NETWORK CONFIGURATION VIA A WIRELESS DEVICE

• US 20100070867A1
• Filed: 01/10/2008
• Published: 03/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Lemmers, Johannes Hendrikus Maria
• Application Number:
  US12/522,921
• Publication Number:
  US 20100070867A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/735
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/36 by graphic or iconic representation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• 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 21/4532 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 21/475 End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data
• 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 21/6131 involving transmission via a mobile phone network wireless downlink channel access H04W74/006

Abstract

When configuring a network system (10) in a user'"'"'s residence, a patient to receive home healthcare assistance or other user receives an encoded configuration message. One type of configuration message includes a sequence of code words, each of which corresponds to one or more numerical digits, which the user receives via voice or text message on a mobile phone (28), as an email message, etc., and the user enters the codewords into a set top box (STB) (12). The user enters the codewords by selecting the codewords and/or images representing the codewords displayed on a GUI (18). The STB (12) uses a translation table (40, 42) to decode the codewords to determine the numerical sequences. The complete sequence represents a configuration information sequence, such as a user ID, an IP address, or the like, and is employed by the STB (12) to configure itself and/or other components in the network system (10). If the configuration message is received on a Bluetooth-capable cellular device, the configuration sequence is sent wirelessly to the STB (12).

Claims

1. A system (10) for configuring a remote healthcare system using encoded configuration messages, including:

a first device (12) that requires entry of encoded configuration information to be functional; and

a second device (18, 24, 26, 28, 32) that either enters the configuration information directly or presents the configuration information as codewords or symbols.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising memory that receives and stores audio and video data for presenting interactive wellness and health-education programming to a user.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first device (12) includes a component (24, 26) that receives the user-entered encoded configuration information.

4. The system according to claim 3, further comprising communication device (28) on which the user receives the encoded configuration information, wherein the communication device (28) is at least one of a cellular phone, a personal desktop assistant, a laptop, or a personal computer, and has a component with wireless communication capability.

5. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a translation table (40, 42) that stores a plurality of codewords and corresponding numerical sequences for decoding the encoded configuration information, and a graphical user interface (GUI) (18) that presents information related to system configuration to the user.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the user receives the encoded configuration information as a series of codewords in at least one of a voice, image, or text message on a communication device (28).

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the communication device (28) is at least one of a cellular phone, a personal desktop assistant, a laptop, or a personal computer, and has at least one of Bluetooth or infrared communication capability, wherein the user enters the encoded configuration information into the first device (12) by forwarding the received message to the first device (12) using at least one of a Bluetooth communication link or an infrared communication link, and wherein the first device (12) decodes the forwarded message by performing a table lookup on the translation table (40, 42) and determines the numerical sequence corresponding to each codeword in the message.

8. The system according to claim 6, wherein the user enters the encoded configuration information into the first device (12) using a user input device.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the user input device includes a remote control configured for the user to sequentially select the codewords in the message from a plurality of codewords displayed on the GUI (18) using navigational arrow buttons on the remote control (32).

10. The system according to claim 8, wherein the user sequentially selects the codewords in the text message from a plurality of corresponding icons or images displayed on the GUI (18) using navigational arrow buttons on the remote control (32).

11. The system according to claim 5, wherein the translation table (40, 42) is generated using a randomization technique.

12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first device (12) includes:

a routine or means (54) for performing a table lookup on the translation table (40, 42) to decode user-entered codewords;

a routine or means (56) for configuring the system (10) using the decoded configuration information; and

a routine or means (58) for selectively performing a cyclic redundancy check protocol that verifies that the user-entered codewords are correctly entered.

13. A method of configuring the system (10) of claim 1, including:

generating the translation table (40, 42) by assigning a codeword to one or more of a plurality of numerical sequences;

storing the translation table (40, 42) to the first device (12);

prompting a user to enter a plurality of codewords by selecting images corresponding to the codewords;

decoding the entered codewords to identify respective numerical sequences; and

employing the numerical sequences to configure the system (10).

14. A method for configuring the system (10) of claim 1, including:

transmitting a configuration message comprising codewords representing encoded configuration information to a user device;

presenting a plurality of at least one of images, words, and numbers to a user;

prompting the user to enter the codewords in the configuration message by sequentially selecting the codewords, from the plurality of at least one of images, words, and numbers;

decoding entered codewords to identify the configuration information; and

configuring the system (10) using the decoded configuration information.

15. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first device (12) is at least one of a laptop computer, a desktop PC, a tablet PC, a handheld PC, and a PDA.

16. A method for configuring a remote healthcare system, comprising:

receiving encoded configuration information in an encoded configuration message at a first device (12); and

using a second device (18, 24, 26, 28, 32) to enter the configuration information directly into the first device (12) via a wireless communication link or to present the encoded configuration information as codewords or symbols for manual entry into the first device (12).

17. The method according to claim 16, further including:

generating a translation table (40, 42) that pairs numerical sequences to codewords;

storing the translation table (40, 42) to the first device (12);

sending a text or image message to a user, wherein the text message includes a sequence of codewords;

prompting the user to enter the sequence of codewords into the first device (12);

decoding the codewords using the translation table (40, 42) to identify respective numerical sequences; and

employing the numerical sequences to configure at least one of the first device (12) and the system (10).

18. The method according to claim 17, further including presenting a plurality of images to the user via a GUI (18), wherein each image corresponds uniquely to a codeword.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the user sequentially selects images corresponding to the sequence of codewords in the text or image message.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the GUI (18) is a television coupled to the first device (12) and the user selects the images using a remote control (32), or a screen on a computer coupled to the first device (12) and the user selects the images using at least one of a keyboard, a stylus, a mouse, or a touch-screen.

21. The method according to claim 17, further including generating the translation table (40, 42) using a randomization technique.

22. The method according to claim 17, further including sending the text or image message to at least one of an email address and a cellular phone number provided by the user, or by mail or courier.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the user forwards the text or image message to the first device (12) using a wireless communication link, such as Bluetooth or infrared, to enter the sequence of codewords into the first device (12).

24. The method according to claim 23, further including executing a cyclic redundancy check protocol to determine whether the user-entered codewords are valid.

25. A processor (20) or computer medium (22) programmed to perform the method of claim 16.

26. A system for configuring a set top box (STB), including:

means (28) for receiving an encoded configuration message;

means (16, 28, 32) for entering codewords contained in the configuration message into the STB (12);

means (40, 42) for decoding the codewords and determining a numerical sequence represented by the codewords; and

means (20) for configuring the STB (12) using the numerical sequence.

27. The system according to claim 26, wherein the codewords are graphical symbols, and wherein the user is presented with a plurality of graphical symbols from which to select using the means (16, 28, 32) for entering codewords.