Method and apparatus for determining channel reception of a receiver
First Claim
1. Apparatus for identifying the channel to which a remotely controlled receiver is tuned comprising:
- first wireless transmitter means for receiving a plurality of viewer entered selections and for transmitting a first unique predetermined control signal for each of said viewer entered selections;
receiver means for receiving said transmitted first predetermined control signals;
processor means coupled to said receiver means for processing said first received predetermined control signals, said processor means including means for identifying said viewer entered selection, and means for generating a second unique predetermined control signal representative of said identified viewer entered selection; and
second wireless transmitter means coupled to said processor means for receiving said generated second predetermined control signal and transmitting a representation thereof to said remotely controlled receiver to thereby tune the receiver.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus are provided for determining the channel of a plurality of predetermined channels to which a remotely controlled receiver is tuned. A first transmitter device includes a keyboard for receiving viewer entered selections and transmits infrared or ultrasonic control signals for each of the viewer tuning and ON/OFF selections. A receiver device receives the transmitted control signal from the first transmitter and applies the received signal to a processor device that performs a stored program to identify the channel to which the monitored receiver is tuned. An associated memory device is used for storing the identified channel reception data. The processor device identifies the user selection and applies a corresponding second control signal to a second transmitter device. The second transmitted control signals have a predetermined format of the existing remote control receiver of the monitored receiver that is different than a predetermined format of the control signals of the first transmitter device.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. Apparatus for identifying the channel to which a remotely controlled receiver is tuned comprising:
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first wireless transmitter means for receiving a plurality of viewer entered selections and for transmitting a first unique predetermined control signal for each of said viewer entered selections; receiver means for receiving said transmitted first predetermined control signals; processor means coupled to said receiver means for processing said first received predetermined control signals, said processor means including means for identifying said viewer entered selection, and means for generating a second unique predetermined control signal representative of said identified viewer entered selection; and second wireless transmitter means coupled to said processor means for receiving said generated second predetermined control signal and transmitting a representation thereof to said remotely controlled receiver to thereby tune the receiver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for identifying the channel to which a monitored remotely controlled receiver is tuned comprising the steps:
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receiving one of a plurality of viewer entered selections; transmitting a first unique predetermined control signal by wireless transmission in response to said received one of said viewer entered selections; receiving said transmitted first predetermined control signals; processing said first received predetermined control signals to identify said viewer entered selection; identifying the channel corresponding to said identified viewer entered selection; generating a second predetermined control signal representative of said identified viewer entered selection; and radiating by wireless transmission said generated second predetermined control signal to said remotely controlled receiver. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. Apparatus for identifying the channel to which a remotely controlled receiver is tuned comprising:
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first wireless transmitter means for receiving a plurality of viewer entered selections and for transmitting a first predetermined control signal for each of said viewer entered selections; receiver means for receiving said transmitted first predetermined control signals; sensor means for identifying an operational mode of the monitored receiver; processor means coupled to said receiver means for processing said first received predetermined control signals, said processor means including means for storing each of said first predetermined control signals, means for correlating each of said stored first predetermined control signals with a predetermined second control signal, said second control signals having a predefined format for controlling the monitored receiver, means responsive to said processed signal for identifying said viewer entered selection, means responsive to said identified viewer entered selection to identify the tuned channel, and means for identifying said second predetermined control signal corresponding to said identified viewer entered selection and; second wireless transmitter means coupled to said processor means for receiving and transmitting said identified second predetermined control signal to said monitored receiver. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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28. Apparatus for non-invasively monitoring a remotely controlled receiver that is responsive to signals radiated by wireless transmission to determine the channel to which the receiver is tuned, comprising:
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means responsive to a viewer entered channel selection for transmitting a signal radiated by wireless transmission representative of the viewer entered selection; and means responsive to the radiated signal for determining and logging the channel selection entered by the viewer and transmitting a second signal radiated by wireless transmission to said receiver representative of the viewer entered selection to tune the receiver to the channel selected by the viewer. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for non-invasively monitoring a remotely controlled receiver that is responsive to signals radiated by wireless transmission to determine the channel to which the receiver is tuned, comprising the steps of:
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radiating by wireless transmission a first signal representative of a viewer entered channel selection; determining and logging the channel selection entered by the viewer; and radiating by wireless transmission a second signal representative of the viewer entered selection to said receiver to tune the receiver to the channel selected by the viewer. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification