Information-processing system, information-processing apparatus, and information-processing method

• US 8,046,807 B2
• Filed: 04/13/2006
• Issued: 10/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Saturn Licensing LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Maeda, Satoru, Onishi, Manabu, Sakao, Katsutoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Pendleton; Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): OKEKE, ONYEDIKA C
• Application Number:
  US11/403,294
• Publication Number:
  US 20060184974A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,021 Days
• Field of Search: 348/734, 725/116, 725/118, 725/146, 725/148
• US Class Current: 725/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4131 home appliance, e.g. lighting, air conditioning system, metering devices home automation data switching networks exchanging configuration information on appliance services H04L12/2807
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42224 Touch pad or touch panel provided on the remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42228 the reprogrammable keys being displayed on a display screen in order to reduce the number of keys on the remote control device itself
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43632 involving a wired protocol, e.g. IEEE 1394 high-speed IEEE 1394 serial bus H04L12/40052
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43637 involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4753 for user identification, e.g. by entering a PIN or password cryptographic authentication protocols H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/485 End-user interface for client configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

In an information-processing system shown in FIG. 1, a server (106) for delivering remote-operation control information in accordance with an audio/video instrument (110) and an information-processing apparatus (103) with a remote-operation screen display function for remote-controlling the audio/video instrument (110) based on control information acquired from this server (106) are connected to each other through the Internet (105) etc. The information-processing apparatus (103) makes a request to the server (106) to deliver the remote-operation control information in accordance with this audio/video instrument (110) and, based on the control information delivered from the server (106) owing to this delivery request, performs display processing of a remote-operation screen and, based on remote-operation information input by operations on the remote-operation screen, remote-controls the audio/video instrument (110).

Claims

1. A video display apparatus for receiving video content information and remote-control build up data wirelessly transmitted from a base station that is remote from said video display apparatus, said video content being supplied to said base station from video information providing apparatus that is remote from said video display apparatus and that is remote-controlled by remote operation information generated by the video display apparatus and transmitted to said video information providing apparatus from the base station, said remote-control build up data being stored at said base station and wirelessly transmitted to said video display apparatus, said video display apparatus comprising:

an input unit for requesting from an external data base, via said base station, distribution of remote-control build up data associated with said video information providing apparatus and including a remote-controller user interface that provides operating functions for remote-controlling the video information providing apparatus connected to said base station, said requested remote-control build up data being stored in a non-volatile memory in said base station and being transmitted from said non-volatile memory to said video display apparatus in response to user operation of said input unit;

a receiving unit for receiving said remote-controller user interface included in said remote-control build-up data downloaded from said external data base and stored in said non-volatile memory in said base station, said received remote-controller user interface including display information for displaying a remote-operation screen, said remote-operation screen displaying the image of a user operated remote control unit for producing remote-operation information in response to operations of the displayed image of the remote control unit by a user on the remote-operation screen;

a storage unit for storing said remote-control build up data transmitted from said non-volatile memory in said base station, including said remote-controller user interface, whereby substantially the same remote-control build-up data is stored in both the non-volatile memory in said base station and said storage unit in said video display apparatus;

a video reception unit for receiving, via said base station, video content information from said video information providing apparatus controlled by said remote-operation information;

a display unit having a touch-panel for displaying both said video content information received by said video display apparatus and, superposed thereon, said image of said remote control unit represented by the stored remote-controller user interface included in said remote-control build-up data stored in said storage unit, said displayed remote control unit image having touch-sensitive buttons operable by a user to control functions of said video information providing apparatus as represented by said buttons of said remote control unit image; and

a transmit unit for wirelessly transmitting to said base station said remote-operation information in response to user-operation of said buttons of the displayed remote control unit image on said touch-panel for remotely selecting and controlling the operating functions of said video information providing apparatus with said remote-operation information via said base station, whereby the remote-operation information transmitted by said transmit unit of said video display apparatus is sent to said base station which controls said operating functions of said video information providing apparatus directly.

2. A method for controlling the operation of video display apparatus of the type that wirelessly receives video content information and remote-control build up data transmitted from a base station that is remote from said video display apparatus, said video content being supplied to the base station from video information providing apparatus that is remote from said video display apparatus and that is remote-controlled in response to remote-operation information generated by the video display apparatus and transmitted to the video information providing apparatus from said base station, said remote-control build up data being stored at said base station and wirelessly transmitted to said video display apparatus, said method comprising the steps of:

operating an input unit to request remote-control build up data associated with said video information providing apparatus and including a remote-controller user interface that provides operating functions for remote-controlling the video information providing apparatus connected to said base station, said requested remote-control build up data being stored in a non-volatile memory in said base station and being transmitted from said non-volatile memory to a storage unit in said video display apparatus in response to user operation of said input unit;

receiving said remote-control build-up data downloaded to said non-volatile memory from an external data base;

storing in said video display apparatus said remote-control build up data transmitted from said non-volatile memory in said base station, including said remote-controller user interface, whereby substantially the same remote-control build-up data is stored in both the non-volatile memory in said base station and said storage unit in said video display apparatus, said remote-controller user interface in said remote-control build-up data including display information for displaying on a touch-panel of said video display apparatus a remote-operation screen, said remote-operation screen displaying the image of a user operated remote control unit having touch-sensitive buttons operable by a user to control functions of said video information providing apparatus as represented by said buttons of said remote control unit image for producing remote-operation information inputted by operations of the touch-sensitive buttons of the displayed image of the remote control unit on the touch-panel;

transmitting to said base station said remote-operation information in response to user-operation of said displayed remote control unit for remotely-controlling the operating functions of said video information providing apparatus through said base station with said remote-operation information generated by said user operation of said touch-sensitive buttons on the remote control unit displayed on said touch-panel, whereby the remote-operation information transmitted by said transmit unit of said video display apparatus is sent to said base station which controls said operating functions of said video information providing apparatus directly;

receiving video content information from said video information providing apparatus, through said base station, controlled by said remote-operation information; and

displaying on said video display apparatus said video content information received by said video display apparatus in response to the remote control of said video information providing apparatus by the user via said base station, along with, and superposed thereon, the image of said displayed remote control unit including said touch-sensitive buttons.

3. A non-transitory computer-readable medium on which is stored computer-readable instructions for controlling a processor to implement a method that determines the operation of video display apparatus of the type that wirelessly receives video content information and remote-control build up data transmitted from a base station that is remote from said video display apparatus, said video content being supplied to the base station from video information providing apparatus that is remote from said video display apparatus and that is remote-controlled in response to remote-operation information generated by the video display apparatus and transmitted to the video information providing apparatus from said base station, said remote-control build up data being stored at said base station and wirelessly transmitted to said video display apparatus, said method implemented by said instructions comprising the steps of:

operating an input unit to request remote-control build up data associated with said video information providing apparatus and including a remote-controller user interface that provides operating functions for remote-controlling the video information providing apparatus connected to said base station, said requested remote-control build up data being stored in a non-volatile memory in said base station and being transmitted from said non-volatile memory to a storage unit in said video display apparatus in response to user operation of said input unit;

receiving said remote-control build-up data downloaded to said non-volatile memory from an external data base;

storing in said video display apparatus said remote-control build up data transmitted from said non-volatile memory in said base station, including said remote-controller user interface, whereby substantially the same remote-control build-up data is stored in both the non-volatile memory in said base station and said storage unit in said video display apparatus, said remote-controller user interface in said remote-control build-up data including display information for displaying on a touch-panel of said video display apparatus a remote-operation screen, said remote-operation screen displaying the image of a user operated remote control unit having touch-sensitive buttons operable by a user to control functions of said video information providing apparatus as represented by said buttons of said remote control unit image for producing remote-operation information inputted by operations of the touch-sensitive buttons of the displayed image of the remote control unit on the touch-panel;

transmitting to said base station said remote-operation information in response to user-operation of said displayed remote control unit for remotely-controlling the operating functions of said video information providing apparatus through said base station with said remote-operation information generated by said user operation of said touch-sensitive buttons on the remote control unit displayed on said touch-panel, whereby the remote-operation information transmitted by said transmit unit of said video display apparatus is sent to said base station which controls said operating functions of said video information providing apparatus directly;

receiving video content information from said video information providing apparatus, through said base station, controlled by said remote-operation information; and

displaying on said video display apparatus said video content information received by said video display apparatus in response to the remote control of said video information providing apparatus by the user via said base station, along with, and superposed thereon, the image of said displayed remote control unit including said touch-sensitive buttons.