System and method for setting up a universal remote control
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system, comprising:
- packaging for an appliance, the packaging having a machine readable tag storing standardized information that functions to identify at least the appliance and manufacturer of the appliance; and
a universal remote control having a transmission circuit for communicating commands to the appliance, a device dedicated to obtaining data from the machine readable tag of the packaging, and a setup program that uses data obtained from the machine readable tag of the packaging via the device dedicated to obtaining data from the machine readable tag to cause select commands to be mapped to select command keys of the universal remote control whereby the universal remote control is set up such that subsequent activation of one or more of the select command keys of the universal remote control causes the universal remote control to issue via the transmission circuit one or more of the select commands to thereby command operation of the appliance.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for using an RFID tag to automatically setup and configure a universal remote control to command appliances of various types and various manufacturers.
44 Citations
73 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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packaging for an appliance, the packaging having a machine readable tag storing standardized information that functions to identify at least the appliance and manufacturer of the appliance; and a universal remote control having a transmission circuit for communicating commands to the appliance, a device dedicated to obtaining data from the machine readable tag of the packaging, and a setup program that uses data obtained from the machine readable tag of the packaging via the device dedicated to obtaining data from the machine readable tag to cause select commands to be mapped to select command keys of the universal remote control whereby the universal remote control is set up such that subsequent activation of one or more of the select command keys of the universal remote control causes the universal remote control to issue via the transmission circuit one or more of the select commands to thereby command operation of the appliance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for configuring a universal remote control to communicate commands to an appliance, comprising:
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causing a device of the universal remote control dedicated to obtaining data from a machine readable tag to obtain data from a machine readable tag placed upon packaging for the appliance wherein the machine readable tag placed upon packaging for the appliance has stored standardized information that functions to identify at least the appliance and manufacturer of the appliance; and using data obtained from the machine readable tag of the packaging via the device dedicated to obtaining data from the machine readable tag to cause select commands to be mapped to select command keys of the universal remote control whereby the universal remote control is set up such that subsequent activation of one or more of the select command keys of the universal remote control causes the universal remote control to issue via a transmission circuit of the universal remote control one or more of the select commands to thereby command operation of the appliance. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for setting up a universal remote control having a device dedicated to obtaining data from a machine readable tag and a separate transmission circuit for communicating commands to an appliance, the method comprising:
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receiving into the universal remote control via the device of the universal remote control dedicated to obtaining data from a machine readable tag data obtained from a machine readable tag associated with an appliance, the machine readable tag storing standardized information that functions to identify at least the appliance and manufacturer of the appliance; using the data received into the universal remote control to access information to be used to configure the universal remote control; and using in a setup procedure of the universal remote control the information accessed as a result of receiving the data to cause select commands to be mapped to select command keys of the universal remote control whereby the universal remote control is set up such that subsequent activation of one or more of the select command keys of the universal remote control causes the universal remote control to issue via the transmission circuit of the universal remote control one or more of the select commands to thereby command operation of the appliance associated with the machine readable tag from which the data was obtained via the device of the universal remote control dedicated to obtaining data from a machine readable tag. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 52, 53)
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37. A method for setting up a universal remote control having a device dedicated to obtaining data from a machine readable tag and a separate transmission circuit for communicating commands to an appliance, the method comprising:
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receiving into the universal remote control via the device of the universal remote control dedicated to obtaining data from a machine readable tag data obtained from a plurality of machine readable tags each associated with an appliance, each of the plurality of machine readable tags storing standardized information that functions to identify at least its respectively associated appliance and manufacturer of its respectively associated appliance; using the data received into the universal remote control to access information to be used to configure the universal remote control; and using in a setup procedure of the universal remote control the information accessed as a result of receiving the data to cause select commands to be mapped to select command keys of the universal remote control whereby the universal remote control is set up such that subsequent activation of one or more of the select command keys of the universal remote control causes the universal remote control to issue via the transmission circuit of the universal remote control one or more of the select commands to command operation of one or more appliance associated with the plurality of machine readable tags from which data was obtained via the device of the universal remote control dedicated to obtaining data from a machine readable tag. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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54. An apparatus, comprising:
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a remote control, the remote control having a first transmitter, a first receiver, and a setup procedure, the first transmitter to transmit an interrogation signal to a device, the first receiver to receive a device identifier for the device, and the setup procedure using information corresponding to the device identifier to configure the remote control to send control information to the device; wherein the remote control further comprises a second transmitter and a second receiver, the second transmitter to transmit a request for the information to a first node, the request including the device identifier, and the second receiver to receive the information from the first node. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A system, comprising:
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a device having a radio-frequency identification tag, the radio-frequency identification tag to communicate a device identifier in response to an interrogation signal; and a remote control to remotely control the device, the remote control having a first antenna, a first transmitter, a first receiver, and a setup procedure, the first transmitter to transmit an interrogation signal to the device using the first antenna, the first receiver to receive the device identifier for the device using the first antenna, and the setup procedure to configure the remote control using information corresponding to the device identifier; wherein the remote control further comprises a second transmitter and a second receiver, the second transmitter to transmit a request for the information to a first node, the request including the device identifier, and the second receiver to receive the information from the first node, the information to configure the remote control to send control information to the device. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A method, comprising:
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transmitting from a remote control an interrogation signal to a device capable of being controlled remotely; receiving at the remote control a device identifier for the device; sending from the remote control a request for information to a first node, the request including the device identifier; receiving at the remote control the information from the first node; and configuring the remote control using the information. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68)
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- 69. An article comprising a medium storing instructions that when executed by a processor are operable to transmit an interrogation signal from a remote control to a device capable of being controlled remotely, receive at the remote control a device identifier for the device, send from the remote control a request for information to a first node, receive at the remote control the information from the first node, and configure the remote control using the information, wherein the request includes the device identifier.
Specification