Computer control of a video cassette recorder using wireless communication and a vertical blanking interval triggering
First Claim
1. A system for remotely programming a video cassette recorder that has a remote receiver, the video cassette recorder being coupled to a television receiver, comprising:
- a computer located external to the video cassette recorder, the computer includes a computer monitor to display a graphical user interface, and a first decoder to receive a broadcast signal and separate a control data signal having program information from the broadcast signal, the computer to display the program information on the graphical user interface to allow user selection of the program information, the computer includes a second decoder which decodes the broadcast signal so that a broadcast video image is displayed on the computer monitor, the computer further includes a wireless transmitter to transmit a first VCR control signal in response to the user selection of the program information; and
a transceiver located external to the computer and the video cassette recorder, the transceiver to receive the first VCR control signal and, responsive thereto, to wirelessly transmit a second VCR control signal to the remote receiver of the video cassette recorder to control the video cassette recorder.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system that allows a personal computer to remotely control the operation of a video cassette recorder (VCR). The system includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter connected to a personal computer. The personal computer is programmed to generate a first VCR control signal that is transmitted by the RF transmitter to a RF receiver located within a transceiver base unit. The transceiver base unit transmits a second VCR control signal, using an infrared transmitter, to the VCR in response to the first VCR control signal. The VCR control signals include commands to record, stop, play, etc. the video cassette recorder. The first VCR control signal can be transmitted in response to a control data signal that is inserted into the vertical blanking interval of a publicly broadcasted video signal that is received and decoded by the computer. The control data signal may contain program information which is used to trigger the transmission of the first VCR control signal.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A system for remotely programming a video cassette recorder that has a remote receiver, the video cassette recorder being coupled to a television receiver, comprising:
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a computer located external to the video cassette recorder, the computer includes a computer monitor to display a graphical user interface, and a first decoder to receive a broadcast signal and separate a control data signal having program information from the broadcast signal, the computer to display the program information on the graphical user interface to allow user selection of the program information, the computer includes a second decoder which decodes the broadcast signal so that a broadcast video image is displayed on the computer monitor, the computer further includes a wireless transmitter to transmit a first VCR control signal in response to the user selection of the program information; and
a transceiver located external to the computer and the video cassette recorder, the transceiver to receive the first VCR control signal and, responsive thereto, to wirelessly transmit a second VCR control signal to the remote receiver of the video cassette recorder to control the video cassette recorder. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for remotely programming a video cassette recorder that has a remote receiver, the video cassette recorder being coupled to a television receiver, comprising:
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computer means located external to the video cassette recorder, the computer means for (i) displaying a graphical user interface on a computer monitor, (ii) receiving a broadcast signal and separating a control data signal having program information from the broadcast signal, (iii) displaying the program information on the graphical user interface to allow user selection of the program information, (iv) decoding the broadcast signal so that a broadcast video image is displayed on the computer monitor, and (v) wirelessly transmitting a first VCR control signal in response to the user selection of the program information; and
transceiver means located external to the computer means and the video cassette recorder, the transceiver means for receiving the first VCR control signal and, responsive thereto, for wirelessly transmitting a second VCR control signal to the remote receiver of the video cassette recorder to control the video cassette recorder.
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10. A system for remotely programming a video cassette recorder that has a remote receiver, the video cassette recorder being coupled to a television receiver, comprising:
computer means located external to the video cassette recorder, said computer means including a computer monitor to display a graphical user interface and a first decoder to receive a broadcast signal and to separate a control data signal having program information from said broadcast signal, said computer means displaying said program information on said graphical user interface to allow user selection of said program information and to display data entered by a user, said computer means generating a first VCR control signal, said computer means further including a wireless transmitter which transmits said first VCR control signal, said first VCR control signal being a function of said entered data, said computer means further includes a second decoder which decodes a broadcasted signal so that a broadcasted video image is displayed by said computer monitor; and
transceiver means for receiving said first VCR control signal and transmitting a second VCR control signal to the remote receiver of the video cassette recorder, wherein said first and second VCR control signals provide a control command to control the video cassette recorder.- View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for recording a transmitted video signal on a video cassette recorder that is coupled to a television receiver, comprising:
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displaying a graphical user interface on a computer monitor;
entering data into a field of the graphical user interface;
inserting a control data signal into a video signal;
transmitting the video and control data signals;
receiving the video and control data signals;
separating the control data signal which has program information from the video signal;
displaying the program information on the graphical user interface on the computer monitor to allow user selection of the program information along with entered data;
decoding the transmitted video signal;
displaying the video signal on the computer monitor;
comparing the separated control data with the entered data;
transmitting wirelessly a first VCR control signal from a computer located external to the VCR to a transceiver located external to the computer and the VCR, in response to the separated control data signal if the control data signal matches the entered data;
receiving said first VCR control signal by said transceiver;
transmitting wirelessly a second VCR control signal from said transceiver to the video cassette recorder, in response to said first VCR control signal, wherein said first and second VCR control signals provide a control command to control the video cassette recorder; and
,recording the video signal in response to the first VCR control signal. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification