TETHERED DIGITAL BUTLER CONSUMER ELECTRONIC REMOTE CONTROL DEVICE AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A remote control device with slaved audio reproduction, the device including:
- a wireless link transceiver;
at least one slaved audio output built into the remote control;
a navigation control built into the remote control;
hardware resources coupled between the wireless link transceiver, the slaved audio output and the navigation control;
a stack running on the hardware resources and exchanging packets with a master device; and
a decoder logic running on the hardware resources, logically coupled to the stack, adapted to receive the packets processed by the master device into a remote control device format and to decode the remote control device format into signals to drive the slaved output;
wherein the remote controldepends on the master device to transcode audio output from VoIP to the remote control device format, andrelies on the master device to respond to control signals sent by the remote control device in the packets.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a tethered digital butler consumer electronics product and method. The tethered digital butler, of a price and form factor suitable for consumer electronics markets of developed and developing countries, includes a communications and multi-media console and a wireless remote. The remote may resemble a handheld personal computer (HPC), a palm-held personal computer (PPC or PDA) or a smart phone, but has a low cost and feature set supported by the console that is novel in the consumer electronics market. In particular, this disclosure relates to combining telephone service, device control and, optionally, a fingerprint reader for easy user identification/authorization and personalization. As another option, a camera can be incorporated into the remote, thereby enabling video conferencing and other visual features. Alternatively, the remote may be packaged separately from a console and sold to interact with capabilities of a communications and console, set-top box, multi-media PC or other consumer electronics device from a different source, such as one running on a Windows, OS X or Linux platform, with or without telephone capabilities. The remote may include a media reader and remote USB port.
48 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A remote control device with slaved audio reproduction, the device including:
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a wireless link transceiver; at least one slaved audio output built into the remote control; a navigation control built into the remote control; hardware resources coupled between the wireless link transceiver, the slaved audio output and the navigation control; a stack running on the hardware resources and exchanging packets with a master device; and a decoder logic running on the hardware resources, logically coupled to the stack, adapted to receive the packets processed by the master device into a remote control device format and to decode the remote control device format into signals to drive the slaved output; wherein the remote control depends on the master device to transcode audio output from VoIP to the remote control device format, and relies on the master device to respond to control signals sent by the remote control device in the packets. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A remote control device with slaved audio input, the device including:
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a wireless link transceiver; at least one slaved audio input built into the remote control; a navigation control built into the remote control; hardware resources coupled between the wireless link transceiver, the digital rights management port, the slaved audio input and the navigation control; a stack running on the hardware resources and exchanging packets with a master device; and an encoder logic running on the hardware resources, logically coupled to the stack, adapted to encode signals from the slaved microphone into a remote control audio format, and adapted to send audio packets in the remote control audio format to the master device; wherein the remote control depends on the master device to transcode input from the slaved audio input to VoIP from the remote control device format, and relies on the master device to respond to control signals sent by the remote control device in the packets. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A remote control device with slaved audio and video reproduction, the device including:
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a wireless link transceiver; slaved audio and video outputs, including at least one slaved audio output and one slaved video display built into the remote control; a navigation control built into the remote control; hardware resources coupled between the wireless link transceiver, the slaved audio output, the slaved video display and the navigation control; a stack running on the hardware resources and exchanging packets with a master device; and a decoder logic running on the hardware resources, logically coupled to the stack, adapted to receive the packets processed by the master device into a remote control device format and to decode the remote control device format into signals to drive the slaved outputs; wherein the remote control depends on the master device to transcode audio and video from a streaming audio and video format to the remote control device format, wherein the streaming audio and video format is at least one of mpeg 2, mpeg 4, or ip-tv, and relies on the master device to respond to control signals sent by the remote control device in the packets at least to select among audio and video for the remote control device to receive. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification