Information processing unit for controlling a plurality of electronic devices and method thereof, and provision medium associated therewith

• US 6,466,233 B1
• Filed: 11/19/1999
• Issued: 10/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Saturn Licensing LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Mitani, Hitoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cao H.
• Application Number:
  US09/443,808
• Time in Patent Office: 1,061 Days
• Field of Search: 345/700, 345/716, 345/723, 345/848, 345/853, 345/854, 348/2, 348/6, 348/8, 348/10, 348/12
• US Class Current: 715/716
• 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 21/42228 the reprogrammable keys being displayed on a display screen in order to reduce the number of keys on the remote control device itself
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43632 involving a wired protocol, e.g. IEEE 1394 high-speed IEEE 1394 serial bus H04L12/40052
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

An information processing unit controls a plurality of electronic devices. The information processing unit includes a storage unit for storing input graphical-user-interface data on the electronic devices, a display unit for displaying graphical user interfaces corresponding to the graphical-user-interface data stored in the storage unit, a detecting unit for detecting user operations corresponding to the graphical user interfaces displayed on the display unit, and a transmitting unit for transmitting control signals controlling the electronic devices in accordance with the results of detection by the detecting unit.

Claims

1. An information processing unit for controlling a plurality of electronic devices, comprising:

storage means for storing input graphical-user-interface data on the electronic devices;

display means for displaying graphical user interfaces corresponding to the graphical-user-interface data stored in said storage means;

detecting means for detecting user operations corresponding to the graphical user interfaces displayed on said display means; and

transmitting means for transmitting control signals controlling the electronic devices in accordance with the results of detection by said detecting means,

whereby said storage means, said display means, said detecting means, and said transmitting means are arranged in a single housing which is remote from any of the plurality of electronic devices.

2. An information processing unit according to claim 1, wherein the graphical-user-interface data are described in the form of hypertext markup language.

3. An information processing unit according to claim 1, wherein the shapes and arrangement of symbols on each graphical user interface are similar to those of operation buttons of a remote controller dedicated to the corresponding electronic device.

4. A remote controller for controlling a plurality of electronic devices, comprising:

a storage unit for storing externally input graphical-user-interface data on the electronic devices, the graphical-user-interface data being described in the form of hypertext markup language;

a display for displaying graphical user interfaces corresponding to the graphical-user-interface data stored in said storage unit;

a detector for detecting user operations corresponding to the graphical-user-interface data displayed on said display; and

a transmitter for transmitting control signals controlling each electronic device in response to the result of detection by said detector,

whereby said storage unit, said display, said detector, and said transmitter are arranged in a single housing which is remote from any of the plurality of electronic devices.

5. A remote controller according to claim 4, wherein the graphical-user-interface data include command codes for controlling the electronic devices, and the command codes correspond to control buttons displayed as the graphical user interfaces, and wherein command data are read from said storage unit by operating each control button so that each electronic device is controlled.

6. A remote controller according to claim 4, wherein the graphical-user-interface data are stored in the electronic devices, and the graphical-user-interface data are supplied from the electronic devices to said storage unit.

7. A remote controller according to claim 4, wherein the electronic devices store addresses at which the graphical-user-interface data are stored, and the graphical-user-interface data are supplied from an information processing unit corresponding to each address to said storage unit.

8. A remote controller according to claim 4, wherein the graphical-user-interface data are stored in a storage medium provided separately from the electronic devices, and the graphical-user-interface data are supplied from said storage medium to the storage unit.

9. An information processing method for controlling a plurality of electronic devices, comprising:

a storage step for storing input graphical-user-interface data on the electronic devices in a storage unit;

a display step for displaying graphical user interfaces corresponding to the graphical-user-interface data stored in the storage step on a display unit;

a detection step for detecting user operations corresponding to the graphical user interfaces displayed in the display step by use of a detector; and

a transmission step for transmitting control signals controlling the electronic devices in accordance with the results of detection performed in the detection step by use of a transmitter,

whereby said storage unit, display unit, detector and transmitter are arranged in a single housing which is remote from any of the plurality of electronic devices.

10. An information processing method according to claim 9, further comprising:

a selection step for selecting one electronic device for supplying the graphical-user-interface data; and

a record step for instructing the transmission of the graphical-user-interface data from the selected electronic device.

11. An information processing method according to claim 10, wherein when it is found that the graphical-user-interface data are not stored in the selected electronic device, the graphical-user-interface data are downloaded based on the address of a graphical-user-interface-data storage server which is stored in the selected electronic device.

12. An information processing method according to claim 9, further comprising:

a selection step for selecting one electronic device for supplying the graphical-user-interface data; and

a download step for downloading the graphical-user-interface-data, based on the address of a graphical-user-interface-data storage server at which the graphical-user-interface-data are stored, the address of the graphical-user-interface-data storage server being output from the selected electronic device.

13. A provision medium for providing a computer-readable program to an information processing unit for controlling a plurality of electronic devices, said computer-readable program controlling said information processing unit to execute a process including:

a storage step for storing input graphical-user-interface data on the electronic devices in a storage unit;

a display step for displaying graphical user interfaces corresponding to the graphical-user-interface data stored in the storage step on a display unit;

a detection step for detecting user operations corresponding to the graphical user interfaces displayed in the display step by use of a detector; and

a transmission step for transmitting control signals controlling the electronic devices in accordance with the results of detection performed in the detection step by use of a transmitter,

whereby said storage unit, display unit, detector and transmitter are arranged in a single housing which is remote from any of the plurality of electronic devices.

14. A method for controlling an electronic device by an information processing unit, in which when said electronic device receives from said information processing unit a request for transmitting graphical-user-interface data for display on a display unit, and the graphical-user-interface data are stored in said electronic device or a storage medium belonging thereto, said method controls said electronic device to transmit the graphical-user-interface data to said information processing unit;

and when the graphical-user-interface data are not stored in said electronic device or the storage medium, said method controls said electronic device to output an address stored in said electronic device, which represents a server storing the graphical-user-interface data, and said method controls said electronic device to download, from the server corresponding to the address via a network, and to supply the graphical-user-interface data to said information processing unit,

whereby said information processing unit is arranged within a single housing which includes the display unit and which is remote from the electronic device.

15. An electronic device control method according to claim 14, wherein the graphical-user-interface data are described in the form of hypertext markup language, and the address is an Internet protocol address.