Power line communications using battery devices
First Claim
1. In or for a wireless control device including a first housing,a radiation emitter mounted to said first housing, said emitter being selected from the group consisting of infrared and ultrasonic emitters for remotely controlling an electronic system,a RF control device comprisinga RF transceiver,a second housing, said RF transceiver being mounted to said second housing,said transceiver having at least one terminal for connection to a power line in said wireless control device for use with said power line as an antenna for said transceiver, said electronic system being selected from the group consisting of television receivers, VCR devices, MP3 devices, DVD devices, personal computers, and printers, anda switching device for selectively disabling and enabling said RF control device,said first and second housings having mating electrical connector structures for connection of said one transceiver terminal to said power line.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The operational range of a wireless controller is extended by use of RF communications instead of or in addition to other signaling radiation such as infrared. Advantageously, power line communications technology is used to extract an RF signal from the power line of the device. The power line also is used as an antenna for a transceiver so as to minimize the size of the transceiver and to provide an improved antenna.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. In or for a wireless control device including a first housing,
a radiation emitter mounted to said first housing, said emitter being selected from the group consisting of infrared and ultrasonic emitters for remotely controlling an electronic system, a RF control device comprising a RF transceiver, a second housing, said RF transceiver being mounted to said second housing, said transceiver having at least one terminal for connection to a power line in said wireless control device for use with said power line as an antenna for said transceiver, said electronic system being selected from the group consisting of television receivers, VCR devices, MP3 devices, DVD devices, personal computers, and printers, and a switching device for selectively disabling and enabling said RF control device, said first and second housings having mating electrical connector structures for connection of said one transceiver terminal to said power line.
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9. In or for a wireless control device for remotely controlling an electronic system, a RF control device comprising
a RF transceiver, said transceiver having at least one terminal for connection to a power line in said wireless control device for use with said power line as an antenna for said transceiver, and including a housing shaped like a battery to fit into the battery compartment of said wireless control device and having terminals for contacting terminals in said battery compartment which are connected to said power line.
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15. In or for a wireless control device for remotely controlling an electronic system, a RF control device comprising
a RF transceiver, said transceiver having at least one terminal for connection to a power line in said wireless control device for use with said power line as an antenna for said transceiver, said transceiver including a detector for detecting communications data from said power line, and means for converting said data into an RF format signal for transmission from said antenna, and in which said transceiver includes means for detecting an RF signal in said power line and creating a corresponding detection signal, and using said detection signal as an enable signal to enable RF signal transmission.
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19. A wireless control device having a signaling radiation emitter selected from the group consisting of infrared and ultrasonic emitters with control circuitry for converting manual input signals into control signals for said radiation emitter, and a power line for supplying electrical power to said control circuitry,
a RF control device including a RF transmitter connected to said power line for use of said power line as an antenna for said transmitter, connecting means for coupling said control signals to said transmitter whereby said transmitter can transmit corresponding RF signals by way of said antenna, and a switching device for selectively disabling and enabling said RF control device, further comprising a RF receiver for use at a location remote from said control device to control a controlled device in accordance with RF signals received by said receiver from said transmitter, said wireless control device having a housing with a battery compartment, said RF control device having a housing shaped and sized to fit into said compartment in place of a battery, and housing terminals to connect said power line to said control device.
Specification