Wireless interconnection method and assembly for establishing a bidirectional communication between audio and/or video devices

• US 7,035,586 B2
• Filed: 04/15/2002
• Issued: 04/25/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Uniloc 2017 LLC (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Finet, Bernard
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Nay
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dean, Raymond S.
• Application Number:
  US10/122,746
• Publication Number:
  US 20020168934A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,471 Days
• Field of Search: 455/7, 455/3.03, 455/3.01, 455/3.06, 455/419, 455/352, 348/734, 348/14.05, 348/114, 348/211.1, 348/211.2, 348/211.3, 348/211.99, 725/78, 725/80, 725/81, 725/82, 725/83, 725/85, 340/426.13, 340/426.14, 340/426.15, 340/426.17, 340/426.16
• US Class Current: 455/7
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/40 Remote control systems using repeaters, converters, gateways
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 23/04 using light waves, e.g. infrared

Abstract

In a interconnection assembly having two relays (R1, R2) for establishing a bi-directional wireless communication between two audio and/or video devices (4, 8) situated in different rooms (2, 3) in a building (1), a first one (4) of the two audio and/or video devices including a source (SAV) of audio and/or video electrical signals which can be controlled by means of a remote-control signal (6), the second (8) of the two audio and/or video devices including a receiver (TV2) and a remote control (TC) generating remote-control signals unable to pass through the walls of a building, one (R2) of the relays sending the remote-control information by radio link to the other relay (R1) which is able to return audio and/or video signals by radio link from the source (SAV) to the relay (R2), a coder (13) is provided for inserting a code in the remote-control information (9) and a decoder is provided (18) for decoding the coded remote-control information received by the relay (R1), comparing the code contained in the coded remote-control information with a reference code, and rejecting the decoded remote-control information in the event of non-agreement between the two codes.

Claims

1. An interconnection method for establishing a bi-directional communication between two audio and/or video devices situated in different rooms in a building, a first of the two audio and/or video devices including a source of audio and/or video electrical signals controllable by a remote-control signal, the second of the two audio and/or video devices comprising a receiver and a remote control of the type generating a remote-control signal unable to pass through the walls or partitions of a building, said method comprising the steps of:

a) picking up, on the second audio and/or video device side, a remote-control signal emitted by the remote control and retransmitting, by radio link, remote-control information contained in the remote-control signal picked up;

b) receiving, on the first audio and/or video device side, the remote-control information retransmitted by radio link, resending said remote-control information in the form of said remote-control signal to the audio and/or video signal source in order to control the functioning of the latter, and sending, by radio link, audio and/or video signals delivered by said audio and/or video signal source in response to the remote-control signal; and

c) receiving, on the second audio and/or video device side, the audio and/or video signals sent by radio link and delivering said audio and/or video signals thus received to the receiver of the second audio and/or video device;

characterized in that the method further comprises the steps of;

d) inserting, on the second audio and/or video device side, a code in the remote-control information sent by the remote control, so as to transmit coded remote-control information to the first audio and/or video device; and

e) decoding, on the first audio and/or video device side, decoding the coded remote-control information received, comparing the code contained in the coded remote-control information received with a reference code, and rejecting the decoded remote-control information in the event of non-agreement between the two codes, wherein the remote-control information emitted by the remote control consists of an information bit frame, and wherein the coding is effected by replacing a start of each information bit in the frame with a code word composed of several code bits having, in total, a duration shorter than that of an information bit in the frame.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that use is made, as a code word for coding on the second audio and/or video device side and as a reference code word for comparing on the first audio and/or video device side, a code word comprising a fixed part having at least one code bit, forming a first bit of the code word and having the binary value “

1”

for serving as a synchronization bit during the decoding step on the first audio and/or video device side, and a part in which the code bits have values which can be selected by a user.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, in the event of non-agreement between the two codes, the step of rejecting the decoded remote-control information consists of sending a remote-control signal having a content incomprehensible to the audio and/or video signal source.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, in the event of non-agreement between the two code, the step of rejecting the decoded remote-control information consists of sending no remote-control signal to the audio and/or video signal source.

5. A wireless interconnection assembly for establishing a bi-directional communication between two audio and/or video devices situated in different rooms in a building, a first of the two audio and/or video devices including an audio and/or video electrical signal source controllable by a remote-control signal, the second of the two audio and/or video devices comprising a receiver and a remote control of a type generating a remote-control signal unable to pass through the walls or partitions of a building, said interconnection assembly comprising a first and second relay connectable, by cables, respectively, to the audio and/or video signal source of the first audio and/or video device and to the receiver of the second audio and/or video device, the second relay having a first receiving means for receiving remote-control information issuing from the remote control and a first sending means for retransmitting said remote-control information, by radio link, to the first relay, said first relay having a second receiving means for receiving the remote-control information retransmitted by the second relay, a second sending means for sending said remote-control information, in the form of said remote-control signal, to the audio and/or video signal source in order to control the functioning thereof, and a third sending means for sending, by radio link, audio and/or video signals delivered by the audio and/or video signal source in response to the remote-control signal, the second relay also having a third receiving means for receiving the audio and/or video signals sent by the third sending means of the first relay and for sending the received audio and/or video signals, by the corresponding cable, to the receiver of the second audio and/or video device,

characterized in that

said interconnection assembly also comprises, on the second audio and/or video device side, a coder for inserting a code in the remote-control information and, on the first audio and/or video device side, a decoder for decoding the coded remote-control information received, comparing the code contained in the coded remote-control information received with a reference code stored in the decoder, and rejecting the decoded remote-control information in the event of non-agreement between the two codes,

wherein the remote-control information emitted by the remote control consists of an information bit frame, and wherein the coder inserts said code in said remote-control information by replacing a start of each information bit in the frame with a code word composed of several code bits having, in total, a duration shorter than that of an information bit in the frame.

6. The interconnection assembly as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the coder is disposed in the second relay between the first receiving means and the first sending means, and the decoder is disposed in the first relay between the second receiving means and the second sending means.

7. A wireless interconnection assembly for establishing a bi-directional communication between two audio and/or video devices situated in different rooms in a building, a first of the two audio and/or video devices including an audio and/or video electrical signal source controllable by a remote-control signal, the second of the two audio and/or video devices comprising a receiver and a remote control of a type generating a remote-control signal unable to pass through the walls or partitions of a building, said interconnection assembly comprising a first and second relay connectable, by cables, respectively, to the audio and/or video signal source of the first audio and/or video device and to the receiver of the second audio and/or video device, the second relay having a first receiving means for receiving remote-control information issuing from the remote control and a first sending means for retransmitting said remote-control information, by radio link, to the first relay, said first relay having a second receiving means for receiving the remote-control information retransmitted by the second relay, a second sending means for sending said remote-control information, in the form of said remote-control signal, to the audio and/or video signal source in order to control the functioning thereof, and a third sending means for sending, by radio link, audio and/or video signals delivered by the audio and/or video signal source in response to the remote-control signal, the second relay also having a third receiving means for receiving the audio and/or video signals sent by the third sending means of the first relay and for sending the received audio and/or video signals, by the corresponding cable, to the receiver of the second audio and/or video device,

characterized in that

said interconnection assembly also comprises, on the second audio and/or video device side, a coder for inserting a code in the remote-control information and, on the first audio and/or video device side, a decoder for decoding the coded remote-control information received, comparing the code contained in the coded remote-control information received with a reference code stored in the decoder, and rejecting the decoded remote-control information in the event of non-agreement between the two codes,

wherein the coder is disposed in the second relay between the first receiving means and the first sending means, and the decoder is disposed in the first relay between the second receiving means and the second sending means,

wherein the remote-control information consists of an information bit frame,

and wherein the coder has a first code memory containing a code word composed of several code bits having together a duration shorter than that of any information bit in said frame, and means for inserting said code word at the start of each information bit in the information bit frame coming from the first receiving means, and for delivering a coded frame to the first sending means.

8. The interconnection assembly as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the code word is composed of two parts, said two parts including a fixed part having at least one code bit forming the first bit of the code word and having the binary value “

1”

for serving as a synchronization bit during the decoding in the decoder, and a part in which the code bits have values selectable by a user.

9. The interconnection assembly as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that the decoder has a second code memory containing a reference code word identical to the code word contained in the first code memory of the coder, a monostable circuit triggerable in response to the arrival of each information bit in the coded frame, said monostable circuit delivering a pulse with a duration longer than that of any information bit in said coded frame, comparison and decoding means for comparing, in response to the pulse delivered by the monostable circuit, the code word carried by the information bit which triggered the monostable circuit, with the reference code word contained in the second code memory, and for allowing, in the event of agreement between the two code words, the information bit to pass, in decoded form, to the second sending means, and for delivering a reset pulse at the end of said information bit for resetting said monostable circuit for setting the monostable circuit to wait for the following information bit in the coded frame, said comparison and decoding means, in the event of non-agreement between the two code words, delivering at least one reset pulse before the end of the information bit.

10. The interconnection assembly as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the second sending means has an infrared light emitter, an electronic switch for connecting one of the terminals of the infrared light emitter to a reference potential point, said electronic switch being controlled by the decoded information bits coming from the decoder, an oscillator for generating a modulation carrier for application to another terminal of the infrared light emitter, and a shaping monostable circuit triggered by each reset pulse delivered by the comparison and decoding means of the decoder, said shaping monostable circuit controlling said oscillator.

11. A remote-control signal comprising a frame of information bits for controlling a function in an audio and/or video signal source, characterized in that said remote control signal contains a code word for identifying the remote control from which the remote-control signal came, characterized in that the code word is composed of several code bits having together a duration shorter than that of any information hit in said frame, said code word being inserted at the start of each information bit in said frame.