Computer programmable remote control
DCFirst Claim
1. A remote control development program comprising a set of instructions on a computer-readable medium, the instructions configured to cause a general purpose computer to provide a user with the ability to edit a first screen object;
- the general purpose computer comprising a processor, an operating system, a short term memory, a long term memory, a graphics display and a user input device, the screen objects each comprising a screen layout definition and at least one key object which is a soft key object or a programmable key object, the screen object providing for a screen display and commands associated therewith, wherein each soft key object comprises a representation of a soft key, a text label for the representation, a location for displaying the graphic soft key object, and a tagname for a command which is to be issued when the soft key is pressed, each programmable key object comprises an identifier of one of plural programmable keys of a programmable remote control unit and a tagname for a command which is to be issued when the identified programmable key is pressed, each command comprises a message which, when received by a given multimedia processing unit, causes the multimedia processing unit to alter a defined setting of the multimedia processing unit in a predictable manner;
the remote control development program further comprising instructions for causing a computer to facilitate editing of the first screen object by performing the following steps;
(a) displaying a representation of the appearance of the first screen object;
(b) simultaneously displaying information regarding the first screen object and the key objects of the first screen object;
(c) providing objected object oriented tools for creating and editing soft key objects;
(d) providing objected object oriented tools for creating and editing labels;
(e) displaying tagnames for commands which may be assigned to soft key objects in the first screen object, programmable key objects in the first screen object, and directly to the first screen object;
(f) receiving the user'"'"'s selections of commands to assign to soft key objects in the first screen object, programmable key objects in the first screen object, and directly to the first screen object.
1 Assignment
Litigations
1 Petition
Accused Products
Abstract
A portable hand-held remote control unit device is disclosed which may be utilized for selecting designated functions in a plurality of remotely controllable multimedia processing units. Multiple user selectable screen objects may be created from a general purpose computer and transferred to the remote control unit. The screen objects include screen layout and descriptions of soft keys to be displayed on a graphic display of the remote control unit, as well as commands associated with the screen object, the soft keys and programmable keys on the remote control unit. The user may select any of the loaded screen objects for controlling various multimedia processing units, for performing complex functions of commands to various multimedia processing units.
54 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A remote control development program comprising a set of instructions on a computer-readable medium, the instructions configured to cause a general purpose computer to provide a user with the ability to edit a first screen object;
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the general purpose computer comprising a processor, an operating system, a short term memory, a long term memory, a graphics display and a user input device, the screen objects each comprising a screen layout definition and at least one key object which is a soft key object or a programmable key object, the screen object providing for a screen display and commands associated therewith, wherein each soft key object comprises a representation of a soft key, a text label for the representation, a location for displaying the graphic soft key object, and a tagname for a command which is to be issued when the soft key is pressed, each programmable key object comprises an identifier of one of plural programmable keys of a programmable remote control unit and a tagname for a command which is to be issued when the identified programmable key is pressed, each command comprises a message which, when received by a given multimedia processing unit, causes the multimedia processing unit to alter a defined setting of the multimedia processing unit in a predictable manner;
the remote control development program further comprising instructions for causing a computer to facilitate editing of the first screen object by performing the following steps;
(a) displaying a representation of the appearance of the first screen object;
(b) simultaneously displaying information regarding the first screen object and the key objects of the first screen object;
(c) providing objected object oriented tools for creating and editing soft key objects;
(d) providing objected object oriented tools for creating and editing labels;
(e) displaying tagnames for commands which may be assigned to soft key objects in the first screen object, programmable key objects in the first screen object, and directly to the first screen object;
(f) receiving the user'"'"'s selections of commands to assign to soft key objects in the first screen object, programmable key objects in the first screen object, and directly to the first screen object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of editing one or more screen objects for downloading to a programmable remote control unit using a general purpose computer,
the general purpose computer comprising a processor, an operating system, a short term memory, a long term memory, a graphics display and a user input device, the screen objects each comprising a screen layout definition and at least one key object which is a soft key object or a programmable key object, the screen object providing for a screen display and commands associated therewith, wherein each soft key object comprises a representation of a soft key, a text label for the representation, a location for displaying the graphic soft key object, and a tagname for a command which is to be issued when the soft key is pressed, each programmable key object comprises an identifier of one of plural programmable keys of a programmable remote control unit and a tagname for a command which is to be issued when the identified programmable key is pressed, each command comprises a message which, when received by a given multimedia processing unit, causes the multimedia processing unit to alter a defined setting of the multimedia processing unit in a predictable manner; the method comprising;
(a) the general purpose computer displaying a representation of the appearance of the first screen object;
(b) the general purpose computer simultaneously displaying information regarding the first screen object and the key objects of the first screen object;
(c) the general purpose computer providing objected object oriented tools for creating and editing soft key objects;
(d) the general purpose computer providing objected oriented orient tools for creating and editing labels;
(e) the general purpose computer displaying tagnames for commands which may be assigned to soft key objects in the first screen object, programmable key objects in the first screen object, and directly to the first screen object;
(f) the general purpose computer receiving the user'"'"'s selections of commands to assign to soft key objects in the first screen object, programmable key objects in the first screen object, and directly to the first screen object. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A remote control development program for use in connection with a general purpose computer comprising a processor, an operating system, a short term memory, a long term memory, a graphics display and a user input device, the remote control development program comprising:
a set of instructions on a computer-readable medium, the instructions configured to cause the general purpose computer to provide a user with the ability to edit a screen object comprising a screen layout definition and at least one key object which is a soft key object, the screen object providing for a screen display and commands associated therewith wherein each soft key object comprises a representation of a soft key, a location for displaying the representation of the soft key, and a tagname for a command which is to be issued when the soft key is activated, the command comprising a message which, when received by a given multimedia processing unit, causes the multimedia processing unit to alter a defined setting of the multimedia processing unit in a predictable manner; and
wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the general purpose computer to;
(a) display a representation of the appearance of the screen object;
(b) display information regarding the screen object and the key objects of the screen object;
(c) accept user input via object oriented tools for creating and editing soft key objects;
(d) display tagnames for commands which may be assigned to soft key objects in the screen object; and
(e) accept user selections of commands to assign to soft key objects in the screen object. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of editing one or more screen objects for downloading to a programmable remote control unit using a general purpose computer, the general purpose computer comprising a processor, an operating system, a short term memory, a long term memory, a graphics display and a user input device, the screen objects each comprising a screen layout definition and at least one key object which is a soft key object, the screen object providing for a screen display and commands associated therewith, wherein each soft key object comprises a representation of a soft key, a location for displaying the representation of the soft key, and a tagname for a command which is to be issued when the soft key is activated, the command comprising a message which, when received by a given multimedia processing unit, causes the multimedia processing unit to alter a defined setting of the multimedia processing unit in a predictable manner, the method comprising:
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(a) the general purpose computer displaying a representatoin of the appearance of the screen object;
(b) the general purpose computer displaying information regarding the screen object and the key objects of the screen object;
(c) the general purpose computer receiving user input via object oriented tools for creating and editing soft key objects;
(d) the general purpose computer displaying tagnames for commands which may be assigned to soft key objects in the screen object; and
(e) the general purpose computer receiving user selections of commands to assign to soft key objects in the screen object. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification