Electronic device and method for operating the same

• US 9,226,020 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2012
• Issued: 12/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kim, Jongcheol, Kim, Kyungjin, Park, Jinyung, Park, Sungjong, Lee, Eunji, Kim, Sungeun, Venkatachalapathy, Ramesh, Boyana, Ashesh Chagana, Satapathy, Srikanta
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, Junpeng
• Application Number:
  US13/460,449
• Publication Number:
  US 20130005250A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,338 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.1, 340/10.5, 340/13.26, 380/200
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/12 Power saving techniques of remote control or controlled devices
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/32 Remote control based on movements, attitude of remote control device
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/40 Remote control systems using repeaters, converters, gateways
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/61 Password, biometric
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/91 Remote control based on location and proximity
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/93 Remote control using other portable devices, e.g. mobile phone, PDA, laptop
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 23/04 using light waves, e.g. infrared
• 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 21/4131 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 21/42206 characterized by hardware details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42225 characterized by types of remote control, e.g. universal remote control
• 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 21/441 Acquiring end-user identification , e.g. using personal code sent by the remote control or by inserting a card
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4518 involving characteristics of one or more peripherals, e.g. peripheral type, software version, amount of memory available or display capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4751 for defining user accounts, e.g. accounts for children

Abstract

An NFC-enabled electronic device and a method for operating the same are discussed. The method according to an embodiment includes performing, by the electronic device, tagging with a first external device to establish communication with the first external device; receiving, by the electronic device, at least one of device information and user information from the first external device through the communication; and transmitting, by the electronic device, a remote control signal to at least one second external device, based on the at least one of the device information and the user information.

Claims

1. A method for operating a Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled mobile terminal, the method comprising:

performing, by the mobile terminal, tagging with a remote controller to establish communication with the remote controller;

receiving, by the mobile terminal, at least one of device information and user information from the remote controller through the communication;

displaying an electronic device application list screen including a plurality of item corresponding to a plurality of external devices based on the tagging, wherein an item corresponding to the remote controller in the electronic device application list screen is highlighted;

upon a selection of the item in the electronic device application list screen, displaying a remote control screen on a display unit of the mobile terminal based on the device information; and

transmitting, by the mobile terminal, a remote control signal corresponding to the user'"'"'s selection to an external device, based on the at least one of the device information and the user information,

wherein the remote control screen includes state information of the external device corresponding to the selected item in the electronic device application list screen, and a remote control item for remotely controlling the external device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the remote control signal includes at least one of:

device information about the remote controller,

information about a server connected to the remote controller,

user information about the remote controller,

device information about the mobile terminal,

network information associated with the remote controller,

user information about the mobile terminal, and

control information about the external device.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting step comprises:

transmitting the remote control signal in a communication scheme other than a communication scheme used to receive the at least one of the device infoitnation and the user information.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting step comprises:

transmitting the remote control signal to a plurality of different external devices.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

connecting, by the mobile terminal, to a specific server, if a remote control application for remotely controlling the external device is not installed in the mobile terminal;

downloading the remote control application from the specific server; and

installing, in the mobile terminal, the downloaded remote control application.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the device information received from the remote controller includes network information, and the remote control signal includes the network information.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the remote control screen further includes a device diagnosis item, and a device management item for the external device.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, by the mobile terminal, a request for the state information and diagnosis information about the external device to a server; and

displaying, on the display unit of the mobile terminal, the state information and diagnosis information about the external device received from the server through a wireless communication.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising, when the external device displays an image, displaying the scaled-down image corresponding to the image on the display unit in synchronization with the external device.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising identifying a product type of the external device based on the received device information.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

executing a remote control application based on the device information,

wherein the remote control screen includes an application execution screen of the remote control application.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the electronic device application list screen based on the device information; and

executing a remote control application in the electronic device application list screen upon a user selection.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein an item corresponding to the external device in the electronic device application list screen is highlighted to distinguishably indicate that the external device is the targeted device for remote controlling.

14. An image display apparatus capable of being remotely controlled by a Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled mobile terminal, comprising:

an interface unit configured to receive data from a mobile terminal or transmit data to the mobile terminal;

a display unit configured to display an image; and

a controller configured to control the display unit, and to;

when tagging between the mobile terminal and a remote controller of the image display apparatus is performed, scale down the image;

transmit the scaled-down image to the mobile terminal through the interface unit;

receive a remote control signal from the mobile terminal; and

perform an operation based on the remote control signal,

wherein the controller is further configured to transmit account information about the image display apparatus or information about servers logged in based on the account information for the servers to the mobile terminal.

15. A Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled mobile terminal, comprising:

a display unit;

a first communication module configured to receive, by way of a remote controller, device information from the remote controller through communication;

a second communication module configured to receive data from an external device or transmit data to the external device; and

a controller configured to control the first and second communication modules and the display unit to;

display an electronic device application list screen including a plurality of item corresponding to a plurality of external devices based on a tagging, wherein an item corresponding to the remote controller in the electronic device application list screen is highlighted;

upon a selection of the item in the electronic device application list screen, display a remote control screen on the display unit based on the device information, and

transmit a remote control signal to the external device, based on the at least one of the device information and the user information,

wherein the remote control screen includes state information of the external device corresponding to the selected item in the electronic device application list screen, and a remote control item for remotely controlling the external device.

16. The mobile terminal according to claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to, when the external device displays an image, display a scaled-down image corresponding to the image on the display unit in synchronization with the external device.

17. The mobile terminal according to claim 16, wherein the controller further executes a remote control application based on the device information, and

wherein the remote control screen includes an application execution screen of the remote control application.

18. The mobile terminal according to claim 17, the controller is further configured to:

connect to a specific server, if the remote control application for remotely controlling the external device is not installed in the mobile terminal,

download the remote control application from the specific server, and

install the downloaded remote control application in the mobile terminal.

19. The mobile terminal according to claim 15, wherein the remote control signal includes at least one of:

device information about the remote controller,

information about a server connected to the remote controller,

user information about the remote controller,

device information about the mobile terminal,

network information associated with the remote controller,

user information about the mobile terminal, and

control information about the external device.

20. The mobile terminal according to claim 15, wherein the controller transmits the remote control signal in a communication scheme other than a communication scheme used to receive the at least one of the device information and the user information.

21. The mobile terminal according to claim 15, wherein the controller transmits the remote control signal to a plurality of different external devices.

22. The mobile terminal according to claim 15, wherein the device information received from the remote controller includes network information, and

wherein the remote control signal includes the network information.

23. The mobile terminal according to claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to:

display the electronic device application list screen based on the device information, and

execute a remote control application in the electronic device application list screen upon a user selection.

24. The mobile terminal according to claim 23, wherein an item corresponding to the external device in the electronic device application list screen is highlighted to distinguishably indicate that the external device is the targeted device for remote controlling.

25. The mobile terminal according to claim 24, wherein the remote control screen further includes a device diagnosis item, and a device management item for the external device.

26. The mobile terminal according to claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to:

transmit a request for the state information and diagnosis information about the external device to a server; and

display, on the display unit, the state information and diagnosis information about the external device received from the server through a wireless communication.