Infrared signal distribution and management system and method

• US 20060277580A1
• Filed: 08/11/2006
• Published: 12/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Resource Consortium Limited, LLC
• Original Assignee: Digital Deck, Inc.
• Inventors: Scheelke, Erik
• Granted Patent: US 8,022,837 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/78
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/40 Remote control systems using repeaters, converters, gateways
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/41 Remote control of gateways
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 23/04 using light waves, e.g. infrared
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time

Abstract

An apparatus for and method of distributing and reproducing infrared signals within a digital network is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a control unit for digitizing a received infrared signal command from a wireless remote and transmitting the digitized signal over the digital network. The apparatus also-comprises at least one transceiver device coupled to the network and identified by the control unit to receive the digitized signal and reproduce the infrared signal as originally received. The transceiver device can provide the reproduced infrared signal to at least one electronic device located within a vicinity of the transceiver device.

Claims

1. A method for controlling an entertainment device comprising:

receiving an indication of a desired operation from a user through a user interface;

sending a request by the user interface to a control unit, the request indicating the desired operation;

processing the request to obtain a control signal, by the control unit;

sending the control signal by the control unit over a digital network to the entertainment device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending the control signal by the control unit step further comprises:

receiving the control signal at a transceiver; and

sending the control signal by the transceiver to the entertainment device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the user interface is an infrared remote control and the sending a request from the user interface to a control unit further comprises:

sending an infrared user request signal from the infrared remote to an infrared receiver;

receiving the user request signal at the infrared receiver and converting the user request signal to a non-infrared format associated with the digital network; and

and sending the converted user request signal from the infrared receiver to the control unit through the digital network.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the infrared receiver and the transceiver are the same device.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the sending the control signal by the transceiver step further comprises converting the control signal into a format associated with the entertainment device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the converting the control signal step further comprises converting an electrical signal into an infrared signal and the sending the control signal by the transceiver step further comprises sending the infrared signal to the entertainment device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the sending of the control signal by the transceiver step further comprises sending the same infrared signal to the entertainment device multiple times.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the sending of the infrared signal further comprises selectively delaying the infrared signal so that no less than a predefined minimum time elapses between the sending of the infrared signal and the sending of a previously transmitted infrared signal.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the sending of the infrared signal comprises detecting an external infrared signal by the transceiver device, and in the event an external infrared signal is detected, delaying the sending of the infrared signal until no external infrared signal is present or resending the infrared signal when no external infrared signal is present.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface is a general purpose computer executing software which implements the user interface, the general purpose computer being connected to the control unit.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the general purpose computer is connected to the control unit through a second network.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the second network is the Internet.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface is a cellular phone, and the sending a request step is performed over a wireless network.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface is a portable electronic device and the sending a request step is performed over a wireless network.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the desired operation is a complex operation and the processing the request step further includes:

identifying multiple actions associated with the complex operation;

obtaining multiple control signals, each control signal being associated with each of the multiple actions; and

sending the multiple control signals over the network.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the processing step includes obtaining multiple control signals for multiple entertainment devices;

the sending of the control signal by the control unit step includes sending the multiple control signals to multiple entertainment devices.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the desired operation is a complex operation and the processing the request step further includes:

identifying multiple actions associated with the complex operation;

identifying multiple devices where respective multiple actions are to be performed;

obtaining multiple control signals, each control signal being associated with each of the multiple actions, and its respective entertainment device; and

sending the multiple control signals to multiple transceivers associated with the respective entertainment devices.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the processing step further includes the step of accessing additional information by the control unit and wherein the control signal is at least partially based on the additional information.

19. A system for controlling an entertainment device comprising:

a user interface for receiving an indication of a desired operation from a user and configured to send a request based on the desired operation;

a control unit connected to the user interface and to a digital network, configured to receive the request from the user interface, to process the request in order to obtain a control signal and to send the control signal over the digital network to the entertainment device.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

a transceiver connected to the digital network and configured to receive the control signal from the control unit and to send the control signal to the entertainment device.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprising an infrared receiver and wherein

the user interface is an infrared remote control configured to send an infrared user request signal to the infrared receiver;

and

the infrared receiver is configured to receive a user request signal and convert the user request signal to a format associated with the digital network and send the converted user request signal from the infrared receiver to the control unit through the digital network.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the infrared receiver is part of the transceiver.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the transceiver is further configured to convert the control signal into a format associated with the entertainment device.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the transceiver is further configured to convert an electrical signal onto an infrared signal and send the infrared signal to the entertainment device.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the transceiver is further configured to send the same infrared signal to the entertainment device multiple times.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the transceiver is further configured to selectively delay the sending of the infrared signal so that no less than a predefined minimum time elapses between the sending of the infrared signal and the sending of a previously transmitted infrared signal.

27. The system of claim 24, wherein the transmitter is further configured to detect an external infrared signal, and in the event an external infrared signal is detected, delay the sending of the infrared signal until no external infrared signal is present, or resend the infrared signal when no external infrared signal is present.

28. The system of claim 19, wherein the user interface is implemented by a general purpose computer comprising executable software, the general purpose computer being connected to the control unit.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the general purpose computer is connected to the control unit through a network.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the network is the Internet.

31. The system of claim 19, wherein the user interface is a cellular phone, and the sending a request step is performed over a wireless network.

32. The method of claim 19, wherein the user interface is a portable electronic device and the sending a request step is performed over a wireless network.

33. The system of claim 19, wherein the desired operation is a complex operation and the control unit is further configured to:

identify multiple actions associated with the complex operation;

obtain multiple control signals, each control signal being associated with each of the multiple actions; and

send the multiple control signals over the digital network.

34. The system of claim 19, wherein the control unit is further configured to obtain multiple control signals for multiple entertainment devices and send the multiple control signals to the multiple entertainment devices.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the desired operation is a complex operation and the control unit is further configured to:

identify multiple actions associated with the complex operation;

identify multiple devices where respective multiple actions are to be performed;

obtain multiple control signals, each control signal being associated with each of the multiple actions, and its respective entertainment device; and

send the multiple control signals to multiple transceivers associated with the respective entertainment devices.

36. The system of claim 19, wherein the control unit includes a storage, the storage includes additional information and the control unit is further configured to access the additional information when processing the request in order to obtain the control signal.