System and method for reconfiguration of an entertainment system
Contents
1. Video processing Video inputs Video ouputs 102 Figure 4 U S Patent Activity setup User activates desired activity button Display possible inputs source devices for activity Allow user to select one or more source devices Display possible outputs destination devices for activity Allow user to select one or more destination devices Configure activity parameters Display completion message with reminder if multiple sources or destinations Jun 4 2013 Sheet 5 of 8 US 8 456 314 B2 530 N WELCOME TO ACTIVITY SET UP Please select an activity button on your remote control Fress EXIT to quit WATCH MOVIE SETUP Step 1 Select source Y to move lt p to include SEL when done Press EXIT to quit WATCH MOVIE SETUP Step 2 Select destination gt Projector Y io move lt gt to include SEL when done Fress EXIT to quit CONGRATULATIONS Watch Movie activity setup is complete z Because you configured multiple Sources you will be prompted each time to select which one to use To set up another activity select the activity button on your remote Else press EXIT if done Press EXIT to quit Figure 5 U S Patent Jun 4 2013 Activity button activated Activity configured Multiple Sources 624 S Allow user to choose desired Source2. in accordance with the methods of this invention FIG 7 illustrates a second exemplary activity configura tion setup process in accordance with the methods of this invention FIG 8 illustrates an exemplary display prompting a user to reconfigure a controlling device upon changing an appliance to be controlled and FIG 9 illustrates exemplary help information which may be presented to a user when it is detected that an appliance is not responding correctly to command requests DETAILED DESCRIPTION Turning now to FIG 1 there is illustrated an exemplary home entertainment system in which the audio video outputs of a group of various media source appliances such as for example a set top box STB 104 a first DVD player 106 a second DVD player 108 a game console 110 and a CD changer 112 are all connected as inputs to an AV receiver 102 AV receiver 102 in turn functions to switch the currently desired input media stream to one or more designated outputs of AV receiver 102 which are in turn connected to various audio and or video rendering devices such as TV 114 pro jector 118 and or loudspeakers 116 all as is well known in the art In some embodiments AV to receiver 102 may also include a network interface 12Q for example Ethernet for the routing of streaming media input output from or to other areas of the home When included such a network interface may also be available for Internet access download of firm ware upda
3. activity execution time to select the desired source as will be described in further detail hereafter in conjunction with FIG 6 Upon completion of source device selection at step 508 a list 538 of possible destination devices may be displayed for user selection at step 510 in a similar manner to that described above Once again the list of devices may be tailored by the AV receiver operating program to include in this case only those currently configured devices known to be capable of rendering the designated input media stream s Although not shown it will be appreciated that other configuration options may also be presented to the user in certain embodiments for example selection of a destination for audio output Once all user selections have been made at step 512 the activity con figuration parameters may be finalized and stored in AV receiver memory 402 for future use in configuring the home entertainment system when the indicated activity is called for e g the final configuration is stored and associated with the received key command value corresponding to the activity key that was activated at the start of the configuration process Thereafter the AV receiver operating program may display a completion message 540 including in this example a reminder 542 that final source selection will be required at execution time At step 516 the user indicates whether she wishes to set up another activity in which case processing return
4. any other appropriate method In such instances the operating software of AV receiver 102 may cause to be displayed on a connected appliance for example TV 144 a reminder mes sage to the user that controlling device 100 may require to be set up to operate the newly configured appliance Display of such a reminder message may be immediate upon detection of the change may occur upon receipt of the next user com mand from controlling device 100 or may be deferred until the newly added or changed appliance is selected as an input or output either directly or as a participant in an activity As illustrated in FIG 8 such a reminder message 800 may offer a choice 802 of immediately entering an interactive setup mode in which a database of command data sets and or brand and model information stored locally on AV receiver or located remotely on a PC or Web server may be searched and an appropriate command data set identified to or downloaded into controlling device 100 or display of the reminder may be cancelled 806 or deferred 804 Ina further embodiment the operating software of control ling device 100 may be adapted to always echo certain com mands to AV receiver 104 that is upon actuation of certain functional keys controlling device 100 may sequentially transmit first a keypress notification to AV receiver 104 and thereafter the appropriate command data in the format recog nizable by the current target appliance Using the received ke
5. appliance response is detected interaction with a Web site culminating in downloading of command data and or setup codes to the controlling device etc Further in embodiments such as that illustrated in FIG 1 set up ofa controlling device 100 may be performed interac tively in conjunction with AV receiver 102 using a connected device such as TV 114 for GUI display and a database of codes and or brand and model information stored locally on AV receiver 102 or located remotely on a PC or Web server and accessed via network connection 120 Since such meth ods for setting up a controlling device to command the opera tion of specific home appliances are well known these will not be described in greater detail herein Nevertheless for additional information pertaining to setup procedures the reader may turn for example to U S Pat Nos 4 959 810 5 614 906 or 6 225 938 or to pending U S patent application Ser No 11 915 562 all of like assignee and all incorporated herein by reference in their entirety With reference to FIG 4 an exemplary AV receiver 102 may include as needed for a particular application a control processor 400 coupled to a memory 402 which may comprise any combination of ROM RAM and or non volatile read write memory video and audio processing sections 404 406 US 8 456 314 B2 5 a tuner 408 for reception of radio broadcast channels a front panel 410 including user controls and or a display a remote co
6. as detection of AV signals from an auxiliary output of a render ing device power sensing etc may also be available in cer tain embodiments If the selected destination device is not powered on in a preferred embodiment at step 620 a request may be issued to controlling device 100 via bidirectional communication link 130 to transmit a power on command to the destination appliance While initiation of a Watch a Movie activity via key 202 may result in automatic configuration of keys of the control ling device e g transport keys 240 may be configured to transmit commands in a format compatible with whichever of appliances 104 106 108 have been pre configured as the media source within the remote control when in the Watch a Movie activity mode in the event that multiple possible sources or destinations are possible in the Watch a Movie activity mode which does not allow for a pre configuration ofthe keys ofthe controlling device to a particular appliance at step 622 data indicative ofthe appliances to be controlled in the currently selected activity mode may be transferred over bidirectional communication link 130 from the AV receiver operating program to controlling device 100 to cause the controlling device to configure itselfto match the activity and selected source and destination appliances It will also be appreciated that keys of the controlling device 100 may in whole or in part be matched to an intended targe
7. 2009 Huanget et al 2002 0194621 AI 2003 0234737 Al 2004 0004630 Al 2004 0070491 Al 12 2002 Tran etal 725 139 12 2003 Nelson et al 1 2004 Kalva et al 4 2004 Huang et al 2004 0117843 Al 6 2004 Karaoguz et al 725 108 2005 0034160 A1 2 2005 Kimetal 725 80 Continued FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS EP 2091246 A2 8 2009 GB 2275800 7 1994 JP 2009171232 7 2009 OTHER PUBLICATIONS WIPO International Preliminary Report on Patentability of PCT Appln No US2010 050614 Apr 3 2012 6 pages Primary Examiner Julie Lieu 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Greenberg Traurig LLP 57 ABSTRACT Anentertainment device is used to notify a user of a change in an audio visual entertainment system configuration in which at least one of a plurality devices is connected to the enter tainment device as an audio and or visual source and at least one of the plurality of devices is connected to the entertain ment device as an audio and or visual output destination for the entertainment device and or to notify a user ofa perceived problem in a configuration of a controlling device used to control functional operations of the audio visual entertain ment system 19 Claims 8 Drawing Sheets US 8 456 314 B2 Page2 U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 2006 0050142 Al 2007 0052547 Al 2007 0185597 Al 2008 0066123 Al 2008 0186078 Al 3 2006 3 2007 8 2007 3 2008 8 200
8. 8 Scott et al Haughawout et al Bejean et al Igoe et al Shintani et al 2009 0254966 Al 2010 0287258 Al 2010 0309375 Al 2011 0030016 Al 2011 0106984 Al cited by examiner 10 2009 11 2010 12 2010 2 2011 5 2011 Josephs et al 725 140 Takeuchi Alexander 348 570 Pino et al 725 80 Tanaka et al 710 16 U S Patent Jun 4 2013 Sheet 1 of 8 US 8 456 314 B2 Figure 1 U S Patent Jun 4 2013 Sheet 2 of 8 US 8 456 314 B2 202 ccc 9 T ETE 200 B 3 ER C Ba Pee 3 ER C Ae Volume Le rans Channel lt P P 77 220 oA fay co lt gt E 69 6 C O oO CD O O Cy GG Figure 2 U S Patent Jun 4 2013 Sheet 3 of 8 US 8 456 314 B2 316 310 i Tree Key matrix Transmitter or transceiver circuit 302 u 306 User feedback P device a o 318 S 304 b b Siete Input Output af fee Clock and eee Fe timer logic Crystal 314 305 312 100 Figure 3 U S Patent Jun 4 2013 Sheet 4 of 8 US 8 456 314 B2 m 408 420a 420b 420c 406 2 430a 430b Audio Audio inputs processing Audio ouputs Front panel 412 R C interface PE 414 Network connection 4 434a 434b 410 422a 422b 422c processor AV inputs 424a 424b 424c
9. NMENT SYSTEM CONTROLLING DEVICE RELATED APPLICATION DATA This application claims the benefit ofand is a continuation in part of U S application Ser No 12 569 121 filed Sep 29 2009 BACKGROUND Home entertainment systems in which multiple media sources and multiple media rendering devices are coupled through a central routing device such as an AV receiver are well known in the art as are universal controlling devices adaptable to issue commands to a multiplicity of appliances ofdifferent manufacture and ortype and which are frequently associated with such home entertainment systems As these home entertainment systems become increasingly complex due to the proliferation of media formats appliance types etc the user actions required to configure a home entertain ment system to match a desired activity such as watching TV or listening to music have become increasing onerous and error prone Various methods have been proposed for auto mating all or part of these configuration operations for example through use of controlling device based macro sequences such as described in U S Pat No 5 959 751 or state based control such as described in U S Pat No 6 784 805 However such methods may themselves be subject to error when equipment configurations or connections are not as expected leading only to further user frustration SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to improved methods for configuring a mult
10. Such macro sequences may be programmed by a user to for example adjust lighting levels control drapes etc to create an environment suitable for the commanded activity as well as to perform additional entertainment appliance configuration functions if desired Turning now to FIG 7 in an alternative embodiment a PC based activity setup application may be offered in place of or as an alternative to the AV receiver GUI based setup previ ously described above in conjunction with FIG 5 Such a PC based setup option may comprise a locally installed applica tion program a Web application ora combination thereof As illustrated in FIG 7 the PC based setup application may comprise a GUI 700 which offers a series of drop down menus 702 704 from which the various configuration options may be selected In the illustrative example separate panels 706 and 708 allow selection and configuration of sources and outputs of an activity and selection and assignment of appli ance controlling device key functionality for that activity respectively As will be understood by those of skill in the art in general two drop down menus suchas 710 and 716 may not be active the same time they are however illustrated as such in FIG 7 to assist in a better understanding of the PC appli cation Drop down menu panel 706 may offer AV receiver related activity configuration choices similar to those previ ously described in conjunction with FIG 5 and to avoid re
11. ality of devices connected to the entertainment device as a visual output destination for the entertain ment device a message that serves to notify the user of the change in the audio visual entertainment system configuration wherein the entertainment device waits for the entertain ment device to be placed into a mode in which a changed one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device is to be used as an audio and or visual source or as an audio and or visual output desti nation for the entertainment device before causing the message to be displayed 9 The method as recited in claim 8 wherein the entertain ment device determines that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device in response to the entertainment device detecting a change in one or more cables connected to the entertainment device 10 The method as recited in claim 8 wherein the enter tainment device determines that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertain ment device in response to the entertainment device detecting a change in one or more input signals being provided to the entertainment device 11 The method as recited in claim 10 wherein the enter tainment device monitors the one or more input signals for a change in transmission bit rates to determine if there is a change in one or more of the plurality of device connected to the en
12. ation for the entertainment device the method comprising causing the entertainment device to determine if there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices con nected to the entertainment device and in response to the entertainment device determining that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device using the entertainment device to cause a display by at least one of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device as a visual output destination for the entertain ment device a message that serves to notify the user of the change in the audio visual entertainment system configuration wherein the entertainment device determines that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices con nected to the entertainment device in response to the entertainment device detecting a change in one or more input signals being provided to the entertainment device and wherein the entertainment device monitors the one or more input signals for a change in transmission bit rates to determine if there is a change in one or more of the plurality of device connected to the entertainment device 16 A method for using an entertainment device to notify a user of a change in an audio visual entertainment system configuration in which at least one of a plurality devices is connected to the entertainment device as an audio and or visual source and at least one of the plura
13. az United States Patent Arling et al US008456314B2 US 8 456 314 B2 Jun 4 2013 10 Patent No 45 Date of Patent 54 75 73 Q1 Q2 65 63 51 52 58 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RECONFIGURATION OF AN ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM CONTROLLING DEVICE Inventors Paul D Arling Irvine CA US Patrick H Hayes Mission Viejo CA US Assignee Universal Electronics Inc Santa Ana CA US Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U S C 154 b by 778 days Appl No 12 621 277 Filed Nov 18 2009 Prior Publication Data US 2011 0074591 A1 Mar 31 2011 Related U S Application Data Continuation in part of application No 12 569 121 filed on Sep 29 2009 now Pat No 8 243 207 Int Cl G08B 1 08 2006 01 G08B 21 00 2006 01 G08C 19 06 2006 01 G08C 19 12 2006 01 U S CI USPC 340 635 340 509 1 340 540 340 12 5 340 13 1 340 13 24 725 80 725 81 725 85 725 139 725 141 Field of Classification Search None See application file for complete search history 56 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 5 959 751 A 9 1999 Darbee et al 6 784 805 B2 8 2004 Harris et al 6 910 085 B2 6 2005 Takaku et al 6 918 136 B2 7 2005 Shepherd 725 141 6 930 730 2 8 2005 Maxon et al 7 119 710 B2 10 2006 Hayes et al 7 155 305 B2 12 2006 Hayes et al 7 586 398 B2 9
14. cation number 5411 10255 000D In addition in an exemplary embodiment described herein the AV receiver operating program may include programming which functions in cooperation with controlling device 100 to define and subsequently execute user desired configuration ofthe home entertainment system in accordance with various activities With reference to FIG 5 after completing the initial set up of AV receiver 102 for example as described in the above referenced Denon STR DAS5500ES User s Manual a user may wish to configure the functionality ofthe activity buttons 200 of controlling device 100 To this end she may place the AV receiver into an activity setup mode via for example by a sequence of keypresses on controlling device 100 use of 0 a 5 30 35 40 45 60 6 navigation keys 210 of controlling device 100 to select a menu item displayed on TV 114 or such other action as may be appropriate for a particular embodiment Upon entering activity setup mode the AV receiver operating program may display an exemplary initial status message 530 on TV 114 prompting the user to select an activity to configure The AV receiver operating program thereafter waits at step 502 for user input i e activation of one of the activity buttons 200 of controlling device 100 In the illustrated example the to user may select button 202 labeled Watch a Movie resulting in communication by the controlling device 100 of an ap
15. ceivers is generally GUI based and includes assignment of user friendly names to source and destination appliances for example DVD in place of Video input 3 a user s initial specification of desired activity configurations may be facilitated by the use of these features when configuring activities a 5 20 35 40 45 50 2 A better understanding of the objects advantages features properties and relationships of the invention will be obtained from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth illustrative embodiments and which are indicative of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding of the various aspects of the invention reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in the attached drawings in which FIG 1 illustrates an exemplary system in which the meth ods of the instant invention may be practiced FIG 2 further illustrates an exemplary controlling device of the system of FIG 1 FIG 3 illustrates a block diagram of exemplary compo nents of the exemplary controlling device of FIG 2 FIG 4 illustrates a block diagram of exemplary compo nents of an AV receiver of the system of FIG 1 FIG 5 illustrates an exemplary activity configuration setup process in accordance with the methods of this invention FIG 6 illustrates an exemplary activity switching process
16. cepts could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure For example while described in the context of an AV receiver acting a central switching point for content streams in a home entertainment system it will be appreciated that any other suitably equipped device for example an advanced cable or satellite STB a personal computer etc may be substituted for an AV receiver in the practice of the instant invention Further while a preferred embodiment described above com prises a controlling device capable of bidirectional commu nication with an AV receiver or other central switching device it will be appreciate that many of the steps of the inventive methods may also be practiced in a system com prising a controlling device which is in unidirectional in ward communication with the central switching device in which case certain controlling device actions may be initiated autonomously as macro sequences using for example dis crete appliance commands as are know in the art Further more in the case of a unidirectional controlling device it is contemplated that in lieu of receiving appliance indicating data from the AV receiver the controlling device may be programmed whereby activation of a particular device mode key e g cable DVD game player etc is used by the con trolling device to configure groups of keys of the controlling device to communicate commands to a one of plural possible sources and or des
17. device Prompt user to first set up activity 606 608 powered on 2 610 Request remote to power on source device 612 Multiple destinations 614 Allow user to select desired destination device 616 Destination powered on 618 Request remote to power on dest device 620 622 Sheet 6 of 8 US 8 456 314 B2 WATCH MOVIE Please select source Blue Ray Y to move to include SEL when done Press EXIT to quit WATCH MOVIE Please select destination TV Projector A Y to move 4 gt to include SEL when done Press EXIT to quit Figure 6 US 8 456 314 B2 Sheet 7 of 8 Jun 4 2013 U S Patent v L Z 4 amiy 802 cOL ALIALLOY SHDOIHNOO U S Patent Jun 4 2013 Sheet 8 of 8 DEVICE CHANGED The device connected to input DVD has changed Your remote control set up Ree may need to be updated 804 806 41 Don t show this message again A Y to move SEL to select E S EXIT to quit Figure 8 DEVICE PROBLEM IT APPEARS THAT YOUR DVD PLAYER IS NOT RESPONDING AS EXPECTED SUGGESTIONS Is your remote in DVD mode E Is there an object between you and the player e Does your remote need to be set up EXIT to quit Figure 9 A US 8 456 314 B2 US 8 456 314 B2 1 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RECONFIGURATION OF AN ENTERTAI
18. eceiver 102 and or controlling device 100 to cooperatively place the exemplary home entertainment system into a user specified state which has been associated with that activity as will be described in further detail hereafter Turning now to FIG 3 for use in commanding the func tional operations of one or more appliances the controlling device 100 may include as needed for a particular applica tion a processor 300 coupled to a ROM memory 304 a RAM memory 305 a key matrix 316 e g hard keys soft keys such asa touch sensitive surface overlaid on a liquid crystal LCD and or an electroluminescent EL display transmission cir cuit s and or transceiver circuits 310 e g IR and or RF a non volatile read write memory 306 a means 302 to provide feedback to the user e g one or more LEDs display speaker and or the like an input output port 318 such as a serial interface USB port modem Zigbee WiFi or Blue tooth transceiver etc and clock and timer logic 312 with associated crystal or resonator 314 As will be understood by those skilled in the art some or all of the memories 304 305 306 may include executable instructions collectively the controlling device program memory that are intended to be executed by the processor 300 to control the operation ofthe remote control 100 as well as data which serves to define to the operational software the necessary control protocols and command values for use in transmitt
19. eo processing blocks 404 406 and as such memory 402 is shown separately in FIG 4 only for the sake of clarity As will be understood by those skilled in the art some or all of the memory 402 may include executable instructions that are intended to be executed by the processor 400 to control the operation of the AV receiver 102 hereafter the AV receiver operating program In this manner the processor 400 may be programmed to control the various electronic components within the AV receiver e g to monitorthe front panel 410 and or remote control interface 412 to cause the routing of video and or audio signals between the various inputs and outputs to control selection of radio broadcast channel by tuner 408 to control volume and equalization settings of audio outputs 430a and 4305 etc Further the AV receiver operating pro gram in conjunction with video processing block 404 may provide GUT based setup menus for AV receiver functions such as input and output assignments levels balances equal ization etc via a connected video monitor device such as for example TV 114 Since such GUI based AV receiver setup is well known in the art for the sake of brevity it will not be described further herein however if greater detail is desired regarding such features and functionality the interested reader may reference for example a document such as the Denon AV Surround Receiver STR DA5500ES Owner s Manual D amp M Holdings Inc publi
20. i input and or multi output home enter tainment system to match a user s desired activities In such systems the outputs and inputs ofthe various components are generally routed to and switched through one central device such as an AV receiver The inventive methods described herein comprise a cooperative effort between the AV receiver and an associated universal controlling device such as a remote control in which activation ofan activity key or button on the controlling device results in transmission of a signal to the AV receiver to initiate certain previously defined configu ration actions which actions may be conditioned upon the AV receiver s determination of the current status of connected devices In addition certain controlling device command transmissions to other appliances in the home entertainment system may also be initiated as a result of said activity key activation either unilaterally by the controlling device or at the request of the AV receiver Since the AV receiver has access to appliance status information not available to the controlling device by virtue of the AV receiver s physical connection to those appliances and the controlling device in turn has access to appliance command functions not available to the AV receiver the cooperative execution of an activity configuration request in this manner may result in more reli able and user friendly system operation In addition since prior art initial user set up of AV re
21. ice as an audio and or visual source and at least one ofthe plurality of devices is connected to the entertainment device as an audio and or visual output destination for the entertainment device the method comprising receiving by the entertainment device a signal from the controlling device having data indicative of a command to have one or more ofthe plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device perform a functional opera tion wherein performance of the functional operation is detectable by the entertainment device and in response to the entertainment device failing to detect performance of the functional operation after receipt of the signal using the entertainment device to cause a display by at least one of the plurality of devices con nected to the entertainment device as a visual output destination for the entertainment device a message that serves to notify the user of the perceived problem in the configuration of a controlling device wherein the enter tainment device monitors at least one of inputs and out puts of the entertainment device associated with the one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device as an audio and or visual source to detect performance of the functional operation 18 The method as recited in claim 12 wherein the com mand to have one or more of the plurality of devices con nected to the entertainment device perform a functional operation comprises a command
22. ing command signals to controllable appliances collectively the command data In this manner the proces sor 300 may be programmed to control the various electronic components within the remote control 100 e g to monitor the key matrix 316 to cause the transmission of signals etc The non volatile read write memory 306 for example an EEPROM battery backed up RAM FLASH Smart Card memory stick or the like may additionally be provided to store setup data and parameters as necessary While the memory 304 is illustrated and described as a ROM memory memory 304 can also be comprised of any type of readable media such as ROM FLASH EEPROM or the like Prefer ably the memories 304 and 305 are non volatile or battery backed such that data is not required to be reloaded after battery changes In addition the memories 304 305 and 306 may take the form of a chip a hard disk a magnetic disk an optical disk and orthe like Still further it will be appreciated that some or all of the illustrated memory devices may be physically combined for example a single FLASH memory may be logically partitioned into different portions to support the functionality of memories 304 and 306 respectively and or may be physically incorporated within the same IC chip as the microprocessor 300 a so called microcontrol ler and as such they are shown separately in FIG 3 only for the sake of clarity To cause the controlling device 100 to perfo
23. isual entertainment system configuration wherein the message comprises a user interface element selectable to place a remote control device into a mode for configuring the remote control device to command functional operations of one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device 2 The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the entertain ment device waits for the receipt ofa command from a remote control before causing the message to be displayed 3 The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the entertain ment device causes the message to be displayed in immediate response to the entertainment device determining that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device 4 The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the entertain ment device determines that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device in response to the entertainment device detecting a change in one or more cables connected to the entertainment device 5 The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the entertain ment device determines that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device in response to the entertainment device detecting a change in one or more input signals being provided to the entertainment device 6 The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the entertain ment device determines
24. lity of devices is connected to the entertainment device as an audio and or visual output destination for the entertainment device the method comprising causing the entertainment device to determine if there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices con nected to the entertainment device and in response to the entertainment device determining that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device using the entertainment device to cause a display by at least one of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device as a visual output destination for the entertain ment device a message that serves to notify the user of the change in the audio visual entertainment system configuration wherein the entertainment device determines that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices con nected to the entertainment device in response to the entertainment device detecting a change in capabilities to perform a functional operation provided to the enter tainment device from the plurality of devices connected to entertainment device 17 A method for using an entertainment device to notify a user ofa perceived problem in a configuration ofa controlling device used to control functional operations ofan audio visual 20 25 30 35 40 50 14 entertainment system in which at least one of a plurality devices is connected to the entertainment dev
25. nal choice is to be made at execution time as previously described some or all of the drop down menu items in key configuration panel 708 may be omitted or replaced with generic designators such as Audio destination device or Video source etc Once all aspects of the activities match a user s require ments the user may cause the resulting configuration data to be downloaded into the exemplary AV receiver 102 for example via network interface 120 if both the PC and AV receiver are connected to the same network Alternatively configuration data may be uploaded to a remote server for subsequent download to the AV receiver copied to a memory stick or smart card for physical transfer etc Additionally controlling device 100 may be coupled to the PC and become the repository for some or all of the configuration data either for later transfer to AV receiver 102 or for direct action by controlling device 100 In certain embodiments the operating software of AV receiver 102 may be adapted to detect changes in connected appliances for example by monitoring disconnection recon nection of interface cabling by observing changes in source or sink equipment identity or capability data reported over an HDMI or other digital connection by noting an alteration in the bit rate or format of an input data stream by detecting connection of an interface cable or presence of a new audio video signal at a previously unused AV receiver input or
26. ntrol interface 412 for communicating with a controlling device e g 100 a network interface 414 for communication with a local and or wide area network audio inputs 420a through 420c video inputs 424a through 424c AV inputs 422a through 422c audio outputs 430a 4305 and video outputs 434a and 4345 As will be appreciated audio and video inputs and outputs which may be more or less in number than illustrated may comprise analog or digital sig nals and exemplary AV receiver 102 may be provisioned with analog to digital ADC converters digital to analog DAC converters video decoders HDMI encoder decoders CODECS format converters etc all as necessary to imple ment the input output switching and routing functionality It will be further appreciated that the functionality of video and audio processing blocks 404 and 408 may be implemented in separate components such as a specialized digital signal pro cessors DSP may be implemented as part of control pro cessor 400 or any combination thereof and that portions of memory 402 may be allocated to or associated with audio and video processing blocks 404 408 It will also be appreciated that some or all of the memory elements 402 may take the form of a chip a hard disk a magnetic disk an optical disk FLASH memory and or the like and that all or portion of the memory 402 may be physi cally incorporated within the same IC chip as the control processor 400 and or audio or vid
27. nvention set forth in the claims without undue experimenta tion It will be additionally appreciated that the particular concepts disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not US 8 456 314 B2 11 limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any equivalents thereof All patents cited within this document are hereby incorpo rated by reference in their entirety What is claimed is 1 A method for using an entertainment device to notify a user of a change in an audio visual entertainment system configuration in which at least one of a plurality devices is connected to the entertainment device as an audio and or visual source and at least one of the plurality of devices is connected to the entertainment device as an audio and or visual output destination for the entertainment device the method comprising causing the entertainment device to determine if there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices con nected to the entertainment device and in response to the entertainment device determining that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device using the entertainment device to cause a display by at least one of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device as a visual output destination for the entertain ment device a message that serves to notify the user of the change in the audio v
28. petition these will not be repeated In the illustrated exem plary embodiment drop down menu panel 708 allows the controlling device key groups for volume control channel changing and transport to be pre configured as appropriate As an aid to the user in some embodiments an image 712 of controlling device 100 may be displayed with the affected key group highlighted for example when the drop down menu 710 for transport keys is active this group of keys 714 may be highlighted in displayed image 712 In some embodiments default key assignments may be dynamically established and displayed in panel 708 by the PC application based upon the current activity configuration settings By way of example if audio output for an activity is assigned to a set of speakers 718 connected to the output of AV receiver the default volume key assignment 722 may be the AV receiver whereas if the audio output for the same activity were to be assigned to the TV device 720 the default volume control key assignment may bethe TV device In this context it will be appreciated that in US 8 456 314 B2 9 certain embodiments provision may be made for uploading existing activity configuration settings from an AV receiver into the PC application for editing by a user in which instance the existing values may become the default settings It will be appreciated that in instances where more than one input oroutput device has been selected for an activity and the fi
29. propri ate key command value to AV receiver 102 Upon receipt of the Watch a Movie activity command at step 504 the AV receiver operating program may display a listing 532 of avail able source devices that are known to be connected to inputs 422 424 of AV receiver 102 In this context it will be appre ciated that the earlier mentioned initial setup procedures of AV receiver may include user labeling identification of the devices connected to the various inputs together with a selec tion of compatible command data sets within universal con trolling device 100 and the resulting user friendly labels such as DVD player Projector etc may be used thereafter in the generation of displays such as that illustrated at 532 Additionally the displayed listing may be further tailored by the AV receiver operating program to include only those currently configured devices known to be compatible with the specified activity for example for the presently illus trated Watch a Movie activity devices which are incapable of sourcing a video stream such as CD player 112 or tuner 408 may be omitted from the list presented to the user At step 506 the user may employ navigation keys 210 of controlling device 100 to move a cursor 536 and select desired source device s One or more source devices may be selected as indicated for example by indicia 534 In the event more than one source device is designated the user may be prompted at
30. rm an action the controlling device 100 is adapted to be responsive to events such as a sensed user interaction with the key matrix 316 etc In response to an event appropriate instructions within the program memory hereafter the controlling 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 device operating program may be executed For example when a function key is actuated on the controlling device 100 the controlling device 100 may retrieve from the command data stored in memory 304 305 306 a command value and control protocol corresponding to the actuated function key and where necessary current device mode and transmit that command to an intended target appliance e g STB 104 ina format recognizable by that appliance to thereby control one or more functional operations of that appliance It will be appreciated that the operating program can be used not only to cause the transmission of commands and or data to the appli ances but also to perform local operations While not limit ing local operations that may be performed by the controlling device 100 may include displaying information data favorite channel setup macro key setup function key relocation etc Examples of local operations can be found in U S Pat Nos 5 481 256 5 959 751 and 6 014 092 For selecting sets of command data to be associated with the appliances to be controlled data may be provided to con trolling device 100 that serves to iden
31. s to initial step 502 Ifnot activity setup is complete and the AV receiver operating program exits setup mode and returns to normal operation The execution of an exemplary activity configuration request will now be discussed in conjunction with FIG 6 Upon actuation of an activity button on controlling device 100 for example 202 Watch a Movie and receipt of the US 8 456 314 B2 7 resulting appropriate key command value communication by AV receiver 102 assuming the AV receiver operating pro gram is in the normal operation state i e not in setup mode as described previously at step 602 the AV receiver operating program first determines if the activity by the key command value received from the controlling device has in fact been configured If not at step 624 an error message is displayed for example on TV 114 prompting the user to first configure that activity and the activity request is ignored Ifthe activity has been configured at step 604 the AV receiver operating program next determines from the configuration associated with the received key command value if multiple sources were configured If so at step 606 the options are displayed as illustrated at 630 and the user is prompted to select a desired source device for example by using the navigation and selec tion keys of the controlling device to highlight and select the desired source device As will be appreciated if only one source device was configured at set
32. t appliance as 0 25 40 45 55 8 aresult of receipt ofthe aforementioned requests to power on a device and as such step 622 can be skipped if this data has already been provided to the controlling device by the AV receiver Although not illustrated in the example of FIG 6 in certain embodiments additional appliance configuration may be ini tiated by the AV receiver operating program and or the con trolling device operating program and performed by control ling device 100 for example issuance of commands for selection of an appropriate input on TV 114 or projector 118 adjustment of video aspect ratio or picture settings to opti mize presentation of the selected source material etc Also additional actions may be initiated by the AV receiver oper ating program and or the controlling device operating pro gram with respect to appliances not participating in an activ ity For example initiation ofa Listen to Music activity may cause the controlling device itself or result in the issuance of requests to controlling device to power off video display devices such as TV 114 or projector 118 In addition to the interactions with AV receiver 102 described above in certain embodiments the activation of an activity selection button 200 may also invoke a conventional controlling device based macro command sequence as is known in the art and described for example in the previously referenced U S Pat No 5 959 751
33. tertainment device 12 The method as recited in claim 8 wherein the enter tainment device determines that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertain ment device in response to the entertainment device detecting a new input signal at one or more inputs ofthe entertainment device 13 The method as recited in claim 8 wherein the enter tainment device determines that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertain ment device in response to the entertainment device detecting a change in identifications provided to the entertainment device from the plurality of devices connected to entertain ment device 14 The method as recited in claim 8 wherein the enter tainment device determines that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertain ment device in response to the entertainment device detecting a change in capabilities provided to the entertainment device from the plurality of devices connected to entertainment device 15 A method for using an entertainment device to notify a user of a change in an audio visual entertainment system configuration in which at least one of a plurality devices is connected to the entertainment device as an audio and or visual source and at least one of the plurality of devices is US 8 456 314 B2 13 connected to the entertainment device as an audio and or visual output destin
34. tes and or other data into AV receiver 102 etc again as well known in the art Also illustrated is a universal controlling device 100 which is capable of transmitting com mands to the appliances using any convenient IR RF Point to Point or networked protocol to cause the appliances to perform operational functions While illustrated in the con text of a home entertainment system it is to be understood that appliances controllable by universal controlling device 100 may include but need not be limited to televisions VCRs DVRs DVD players cable or satellite converter set top boxes STBs amplifiers AV receivers CD players game consoles home lighting drapery fans HVAC systems thermostats personal computers etc In a preferred embodi US 8 456 314 B2 3 ment controlling device 100 supports bidirectional commu nication 130 with AV receiver 102 via any convenient IR or RF protocol In an exemplary embodiment controlling device 100 may be further adapted to function in cooperation with AV receiver 102 to configure the illustrative entertainment system in accordance with a user s desired activities To this end as illustrated in FIG 2 an exemplary controlling device may be provisioned with a series of activity selection keys or buttons 200 with designations such as for example Watch TV Watch a Movie Listen to Music Play a Game etc Activation of such an activity selection key may cause AV r
35. that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device in response to the entertainment device detecting a new input signal at one or more inputs of the entertainment device 7 The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the entertain ment device determines that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device in response to the entertainment device detecting a change in identifications providedto the entertainment device from the plurality of devices connected to entertainment device 8 A method for using an entertainment device to notify a user of a change in an audio visual entertainment system configuration in which at least one of a plurality devices is an 5 20 30 40 45 50 65 12 connected to the entertainment device as an audio and or visual source and at least one of the plurality of devices is connected to the entertainment device as an audio and or visual output destination for the entertainment device the method comprising causing the entertainment device to determine if there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices con nected to the entertainment device and in response to the entertainment device determining that there is a change in one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device using the entertainment device to cause display by at least one of the plur
36. tify each intended target appliance by its make and or model and or type Such data allows the controlling device 100 to identify the appropriate command data set within a library of command data that is to beused to transmit recognizable commands in formats appro priate for such identified appliances Such a library of com mand data may be preprogrammed in controlling device 100 downloaded into controlling device 100 as part of the setup process or a combination thereof The library of command data may represent a plurality of controllable appliances of different types and manufacture a plurality of controllable appliances of the same type but different manufacture a plurality of appliances ofthe same manufacture but different type or model etc or any combination thereof as appropriate for a given embodiment In certain embodiments such data used to identify an appropriate command data set may take the form ofa numeric setup code obtained for example from a printed list of manufacturer names and or models with corresponding code numbers from a support Web site etc which may be entered via activation of those keys that are also used to cause the transmission of commands to an appliance preferably the keys that are labeled with numerals Alternative device setup procedures known in the art include scanning bar codes RFTD tags or other indicia sequentially transmitting a predetermined command in dif ferent formats until a target
37. tination appliances in a give activity mode for example by activating the desired mode key s within a predetermined period of time after activation of the activity mode key when used to place the controlling device and AV receiver into that activity mode Activation of a device mode key in this manner may also be used to cause the transmission of data to the AV receiver to thereby cause the AV receiver to select one of multiple possible sources and or destinations in lieu of the menu navigation selection method that was also previously described Still further while described in the context of functional modules and illustrated using block diagram format itis to be understood that unless otherwise stated to the contrary one or more of the described functions and or features may be integrated in a single physical device and or a software mod ule or one or more functions and or features may be imple mented in separate physical devices or software modules It will also be appreciated that a detailed discussion of the actual implementation of each module is not necessary for an enabling understanding of the invention Rather the actual implementation of such modules would be well within the routine skill of an engineer given the disclosure herein ofthe attributes functionality and inter relationship of the various functional modules in the system Therefore a person skilled in the art applying ordinary skill will be able to practice the i
38. to control playing of media by one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device as an audio and or visual source 19 A method for using an entertainment device to notify a user ofa perceived problem in a configuration ofa controlling device used to control functional operations of an audio visual entertainment system in which at least one of a plurality devices is connected to the entertainment device as an audio and or visual source and at least one of the plurality of devices is connected to the entertainment device as an audio and or visual output destination for the entertainment device the method comprising receiving by the entertainment device a signal from the controlling device having data indicative of a command to have one or more ofthe plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device perform a functional opera tion and in response to the entertainment device receiving the signal from the controlling device a predetermined number of times within a predetermined period of time using the entertainment device to cause a display by at least one of the plurality of devices connected to the entertainment device as a visual output destination for the entertain ment device a message that serves to notify the user of the perceived problem in the configuration of a control ling device
39. up time this step may be skipped Once a source device has been designated at step 608 the AV receiver operating program selects the audio video and or AV inputs associated with the designated source device At step 610 the AV receiver operating program deter mines if the selected source device is powered on for example by detecting presence or absence of audio video signal sensing HDMI status etc as appropriate forthe device connection in question Alternatives such as power sensing etc may also be available in certain embodiments If the selected source device is not powered on in a preferred embodiment at step 612 a request may issued to controlling device 100 via bidirectional communication link 130 to trans mit a power on command to the source appliance As will be appreciated such a request would include data that functions to indicate to the controlling device 100 the intended target appliance for the power on command Thereafter at step 614 the AV receiver operating program determines if multiple destinations were configured If so at step 616 the options are displayed as illustrated at 632 and the user prompted to select a desired destination device as described above Again ifonly one destination device was configured at setup time this step may be skipped At step 618 the AV receiver operating pro gram determines ifthe selected destination device is powered on for example by sensing HDMI status Alternatives such
40. ypress notification data the operating software of AV receiver 104 may be adapted to monitor the AV inputs and outputs for the expected result of a user appliance command Ifthe expected result does not occur an error message may be displayed to prompt the user to retry the command check the operating mode of controlling device 100 etc For example if the currently selected activity is Watch a Movie and the operating software of AV receiver 104 is notified by control ling device 100 that the Play key 204 has been actuated the operating software of AV receiver 104 may inspect the DVD 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 10 player input to discern if a corresponding change AV input data has occurred for example an audio component has become present in a digital data stream where there was none before Alternatively the operating software may monitor the reported user activity on controlling device 100 for patterns indicative of a problem For example repeated actuation of the Play key 204 within a short space of time may indicate that an expected appliance response has not occurred In either case a message such as illustrated in FIG 9 may be presented on a connected display such as TV 114 to assist the user in resolving the problem While various concepts have been described in detail it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those con
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