Remote control having touch pad to screen mapping

• US 6,765,557 B1
• Filed: 04/10/2000
• Issued: 07/20/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: SMK-Link Electronic Corp. (SMK Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Interlink Electronics Incorporated
• Inventors: Mossontte, Jeff, Yates, William Allen, Branton, Steven B., Segal, Jack A.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, CHANH DUY
• Application Number:
  US09/546,417
• Time in Patent Office: 1,562 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173, 345/180, 345/182, 345/184, 345/1, 345/2, 345/169, 345/327, 345/328, 345/326, 345/864, 345/716, 345/717, 345/718, 348/734, 348/564, 348/569, 348/906, 178/18.01, 178/18.03, 178/18.05
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• 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 21/42206 characterized by hardware details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42224 Touch pad or touch panel provided on the remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV

Abstract

A remote control for controlling a home entertainment (HE) device such as an Interactive television having a display screen. The remote control includes a touch pad mapped to the display screen of the HE device as a function of the ratio of the areas of the touch pad and the display screen such that each location of the touch pad corresponds to a respective location of the display screen. The remote controller further includes a controller operable with the touch pad to enable a control function associated with a location of the display screen in response to the corresponding location of the touch pad being touched for controlling the HE device. The display screen may include on-screen keyboards, control panels and menus, an Internet page, an electronic program guide, and the like.

Claims

1. A virtual touch screen for controlling a home entertainment device without the use of cursors, the virtual touch screen comprising:

a remote control touch pad having a pad width and a pad height, the touch pad determining a touch width location across the pad width and a touch height location across the pad height in response to an operator touch of the touch pad; and

a display screen in remote communication with the touch pad, the display screen having a screen width and a screen height, the display screen displaying an Internet page having a plurality of links for accessing other Internet pages, each link located at a control width location across the screen width and at a control height location across the screen height;

wherein the entire touch pad is subdivided into a number of touch pad portions equal to the number of links of the Internet page such that each and every touch pad portion corresponds to a respective link;

wherein, in response to the operator touch at any location on the touch pad, the link corresponding to the touch pad portion containing the touched location is enabled without the use of a cursor displayed on the display screen based on at least one of (a) and (b), where (a) and (b) are

(a) the ratio of the pad width and the screen width, the touch width location, and the control width location of each link; and

(b) the ratio of the pad height and the screen height, the touch height location, and the control height location of each link;

wherein, in response to the operator tracing a touch across different locations of the touch pad, for each touched location of the trace the link corresponding to the touch pad portion containing the touched location of the trace is selected without the use of a cursor displayed on the display screen based on at least one of (a) and (b) such that different links are uniquely selected without the use of a cursor displayed on the display screen as the operator traces the touch across different touch pad portions.

2. A virtual touch screen for controlling a television without the use of cursors, the virtual touch screen comprising:

a remote control touch pad having a pad width and a pad height, the touch pad determining a touch width location across the pad width and a touch height location across the pad height in response to an operator touch of the touch pad; and

a television display screen in remote communication with the touch pad, the display screen having a screen width and a screen height, the display screen displaying a cursorless television electronic program guide having a plurality of channel and program grids for controlling the television, each grid located at a control width location across the screen width and at a control height location across the screen height, wherein the display screen is void of cursors such that cursors are absent from being displayed on the display screen;

wherein the entire touch pad is subdivided into a number of touch pad portions equal to the number of grids of the television electronic program guide such that each and every touch pad portion corresponds to a respective grid;

wherein, in response to the operator touch at any location on the touch pad, the grid corresponding to the touch pad portion containing the touched location is selected without the use of a cursor displayed on the display screen based on at least one of (a) and (b), where (a) and (b) are

(a) the ratio of the pad width and the screen width, the touch width location, and the control width location of each grid; and

(b) the ratio of the pad height and the screen height, the touch height location, and the control height location of each grid;

wherein, in response to the operator tracing a touch across different locations of the touch pad, for each touched location of the trace the grid corresponding to the touch pad portion containing the touched location of the trace is selected without the use of a cursor displayed on the display screen based on at least one of (a) and (b) such that different grids are uniquely selected without the use of a cursor displayed on the display screen as the operator traces the touch across different touch pad portions.

3. A virtual touch screen for controlling a television without the use of cursors, the virtual touch screen comprising:

a television display screen displaying a cursorless television electronic program guide having a number of virtual controls for controlling the television, wherein the display screen is void of cursors such that cursors are absent from being displayed on the display screen; and

a remote control in remote communication with the display screen, the remote control having a touch pad, at least a portion of the entire touch pad is subdivided into a number of virtual control regions equal to the number of virtual controls of the television electronic program guide displayed on the display screen, each and every touch pad virtual control region corresponding to one virtual control of the television electronic program guide such that touching the touch pad at any point falling within a touch pad virtual control region enables the virtual control of the television electronic program guide corresponding to the touch pad virtual control region containing the touched point without the use of a cursor displayed on the display screen;

wherein, in response to an operator tracing a touch across different locations of the touch pad falling within the touch pad virtual control regions, for each touched location of the trace the virtual control of the television electronic program guide corresponding to the touch pad virtual control region containing the touched location of the trace is enabled without the use of a cursor displayed on the display screen such that different virtual controls of the television electronic program guide are uniquely enabled without the use of a cursor displayed on the display screen as the operator traces the touch across different touch pad virtual control regions.

4. A virtual touch screen for controlling home entertainment equipment as in claim 3 wherein the touch pad virtual control regions vary in response to changing virtual controls on the display screen.

5. A virtual touch screen for selecting Internet page links without the use of a cursor, the virtual touch screen comprising:

a display screen displaying an Internet page having a number of links for accessing other Internet pages; and

a remote control in remote communication with the display screen, the remote control having a touch pad, at least a portion of the entire touch pad is subdivided into a number of virtual control regions equal to the number of links of the Internet page displayed on the display screen, each and every touch pad virtual control region corresponding to one link of the Internet page displayed on the display screen such that touching the touch pad at any point falling within a touch pad virtual control region enables the link corresponding to the touch pad virtual control region containing the touched point without the use of a cursor displayed on the display screen;

wherein, in response to an operator tracing a touch across different locations of the touch pad falling within the touch pad virtual control regions, for each touched location of the trace the link corresponding to the touch pad virtual control region containing the touched location of the trace is enabled without the use of a cursor displayed on the display screen such that different links are uniquely enabled without the use of a cursor displayed on the display screen as the operator traces the touch across different touch pad virtual control regions.