Method and apparatus for providing a remote control user interface

• US 9,405,557 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2011
• Issued: 08/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Park, Ho-Yeon
• Primary Examiner(s): Chan, Wing F
• Assistant Examiner(s): WOO, ANDREW M
• Application Number:
  US13/309,159
• Publication Number:
  US 20120143945A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,706 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/203
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131

Abstract

A method and an apparatus are provided for providing a remote User Interface (UI) to a terminal in a remote UI system. The method includes downloading, by the first terminal, an application from a remote server; driving the application; requesting a new application from the remote server; receiving the new application from the remote server; driving the new application; requesting a second terminal to a change the control UI according to the new application; receiving a message requesting a new control UI for controlling the new application from the second terminal; and providing the new control UI for controlling the new application to the second terminal in response to the message.

Claims

1. A method for providing a control user interface (UI) by a first terminal in a remote UI system, the method comprising:

receiving, by a first terminal, a new application from a remote server;

driving the new application, by the first terminal, without a request from a second terminal;

sending, by the first terminal, a UI change request message including (i) a parameter value indicating that the second terminal is to request a control UI for controlling the new application and (ii) a command sequence from the second terminal;

receiving, from the second terminal in response to the UI change request message, a message requesting the control UI for controlling the new application; and

providing the control UI for controlling the new application to the second terminal, in response to the message requesting the control UI, wherein providing the control UI to the second terminal comprises one of;

receiving the control UI for controlling the new application from the remote server and providing the received control UI to the second terminal;

or

retrieving the control UI which is already stored in the first terminal and providing the retrieved control UI to the second terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the command sequence is provided by a Remote Control Function (RCF) Control Point (CP) in the first terminal.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the parameter value indicating that the second terminal is to request a control UI for controlling the new application is “

/rcf/request_cui”

, and other parameter values include “

/rcf/request_msg”

and “

/rcf/create_app”

.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, when the first terminal does not have the command sequence;

connecting, by a Remote Control Function (RCF) Control Point (CP) in the first terminal, to the second terminal through an embedded server of the first terminal to obtain the command sequence from the second terminal.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adding, by a Remote Control Function (RCF) Control Point (CP) in the first terminal, a message value to the command sequence; and

transmitting the message value-added command sequence to the second terminal.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the message value is changed according to the parameter value.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, in response to receiving the message value-added command sequence, the second terminal performs one or more actions corresponding to the parameter value.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the command sequence is a Universal Resource Locator (URL) for commanding the second terminal.

16. The method of claim 8, wherein the command sequence is connectCommandURL.

9. A first terminal capable of providing a control User Interface (UI) from a remote server to a second terminal which is capable of controlling the first terminal, the first terminal comprising:

a hardware processor that executes software, which controls the hardware processor to operate as;

a handler for driving a new application downloaded from the remote server, without a request from the second terminal,

a Control Point (CP) for sending, to the second terminal, a UI change request message to change a control UI, based on control of the new application, the UI change request message including (i) a parameter value indicating that the second terminal is to request a control UI for controlling the new application and (ii) a command sequence from the second terminal, and

an embedded server which, when a message requesting a new control UI for controlling the new application is received from the second terminal, provides the new control UI for controlling the new application to the second terminal; and

a transceiver for receiving, from the second terminal, the message requesting the new control UI and providing the new control UI to the second terminal, under the control of the embedded server,

wherein the embedded server either receives the new control UI for controlling the new application from the remote server and provides the received new control UI to the second terminal, or provides the control UI which is already stored in the first terminal to the second terminal.

10. The first terminal of claim 9, wherein the parameter value is provided from a Remote Control Function (RCF) plug-in.

11. The first terminal of claim 9, wherein the parameter value indicating that the second terminal is to request a control UI for controlling the new application comprises “

/rcf/request_cui”

, and other parameter values include “

/rcf/request_msg”

and “

/rcf/create_app”

.

12. The first terminal of claim 9, wherein, when the first terminal does not have the command sequence, the CP obtains the command sequence from the second terminal by performing a Device Discovery &

Description procedure for connection to the second terminal through the embedded server.

13. The first terminal of claim 9, wherein the CP adds a message value to the command sequence and transmits the message value-added command sequence to the second terminal.

14. The first terminal of claim 13, wherein the message value changes according to the parameter value.

15. The first terminal claim 14, wherein, in response to receiving the message value-added command sequence, the second terminal performs one or more actions corresponding to the parameter value.