JP2002058079A - Remote control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To operate a plurality of sets of equipment, such as a VTR, etc., in concert with each other by transmitting information between the equipment through a remote controller. SOLUTION: Equipment A 100 transmits information (composed of a program and data) such as the broadcasting program schedule, URL of WWW, etc., received by means of the equipment A 100 and stored in a memory incorporated in the equipment A 100 to the remote controller 300. Upon receiving the information, the controller 300 stores the information in its build-in memory. A user transmits the information transferred to the controller 300 as it is or an operational command obtained by executing the program contained in the information on the remote controller 300 to another equipment B 200. The equipment B 200 operates in accordance with the information or operational command transmitted from the remote controller 300.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote control system, and more particularly to a television, a video tape recorder, audio and information equipment (network terminal,
A remote control that uses a remote control device such as a personal computer, etc., which performs remote control, allows information to be exchanged between these multiple devices via a single remote control device, and enables multiple devices to perform cooperative operations. About the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, information other than television video and audio signals is broadcasted on radio waves of television and radio broadcasts, such as teletext broadcasts by radio and television, terrestrial data broadcasts, and satellite data broadcasts using satellite broadcasts. ing. Also, 200
At the end of the year, data broadcasting such as broadcast program information and weather information by digital BS broadcasting will be started. on the other hand,
Due to the rapid spread of the Internet to households, in addition to those described above by data broadcasting, various types of information from personal computers, network terminals, portable information terminals, Internet-compatible mobile phones, etc. are available to ordinary users. It is coming.

[0003]

However, the various types of information described above are used only by each device receiving the information, and are not used for the cooperative operation of a plurality of devices. For example, it has not been possible to make a video tape recorder automatically make a reservation for recording a program based on broadcast program information received on a television. For this reason, the user has to input the channel, recording start time, recording end time, and the like (or perform a recording reservation operation using a G code (registered trademark)) while viewing the program guide displayed on the television. .

A system has been proposed in which devices such as HAVi are directly connected by a cable to enable cooperative operation between a plurality of devices. However, when a cable is connected to perform cooperative operation of devices, a cable is required. There are problems such as the necessity of connection work and the limitation of the layout of the device (when the device is to be installed separately, it is troublesome to route the cable).

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control system in which information is exchanged between a plurality of devices via a single remote control device, and a plurality of devices can perform cooperative operations.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a remote control system for transmitting and receiving information via a remote control device and causing a plurality of devices to cooperate with each other. One or a plurality of first devices for receiving and holding information via an external device and wirelessly transmitting and receiving information to and from the outside, one or a plurality of second devices for wirelessly receiving information from the outside, A remote control device that wirelessly transmits and receives information to and from the remote control device, wherein the first device receives a request instruction from the remote control device, transmits information held according to the request instruction to the remote control device, and the remote control device The information received from the first device as it is or processed into new information based on the information and transmitted to the second device, and the second device Vessel is achieved by operating on the basis of the information received from the remote control device.

In the above description, the first device is a home appliance such as a television and a radio, or an information device such as a personal computer and a set-top box, and the second device is a radio wave broadcast such as a VTR and an air conditioner or the Internet. The remote control device is a device that cannot receive information via the network, and the remote control device sends an operation instruction signal obtained by executing a program included in the information received from the first device to the second device. Send.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a remote control system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of a cooperative operation of a plurality of devices realized by the present invention. First, examples of various cooperative operations will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1A shows an example of a cooperative operation between a television / radio and a video tape recorder. First, the television / radio receives broadcast program information (including information such as a channel, a start time, and an end time) received from a radio wave broadcast.
To the remote control device. The user selects a program to be recorded from a program table displayed on the liquid crystal screen of the remote controller, and transfers the broadcast program information to a video tape recorder (VTR) as a recording reservation operation. VTR is
The recording reservation is stored, and recording of the program is executed according to the recording reservation. The user can make a recording reservation simply by selecting a desired recording from the program guide, and it is not necessary to set a troublesome recording time, input a G code, and the like.

FIG. 1B shows an example of a cooperative operation between an information terminal and a VTR. First, an information terminal such as a personal computer transfers broadcast program information received from a network such as the Internet (a homepage for providing a broadcast program guide) to a remote control device. The user selects a program to be recorded from the program guide displayed on the liquid crystal screen of the remote controller, and transfers the broadcast program information to the VTR as a recording reservation operation. The VTR stores the recording reservation, and records the program according to the recording reservation. The user can make a recording reservation simply by selecting a desired recording from the program guide, and it is not necessary to set a troublesome recording time, input a G code, and the like.

FIG. 1C shows an example of a cooperative operation between a television / radio and an information terminal. When the user is interested in a certain commercial being broadcast on television / radio, the user simultaneously transfers the commercial and the URL information that the television / radio is receiving from the radio broadcast to the remote control device. The remote control device transfers the transferred URL information to an information terminal such as a personal computer connected to the Internet. The information terminal accesses a homepage on the Internet based on the URL information. Thus, the user can obtain more detailed information on the product by using the web browser. The user can easily access information on the product only by pressing the transfer button of the remote control device, and quickly take notes of the URL information displayed on the television screen, and the input of the URL information to the information terminal becomes unnecessary. . In this example, not only commercials, but also information such as gift application destinations for a program and recipes for cooking can be easily loaded into an information terminal.

FIG. 1D shows an example of a cooperative operation between the television / radio and the air conditioner. Users can receive weather information (e.g. daily temperature change forecast) received from the radio broadcast by TV / radio
To the remote control device. Based on the information, the user can instruct the air conditioner to perform a planned operation setting corresponding to the temperature change of the day from the remote control device, thereby setting the energy saving and improving the operation efficiency of the air conditioner. it can.

There are various types of communication methods between the remote control device and the equipment, using radio waves, infrared rays, and the like. For example, when using an infrared system widely used in equipment at home at present, even if the conventional VTR has only an infrared receiving function, the remote control device has the operation signal information of the VTR. It is possible to cause the television and the VTR to perform the cooperative operation described in 1 (a). In addition, many personal computers and portable information terminals are already equipped with an infrared transmission / reception function, and the present invention as described above can be realized at low cost.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a remote control system according to the present invention, and FIG.
4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the remote controller, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the external appearance of the remote controller, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the device B, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an outline of a procedure for performing a cooperative operation between a device A and a device B via the PC. 2 to 6, 100 denotes a device A, 101, 201,
301 is an infrared I / F, 200 is device B, 300 is a remote control device, 1101 is an information receiving unit, 1102, 1401
Is a device operation control unit, 1103 and 1202 are memories, 11
04, 1203 and 1402 are infrared receiving units, 1105,
1204 is an infrared transmitting unit, 1201 is a remote control unit,
Reference numeral 1205 denotes a touch panel, 1206 denotes a liquid crystal display, 1207 denotes an information reception button, 1208 denotes a menu button, 1209 to 1212 denote cursor buttons, 1301
Denotes a liquid crystal display with a touch panel, and 1403 denotes a device control unit.

The system according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 is one of the examples described with reference to FIG. 1, and has two devices A100 and B having infrared I / Fs 101 and 201, respectively.
100 and a remote controller 3 having an infrared I / F 301
00. In the embodiment described here, the information transmitted and received by the device via the remote control device 300 and the information transmitted and received between the remote control device and the device are not only data but also programs and data for processing the data. And Here, the device that transmits the program and data to the remote control device 300 is a device A10.
0, a device that receives an operation signal or a program and data from the remote control device 300 will be described as a device B200. However, the device A100 and the device B200 do not necessarily have to be separate devices, because they may be a multifunction device of a TV + VTR. Device A100, Device B20
0, the remote control device 300 can mutually transmit and receive programs and data using the infrared interfaces 101, 201, and 301, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 3, the device A 100 includes an information receiving unit 1101 for receiving programs and data from radio broadcasting and a network, a device operation control unit 1102 including one or a plurality of processors, a memory 1
103, an infrared receiving unit 1104 for receiving a signal from the remote control device 300, and an infrared transmitting / receiving unit 1105 for transmitting a signal to the remote control device.
01.

As shown in FIG.
A remote control controller 1201 composed of one or more processors, a memory 1202, an infrared receiver 1203 for receiving a signal from device A, and devices A and B
Infrared I / F composed of an infrared transmitting unit 1204 for transmitting a signal to the remote controller, a liquid crystal display 1301 with a touch panel composed of a touch panel 1205 and a liquid crystal display 1206, and a procedure for receiving information between a device and a remote controller are started. Information receiving button 1
207 and a menu button 1 for displaying a menu
208 and a cursor button 1 for selecting a menu
209 to 1212 and a decision button 1213 for deciding and executing the selected menu. Note that the touch panel 1206 may not be provided, but if a touch panel is provided, the liquid crystal display 1301 with a touch panel
7, menu button 1208, cursor button 1209
1212 and the decision button 1213 can be displayed and used as soft buttons.

Remote control device 300 has an infrared I / F 30 on its upper side surface as shown in FIG.
1, a liquid crystal display with a touch panel (not necessarily a touch panel) 1301 on the upper surface;
The various buttons 1207 to 1213 described above are arranged and configured.

The device B is, as shown in FIG. 6, a device operation control unit 14 comprising one or a plurality of processors.
01, an infrared I / F 201 including an infrared receiving unit 1402 that receives a signal from a remote control device, and a device control unit 1403 that actually controls the operation of the device B. Note that the device B200 can also include an infrared transmitting unit for transmitting a signal indicating operation completion or the like from the device B to the remote control device.

Next, the procedure of the cooperative operation by the devices A, B, and the remote controller having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG.

(1) Information receiving section 1101 of device A100
Receives programs and data via a radio wave broadcast or a network such as the Internet. The device operation control unit 1102 stores the received program and data in the memory 1103 (Step 1001).

(2) The user points the infrared transmitter 1204 of the remote controller 300 to the infrared receiver 1104 of the device A and presses the information reception button 1207. As a result, the remote controller control unit 1201 requests the device A 100 to start a program and data reception procedure from the infrared transmission unit 1204 (step 1002).

(3) The device A10 that has received a request to start a receiving procedure from the remote controller via the infrared receiver 1104
The device operation control unit 1102 of “0” confirms whether a program and data to be transmitted to the remote control device 300 exist in the memory 1103. The device operation control unit 1102
If there is no program and data to be transmitted in memory 1103, information indicating that there is no program and data to be transmitted is transmitted to remote control device 300 via infrared transmitting section 1105. Also, the device operation control unit 1102
If there is a program and data to be transmitted in the memory 1103, information on the size of the program and data to be transmitted is transmitted to the remote controller via the infrared transmission unit 1105 (step 1003).

(4) The remote control control unit 1201 of the remote control device 300
If information indicating that there are no programs and data to be received from the device A is received from the liquid crystal display 1206,
And the procedure for receiving the program and data is completed. When receiving information on the size of the program and data via the infrared receiving element 1203, the remote control control unit 1201 determines whether or not the capacity of the memory 1202 is sufficient for the size of the program and data to be received. Confirm. If there is not enough capacity, the remote controller control unit 1201 displays that the memory capacity is insufficient on the liquid crystal display 1206, and further, among the programs and data stored in the memory 1202 to secure the necessary memory capacity. The user is prompted to delete unnecessary items and then perform the program and data reception procedure again. Thereafter, the remote controller control unit 1201 displays a list of programs and data stored in the memory 1202 and prompts the user to select an unnecessary program and data. The user uses the cursor buttons 1209-1
The user selects unnecessary programs and data using the button 212 and presses the enter button 1213. The remote control control unit 1201
When it is detected that the decision button 1213 is pressed, the selected program and data are deleted from the memory 1201. Further, when there is a sufficient memory capacity for registering the program and the data, the remote controller control unit 1201 requests the device A via the infrared transmission unit 1204 to start the transmission of the program and the data. When device A100 stores a plurality of programs and data, remote control device 300 can also select and receive necessary programs and data from among them (step 100).
4).

(5) Device operation control unit 11 of device A100
02 is a remote controller 3 via the infrared receiver 1104
When a request to start transmission of a program and data is received from 00, the program and data are read from the memory 1103 and transmitted to the remote control device 300 via the infrared transmission unit 1105 (step 1005).

(6) The remote control control unit 1201 of the remote control device 300
And stores the program and data in the memory 1202. Then, when the storage of the program and data in the memory 1202 ends normally, the remote control control unit 1201 displays a message on the liquid crystal display 1206 to inform the user that the reception of the program and data has ended normally. . If the reception of the program and the data has not been completed normally, the remote control control unit 1201 displays a message to that effect on the liquid crystal display 1206 and prompts the user to repeat the reception procedure again (step 1006).

(7) When confirming that the reception of the program and the data has been completed normally, the user presses the menu button 1208 of the remote controller 300. Remote controller control unit 1 detecting that menu button 1208 has been pressed
201 displays a list of programs and data stored in the memory 1202 on the liquid crystal display 1206. The user uses the cursor buttons 1209 to 1212 to select a program and data to be used from this list, and presses the enter button 1213. Upon detecting that the enter button 1213 has been pressed, the remote control control unit 1201 reads out the selected program and data from the memory 1201 and executes them.

Various types of programs can be considered for the program to be executed as described above. Here, the description will be made assuming that a recording reservation is made from a television program table to a VTR. The remote control control unit 1201 displays a list of programs to be broadcasted on the day on the liquid crystal display 1206 according to the executed program and data. The user uses the cursor button 12
After selecting a program for which recording reservation is desired from this program list by using 09-1212, the device B (here, VT
R) Point the infrared transmitting unit 1204 of the remote control device at the infrared receiving unit 1402 of the 200 and press the enter button 1213. Upon detecting that the decision button 1213 has been pressed, the remote controller control unit 1201 detects the channel, start time, end time, etc. (or G code) of the program selected from the data.
Then, an operation signal for recording reservation is transmitted to the device B via the infrared transmission unit 1204 based on this information (step 1007).

(8) Device B20 that has received a recording reservation operation signal from the remote controller via the infrared receiver 1402
The device operation control unit 1401 sets the recording reservation to the device control unit 1403 (step 100).
8).

The embodiment of the present invention described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6 is an example in which two devices are linked by one remote control device. It is possible to integrate and operate in cooperation with one remote control device. According to the present invention, it is not necessary to use a remote control device for each combination of devices, and the convenience can be further improved.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the remote control system according to the present invention, which is an example in which the operations of a large number of devices can be integrated into one remote control device and cooperatively operated. In FIG.
00 is a remote control device, 2200 is a television, 2300 is V
TR 2400 is an audio device, 2500 is an information terminal, 2600 is an air conditioner, 2101, 2201, 230
Reference numerals 1, 2401, 2501, and 2601 denote infrared I / Fs.

In the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 8, an integrated remote control device 2100 capable of operating a plurality of devices by operating signals of the plurality of devices is used.
0, VTR 2300, audio 2400, information terminal 2
500 and an air conditioner 2600 can be operated.

In each of the embodiments of the present invention described above, the transmission and reception of information between the remote control device and the device is performed by the infrared I / F.
However, the interface for transmitting and receiving information is not limited to infrared rays, and it is possible to use a wireless interface such as an acoustic signal, a wireless signal by a close-range high-speed wireless technology called Bluetooth, or the like. it can.

According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, individual devices conventionally individually receive via radio wave broadcasting or the Internet, and information which was only available on the device is easily transmitted to other devices. It is possible to perform a cooperative operation. Then, the user looks at the program guide displayed on the television, and inputs a channel, a recording start time, a recording end time, and the like, and records information such as URL information or an inquiry destination displayed on the television screen as an information terminal. It is not necessary to input the information to the remote control device, and all of them can be realized only by selecting from the menu by the remote control device.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, information can be exchanged between a plurality of devices via one remote control device, and a plurality of devices can cooperate with each other.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a cooperative operation of a plurality of devices realized by the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a remote control system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a device A.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a remote control device.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the appearance of the remote control device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a device B.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of a procedure in which a device A and a device B perform a cooperative operation via a remote control device.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the remote control system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 device A 101, 201, 301 infrared I / F 200 device B 300 remote controller 1101 information receiving unit 1102, 1401 device operation control unit 1103, 1202 memory 1104, 1203, 1402 infrared receiving unit 1105, 1204 infrared transmitting unit 1201, 2100 Remote control control unit 1205 Touch panel 1206 Liquid crystal display 1207 Information reception button 1208 Menu button 1209 to 1212 Cursor button 1301 Liquid crystal display with touch panel 1403 Device control unit 2200 Television 2300 VTR 2400 Audio equipment 2500 Information terminal 2600 Air conditioner

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/38 H04N 5/38 5K101 5/44 5/44 D 5/7826 5/782 Z 7/025 7 / 08 A 7/03 7/035 F term (reference) 5C018 FA04 FB01 HA08 HA10 5C025 AA01 AA09 BA27 CB05 CB06 CB08 DA01 DA04 DA05 5C056 AA05 BA08 BA10 CA08 CA15 DA11 EA02 FA05 HA01 HA04 HA20 5C063 DA03 DA13 EB03 EB03 A048 BA04 DA02 DB04 DC07 FB15 FC01 HA04 HA07 HA23 5K101 KK11 KK18 LL01

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claims: 1. Sending and receiving information via a remote control device,
In a remote control system that allows a plurality of devices to perform cooperative operations, one or more first devices that receive and hold information via a radio wave broadcast or a network such as the Internet, and wirelessly transmit and receive information to and from an external device. And one or more second devices that wirelessly receive information from outside, and a remote control device that wirelessly transmits and receives information to and from the outside, wherein the first device receives a request from the remote control device. The remote control device receives the instruction and transmits the information held in accordance with the request instruction to the remote control device, and the remote control device processes the information received from the first device as it is, or processes the information into new information based on the information to obtain the second information.
A remote control system, wherein the second device operates based on information received from a remote control device. 2. The first device is a home appliance such as a television or a radio, or an information device such as a personal computer or a set-top box.
The remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the remote control system is a device that cannot receive information via a radio wave broadcast such as a TR or an air conditioner or a network such as the Internet. 3. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the remote control device transmits an operation instruction signal obtained by executing a program included in the information received from the first device to the second device. Or the remote control system according to 2.