Portable telephone handset with remote control
First Claim
1. A television remote control and telephone handset apparatus comprising:
- a housing;
a plurality of keys on said housing;
means responsive to the actuation of at least one of said keys for generating a television control signal;
means for transmitting said television control signal via an infrared communication link;
a microphone;
means coupled to said microphone for transmitting telephone audio from said microphone via a radio frequency communication link;
an earphone for reproducing telephone audio; and
means coupled to said earphone for receiving telephone audio via said radio frequency communication link.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A remote control for one or more appliances and a telephone handset are combined into a single unit. A common keypad is used for both remote control and telephone functions. An appliance control signal is generated in response to the actuation of at least one of the keypad keys. The appliance control signal is transmitted via an infrared communication link. A telephone control signal is generated in response to the actuation of at least one of the keypad keys, and transmitted via an infrared or radio frequency communication link. Telephone audio signals from a microphone and to an earphone are communicated via a radio frequency communication link. The remote control/telephone handset is particularly advantageous for use in combination with a cable television converter/descrambler or satellite television receiver.
192 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A television remote control and telephone handset apparatus comprising:
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a housing; a plurality of keys on said housing; means responsive to the actuation of at least one of said keys for generating a television control signal; means for transmitting said television control signal via an infrared communication link; a microphone; means coupled to said microphone for transmitting telephone audio from said microphone via a radio frequency communication link; an earphone for reproducing telephone audio; and means coupled to said earphone for receiving telephone audio via said radio frequency communication link. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A portable telephone handset comprising:
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a housing; a telephone microphone and earphone mounted on said housing for generating and reproducing telephone audio signals, respectively; a plurality of keys on said housing; switch means for operatively placing said keys into a telephone mode or an appliance control mode; means responsive to at least one of said keys in said telephone mode for generating a telephone control signal; means for communicating said telephone control signal and telephone audio signals between said handset and a telephone base station; means responsive to at least one of said keys in said appliance control mode for generating a first appliance control signal for a first appliance; means responsive to at least one of said keys in said appliance control mode for generating a second appliance control signal for a second appliance; and means for communicating said first and second appliance control signals to said first and second appliances, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A replaceable module for a television signal converter comprising:
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a telephone transceiver having a wireless communication link for communicating audio signals to and from a portable telephone handset; means for communicating data signals between said telephoner transceiver and a processor contained in said converter; and means for coupling said telephone transceiver to a telephone network. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. Remote controlled television signal converter apparatus comprising:
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means for receiving a television signal; means coupled to said receiving means for converting said television signal to a format suitable for reproduction on a television set; means coupled to said converter means for outputting the converted signal to a television set; control means for processing a converter remote control signal received over a first communication path and a telephone remote control signal received over a second communication path; means responsive to the telephone remote control signal received by said control means for establishing a communication over a telephone network; and transmitter means for communicating a telephone audio signal received from said network to a remote control over said second communication path; said remote control comprising; a keypad; first transmitter means, responsive to said keypad, for transmitting television control signals to said converter control means over said first communication path; a microphone for providing a telephone audio signal for transmission; second transmitter means, responsive to said keypad and microphone, for transmitting telephone control and audio signals to said converter control means over said second communication path; receiver means for receiving telephone audio signals from said television signal converter; and an earphone for reproducing the received telephone audio signals. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A television signal converter for communicating with a remote control and telephone handset, comprising:
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an infrared data signal receiver; processor means coupled to said infrared receiver for processing received converter control signals; means operatively associated with said processor means for controlling a converter function in response to a received converter control signal; and telephone base station means coupled to said processor means for communication of telephone audio signals to and from said handset via an RF communication link. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification