examples of local operations can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,481,256, 5,959,751, and 6,014,092 they will not be discussed in greater detail herein.
To initially program the universal remote control 100 to access the operational functions of a device, the consumer may use an improved system and method for obtaining, entering, and testing device code information, one exemplary embodiment of which is described hereafter.
Turning now to
Application 406 is responsive to IR signals issued by remote control 100 during the user setup process as illustrated in the flowchart of
The user enters a Setup Mode by, for example, pressing and holding setup key 208. The entering of the Setup Mode may be signaled to a user by the LED 303 blinking twice (e.g., upon pressing and holding the setup key for approximately 3 seconds). Upon entering Setup Mode the remote control transmits a specific “setup” IR code to STB 102 which is interpreted as a command to initiate the “Remote Setup/Help” application 406. Alternatively or as a backup, in certain embodiments application 406 may also be invoked from STB 102's built-in menu system, upon activation of a dedicated key on the STB 102, etc.
In connection with entering the setup mode, the remote control 100 may configure its keyboard as follows:
In connection with the following paragraphs, the reader may wish to refer to
In the exemplary embodiment the user may then select, using navigation keys 214, a desired device type from the displayed list, for example “VCR.” In an alternative embodiment, the user may directly select the device type by actuating one of the device keys 212 of the remote control, which may in that instance be adapted to transmit a signal to the STB indicative of the device type selected. Application 406 may respond by displaying a confirmation of the selected device type together with scrollable list 410 of valid brand names for that device type, as illustrated in
The user may then select (once again via use of keys 214) a desired brand name, for example “Samsung.” Application 406 may respond by displaying the remote control setup code number most likely to result in selection of an infrared code set which will operate appliances of the type and manufacture indicated (once again, obtained by reference to data 404). In the exemplary embodiment presented, this number may include a leading digit to indicate to the remote control programming which device type is to be setup, e.g. “2” for “VCR”. In alternative embodiments where the user may already have explicitly entered the device type being set up via one of the keys 212, this may not be necessary.
The user may then enter this number, for example “2” “0” “0” “6” “0” (502 in
Upon receipt of the completion signal from remote control 100, STB application 406 may display a listing of suggested function(s) 602 to test operation of the target appliance using the code just entered, together with a user message to, for example, press “setup” if the suggested code works, or to press “select” to try a different code, all as illustrated in
If the user activates the “setup” key, indicative that the current code being tested has been found suitable to command operation of the appliance, remote control 100 again transmits a completion signal in STB infrared format, which is interpreted by application 406 in STB 102 as a successful conclusion of the setup process and causes application 406 to terminate execution, returning STB 100 to normal operation. Likewise, remote control 100 also returns to normal operation, configured now to issue commands in the chosen format that device type (VCR in the example presented) is selected by activation of one of keys 212. If on the other hand, the user activates the “select” key, indicative that the current code being tested is unable to command operation of the appliance, remote control 100 transmits the “select” command signal in STB infrared format, which causes application 406 to retrieve and display the next most likely setup code number contained in data 404, so that the user may repeat the test steps using this new code. This setup process may continue until the user finally exits by activating the “setup” or “exit” key, or alternatively, data 404 may include an indicator that no further possibilities exist, upon eventual retrieval of which application 406 may cause a display of instructions to the user to abort the setup process by pressing the “exit” key and, for example, call a customer service number. In an alternate embodiment, application 406 may be configured to monitor command data transmitted from remote control 100 during the setup process for use in automatically progressing through the various setup instructions and prompts associated with the setup application. By way of example only, application 406 may be configured to monitor command data transmitted from remote control 100 in order to echo key presses on the TV screen as a means of visual verification to the user that a setup code was entered correctly, or to present prompts such as “Did your DVD player respond to the Power On command? Press “1” for yes, or press “0” for no” whereupon receipt of either the “1” or “0” key command data will cause application 406 to proceed automatically to another instruction or prompt in the setup procedure.
In certain embodiments, after the appropriate command code sets for the devices to be controlled have been selected as described above, it may be desirable to further configure certain operational characteristics of remote control 100. In particular, as described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,947,101 or 7,013,434 (both of like assignee and incorporated herein by reference in their entirety) it may be advantageous to assign certain subsets of the keys of remote control 100 to always transmit command codes corresponding to a specific device. As appropriate for a particular embodiment, this may take the form of a fixed assignment of certain keys to always send the same code regardless of the device currently selected via device keys 212 (as described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,947,101) or this may take the form of a separate special page or device mode (e.g. “Home Theater mode”) comprised of a composite of groups of key functions from other device modes (as described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 7,013,434), or some combination thereof. For example, users whose equipment is configured to route all audio signals through their a/v receiver may wish to have the volume keys 208 of exemplary remote control 100 always transmit commands that are intended to control corresponding operations of the receiver (i.e., the device code setup on the AUX mode key 220). Cable or satellite subscribers may wish to have the channel tuning keys 206 and numeric pad 204 always transmit commands that are intended to control corresponding operations of the STB (it will be appreciated that remote controls which are supplied together with a STB may already be factory pre-configured in this manner, however remote controls offered as aftermarket accessories and/or supplied together with other appliances may not be.)
To this end, upon completion of device setup, application 406 may interactively prompt the user to enter information regarding device usage and system configuration, which information may then be used to configure key assignments, automatically program macro command sequences such as “all on”, “all off”, “watch a movie”, etc., or for any other appropriate remote control configuration purpose. An exemplary method for performing key mapping is illustrated in
Turning now to
It will be appreciated that all or part of data 404 and/or application 406 may be downloaded into STB 102 (or other application host device as appropriate) from a cable or satellite headend, the internet, the PSTN, etc., as is well known in the art, either as a periodic update or on demand when the remote control setup feature is invoked. In this manner, the data used to guide the user through the setup process may be refreshed whenever new or revised brand names or cross references occur, to allow for language expansion, etc. Further, in situations where multiple remote control models or revisions have been offered by a supplier of the STB or other host device, alternative data sets 404 may be downloaded, for example based on user response to an initial screen displaying images of the various remote control versions.
While specific embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. For example, it should be appreciated that any of the above described methods can be used alone or in combination to setup the remote control 100. Additionally, as noted, the functionality of the universal remote control 100 can be included in other controlling devices such as PDAs, personal computers, home devices, or the like. Further, while the exemplary embodiment above is presented in terms of interactions between a set top box and a universal remote control, it will be appreciated that many other appliance types, e.g. TVs, PVRs, DVDs, PCs, etc. may be substituted for the STB without altering the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, it will be understood that the particular arrangements and procedures 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 of the cited patents and patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
This application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/226,742, filed on Aug. 2, 2016, which application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/699,625, filed on Apr. 29, 2015, which application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/036,435, filed on Sep. 25, 2013, which application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/443,435, filed on Apr. 10, 2012, which application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/026,768, filed on Feb. 14, 2011, which application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/768,325 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,969,514), filed on Apr. 27, 2010, which application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/515,962 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,907,222), filed on Sep. 5, 2006, which application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/715,229 filed on Sep. 8, 2005, which applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60715229 | Sep 2005 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 15226742 | Aug 2016 | US |
Child | 15891100 | US | |
Parent | 14699625 | Apr 2015 | US |
Child | 15226742 | US | |
Parent | 14036435 | Sep 2013 | US |
Child | 14699625 | US | |
Parent | 13443435 | Apr 2012 | US |
Child | 14036435 | US | |
Parent | 13026768 | Feb 2011 | US |
Child | 13443435 | US | |
Parent | 12768325 | Apr 2010 | US |
Child | 13026768 | US | |
Parent | 11515962 | Sep 2006 | US |
Child | 12768325 | US |