Multimedia client/server system with remote control signalling and methods for use therewith

• US 8,255,553 B2
• Filed: 11/16/2006
• Issued: 08/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pixelworks Incorporated
• Original Assignee: VIXS Systems Incorporated (Pixelworks Incorporated)
• Inventors: Olive, David M., Dong, Sui Wu
• Primary Examiner(s): Nawaz, Asad M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): JENSEN, NICHOLAS A
• Application Number:
  US11/600,553
• Publication Number:
  US 20080120673A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,112 Days
• Field of Search: 709/231, 348/552, 348/734
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4112 having fewer capabilities than the client, e.g. thin client having less processing power or no tuning capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4113 PC
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41265 having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204
• 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 21/43615 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 21/43637 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 21/440263 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4516 involving client characteristics, e.g. Set-Top-Box type, software version or amount of memory available
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A client module includes a client transceiver module that receives and demodulates a link signal from a multimedia server module over the communications link to produce a received encoded signal, the link signal including a multimedia signal from a multimedia device. A decoder module decodes the received encoded signal into a decoded output signal that is formatted for the at least one client device. A remote receiver module receives remote control signals from a remote control device wherein the remote control signals are formatted for reception by the multimedia device. A remote control signal encoder module encodes the remote control signals into encoded control signals for transmission to the multimedia server module by the client transceiver module.

Claims

1. A multimedia client/server system comprising:

a multimedia server, coupleable to a multimedia device that produces a multimedia signal, the multimedia server including an encoder module that encodes the multimedia signal to produce an encoded signal, a server transceiver module, coupled to the encoder module, that produces a link signal that includes the encoded signal, that transmits the link signal over a communication link, a command generator module, coupled to the server transceiver module that generates multimedia device commands, and a remote transmitter module, coupled to the command generator module, that wirelessly transmits the multimedia device commands to the multimedia device; and

a multimedia client, coupleable to at least one client device, the multimedia client including a client transceiver that receives and demodulates the link signal over the communications link to produce a received encoded signal, a decoder module, coupled to the client transceiver, that decodes the received encoded signal into a decoded output signal, a remote receiver module that receives remote control signals from a remote control device wherein the remote control signals are formatted for reception by the multimedia device, and a remote control signal encoder module, coupled to the remote receiver module and the client transceiver that encodes the remote control signals into encoded control signals for transmission to the multimedia server by the client transceiver by;

decoding the remote control signals to determine when a device command is recognized;

generating device command data based on the device command and generating the encoded control signals to include the device command data, when the device command is recognized; and

sampling and digitizing the remote control signals into digitized samples of the remote control signals to generate the encoded control signals when the device command is not recognized, wherein the encoded control signals include a data packet having the digitized samples of the remote control signals when the device command is not recognized;

wherein the server transceiver module receives the encoded control signals and the command generator generates the multimedia device commands based on the encoded control signals.

2. The multimedia client/server system of claim 1 wherein the remote control signals include a selection command, wherein the multimedia device commands include the selection command, wherein the multimedia device changes the multimedia signal in response to the selection command.

3. The multimedia client/server system of claim 1 wherein the command generator generates the multimedia device commands by converting the digital remote control signal to an analog remote control signal.

4. The multimedia client/server system of claim 1 wherein the command generator generates the multimedia device commands based on the received device command.

5. The multimedia client/server system of claim 1 wherein the remote control encoder module decodes the remote control signals to further produce a device indicator and wherein the at least one data packet includes the device indicator.

6. The multimedia client/server system of claim 5 wherein the command generator generates the multimedia device commands based on the received device type.

7. The multimedia client/server system of claim 1 wherein communication link includes a broadband wireless access network that conforms to at least one of the following standards:

802.11x, Ultra Wideband (UWB), and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).

8. The multimedia client/server system of claim 1 wherein the communication link includes a wired communication path.

9. A method comprising:

receiving a multimedia signal from a multimedia device;

encoding the multimedia signal to produce an encoded signal;

producing a link signal that includes the encoded signal;

transmitting the link signal over a communication link between a multimedia server module and a client module;

receiving the link signal over the communications link;

demodulating the link signal to produce a received encoded signal;

decoding the received encoded signal into a decoded output signal that is formatted for a client device;

receiving remote control signals from a remote control device wherein the remote control signals are formatted for reception by the multimedia device;

encoding the remote control signals into encoded control signals module by;

decoding the remote control signals to determine when a device command is recognized;

generating device command data based on the device command and generating the encoded control signals to include the device command data, when the device command is recognized; and

sampling and digitizing the remote control signals to generate the encoded control signals when the device command is not recognized into digitized samples of the remote control signals to generate the encoded control signals when the device command is not recognized, wherein the encoded control signals include a data packet having the digitized samples of the remote control signals when the device command is not recognized;

transmitting the encoded control signals from the client module to the multimedia server module via the communication link;

generating multimedia device commands based on the encoded control signals received by the multimedia server module; and

wirelessly transmitting the multimedia device commands to the multimedia device.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the remote control signals include a selection command, wherein the multimedia device commands include the selection command for the multimedia device to change the multimedia signal.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of generating the multimedia device commands includes converting the digital remote control signal to an analog remote control signal.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of generating the multimedia device command includes translating the device command to an analog remote control signal.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of encoding the remote control signal further includes decoding the remote control signals to produce a device indicator and the least one data packet includes the device indicator.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of generating the multimedia device command includes translating the device command to an analog remote control signal based on the device indicator.

15. A client device that has a processor and at least one client module, the client module comprising:

a client transceiver module that receives and demodulates a link signal from a multimedia server module over the communications link to produce a received encoded signal, the link signal including a multimedia signal from a multimedia device;

a decoder module, coupled to the client transceiver module, that decodes the received encoded signal into a decoded output signal that is formatted for the at least one client device;

a remote receiver module that receives remote control signals from a remote control device wherein the remote control signals are formatted for reception by the multimedia device; and

a remote control signal encoder module, coupled to the remote receiver module and the client transceiver module, that encodes the remote control signals into encoded control signals for transmission to the multimedia server module by the client transceiver module by;

decoding the remote control signals to determine when a device command is recognized;

generating device command data based on the device command and generating the encoded control signals to include the device command data, when the device command is recognized; and

sampling and digitizing the remote control signals into digitized samples of the remote control signals to generate the encoded control signals when the device command is not recognized, wherein the encoded control signals include a data packet having the digitized samples of the remote control signals when the device command is not recognized.

16. The client module of claim 15 wherein the remote control signals include a selection command to command multimedia device to change the multimedia signal.

17. The multimedia client module of claim 15 wherein the remote control encoder module decodes the remote control signals to further produce a device indicator and wherein the at least one data packet includes the device indicator.