PROGRAMMING A UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL USING MULTIMEDIA DISPLAY

• US 20110037611A1
• Filed: 08/13/2009
• Published: 02/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pratt, James, Edwards, Gregory, Van Vleck, Paul, Belz, Steven M.
• Application Number:
  US12/541,021
• Publication Number:
  US 20110037611A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/825.69
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 19/28 using pulse code
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/20 Binding and programming of remote control devices
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/21 Programming remote control devices via third means

Abstract

A method and system for programming a universal remote control (URC) to operate with a remote-controlled device is disclosed. A plurality of selectable objects representing different remote-controlled devices is displayed. A user may select an object and thereby determine an identity of the remote-controlled device. Programming codes for the identified remote-controlled device may be obtained and used to program the URC to control the remote-controlled device.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a universal remote control (URC) over a multimedia content distribution network (MCDN), comprising:

displaying a plurality of selectable objects representing a plurality of remote-controlled devices;

receiving user input selecting one of the displayed plurality of objects, wherein an identity of a selected remote-controlled device represented by the selected object is determined; and

programming the URC to control the selected remote-controlled device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selectable objects include images of different remote-controlled devices.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selectable objects include objects representing different device types of remote-controlled devices.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selectable objects include objects representing at least one of:

device manufacturer, device model number, device version number, device name, and device product number.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a request to a server for programming codes for the selected remote-controlled device, the request including an indication of the identity; and

receiving the programming codes from the server,

wherein said programming the URC is performed using the programming codes.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the server is an MCDN server.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prior to said programming, displaying a confirmation of the identity of the selected remote-controlled device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a confirmation indicating that the URC was successfully configured with at least one programming code for the selected remote-controlled device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the URC is programmed using a wireless communication link.

10. A customer premises equipment (CPE) for use within a client configuration of a multimedia content distribution network (MCDN), comprising:

a processor;

a local transceiver; and

memory media accessible to the processor, including instructions executable by the processor to;

receive user input selecting at least one displayed object representing a remote-controlled device, wherein an identity of the remote-controlled device is determined; and

program, using the local transceiver, a universal remote control (URC) to control the remote-controlled device.

11. The CPE of claim 10, further comprising processor instructions executable to:

display selectable objects representing a plurality of remote-controlled devices.

12. The CPE of claim 11, wherein the selectable objects include images of different remote-controlled devices.

13. The CPE of claim 11, wherein the selectable objects include objects representing different device types of remote-controlled devices.

14. The CPE of claim 11, wherein the selectable objects include objects representing at least one of:

device manufacturer, device model number, device version number, device name, and device product number.

15. The CPE of claim 10, wherein the local transceiver is a wireless transceiver.

16. The CPE of claim 10, further comprising processor instructions executable to:

in response to a request to an MCDN server for programming codes for the remote-controlled device, the request including an indication of the identity, receive programming codes from the MCDN server; and

use the programming codes to program the URC.

17. The CPE of claim 10, further comprising processor instructions executable to:

output an indication that the URC was successfully programmed to control the remote-controlled device.

18. Computer-readable memory media, including instructions for configuring a universal remote control (URC) for use within a client configuration of a multimedia content distribution network, said instructions executable to:

enable a user to select an identity of a remote-controlled device based on a menu of device information objects displayed to the user; and

based on the selected identity, program the URC to control the remote-controlled device.

19. The memory media of claim 18, further comprising instructions executable to:

send a request to a server for programming codes, the request including the selected identity;

receive programming codes from the server; and

use the programming codes to program the URC.

20. The memory media of claim 18, wherein the device information objects include images of different remote-controlled devices.

21. The memory medium of claim 18, wherein the device information objects include objects indicative of at least one of:

device manufacturer, device class, device model number, device version number, device name, and device product number.

22. The memory medium of claim 18, wherein the URC is programmed via a wireless interface.

23. The memory medium of claim 18, wherein the menu includes a plurality of pages displaying device information objects.

24. The memory medium of claim 23, wherein the plurality of pages includes a separate page for each of at least one of the following device information objects:

device type objects, manufacturer objects, model objects, version objects, name objects, and product number objects.