Universal remote control system with bar code setup
Contents
1. described The maximum voltage detector consisted of operational amplifier U1C transistor Q1 capacitor C1 and a few resistors The output of the amplifier U1A is fed to the maximum voltage detector The maximum voltage detector detects the peak of the output of amplifier UTA by using the voltage follower U1C and the charge discharge circuitry consisted of Q1 C1 R5 R6 and R7 R5 R6 and R7 also serve as the voltage divider to provide the reference voltage for the comparator UID and will be discussed later The positive input of U1C is connected to the output of amplifier UIA The negative input of UIC is connected to the charge up capacitor C1 Transistor Q1 provides the current source for the charge up capacitor C1 The discharge cir cuitry comprises of C1 R5 R6 and R7 When a peak signal appears a signal transition from low to high at the output of amplifier ULA capacitor C1 is quickly charged up to the signal peak level because the current source from transistor Q1 provides sufficient current for it Notice that transistor O1 is turned on when a peak signal is detected at the positive input of U1C because the output of U1C is connected to the base of the transistor Q1 and the negative input of U1C is connected on the emitter of transistor Q1 Thus a signal transition from low to high at the positive input of U1C causes transistor Q1 to be turned on A signal transition from high to low at the positive input of U1C causes transistor Q12. Electronics Inc and U S Patent No 5 552 917 issued to Darbee et al and assigned to Universal Electronics Inc disclose universal remote control systems In a common method of setting up and using a universal remote control unit infrared IR function codes that are to be learned and used are made available from the device to be controlled The consumer or user is required to program or adapt the universal remote control unit to control the user s particular equipment such as television sets VCR s entertainment media and other devices Alternatively codes can be preprogrammed into the remote control to communicate with the equipment to be controlled In either case the programming and adaption Page 3 of 10 of the universal remote control to the user s particular equipment can be demanding exacting and generally frustrating for many users SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a universal remote control system wherein the equipment to be controlled and the associated remote control unit are preprogrammed and adapted to automatically configure or reconfigure the remote control unit to communicate with the equipment to be controlled by means of a label on the equipment to be controlled e g a bar code is used to perform the setup of the remote control The foregoing features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of the invention The accompany
3. FIG 5 shows the data frame layout The data content of the bar code is a 32 bit value utilized as shown in the following table 8 bits System identification to allow possible future multiple versions of the system to co exist without interfering with one another s settings 4 bits Device category 00 TV 08 CD player 01 VCR 09 Amplifier 02 Cassette tape 10 Tuner 03 Laser disk 11 Home automation 04 Digital audio tape 12 Misc audio 05 Cable box 13 Phonograph 06 Satellite IRD 14 DVD 07 Video Accessory 15 Spare 12 bits Device designation number set up code in the pre programmed library 8 bits check byte longitudinal parity of the preceding three bytes The data is encoded most significant bit first using bar code symbols as described below FIG 4 illustrates a 32 bit binary bar code encoding example Started from the left hand side there is a start guard pattern represented by two extra wide elements then the 32 bit binary information follows the start guard pattern A stop guard pattern with an extra wide element followed by a narrow element on the very right hand side concludes the bar code A logic 1 bit is encoded as a wide element while a logic 0 bit is encoded as a narrow element An extra wide element is consisted of an extra wide bar Qe in followed by a narrow space 46 in A wide element is consisted of a wide bar 1 in followed by a narrow space The encoding scheme is a modified version of the st
4. foregoing explanation a principal object of the inventive system is to simplify the manner in which this designation number is communicated to the remote control unit 12 Once the 4 Page 6 of 10 designation number has been supplied to the remote control unit 12 the programming and mechanisms involved in this set up process are well known in the art and need not be described in detail herein The data content of the bar code is typically a 32 bit value utilized as shown in the following table 8 bits System identification to allow possible future multiple versions of the system to co exist without interfering with one another s settings Device category 00 TV CD player 01 VCR Amplifier 02 03 04 05 06 07 Cassette tape Laser disk Digital audio tape Cable box Satellite IRD Video Accessory Tuner Home automation Misc audio Phonograph DVD Spare 12 bits Device designation number set up code in the pre programmed library check byte longitudinal parity of the preceding three bytes Page 7 of 10 The data is encoded most significant bit first using bar code symbols as described below A 32 bit binary bar code encoding example will be described Started from the left hand side there is a start guard pattern represented by two extra wide elements then the 32 bit binary information follows the start guard pattern A stop guard pattern with an extra wide element followed by a narrow el
5. to be turned off On the other hand when a signal transition from high to low is detected at the positive input of U1C capacitor is discharged slowly because the discharge path is provided through C1 R5 R6 and R7 and the discharge time constant is about the range of 10 second In this way the voltage level of the charge up capacitor C1 always maintains the signal s peak level from the output of amplifier U1A The voltage level of the charge up capacitor Cl is the output of the maximum voltage detector Notice that the output of amplifier U1A is also connected to the positive input of the comparator U1D as the comparator s input voltage The configuration and operation of comparator U1D is described below When the voltage level at the positive input of UID V U1D is less than the voltage level at the negative input of UID V U1D the output voltage of UID is low or logic zero 0 On the other hand when V UID is higher than V U1D the output voltage is high or logic one 1 As have discussed in the reference voltage generator session above the reference voltage generator provides the virtual ground of about 1 7 volt for the com parator U1D R5 R6 and R7 are served as the voltage divider to provide the reference voltage for the comparator UID The middle point of this voltage divider is the refer ence voltage and is connected to the negative input of comparator U1D This provides the reference voltage The ratio of this referenc
6. 600mS Device type and code valid Send power IR signal in current format Send IR for key pressed using current format Send power in new format Current format newly specified IR format for that device type To step 2 function configure Squawking stopped No Third attempt FIG 3 U S Patent May 1 2001 Sheet 4 of 6 US 6 225 938 B1 Send request f E for FCD data FROM FIG 3 Three tries check sum good Data block 100 m recvd elapsed Wait 3 seconds FIG 4 check sum good Configure key layout to match FCD data Configure key layout to default Done resume normal operation U S Patent May 1 2001 Sheet 5 of 6 US 6 225 938 B1 Bar Code Reader Microcontroller Processor FIG 5 U S Patent May 1 2001 Sheet 6 of 6 INITIATING SET UP ENABLING DETECTION CIRCUITRY SCANNING IDENTIFICATION DATA OF DEVICE TO BE CONTROLLED DECODING DATA ANALYZING DATA CONFIGURING REMOTE CONTROL BASED ON ID DATA 4 FIG 6 US 6 225 938 B1 US 6 225 938 B1 1 UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM WITH BAR CODE SETUP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to infrared remote control systems and more particularly to universal remote control units wherein one remote control unit can c
7. United States Patent US006225938B1 12 10 Patent No US 6 225 938 B1 Hayes et al 45 Date of Patent May 1 2001 54 UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM 4 959 810 9 1990 Darbee et al WITH BAR CODE SETUP 5 255 313 10 1993 Darbee 5 519 457 5 1996 Nishgaki et al 75 Inventors Patrick H Hayes Mission Viejo 5 552 917 9 1996 Darbee et al Marcus Escobosa Placentia Fusheng 5 726 045 3 1998 Kamon et al Frank Chen Santa Ana all of CA 5 869 819 2 1999 Knowles et al 2 5 909 183 6 1999 Borgstahl et al US 5 959 539 9 1999 Adolph et al 5 962 839 10 1999 Eskildsen sseeesssseeeee 235 470 01 73 Assignee Universal Electronics Inc Cypress 5 965 864 10 1999 Iwaguchi et al wae 235 472 01 CA US 6 065 880 5 2000 Thompson 385 88 Notice This patent issued on a continued pros FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS ecution application filed under 37 CFR 0331257 9 1989 EP 1 53 d and is subject to the twenty year Tilda s S959 UE patent term provisions of 35 U S C 98 00933 1 1998 WO 154 a 2 9 OTHER PUBLICATIONS ae Me aver gest dp MU IBM Research Disclosure Universal Interactive Device T S C 154 b by 0 dd vol 41 No 410 Jun 1 1998 United Kingdom No Page cited by examiner 21 Appl No 09 231 069 lt i rimary Examiner Michael Horabi P y E Michael Horabik 22 Filed Jan 14 1999 Assistant Examiner Timothy Edwards Jr 7 74 Attorney Agent or Firm M
8. and holes diffuse in the PN junction will cause an open circuit voltage across the PN junction Current flows through the junction in reverse direction if a load is connected across it The amplitude of the current flow is proportional to the illuminance to the photodiode Resistor R8 across D1 and the input impedance of operational amplifier U1A serve as the load for the photodiode Resistor R8 reduces the total load resistance for the photodiode thus improves the photodiode s response speed Resistor R8 also reduces the noise level to the input of the amplifier U1A The reference voltage generator is illustrated below Operational amplifier U1B along with the voltage divider consisting R3 and R4 are used as a reference voltage generator The output of U1B is the reference voltage This reference voltage is a fixed voltage level which value is the difference of the bar code scanning circuit s positive power supply Vcc minus 1 5 divided by 2 This calculation is based on the fact that the maximum output of the operational amplifier is 1 5 volt less than the positive power supply and this reference voltage will allow the operational amplifier to work in the small signal linear area Assume that the positive power supply Vcc is 5 volt then the reference voltage will be 1 7 volt This reference voltage provides the virtual ground for the input of the amplifier U1A and the virtual ground of the comparator U1D Comparator U1D will be discussed lat
9. andard 3 of 9 code also referred to as Code 39 The 32 bit binary bar code encoding example illustrated in FIG 3 can be scanned from two directions right to left or left to right and a proper decoding scheme for the bar code scanner device can retrieve the binary information from the bar code In the example shown it can thus be seen that the bar code represents the bit pattern 0100 0011 0100 1000 0100 0101 0100 1110 which according to the above bit assignment represents system 43 device type 4 device number 845 with even longitudinal parity This encoding format is one implementation but other encoding schemes can be used to achieve the same result In particular a 32 bit number including 8 bits of system identification 1s used in this example to maintain consistency of numbering with the device activated setup DAS referenced in a corresponding application In practice the bar code data may be reduced to 24 bits or fewer with little negative impact in this application The mechanism used to read this bar code is described in the following The IR emitting LED which is the same IR LED as is used during normal operation of the remote lights 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 the bar code which absorbs the light or reflects it back to a light sensitive photodiode A binary sequence of 1 s or 0 s may thus be represented by the widths of a series of reflective or non reflective elem
10. ariety of other electronic devices or equipment as referred to above To explain in more detail the bar code label on the device contains a data pattern which identifies a the type of device it is and b the remote control encoding format to which it responds If the microcontroller 19 of remote control unit 12 detects a recognizable bar code pattern during the period the bar code reader circuit is enabled it proceeds to analyze the identification data If the VCR 15 type and requested IR format are supported by the remote control unit 12 the microcontroller 19 reconfigures its programming to match the new VCR 15 If the device or equipment is not supported by the remote control unit 12 the remote control simply remains unchanged in its previous configuration US 6 225 938 B1 3 In standard preprogrammed universal remote controls the user selects a transmission format by looking up a designa tion number for his device in a code list supplied with the remote control and enters that designation number into the remote control As becomes clear from the foregoing explanation a principal object of the inventive system is to simplify the manner in which this designation number is communicated to the remote control unit 12 Once the designation number has been supplied to the remote control unit 12 the programming and mechanisms involved in this set up process are well known in the art and need not be described in detail herein
11. ark R Galis Gary R SD TitCL emet G08C 19 12 Jarosik John E Hyatt 52 U S Cl 341 176 345 169 359 142 1 pem 359 146 235 462 45 235 462 46 57 ABSTRACT 58 Field of Search 341 176 345 169 359 142 145 146 148 235 472 01 472 02 A universal remote control system with bar code activated 462 13 462 45 462 46 set up wherein the device to be controlled such as a TV VCR or other consumer electronic product and the associated 56 References Cited remote control unit are pre programmed and adapted to automatically reconfigure the remote control unit to com U S PATENT DOCUMENTS municate with a device to be controlled 4 626 848 12 1986 Ehlers 4 746 919 5 1988 Reitmeier 3 Claims 6 Drawing Sheets Microcontroller m 5 B B 3 3 P a VCR Lobel Book U S Patent May 1 2001 Sheet 1 of 6 US 6 225 938 B1 CD PLAYER 15 Remote control interface 12 unit Remote RA control Vv KS FIG U S Patent May 1 2001 Sheet 2 of 6 US 6 225 938 B1 IEEE 1394 bus O IEEE 1394 interface Microcontroller IR protocol controller IR transceiver FIG 2 U S Patent May 1 2001 Sheet 3 of 6 US 6 225 938 B1 Device activated setup process Set up logic Key Pressed Turn on IR receiver monitor for identity squawk Key Power On Ng Recognizable squawk received within
12. art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention Page 10 of 10 Abstract A universal remote control system with bar code activated set up wherein the device to be controlled such as a TV VCR or other consumer electronic product and the associated remote contro unit are pre programmed and adapted to automatically reconfigure the remote control unit to communicate with a device to be controlled
13. bed in the following The IR emitting LED which is the same IR LED as is used during normal operation of the remote lights the bar code which absorbs the light or reflects it back to a light sensitive photodiode A binary sequence of s or 0 s may thus be represented by the widths of a series of reflective or non reflective elements The input signal to the bar code scanning circuitry is the reflected IR light from the bar code when the IR emitting LED illuminates the bar code The output of the bar code scanning circuitry is logic one 1 which represents a reflective surface white space or logic zero 0 which represents a non reflective surface black bar The bar code scanning circuitry comprises a photodiode along with a parallel resistor as the IR receiver to receive the reflected IR signal from the IR emitting LED A reference voltage generator is formed with operational amplifier and a resistor divider A small gain amplifier is formed as is a maximum voltage detector A voltage comparator is formed and power switching circuitry is formed with a transistor and a resistor The power switching circuitry is used to turn on or turn off the power supply for the bar code scanning circuitry under control of the microprocessor The operation of IR receiver is discussed below The Photodiode together with resistor the IR receiver is connected to the input of the small gain amplifier If the radiant intensity of the IR light to the PN juncti
14. can be preprogrammed into the remote control to communicate with the equipment to be controlled In either case the programming and adaption of the univer sal remote control to the user s particular equipment can be demanding exacting and generally frustrating for many users SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a universal remote control system wherein the equipment to be controlled and the associated remote control unit are preprogrammed and adapted to automatically configure or reconfigure the remote control unit to communicate with the equipment to be controlled by means of a bar code label in other words a label on the equipment to be controlled is used to perform the setup of the remote control The foregoing features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more particu lar description of the invention The accompanying drawings listed hereinbelow are useful in explaining the invention BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is a plan view of an inventive universal remote control unit with bar code setup capability FIG 2 is a sketch showing the inventive system wherein a remote control unit provides controls to a TV set and VCR FIG 3 is a circuit diagram schematic of the bar code reader circuit FIG 4 is an example of the bar code FIG 5 is a mechanical arrangement of an inventive universal remote control unit with bar code setup capability and FIG 6 is an up
15. dated flow chart of the inventive system 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a universal remote control system with bar code activated setup capability As stated above universal remote control units are prevalent in the market place Each of these remote control units are used to control various types and brands of electronic devices equipment in the consumer s or user s home such as the TV the VCR cable box disk player etc However the prior art universal remote control systems have to be programmed or adapted by the user to control his particular equipment Often this programming and adaptation becomes quite dif ficult and frustrating to the user As stated above the present invention is directed to providing a system wherein the devices to be controlled and the remote control unit are readied to enter into communication with each other by means of the user swiping the remote control over a bar code label on the device without requiring the user to program or code in a set of commands that is the remote control unit can be setup rapidly and with minimal effort on the part of the user FIG 1 depicts the inventive system 11 wherein a universal remote control unit with bar code activated setup hereinafter universal remote control unit with BAS capability 12 is positioned to control a TV set 14 anda VCR 15 FIG 2 shows th
16. e universal remote control device with BAS 12 in more detail The remote control 12 includes a microcontroller 19 an IR transmitter and a photosensitive receiver arranged as shown in FIG 5 generally labeled as 20 various command keys generally labeled 16 including a key for initiating setup of the unit all as is well known A consumer or user will purchase a new VCR 15 labeled in accordance with the invention to replace his old VCR 15 of any known brand The inventive universal remote control system 11 instructions will direct the user to press a button or sequence of buttons on the remote control 12 which will cause it to energize the IR LED and the bar code detector circuit and begin monitoring for valid bar code data and then to swipe the remote control 12 across the bar code label on the device after which the universal remote control unit 12 with BAS which previously controlled the old VCR 15 now controls new VCR 15 In the preferred embodiment the user initiates this state by pressing and holding a setup button for three seconds until the visible LED on the remote control 12 blinks twice as shown in the flow chart of FIG 6 However it will be appreciated that other mechanisms e g entering a sequence of keys flipping a switch etc may also be used to initiate said state A VCR 15 is being referred to herein for purposes of explanation however it is to be understood that the invention relates to and is useful with a v
17. e voltage level to the voltage level of the charge up capacitor C1 is determined by the ratio of the average voltage level between output high of amplifier ULA 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 when the scanner lights the reflective surface space and output low of amplifier U1A when the scanner lights the non reflective surface bar to the voltage level of output high of amplifier U1A This ratio is about seventy six percent This means that assume that the output high for amplifier U1A is 1 0 volt the output low for amplifier U1A is 0 52 volt and the average voltage level between output high and output low of amplifier U1A will be 0 76 volt and this ratio number of seventy six percent is used to determine the ratio of the value of resistor R6 to the value of resistor R6 plus the value of the parallel of resistor R5 and R7 In particular the configuration and operation of compara tor U1D is to assure that the comparator is working as a virtual zero crossing detector where the virtual zero voltage is provided by the reference voltage which is the middle point of the voltage divider comprising of R5 R7 and R6 When the positive input of the comparator U1D higher than the virtual zero voltage the output of the comparator is logic one 1 When the positive input of the comparator U1D lower than the virtual zero voltage the output of the com parator is logic zero 0 Notice that the positive inpu
18. ement on the very right hand side concludes the bar code A logic 1 bit is encoded as a wide element while a logic 0 bit is encoded as a narrow element An extra wide element is consisted of an extra wide bar 3 16 in followed by a narrow space 1 16 in A wide element is consisted of a wide bar 1 8 in followed by a narrow space The encoding scheme is a modified version of the standard 3 of 9 code also referred to as Code 9 The 32 bit binary bar code encoding example can be scanned from two directions right to left or left to right and a proper decoding scheme for the bar code scanner device can retrieve the binary information from the bar code In the example described it can thus be understood that the bar code represents the bit pattern 0100 0011 0100 1000 0100 0101 0100 1110 which according to the above bit assignment represents system 43 device type 4 device number 845 with even longitudinal parity This encoding format is one implementation but other encoding schemes can be used to achieve the same result In particular a 32 bit number including 8 bits of system identification is used in this example to maintain consistency of numbering with the device activated setup DAS referenced in a corresponding application In practice the bar code data may be reduced to 24 bits or fewer with little negative impact in this application 6 Page 8 of 10 The mechanism used to read this bar code is descri
19. ention What is claimed is 1 A device for controlling an identifiable consumer electronic component the device comprising a memory having stored therein a plurality of command sets each command set having a plurality of commands that control the operation of a consumer electronic component a plurality of command keys each being activatable to cause the device to transmit to a consumer electronic component at least one command selected from the plurality of commands of the plurality of command sets stored in the memory a reader for reading information from a label that contains information identifying the identifiable consumer elec tronic component and a microcontroller in communication with the reader pro grammed to cause commands selected from the plural ity of commands of the plurality of command sets stored in the memory to be mapped to selected com mand keys the mapping being performed as a function US 6 225 938 B1 7 of the information read from the label of the identifiable consumer electronic component such that activation of the selected command keys causes the device to issue the appropriate commands to command the operation of the identifiable consumer electronic component 2 A method of configuring a remote control comprising electronically reading information that identifies a con sumer electronic component selecting a command set having a plurality of commands from a plurality of command sets sto
20. ents The input signal to the bar code scanning circuitry is the reflected IR light from the bar code when the IR emitting LED illuminates the bar code The output of the bar code scanning circuitry is logic one 1 which represents a reflective surface white space or logic zero 0 which represents a non reflective surface black bar In FIG 3 the bar code scanning circuitry is illustrated The bar code scanning circuitry comprises a photodiode D1 along with the parallel resistor R8 as the IR receiver to receive the reflected IR signal from the IR emitting LED D2 A reference voltage generator is formed with operational amplifier U1A and a resistor divider consisted of R3 and R4 Asmall gain amplifier is formed with U1B R1 and R2 U1C O1 C1 R5 R6 and R7 form a maximum voltage detector A voltage comparator is formed with operational amplifier UID The power switching circuitry is formed by transistor Q2 and resistor R9 The power switching circuitry is to turn on or turn off the power supply for the bar code scanning circuitry under control of the microprocessor via the input signal labeled Power Switch The operation of IR receiver is discussed below Photo diode D1 together with resistor R8 as the IR receiver is connected to the input of the small gain amplifier U1A If the radiant intensity of the IR light to the PN junction of the photodiode has greater energy than the silicon s energy band gap of the photodiode the electrons
21. er Notice that the cathode of the photodiode is connected to the virtual ground Using the virtual ground instead of the actual ground allows amplifier U1A to work in the amplifier s linear area thus reduces the distortion of the IR input signal to the IR receiver The small gain amplifier U1A is discussed in the follow ing The ratio of the feedback resistor R1 and resistor R2 determines the voltage gain of the small gain amplifier U1A As we have discussed above the input signal to the bar code scanning circuitry is the reflected IR light when the IR emitting LED D2 scans the bar code The input signal amplitude in general is proportional to the illuminance to US 6 225 938 B1 5 the photodiode More specifically when the emitting IR LED lights the reflective surface space the input voltage to amplifier U1A is high when the emitting IR LED lights the non reflective surface bar the input voltage to ampli fier U1A is low The amplitude of the input signal is small in the range of ten s of millivolt and the amplifier ULA with the gain approximately about 20 is necessary to assure that the input signal after amplifier U1A has the amplitude about 1 5 v and consequently to assure that the output of the bar code scanning circuitry is logic zero 0 when scanning the bar code s reflective surface space or logic one 1 when scanning the bar code s non reflective surface bar The operation of the maximum voltage detector is now
22. ing drawings listed hereinbelow are useful in explaining the invention BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig 1 is a device activated system DAS comprising a remote control interface Fig 2 is an enlarged view of the remote control interface shown in Fig 1 Figs 3 and 4 show a DAS flowchart for configuring a remote control Fig 5 shows a remote control comprising a photosensitive receiver connected to a microcontroller and Fig 6 is a flow chart for setting up a remote control according to the invention DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a universal remote control system with bar code activated setup capability As stated above universal remote control units are prevalent in the market place Each of these remote control units are used to control various types and brands of E Page 4 of 10 electronic devices equipment in the consumer s or user s home such as the TV the VCR cable box disk player etc However the prior art universal remote contro systems have to be programmed or adapted by the user to control his particular equipment Often this programming and adaptation becomes quite difficult and frustrating to the user Figs 1 4 depict methods and apparatus for achieving device activated setup As stated above the present invention is directed to providing a variation of the DAS system wherein the devices to be controlled and the remote control unit are readied to enter into commu
23. nd holding a setup button for three seconds until the visible LED on the remote control 12 blinks twice However it will be appreciated that other mechanisms e g entering a sequence of keys flipping a switch etc may also be used to initiate said state A VCR 15 is being referred to herein for purposes of explanation however it is to be understood that the invention relates to and is useful with a variety of other electronic devices or equipment as referred to above To explain in more detail the bar code label on the device contains a data pattern which identifies a the type of device it is and b the remote control encoding format to which it responds If the microcontroller 40 of remote control unit 12 detects a recognizable bar code pattern during the period the bar code reader circuit is enabled it proceeds to analyze the identification data If the VCR 15 type and requested IR format are supported by the remote control unit 12 the microcontroller 40 reconfigures its programming to match the new VCR 15 If the device or equipment is not supported by the remote control unit 12 the remote control simply remains unchanged in its previous configuration In standard preprogrammed universal remote controls the user selects a transmission format by looking up a designation number for his device in a code list supplied with the remote control and enters that designation number into the remote control As becomes clear from the
24. nication with each other by means of the user swiping the remote control over a label on the device without requiring the user to program or code in a set of commands that is the remote control unit can be setup rapidly and with minimal effort on the part of the user Fig 5 depicts a universal remote control unit 12 with bar code activated setup hereinafter universal remote contro unit with BAS capability The unit 12 is positioned to control a TV set 14 and a VCR 15 The remote control 12 includes a microcontroller 40 an IR transmitter 42 and a photosensitive receiver 44 The remote control 12 may generally include various command keys including a key for initiating setup of the unit all communication keys are well known A consumer or user will purchase a new VCR 15 labeled in accordance with the invention to replace his old VCR 15 of any known brand The inventive universal remote control will direct the user to press a button or sequence of buttons on the remote control 12 which will cause it to energize the IR LED and the bar code detector circuit and begin monitoring for valid bar code data then to swipe the remote control 12 across the bar code label on the device After the universal remote control unit 12 with BAS which previously controlled P Page 5 of 10 the old VCR 15 has processed the data it will now be able to control the new VCR 15 In the preferred embodiment the user initiates this state by pressing a
25. on of the photodiode has greater energy than the silicon s energy band gap of the photodiode the electrons and holes diffuse in the PN junction will cause an open circuit voltage across the PN junction Current flows through the junction in reverse direction if a load is connected across it The amplitude of the current flow is proportional to the illuminance to the photodiode The Resistor across the diode and the input impedance of x Page 9 of 10 operational amplifier serve as the load for the photodiode The Resistor reduces the total load resistance for the photodiode and thus improves the photodiode s response speed The Resistor also reduces the noise level to the input of the amplifier The IR emitting circuitry illuminates the bar code for photodiode The IR emitting circuitry is already a part of the regular Universal Remote Control A Transistor is used as the switch to turn on or turn off the IR emitting circuitry under control of the microprocessor via the input signal IR emitter on off It is also important to note that the bar code may be located other than on the device itself it may for example appear on the carton in which the device is packaged or in the user manual supplied with the device or even in the user manual supplied with the remote control While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a particular embodiment thereof it will be understood by those skilled in the
26. ontrol a number of various types of devices such as televisions video cas sette recorders VCRs cable boxes disk players and other electronic equipment The invention provides an improve ment to such universal remote control systems for enabling the devices and remote control unit to be ready to commu nicate with each other Most manufacturers provide remote controls to control their equipment and equipment of different manufacturers are often controlled with different remote control units To minimize the number of individual remote control units a user requires universal remote control units have been developed Accordingly infrared remote control units for controlling various functions of television receivers VCR s and auxiliary electronic equipment have become quite wide spread in recent years U S Pat No 5 255 313 issued to Darbee and assigned to Universal Electronics Inc and U S Pat No 5 552 917 issued to Darbee et al and assigned to Universal Electronics Inc disclose universal remote control systems In a common method of setting up and using a universal remote control unit infrared IR function codes that are to be learned and used are made available from the device to be controlled The consumer or user is required to program or adapt the universal remote control unit to control the user s particular equipment such as television sets VCR s entertainment media and other devices Alternatively codes
27. red in a memory resident on the remote control as a function of the electronically read identification information and mapping the commands from the selected command set to selected command keys on the remote control whereby the remote control is configured such that activation of the selected command keys causes the device to issue the appropriate commands to command the operation of the consumer electronic component 15 8 3 A computer readable medium having instruction for configuring a remote control the instructions performing the steps comprising electronically reading information that identifies a con sumer electronic component selecting a command set having a plurality of commands from a plurality of command sets stored in a memory resident on the remote control as a function of the electronically read identification information and mapping the commands from the selected command set to selected command keys on the remote control whereby the remote control is configured such that activation of the selected command keys causes the device to issue the appropriate commands to command the operation of the consumer electronic component UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO 6 225 938 B1 Page 1 of 10 DATED May 1 2001 INVENTOR S Patrick H Hayes et al It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent is hereby corrected as
28. shown below Please delete the specification beginning with column 1 line 3 ending with column 6 line 46 and substitute the attached corrected specification Signed and Sealed this Eighth Day of October 2002 Attest JAMES E ROGAN Attesting Officer Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office Page 2 of 10 UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM WITH BAR CODE SETUP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to infrared remote control systems and more particularly to universal remote control units wherein one remote control unit can control a number of various types of devices such as televisions video cassette recorders VCRs cable boxes disk players and other electronic equipment The invention provides an improvement to such universal remote control systems for enabling the devices and remote control unit to be ready to communicate with each other Most manufacturers provide remote controls to contro their equipment and equipment of different manufacturers are often controlled with different remote control units To minimize the number of individual remote control units a user requires universal remote control units have been developed Accordingly infrared remote control units for controlling various functions of television receivers VCR s and auxiliary electronic equipment have become quite widespread in recent years U S Patent No 5 255 313 issued to Darbee and assigned to Universal
29. t or the input of comparator U1D is connected to the output of the small gain amplifier U1A Further more the configuration and operation of comparator U1D is also to assure that when the bar code scanner device with this bar code scanning circuitry scans at the reflected surface space the device s output will be logic one 1 When the device scans at the non reflected surface bar the device s output will be logic zero 0 The IR emitting circuitry is illustrated in FIG 2 and is formed by the IR emitting LED D2 transistor Q3 and resistor R22 The IR emitting circuitry illuminates the bar code for photodiode D1 The IR emitting circuitry is already a part of the regular Universal Remote Control and is shown here for clarify only Transistor Q3 is used as the switch to turn on or turn off the IR emitting circuitry under control of the microprocessor via the input signal IR emitter on off It is also important to note that the bar code may be located other than on the device itself it may for example appear on the carton in which the device is packaged or in the user manual supplied with the device or even in the user manual supplied with the remote control While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a particular embodiment thereof it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the inv
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