KR20070076808A - Universal remote controller system for multi device control - Google Patents

Abstract

A universal remote controller system for controlling a plurality of devices is provided to enable a user to conveniently and rapidly download databases necessary for device control through a single remote controller and easily select and control one of many electronic devices using the downloaded databases. A universal remote controller system consists of plural target control devices(100a-100n) and a universal remote controller(200). Each of the target control devices comprises a button attribute DB(104), a storage and management unit(103), and a transmitting unit(102). The storage and management unit stores and manages the button attribute DB. The transmitting unit transmits the button attribute DB and other signals. The universal remote controller comprises a downloading unit(202), a storage and management unit(203), and a GUI(Graphic User Interface) implementation unit(204). The downloading unit downloads button attribute DBs and other signals from target control devices. The storage and management unit stores and manages downloaded button attribute DBs. The GUI implementation unit expresses a remote controller GUI on the display of the universal remote controller using the button attribute DB of a selected target control device.

Description

Universal remote controller system for controlling multiple devices {Universal Remote Controller System for Multi Device Control}

1 is a view showing the connection of the electronic devices and the universal remote control according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a view showing a button attribute DB structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a flow chart showing the flow of registration and general device selection, operation of the new control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 illustrates screen examples of the universal remote controller according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart showing the progress of the automatic new device registration operation in the configuration in which the expansion unit I has been added according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart illustrating the automatic device selection operation by aiming the control target device in the configuration in which the expansion unit II is added according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: electronic device 102: button property DB and other signal transmission means

103: storage management means of the button attribute DB 104: button attribute DB

106: DB download request means

107: aiming ray detection means

200: universal remote control 202: button property DB and other signal download means

203: storage management means of the button attribute DB

204: GUI implementation means 205: Touch screen display

206: graphical user interface (GUI) 208: aiming ray emitting means

300: user

The present invention relates to a general-purpose remote control capable of controlling a plurality of electronic products with a single remote control by downloading graphical user interface (GUI) information and control code information displayed on the remote control from a plurality of control target devices.

In general, electronic devices controlled by a remote controller have their own remote controllers, and control commands are normally transmitted from the remote controller to the controlled device through wireless or wired lines using infrared rays or frequencies. When there are a plurality of control target devices, a remote controller is usually provided together with the device, and controlling a plurality of devices with a single remote controller may cause unexpected multiple operations when the manufacturer and characteristics of the device are the same. If the characteristics of the devices are different, intuitive and effective control is difficult due to the difference in the user interface of the remote control, and if the manufacturers are different, the compatibility itself is impossible. Therefore, in spite of the inconvenience and inconvenience, users generally have as many remote controllers as the control target devices and select and control the remote controllers as necessary.

In order to alleviate this inconvenience, in particular, home appliance manufacturers may provide an integrated remote controller that can control their products with a single remote controller, but other manufacturers' products may not be able to control and duplicate control signals of various remote controllers. There is a family of programmable universal remote controllers, but they are cumbersome to program each button individually, and the responsiveness and ease of use and ease of use for users with new functions and products requiring unique user interfaces are greatly reduced. There is. In addition, the number and placement of the buttons is determined, which greatly reduces the flexibility and expandability.

In addition, from the manufacturer's point of view, the user interface design of the remote control is limited to the company's own product, and matching the design to the existing universal remote control has a problem that cannot be realized because the flexibility and expandability of the existing universal remote control is very low. The presence of a standard, universal remote control system that is hardware independent, highly flexible and scalable, and allows its remote user interface to be delivered to the user in its original form, provides manufacturers with the flexibility, scalability, and uniformity of remote control user interface design. While maintaining the sex, the convenience of greatly increasing the user's convenience has the advantage.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a device manufacturer with a user's own remote control user interface as it is designed, and a user can use a single remote control to control a plurality of controlled electronic devices intuitively and conveniently. To provide.

According to an aspect of the present invention to achieve the above object, in the general-purpose remote control system for controlling a plurality of electronic devices,

Located in the controlled electronic device,

A button attribute database (DB) independent and standardized to hardware that is free of executable code, including graphical user interface (GUI) related information of the buttons that are visible to the user and selectable; Storage management means of the button attribute DB; Means for transmitting the button attribute DB and other signals; And located in the universal remote control,

Means for downloading the button attribute DB and other signals; Storage management means for the button property DBs; GUI implementation means for drawing a remote control GUI on the display of the universal remote controller using the corresponding button attribute DB information of the selected control target device; There is provided a universal remote control system comprising a.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view showing the connection of the electronic devices and the universal remote control to be controlled according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control target device and the universal remote controller may be wirelessly connected, such as wired or infrared rays or radio waves. The configuration of the system may be completed with only the <base part> shown in FIG. 1, and <extended part I> or <extended part II> may be added according to the purpose of increasing user convenience, and <extended part I>, < All extensions II> may be added.

First, the basic part will be described. Referring to FIG. 1, a plurality of electronic devices 100 to be controlled may exist (100a, 100b,..., 100n), and button properties DB 104 suitable for a magnet are stored in each electronic device. The DB includes GUI-related information such as device ID, location, size, name, and color of buttons required for control, and control code to be generated when a button is pressed. You can think of the DB structure.

When using the control target device for the first time, the user 300 inputs a unique ID of the control target electronic device 100 to be newly added to the general purpose remote controller 200 using the touch screen display 205. This is necessary because the command must include the ID of the controlled electronic device in order to send a command to the controlled device using the remote control. After inputting the ID, the user transmits a DB request command to the electronic device through the control code transmitting means 201 using the basic setting function of the remote controller. The control target electronic device receives the DB request command through the control code receiving means 101 and accordingly transmits the button attribute DB 104 to the general-purpose remote controller 200 through the button attribute DB and other signal transmitting means 102. The universal remote controller receives the button attribute DB and other signals through the download means 202, and adds the downloaded DB to the storage management means 203 of the button attribute DBs. Here, the control code transmitting means 201 and the control code receiving means 101 are means used in the existing remote control method. When the initial connection is completed, it becomes possible to control the controlled device through the general purpose remote control. If the user wants to control the specific device, the user operates the touch screen display 205 of the universal remote controller 200 to select the electronic device to be controlled, and the GUI implementing means 204 is a button attribute DB 203 of the device. By using the implementation of the GUI 206 for the corresponding device on the touch screen display 205. The user 300 issues a control command using the GUI 206, and the control command is converted into a control code by reference to the button attribute DB, which is controlled by the control code transmitting means 201 and the control code receiving means 101. It is delivered to the target electronic device (100). The control code is transmitted to the general control code execution means 105 to perform the control appropriate to the situation. A flowchart of this task is shown in FIG. 3.

4 illustrates screen examples of the universal remote controller according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The user selects devices that are already registered by using the basic GUI shown in the touch screen display as shown in FIG. 4 (a), or selects connection of new devices to perform connection operation of the new device as shown in FIG. 4 (b). Can be. Data related to the device selection button and icon design within the button may be located in the button property DB so that the manufacturer's design may be displayed as it is. When the user selects a device, the GUI of the corresponding device is displayed as shown in FIG. 4C, and the user can perform a desired control operation of the device.

In order to further increase the convenience of the user, the invention may be configured in a form in which <expansion part I> is added to the above-described <main part>. In the first use of the electronic device 100 to be controlled, inputting the ID of the device to the general-purpose remote controller for downloading the DB 104 is troublesome for the user. In order to solve the problem, the DB download request is requested in the electronic device 100 to be controlled. Means 106 may be added. The DB download request means may be simply configured as a single button, or may be configured by adding a command execution item to the main menu of the target device without additional hardware. The user can automatically perform a DB download operation simply by applying power to the new control target electronic device 100 and the universal remote controller 200 and manipulating this means. A flowchart of the progress of this task is shown in FIG. 5.

As an additional method for increasing user convenience, the invention can be configured in the form of <extension section II> added to the <basic section>. It may be cumbersome for a user to operate the touch screen display 205 of the universal remote controller 200 to select a control target device, and it takes time to select a device, and since there are a plurality of devices, selection buttons of all devices are displayed in the display. The problem becomes even bigger if not all can be displayed. In order to solve this problem, the aiming light detection means 107 is added to the control target electronic device, and the aiming light emission means 208 is added to the general purpose remote control 200, so that the user operates the aiming function by the operation of the general purpose remote control. When a command is activated to activate the emission means 208, the general purpose remote controller is in a state in which the aiming ray having the straightness is emitted, and the user aims the aiming ray detection means 107 of the target device that the user wants to control in the beam direction of the universal remote controller. Then, the control target device detects its target condition and notifies the universal remote controller, whereby the universal remote controller can automatically perform the operation of selecting the control target device and implementing the GUI. In other words, all selection operations are automatically performed by simply aiming the remote control at a device that the user wants to control so that the user can directly control the device by operating the remote control. If the target notification electronic device is not registered, the new device registration operation may be automatically performed by the description of <Extended Part II> and a method similar to that of FIG. 5. A flowchart of the progress of this task is shown in FIG. 6.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and many variations are possible by those skilled in the art within the spirit of the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, a user can conveniently and quickly download a database required for device control with a single universal remote controller, and can easily select and control one of a plurality of electronic devices by using the same. By providing the user with the GUI design prototype of the manufacturer, it is possible to provide a general-purpose remote control system that allows the user to perform intuitive control.

Claims (3)

A general-purpose remote control system for controlling a plurality of electronic devices, which holds information for controlling a plurality of control target devices and controls a function of a selected control target device according to a user's device selection and an operation command, Located in the controlled device, A button properties database (DB) independent and standardized to hardware that is free of executable code, including graphical user interface (GUI) -related information and control code of buttons that are visible and selectable to a user; Storage management means of the button attribute DB; Means for transmitting the button attribute DB and other signals; And Located in the universal remote control, Means for downloading the button attribute DB and other signals; Storage management means for the button property DBs; GUI implementation means for drawing a remote control GUI on the display of the universal remote controller using the corresponding button attribute DB information of the selected control target device; Including GUI, it is possible to secure universality, flexibility, and scalability in GUI design due to standardization and hardware-independent features, and it is possible to download quickly by using for lightweight DB, and user can use GUI as designed for each device. Universal remote control system, characterized in that to increase the user's intuition, convenience. The method of claim 1, further comprising a DB download request means in the control target device, the DB download operation is automatically started and terminated only by the user operating the means once during the first connection of the control target device and the universal remote control; Universal remote control system, characterized in that the connection operation is completed. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: aiming light emitting means of a user in the universal remote control; Aiming light detection means in the control target device; In addition, the user aims the control target device with the universal remote control to emit the aiming light, the control target device to inform the universal remote control to select the control target device by using the basic communication means upon detecting the aiming light and accordingly The user interface of the control target device is automatically displayed on the display of the remote control, or the button property DB is automatically downloaded when the first aim.

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