Method and apparatus for setting programmable features of an
Contents
1. The method of claim 60 wherein the input port of the transfer device is coupled to a serial port of the computer 64 The method of claim 63 wherein the input port of the transfer device is plugged into the serial port 65 The method of claim 63 wherein the input port of the transfer device is coupled to the serial port by a cable 66 The method of claim 60 further comprising setting programmable features of the real appliance by user input at the real appliance coupling the input port of the transfer device to the computer and transferring the user input settings to the computer 67 The method of claim 60 wherein the programmable features comprise internal software of the real appliance 68 The method of claim 67 wherein the internal software comprises operating system software 69 The method of claim 60 wherein the programmable features comprise a control having a user assigned function 70 A method for setting programmable features of an appliance comprising operating a graphical user interface using a user s com puter said graphical user interface having a virtual appliance that graphically depicts programmable fea tures of a corresponding real appliance entering data with the user s computer to set program mable features of the virtual appliance to generate set up data providing a portable transfer device separate from the users computer having an input port and an output port Feb 10 2005 coupling2. illustrated in FIG 1 0040 A two way connection also allows synchroniza tion of the real appliance with the virtual appliance Even though most of the feature configuration of an appliance will be done using the virtual appliance interface there may still be features and settings that can be controlled directly at the real appliance By periodically reestablishing a two way connection with the computer the virtual appliance can be updated with any changes in the settings of the real appli ance 0041 Another advantage of two way communications is that it may be used to facilitate remote troubleshooting of appliances Data from the appliance may be transmitted to computer 12 and from there to the appliance manufacturer or support facility via an Internet or email connection Analysis of the data can then be used to issue appropriate repair orders In some cases repairs may be effectuated by downloading connective software or firmware in the same manner that appliance set up is accomplished 0042 Some types of appliances can be readily adapted to utilize existing components for establishing communica tions with computer 12 For example electronic cameras inherently possess optical sensors that can be used to sense modulation of a computer display screen or other light source The primary imaging path of the camera may be used in the case of video cameras and digital still cameras This simply requires the addition of circuitry
3. Feb 10 2005 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 0032 In the following description for purposes of expla nation and not limitation specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention However it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details In other instances detailed descriptions of well known methods and devices are omitted so as to not obscure the description of the present invention with unnecessary detail 0033 The present invention finds application with a wide variety of home and office appliances Some categories of appliances in which the invention may be utilized include clocks telephones televisions television set top decoders video recorders audio and video entertainment system com ponents refrigerators conventional ovens microwave ovens dishwashers irrigation systems global positioning satellite GPS receivers automobile heating ventilating and air conditioning HVAC systems automobile sound systems home security systems home HVAC systems home master control systems facsimile machines copiers cameras postage meters etc Programmable features refer to any appliance features that may be altered These include for example initialization or set up parameters stored data e g telephone speed dial numbers or GPS receiver data base and the
4. The method of claim 42 further comprising establishing a connection with the interactive site using the computer and uploading the user input settings to the interactive site 44 The method of claim 35 wherein the transfer device comprises a key to operate the real appliance 45 The method of claim 35 wherein the programmable features comprise internal software of the real appliance 46 The method of claim 45 wherein the internal software comprises operating system software 47 The method of claim 35 wherein the programmable features comprise a control having a user assigned function 48 A method for setting programmable features of an appliance comprising providing an interactive computer program with a graphi cal user interface having a virtual appliance that graphi cally depicts programmable features of a corresponding real appliance setting programmable features of the virtual appliance at a user s computer providing a portable transfer device having an input port and an output port coupling the input port of the transfer device to the user s computer downloading set up data for the programmable features from the user s computer to the transfer device coupling the output port of the transfer device to the appliance transferring the set up data from the transfer device to the real appliance and wherein the transfer device comprises a key for the real appliance 49 The method of claim 48 wherein th
5. and or software to decode the modulation and store the appropriate set up parameters Alternatively the receiver of the camera s focusing range finder may be used as the optical sensor 0043 In order to provide the appropriate interface for programming the features of appliance 10 server 14 pref erably receives data from the appliance manufacturer Such data may be received periodically as new model appliances are released by the manufacturer or may be obtained by server 14 in real time with a dial up connection to the manufacturer The latter approach offers the advantage of insuring that the most recent product information is avail able to server 14 One method of insuring that the appro priate information for appliance 10 is obtained by server 14 is to prompt the appliance owner to input the serial number of the appliance at computer 12 This need only be per formed once since the serial number can thereafter be stored in computer 12 and or server 14 for use in subsequent programming of the same appliance Warranty registration for the appliance may be conveniently performed during this same procedure 0044 An optional aspect of the invention is the ability of server 14 to provide valuable feedback to the appliance manufacturer During appliance set up operations server 14 collects information concerning consumer s use of product features that can be useful in product marketing and new product design The link between server 14 an
6. by modulating the color channels at a given rate but varying the phase relationship between the two channels as shown in FIG 10 0075 To further increase the data density it is possible to combine modulation of color luminance with color phase Thus at any given sample interval three parameters are available red intensity green intensity and phase relation ship If eight discrete values of each parameter are used each sample point can represent 8 values or 1 of 512 discrete numerical values per sample A disadvantage to this method is the requirement for two color selective detectors Also color response can vary between displays so some type of color calibration may be required 0076 2 Video Bar Code 0077 FIG 11 illustrates another method of data encod ing using video bar code modulation This approach is similar to printed bar codes but uses a higher density data coding With this method a video bar code is displayed across the screen The user swipes a receiving device across the bar code to read data from the screen Conventional printed bar codes work by using different spaces between vertical lines The spacing relationship is translated into binary data bits Multiple bits are combined to form bytes of data 0078 Using a video image data can be represented using luminance levels or color This allows higher data density because each in the video bar code can represent an entire decimal digit inst
7. the input port of the transfer device to the computer transferring the set up data from the computer to the transfer device coupling the output port of the transfer device to the appliance and transferring the set up data from the transfer device to the real appliance 71 The method of claim 70 further comprising inserting the transfer device into a docking port in the real appliance 72 The method of claim 71 wherein the output port of the transfer device and the docking port have cooperating elec trical contacts 73 The method of claim 70 wherein the input port of the transfer device is coupled to a serial port of the computer 74 The method of claim 73 wherein the input port of the transfer device is plugged into the serial port 75 The method of claim 73 wherein the input port of the transfer device is coupled to the serial port by a cable 76 The method of claim 70 further comprising setting programmable features of the real appliance by user input at the real appliance coupling the transfer device to the computer and transferring the user input settings to the computer 77 The method of claim 70 wherein the transfer device comprises a key to operate the real appliance 78 The method of claim 70 wherein the programmable features comprise internal software of the real appliance 79 The method of claim 78 wherein the internal software comprises operating system software 80 The method of claim 70 wherein
8. the programmable features comprise a control having a user assigned function
9. white highest lowest luminance levels This allows the photodetector output to be scaled to more accurately detect each discrete gray level One limitation to this method is that the gray scale response of the display may not be linear In fact gray scale levels are greatly affected by the monitor s contrast and brightness controls These controls can be changed by the user and are not predictable or known constants 0068 Chromatic Luminance 0069 It is possible to convey various luminance levels by selecting different color combinations Each color has a Iuminance component combined with a chroma component Selecting different colors also selects different luminance levels For example dark brown has a low luminance while cyan has a high luminance Note that what is being detected with this method is luminance not color Accurate lumi nance detection depends on the color response of the display the monitor contrast brightness and color settings and the color response characteristics of the photodetector Accurate detection using this method typically requires some form of calibration to match the photodetector response to the dis play color response 0070 0071 With reference to FIG 8 the currently preferred method displays a regular pattern of black and white pixels within a region of the display to produce an average lumi nance level This dithering average level is created by dividing the entire detection r
10. THE INVENTION 0002 1 Field of the Invention 0003 This invention relates generally to the field of setting programmable features of an appliance More par ticularly the invention provides a method and apparatus for conveniently setting various programmable features of an appliance using a graphical user interface accessed with a computer via a global computer network 0004 2 Prior Art 0005 The advent of microprocessors and other miniatur ized electronics has facilitated the implementation of increasingly complex functions in home and office appli ances Typically a relatively complex operator interface is required in order to invoke the various functions that are available For example home electronic devices such as televisions VCRs stereo receivers and the like are typically provided with sophisticated remote control devices Such remote control devices have a large number of individual buttons that are used to directly control features of an appliance and or that are used to navigate through on screen menus Because of the sophistication and complexity of the controls owner s manuals for appliances are becoming increasingly voluminous and difficult to comprehend 0006 Due to the growing complexity of modern appli ances many of the available features are never utilized by consumers even as competition in the marketplace drives the proliferation of such features A number of solutions have been proposed for making a
11. ULATION FIG PEN DETECTOR VIDEO BAR CODE FIG ORIGINAL DATA 3 5 15181 0 I 8 4 414121314 ENCODED DATA 3 5 gt 8 0 8 4 5 4 2 3 4 REPEAT REPEAT SELF CLOCKING DATA ENCODING FIG 12 US 2005 0031099 A1 Patent Application Publication Feb 10 2005 Sheet 5 of 7 3011390 ISOH OL 30 012 807 NO Q3MIM 212 AMONWJN Wvu29ONd 83TIOMINOD2OMOIN AYONIN WYJ l 914 0 2 0 SNOLLOG AV dSIQ 35 40123130 vi 40193 30010Hd Patent Application Publication Feb 10 2005 Sheet 6 of 7 US 2005 0031099 A1 FIG 14 Patent Application Publication Feb 10 2005 Sheet 7 of 7 US 2005 0031099 A1 t 0 0uS t 0 0uS I t 0 0uS 0 08V o 08 0 00 CRT photoresponse FIG 15 t 0 0uS t 0 0 t 0 0uS _ 0029 0004 calibration sequence FIG l6 US 2005 0031099 A1 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SETTING PROGRAMMABLE FEATURES OF AN APPLIANCE RELATED APPLICATION 0001 This is a continuation in part of co pending appli cation Ser No 09 415 299 filed Oct 8 1999 which is a continuation in part of co pending application Ser No 09 351 270 filed Jul 12 1999 now U S Pat No 6 256 378 which is a continuation in part of co pending applica tion Ser No 09 235 709 filed Jan 22 1999 BACKGROUND OF
12. US 20050031099A1 a2 Patent Application Publication Pub No US 2005 0031099 A1 United States Iggulden et al 43 Pub Date Feb 10 2005 54 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SETTING PROGRAMMABLE FEATURES OF AN APPLIANCE 76 Inventors Jerry Iggulden Santa Monica CA US Kyle Fields El Dorado Hills CA US Correspondence Address BLAKELY SOKOLOFF TAYLOR amp ZAFMAN 12400 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD SEVENTH FLOOR LOS ANGELES CA 90025 1030 US 21 Appl No 10 938 057 22 Filed Sep 9 2004 Related U S Application Data 63 Continuation of application No 10 155 531 filed on May 24 2002 which is a continuation in part of application No 09 415 299 filed on Oct 8 1999 APPLIANCE 14 TRANSFER DEVICE now Pat No 6 483 906 which is a continuation in part of application No 09 351 270 filed on Jul 12 1999 now Pat No 6 256 378 which is a continua tion in part of application No 09 235 709 filed on Jan 22 1999 now Pat No 6 415 023 Publication Classification 51 405 H04M 11 00 52 U S 379 102 03 379 102 01 57 ABSTRACT An interactive interface facilitates the setting of preferences and other programmable parameters of an appliance The interface is hosted by a server on a global computer network The appliance owner initiates a connection to the server and is presented with a graphical user interface for setting the preferences and feat
13. a lengthy process of changing settings each time a different driver enters the vehicle The present invention provides a convenient way to communicate driver preferences to the various electronic systems of an automobile As explained above a driver can set many of the desired preferences using an interactive program with a graphical user interface A transfer device is then used to communicate the preferences to the automobile In this particular example the transfer device may also function as a key to enable operation of the automobile Certain preferences such as seat position and mirror posi tion that are established in the automobile itself can be stored in the transfer device along with the preference data down loaded from the driver s home computer 0054 Use of the present invention facilitates customized driver controls For example touch screen display panels are now used in many automobiles Using a graphical user interface a driver can design a customized set of controls for operating features of interest to that driver One driver may wish to have certain radio selections readily available whereas another driver may wish to have available a selec tion of destinations for the navigation system These pref erences are communicated via the transfer device as described above Controls that are customized in this man ner are not limited to touch screen selections By the same process driver defined functions may be assigned to
14. an opto electronic data link Any suitable source of light modulation may be employed to transmit data to the transfer device or appliance These include LEDs incandes cent bulbs LCDs and CRTs A convenient source of light modulation is the display screen of a local computer At least a portion of the display of the local computer may be modulated to transmit data to the transfer device 0060 Most current approaches to video modulation data transfer use sequential pulsing of the video image to provide a series of binary 1 s and 0 s These binary bits are used with framing bits start and stop bits to form complete data bytes Some of the current approaches rely on the scanning CRT image to serialize the data bits by providing a luminance pulse for each data bit This approach will fail when applied to flat panel LCD screens because these screens do not have a scanning luminance response like that found with the CRT 0061 Other methods provide a binary bit stream where each bit is produced at the video field rate For a typical CRT this provides one binary data bit each 16 msec 60 fields per second While this approach is viable for the CRT it will not work well for flat panel displays The slow response time of LCD panels mean that only a small number of data bits could be transferred per second For a passive display 3 bits US 2005 0031099 A1 would be possible assuming 300 msec response time For active panels 20 bits co
15. ant Conflicts in preferences may be resolved through a priority hierarchy established when the preferences are programmed with the user interface Of course the invention is not limited to residential dwellings and may be employed as well with offices stores and other habitable spaces 0035 The invention also has applicability apart from setting programmable features of appliances For example the invention may be employed to purchase pay per view programming at an interactive web site An authorization US 2005 0031099 A1 code may then be downloaded into the transfer device of the invention and transferred to a TV set top box so that the purchased program will be descrambled This approach eliminates the telephone connection required for most TV set top boxes with pay per view capability 0036 Another potential application for the invention is as a programmable token For example a consumer product manufacturer may offer discounts on certain of its products at its web site Authorization to receive the discount may be downloaded into the transfer device of the invention and the transfer device may then be taken to a retailer The transfer device is then used to transmit the discount authorization to a receiving terminal at the retailer Ideally the terminal would also have the ability to modify the stored contents of the transfer device so that the discount authorization could be cancelled once the discount is given This sa
16. arying intensity levels on the display Different lumi nance levels will result due to variances in the brightness response of the display the sensitivity characteristics of the photodetector and also due to adjustment of the brightness and contrast settings of the monitor 0099 To automatically adjust for these differences the system provides a calibration sequence at the start of each data transmission As illustrated in FIG 16 the calibration pattern consists of a staircase of each of the 12 luminance levels used A full white pulse level 12 is sent at the start Feb 10 2005 of the sequence followed by values of 0 to 12 This signal is detected by the receiver and used to establish the actual 12 discrete levels obtained from the monitor In FIG 16 the bottom signal is the actual pulse waveform received by the photodetector The top signal is that obtained after process ing by a software algorithm 0100 It will be recognized that the above described invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the disclosure Thus it is understood that the invention is not to be limited by the foregoing illustrative details but rather is to be defined by the appended claims 1 11 Canceled 12 A method for setting programmable features of an appliance comprising providing an interactive site on a global computer net work providing a graphical user interfac
17. buttons dials and other mechanical controls as well to create indi vidualized function keys Furthermore it will be appre ciated that creating customized controls in this manner is not limited to the context of automobiles but may be applied to any type of appliance 0055 FIG 5 illustrates another alternative embodiment of the invention In this case data for appliance 10 is received directly from server 14 rather than local computer 12 From the appliance owner s perspective the appliance programming interface is otherwise identical to the previ ously described embodiments Communication between server 14 and appliance 10 may be telephonic Appliance 10 may incorporate a conventional modem in which case communications may be two way or may simply have a Feb 10 2005 data demodulator for one way communications Coupling of appliance 10 to the telecommunications network may be by a conventional RJ 11 connection Alternatively appliance 10 may incorporate a cordless telephone module for com municating with a separate base station Communications between server 14 and appliance 10 could also be imple mented with radio signals For example appliance 10 could incorporate a conventional paging receiver 0056 particular example of the embodiment illustrated in FIG 5 is a programmable telephone Speed dial numbers and other programmable features of a telephone may be conveniently set using a graphical user interface hoste
18. d by server 14 Once the features have been programmed by the user server 14 simply places a call to the telephone Appro priate data demodulation circuitry is incorporated in the telephone in order to download the data from server 14 0057 FIG 6 illustrates a further embodiment of the invention generally similar to that of FIG 5 but incorpo rating a transfer device as in the embodiment of FIG 2 Here however transfer device 16 receives data directly from server 14 As with the previously described embodi ment communication between server 14 and transfer device 16 may be telephonic or by radio One example of a transfer device 16 is embodied as a removable module or card of a telephone Data for an appliance 10 is downloaded from server 14 to the telephone where it is demodulated and stored in the card The card may then be taken to appliance 10 to transfer the data to the appliance with an infrared or other data link 0058 Another embodiment of the invention as illustrated in FIG 6 is a universal remote controller that may be coupled to a telecommunications network by means of an RJ 11 jack or equivalent in the manner disclosed by Darbee in U S Pat No 5 228 077 The remote controller could thus function as a data transfer device in addition to its more conventional remote control functions 0059 As discussed above the transfer device or appli ance of the present invention preferably receives data by means of
19. d in combination with a single modulated region of the display screen It will be appreciated that the US 2005 0031099 A1 data transfer rate can be multiplied by employing a suitable array of photodetectors in combination with a corresponding array of data transmission regions Obviously the array of detectors must be properly registered with the array of modulated regions on the display This can present a chal lenge in the case of a handheld receiving device One solution to this challenge is illustrated in FIG 14 Here the display is divided into four quadrants that are independently modulated The receiving device includes an array of four independent photodetectors By providing simple registra tion marks on both the display screen and the receiving device the receiving device can be held against the display screen so that the photodetectors are in proper registration with the corresponding quadrants 0093 7 Experimental Results 0094 A prototype system has been constructed The prototype receiving device is configured as a card having the same length and width as a standard credit card A 9 mm round photodetector element is located in the center of one face of the card Electronic circuitry within the card ampli fies the output signal of the photodetector which is then applied as an analog input to a conventional personal computer system where A D conversion is performed The photodetector element is designed to detect the a
20. d the appli ance manufacturer also facilitates new marketing opportu nities The manufacturer can readily target advertising to identified purchasers of its products Also the manufacturer US 2005 0031099 A1 can offer accessories and related products for appliance 10 Such offers may be integrated with the set up interface or may be directed to the appliance owner separately by email or conventional mail It should be appreciated that the invention can facilitate warranty registration Since the appliance owner is already communicating with server 14 to set programmable features of the appliance it is a simple matter to collect the additional information necessary to complete warranty registration and if desired to provide additional demographic data to the manufacturer 0045 FIG 2 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the invention This embodiment is similar to that of FIG 1 except that programming data is provided to appliance 10 by a transfer device 16 This transfer device receives the programming data from local computer 12 by a wired connection to computer 12 or by an opto electronic or other wireless data link such as will be described more fully below Furthermore the transfer device may communicate with the appliance via a wired connection or via a wireless data link 0046 FIG is functional block diagram of a suitable transfer device 16 At the heart of device 16 is a control electronics module 102 Data mo
21. dulated on the display screen of computer 12 is sensed by optical detector 104 upon activation of receive switch 106 The data is demodulated by electronics 102 and is stored in memory 108 Upon confir mation of error free transfer and storage of the data a suitable indication is provided to the user by means of indicator 110 which may be for example a light emitting diode LED With the data loaded in memory 108 transfer device 16 may be carried to appliance 10 which may include a docking port for transfer device 16 Thus transfer device 16 may be an integral component of appli ance 10 which is provided to the consumer by the appliance manufacturer Alternatively transfer device 16 may be con nected to an input port of appliance 10 with an electrical cable or tether which may have a fixed or removable connection to the transfer device and or the appliance In still other embodiments appliance 10 may be provided with an infrared receiver coupled to its internal control electron ics In the case of an IR link transfer device 16 is equipped with an appropriate infrared transmitter 114 and is held in proximity to the infrared receiver of appliance 10 Upon actuation of transmit switch 112 the data stored in memory 108 is appropriately modulated by electronics 102 and applied to infrared transmitter 114 Indicator 110 may con firm to the user that the data has been transmitted Alterna tively or in addition an indicator ma
22. e at the interactive site said graphical user interface having a virtual appliance that graphically depicts programmable features of a corresponding real appliance said real appliance including a removable transfer device having an input port establishing a connection with the interactive site using a computer interactively setting programmable features of the virtual appliance using the graphical user interface at the interactive site downloading set up data for the programmable features from the interactive site to the computer removing the transfer device from the real appliance coupling the input port of the transfer device to the computer transferring the set up data from the computer to the transfer device returning the transfer device to the real appliance and using the set up data to set the programmable features of the real appliance 13 The method of claim 12 further comprising inserting the transfer device into a docking port in the real appliance 14 The method of claim 13 wherein the output port of the transfer device and the docking port have cooperating elec trical contacts 15 The method of claim 12 wherein the interactive site is accessed via the World Wide Web 16 The method of claim 12 wherein the input port of the transfer device is coupled to a serial port of the computer 17 The method of claim 16 wherein the input port of the transfer device is plugged into the serial port 18 The me
23. e transfer device enables operation of the real appliance 50 The method of claim 48 wherein the transfer device provides access to the real appliance 51 The method of claim 48 wherein the transfer device provides access to a space containing the real appliance 52 The method of claim 48 wherein the real appliance comprises an automobile 53 59 Canceled 60 A method for setting programmable features of an appliance comprising operating a graphical user interface using a computer said graphical user interface having a virtual appliance that graphically depicts programmable features of a corre sponding real appliance said real appliance including a removable transfer device having an input port interactively setting programmable features of the virtual appliance using the graphical user interface to generate set up data removing the transfer device from the real appliance coupling the input port of the transfer device to the computer transferring the set up data from the computer to the transfer device US 2005 0031099 A1 returning the transfer device to the real appliance and using the set up data to set the programmable features of the real appliance 61 The method of claim 60 further comprising inserting the transfer device into a docking port in the real appliance 62 The method of claim 61 wherein the output port of the transfer device and the docking port have cooperating elec trical contacts 63
24. ead of just a single binary bit This increases data density by 8 to 10 times compared to con ventional bar codes 0079 FIG 11 illustrates a video bar code using lumi nance levels Note that luminance levels can be generated using the same methods as previously described for spot modulation Each bar represents one of many luminance levels for example with 10 luminance levels each bar can represent a digit value of O to 9 US 2005 0031099 A1 0080 3 Color Modulation 0081 Chromatic luminance modulation was described above as a form of intensity modulation It is also possible to employ a true color modulation in which specific color hues are used to represent corresponding numerical values Depending on the range of hues used an array of two or three separate detectors sensitive to different spectral com ponents such as by using appropriate filters is required A beam splitter may be employed to direct light to the indi vidual detectors of the array in the receiving device 0082 4 Self Clocking 0083 Regardless of the method of modulation employed it is desirable that the data transmission be self clocking This means that individual data characters are detected by the receiving device without precise time spacing between characters This self clocking approach allows for pauses to occur during the transmission of data characters without creating transmission errors Pauses can occur in PCs if the operating system pe
25. egion into a matrix of smaller discrete cells comprising one or more pixels Each cell is either driven full white or full black The ratio of black to a Gray Scales Dithering Feb 10 2005 white cells determines the overall average luminance for the detection area This method eliminates problems with unpre dictable gray scale response in the display due to contrast or brightness settings 0072 The dithering approach illustrated in FIG 8 uses a rectangular matrix to obtain an average luminance for a given area It is also possible to display other graphic patterns or characters which have a distinctive appearance while also presenting an average overall luminance Some examples are shown in FIG 9 Each of these have a unique Iuminance level when the black areas are averaged with the white background This allows the photodetector to dis criminate between unique patterns or characters to convert to a corresponding data value 0073 d Multi Color Modulation 0074 Another method is to use two or more color chan nels to provide a means of data modulation For this method two or more photodetectors are used each responsive to different portions of the color spectrum For example sepa rate red and green photodetectors could be used to detect varying shades of each color Using two channels allows data encoding using the luminance level of each color channel or the phase between two color signals Phase modulation works
26. es data from a local computer via a transfer device 0018 FIG 3 is a functional block diagram of a transfer device as shown in FIG 2 0019 FIG 4 illustrates a graphical user interface suitable for setting programmable features of a thermostat 0020 FIG 5 is a functional block diagram of a third embodiment of the invention wherein an appliance receives data directly from an interactive site server 0021 FIG 6 is a functional block diagram of a fourth embodiment of the invention wherein an appliance receives data from an interactive site server via a transfer device 0022 FIG 7 illustrates luminance modulation for trans ferring decimal data digits 0023 FIG 8 illustrates luminance modulation with dith ering encoding 0024 FIG 9 illustrates luminance modulation with irregular graphic patterns 0025 FIG 10 illustrates bi color phase modulation 0026 0027 FIG 12 illustrates a self clocking data encoding scheme for use with the present invention 0028 FIG 13 is a functional block diagram of a receiv ing device suitable for use with the present invention 0029 FIG 14 illustrates a display screen having a por tion thereof for data transfer 0030 FIG 15 is a plot of CRT photoresponse of a prototype system constructed in accordance with the present invention 0031 FIG 16 is a plot of a calibration sequence used in the prototype system FIG 11 illustrates video bar code modulation
27. falls on photodetector 202 The output of the photodetector is ampli fied by amplifier 204 and asserted at the input of the analog to digital A D converter 206 The digitized output in this case comprising an 8 bit word is presented as an input to microcontroller 208 The operation of microcon troller 208 is controlled by program instructions stored in read only memory ROM 210 These instructions govern the conversion of the raw digitized input from A D converter 206 into a data digit The data digits are further processed in accordance with the particular functions to be accomplished by receiving device 200 When configured as a transfer device such as transfer device 16 discussed previously receiving device 200 will further communicate the data digits or information derived therefrom to a host device via a wired or wireless interface A random access memory RAM 212 is coupled to microcontroller 208 for use as a scratchpad memory the use of which may include temporary storage of the data digits received from A D converter 206 or information derived therefrom In many applications receiving device 200 will include a user interface 214 comprising a display and or various controls such as func tion selection buttons and the like Receiving device 200 may also include a provision to allow for automatic cali bration of the analog to digital converter A peak detector 216 detects the peak white level in the received signal This level is
28. ilored to appliance 10 and the programmable features thereof Such interface can be thought of as a virtual appliance This can be better understood from the discus sion of FIG 4 below 0039 the embodiment illustrated in FIG 1 appliance 10 is coupled directly to local computer 12 This embodi ment is best suited for portable appliances that may be conveniently carried to the computer for set up The cou pling between appliance 10 and computer 12 may be one way from the computer or two way One way communica tion may be accomplished optically by providing appliance 10 with an optical sensor and modulating the display of computer 12 utilizing one or more of the techniques described below Other communication techniques can be employed using audio magnetic inductive infrared or radio frequency coupling Two way communications are most conveniently established by connection to a serial port of computer 12 The serial port may be configured in accordance with any of the appropriate industry standards such as for example Universal Serial Bus USB Fire Wire Feb 10 2005 etc Naturally this type of connection is not ideal for all appliances but is particularly well suited to portable appli ances that may require a large amount of data For example loading data into a pocket organizer or similar type of personal digital assistant can be most conveniently accom plished with a serial port connection in the configuration
29. me token approach can also be applied to pre paid purchase transac tions reservations at restaurants hotels parks etc entry authorization to entertainment venues or other secured areas and similar situations in which a conveniently transported authorizing token serves as an extended communication link from a computer system 0037 A first embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG 1 An appliance 10 receives set up data from a local computer 12 In a typical application local computer 12 is a general purpose personal computer of the type now widely found in homes and offices Details of computer 12 are not particularly relevant to the invention and are not shown Typically computer 12 will comprise at a minimum a processing unit a keyboard and a display Additional input devices such as a mouse or other pointing device and output devices such as a printer may also be included as part of computer 12 0038 Local computer 12 is coupled to a remote interac tive site server 14 by a telecommunications link In a typical embodiment of the invention interactive site server 14 would be accessible via the World Wide Web Other appro priate means for connecting computer 12 to server 14 could also be employed Server 14 contains programming for interactively setting the programmable features of appliance 10 Preferably server 14 presents to the owner of appliance 10 via computer 12 a graphical user interface that is ta
30. oller for those types of appliances that are commonly controlled remotely In another variation transfer device 16 may be a removable module that is docked into appliance 10 as described above In such case communication between the transfer device and the appliance may be accomplished with a direct electrical connection through a suitable arrangement of electrical contacts Transfer device 16 may in fact comprise the brains of appliance 10 in the form of microprocessor or equivalent device Aside from the ease of programming features and functions of the appliance such an arrangement offers the added benefit of facilitating service or replacement of the appliance s electronic compo nents in the event of malfunction 0049 The embodiment shown in FIGS 2 and 3 is particularly well suited to appliances that are relatively fixed in position and that require only limited amounts of data Examples of such appliances abound in the home and office One such example is a thermostat for a home HVAC system FIG 4 illustrates a graphical user interface for a thermostat as presented on a display of computer 12 Such interface is shown merely for purposes of illustration it being under stood that the particular features of the interface are largely a matter of design choice 0050 Along the top of the display shown in FIG 4 is a day strip 122 The user may select any one of the days with a cursor to program the thermostat settings for that da
31. one SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0015 The present invention provides methods and appa ratus for setting preferences and other parameters of an US 2005 0031099 A1 appliance In preferred embodiments of the invention a user initiates a connection to an interactive site on a global computer network The site hosts a graphical user interface with which preferences and other parameters of an appliance may be set by the user In some embodiments set up data for the appliance may be downloaded directly to the appliance from the user s computer or the interactive site In other embodiments set up data for the appliance is downloaded from the user s computer or the interactive site to a transfer device where it is temporarily stored The transfer device is then used to program the appliance Since the appliance itself does not require a user interface for set up procedures and programming the appliance can be smaller cheaper and lighter without sacrificing any functionality In addition the need for a printed user s manual is largely obviated since all of the information normally contained in such a manual can be obtained from the interactive site BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0016 FIG 1 is a functional block diagram of a first embodiment of the invention wherein an appliance receives data directly from a local computer 0017 FIG 2 is a functional block diagram of a second embodiment of the invention wherein an appliance receiv
32. ontrol device such as a remote controller for a video cassette recorder The device is programmed by connecting it to a telephone system dialing a remote initializing center preferably employing a computer and providing the computer with information as to the environment of the control device by using touch tone keys to respond to audio inquiries trans mitted by the computer The computer then transmits the initializing program for loading into the memory of the control device 0009 U S Pat No 5 774 063 issued to Barry et al discloses a method and apparatus for remote control of electronic devices from a computer A transducer such as an infrared transmitter is coupled to a computer and aimed at an electronic device to be controlled An application pro gram running on the computer generates appropriate signals for control of the electronic device 0010 U S Pat No 5 815 086 issued to Ivie et al discloses a method and apparatus for communicating com mands to electrical appliances from remote locations Vari ous appliances within a structure such as a house are coupled to a signal conducting bus such as the AC power wiring bus of the structure Appliance commands are issued over the bus from a central transmitter Appliances may be directly coupled to the bus or may receive commands via an infrared signal from an infrared transmitting device coupled to the bus A handheld control device may be supplied for controlling the
33. operating system or other internal software Specific examples are given below to illustrate operation of the invention However it will be understood that the invention has general applicability to appliances of all types and to all types of programmable features within such appliances 0034 Appliances will be understood to include any device or system that has programmable features including those that not normally thought of as appliances For example an automobile has numerous on board systems that are programmable in one way or another Thus the automobile itself may be viewed as an appliance as may the individual systems In a similar vein a residential dwelling contains a number of individual appliances The dwelling together with the individual appliances may be viewed collectively as a single appliance This is particu larly true if the individual appliances are connected to a home network In this case a single user interface may be provided to program the various systems and appliances of the dwelling These may be communicated directly to a central controller on the home network or through a transfer device A transfer device may be advantageously combined with a key to open the dwelling so that appliance features are programmed upon entering the dwelling This is especially useful when there are multiple occupants in the dwelling Each key may then carry the individual preferences of the respective occup
34. ppliances easier to control and generally more user friendly For example U S Pat No 5 553 123 issued to Chan et al discloses a method for downloading set up data via a telephone to an appliance controller A user first initiates a telephone call to a remote site having a computer The user communicates certain background information to the remote site and set up data is then downloaded via the telephone connection The ear piece of the telephone is held in proximity to a microphone built into the appliance controller in order to receive the downloaded data Upon receipt of the data the controller is configured to operate the appliance 0007 U S Pat No 5 600 711 issued to Yuen discloses an apparatus and methods for providing initializing settings to an appliance When a user wishes to initialize the settings of an appliance the user initiates a telephone connection with a remote site The remote site then downloads a sequence of commandis for initializing the settings in the appliance over the telephone connection A remote control device for the appliance receives the sequence of commands and stores them in an internal memory The remote control device is then aimed at the appliance and the user enters a command Feb 10 2005 to transfer the stored sequence of commands to the appli ance thereby initializing the settings 0008 U S Pat No 5 141 756 issued to Levine discloses a method of initializing a programmable c
35. r which a template may be made once selected functions have been assigned to the buttons during a set up procedure US 2005 0031099 A1 0052 It will be appreciated that a thermostat physically incorporating the interface shown in FIG 4 would be quite large and costly in comparison to conventional thermostats This is due primarily to the relative complexity of the interface since the actual componentry to provide such flexibility of thermostat settings is actually quite small and inexpensive Through use of the present invention virtually unlimited flexibility in thermostat programming may be accomplished with a thermostat that is no larger and no more costly than a conventional thermostat Indeed a thermostat as just described could easily be made the size of a postage stamp 0053 Another example of an appliance to which the present invention can be advantageously applied is the modem automobile The driver interface for automobiles has become more and more complicated as more and more electronic and computer driven features have become avail able Seat position and temperature mirror position audio entertainment settings HVAC settings and navigational set tings can all be set electronically Many of the available settings are changed only infrequently and thus may require reference to the owner s manual in order to change the settings manually Naturally different drivers have different preferences and this can result in
36. rforms another task while the transmis sion is active For example multitasking operating systems will commonly write data between memory cache storage and disk drives This activity can preempt the operation of other software and cause short pauses in the operation of lower level applications For internet based data transfers varying delays are also common when moving data between servers and client PCs 0084 It is also important to accommodate different data rates depending on the type of display monitor being used Prior to starting the data transfer the user can make a selection to indicate the type of display being used If the display is a CRT a faster transfer rate may be used up to 75 digits per second If an active matrix display is being used the transfer rate will be slower 20 digits per second While the selection of transfer rate is easily accomplished on the PC side the receiving device will preferably be compatible with all available transfer rates Using self clocking data allows the receiving device to receive data at the transmis sion rate without the need for a data rate selection on the receiving device itself 0085 efficient self clocking method using a non binary data encoding is illustrated in FIG 12 If luminance modulation is used the receiving device can detect each discrete luminance level change as a new digit The length of time between successive digits is irrelevant If the same digit value i
37. roviding a portable transfer device separate from the user s computer having an input port and an output port downloading set up data for the programmable features from the interactive site to the user s computer coupling the input port of the transfer device to the computer transferring the set up data from the computer to the transfer device coupling the output port of the transfer device to the appliance and transferring the set up data from the transfer device to the real appliance 36 The method of claim 35 further comprising inserting the transfer device into a docking port in the real appliance 37 The method of claim 36 wherein the output port of the transfer device and the docking port have cooperating elec trical contacts 38 The method of claim 35 wherein the interactive site is accessed via the World Wide Web 39 The method of claim 35 wherein the input port of the transfer device is coupled to a serial port of the computer 40 The method of claim 39 wherein the input port of the transfer device is plugged into the serial port 41 The method of claim 39 wherein the input port of the transfer device is coupled to the serial port by a cable 42 The method of claim 35 further comprising setting programmable features of the real appliance by user input at the real appliance coupling the transfer device to the computer and transferring the user input settings to the computer Feb 10 2005 43
38. s sent twice in succession a special repeat character can be used to indicate that the last digit value is repeating As shown in FIG 12 11 indicates a repeating digit value If the data stream contains three successive 4 s the encoded data will be 4 11 4 With this approach a single digit value is never repeated twice in succession The detector can simply wait for each change in luminance level to indicate a new digit value has been sent Timing relation ships between characters is not significant 0086 5 Time Interval Modulation 0087 In contrast to self clocking methods another modulation approach is based on the time spacing between changes in intensity level or color With this approach only a limited number of intensity levels or colors is required The number of discrete intensity levels or colors may be as few as two The time interval between changes in intensity level or color has a number of possible discrete values each of Feb 10 2005 which corresponds to a numerical value A significant advantage of this approach is that it is not sensitive to variations in display intensity or color fidelity However due to the characteristic response times this approach is better suited to CRT displays than to LCD displays 0088 6 Receiving Device 0089 FIG 13 is a block diagram of a receiving device 200 suitable for use in connection with the present invention Light emitted by or reflected by a display panel
39. thod of claim 16 wherein the input port of the transfer device is coupled to the serial port by a cable 19 The method of claim 12 further comprising setting programmable features of the real appliance by user input at the real appliance coupling the input port of the transfer device to the computer and transferring the user input settings to the computer US 2005 0031099 A1 20 The method of claim 19 further comprising establishing a connection with the interactive site using the computer and uploading the user input settings to the interactive site 21 The method of claim 12 wherein the programmable features comprise internal software of the real appliance 22 The method of claim 21 wherein the internal software comprises operating system software 23 The method of claim 12 wherein the programmable features comprise a control having a user assigned function 24 34 Canceled 35 A method for setting programmable features of an appliance comprising providing an interactive site on a global computer net work providing a graphical user interface at the interactive site said graphical user interface having a virtual appliance that graphically depicts programmable features of a corresponding real appliance establishing a connection between a user s computer and the interactive site entering data with the user s computer to set program mable features of the virtual appliance at the interactive site p
40. uld be transferred Using conven tional start and stop bits a passive panel would then be capable of transmitting 0 3 bytes per second and active panels 2 bytes per second This is too low a data rate for many applications 0062 Various modulation schemes are proposed below that are suitable for use with both CRT and LCD displays 0063 1 Luminance Modulation 0064 A first approach to data modulation of a display screen employs luminance modulation This method drives the display with varying levels of intensity Each intensity level can represent an entire data digit For example FIG 7 illustrates a method using 10 shades of gray to represent a decimal digit The luminance level for each successive decimal digit or luminance dwell is generated as fast as the display can accommodate For an active matrix LCD panel 20 dwells could be sent in one second This allows 20 digits of information per second which is substantially faster than sending binary data 0065 The luminance levels are detected by a photode tector in a receiving device Discrete luminance levels can be generated using several different methods 0066 0067 This method drives a spot on the display to one of several discrete shades of gray The photodetector in the receiving device can detect the discrete levels and convert each level into a single digit value Reference levels can also be sent periodically in the data stream to establish the black and
41. ures of the appliance Once the desired settings have been made they are downloaded to the appli ance either directly from the server or the appliance owner s computer or indirectly using a portable transfer device INTERACTIVE SITE SERVER LOCAL COMPUTER Patent Application Publication Feb 10 2005 Sheet 1 of 7 US 2005 0031099 A1 MANUFACTURER DATA FEEDBACK INTERAC SERVER FIG 2 102 Patent Application Publication Feb 10 2005 Sheet 2 of 7 US 2005 0031099 A1 oe SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI 124 126 2 128 74 a ENTER 130 132 80 75 70 65 60 MID 6AM NOON 6PM MID APPLIANCE 10 TRANSFER DEVICE 12 LOCAL COMPUTER FIG 6 _ INTERACTIVE SITE SERVER 14 US 2005 0031099 A1 Patent Application Publication Feb 10 2005 Sheet 3 of 7 8 SNIQOON3 a pS ee 81132 SL 40 100 252 SI 80103130010Hd 39VMH3AV EH HR 155555 2 913 NOLLVINGOW 39NVNINN 32 3 343 5910 viva 01 39N34W3434 513491 3ONVNIAfYI SINWA t 0 8 8 1 8 Z 6 Patent Application Publication Feb 10 2005 Sheet 4 of 7 US 2005 0031099 A1 GRAPHIC PATTERNS UNIQUE PICTURES UNIQUE CHARACTERS FIG 9 RED CHANNEL GREEN CHANNEL PHASE RELATIONSHIP PHASE MOD
42. used to establish the upper range of A D converter 206 This allows the full range of the A D converter to be used over the receiver s data detection range 0090 Receiving device 200 may be configured in any convenient form As discussed above in connection with transfer device 16 receiving device 200 may have an elongated cylindrical shape similar to a pen or a wand In such case photodetector 202 may be conveniently located at one end of the device However it has been found that pen or wand shaped devices have disadvantages when used with LCD flat screen displays If the device is pressed against the display even with light pressure the display may be dis torted thereby affecting the accuracy of the data transfer For flat panel displays a flat card shaped receiving device is preferred Such a device may be held against the display screen without distorting the display 0091 ensure proper registration of the receiving device with the display screen a visual indication of the area of the display screen that will contain the data modulation is preferably provided As shown in FIG 14 a rectangular area of the display screen generally corresponding in size and shape to the card shaped receiving device may be configured as a window and may be labeled with a legend such as place card here 0092 In the examples discussed above a single photo detector or paired detectors in the case of bi color modu lation is use
43. various appliances in which case receivers for the handheld control device are coupled to the bus in various parts of the structure 0011 0 5 Pat No 5 819 294 issued to Chambers dis closes a programmable universal remote controller pro gramming device is coupled to a computer and receives signals from conventional remote controllers The program ming device correlates the received signals with a database of stored signals used by various appliance manufacturers The programming device then sends a complete set of appropriate control signals to the programmable universal controller 0012 U S Pat No 5 228 077 issued to Darbee discloses a universal remote controller that may be programmed from a remote location The remote controller receives program ming data via a video or telephonic data transmission system 0013 U S Pat No 5 488 571 issued to Jacobs et al discloses a system for transferring data from a video display monitor of a personal computer to a portable information device such as an appointment scheduling device The video display is modulated to transmit data to an opto electronic receiver in the portable information device 0014 Microsoft Corporation has introduced a cordless phone having programmable functions controlled by a per sonal computer The base station of the phone is coupled to the serial port of a computer and application software is installed on the computer to control operation of the ph
44. verage luminance over a 9 mm round area of the display screen The detector consists of a translucent glass window and a photo Darlington transistor photodetector mounted in a plastic enclosure 0095 The prototype system employs luminance modu lation using the dithering approach discussed above A total of 12 luminance levels are used to represent ten decimal values plus two additional values to indicate formatting and repeating characters Using a CRT display the prototype system has achieved data transfer rates of 20 characters per second 0096 The photodetector in the receiver detects the lumi nance change as the electron beam in the CRT passes over the detector This screen phosphor glows with a brightness related to the average screen luminance For a CRT display the beam is constantly scanning the screen This creates a pulse as the beam passes over the detector Therefore the signal detected is a pulse which repeats at the frame rate of the display typically 13 to 17 msec per field FIG 15 is an actual capture of the signal received by the detector using a CRT based display 0097 Since the received signal is a pulse a software algorithm processes the A D conversion readings in order to establish the luminance level represented by the peaks of the detected pulses The software algorithm is then capable of decoding these levels back into packets of data 0098 It is desirable for the system to automatically adapt to v
45. y Below the day strip is a temperature selector 124 Pointing at the up or down arrow with a mouse or other cursor positioning device the user selects the desired temperature To the right of temperature selector 124 there are a pair of time windows 126 and 128 Using the appropriate up and down arrows the user selects the starting and ending times for which the temperature selection applies When the desired settings have been made the user selects ENTER button 130 to store the selections and then proceeds to make the next set of selections For convenience the ending time last entered may be automatically inserted into the starting time window A graphical display 132 of the selected tem perature profile may be provided for the user s convenience 0051 When all settings have been completed the data is loaded into transfer device 16 which is then taken to the physical location of the thermostat for transfer of the data Since all of the settings have been entered into computer 12 they may be conveniently saved locally and or by server 14 for subsequent use in revising these settings or for reloading the settings in the event of a power failure A printed record of the settings may also be made from computer 12 For some appliances a print out following a set up procedure may be used as a template for the appliance to indicate selected options and programmed features For example certain appliances may have unlabeled function buttons fo
46. y be provided on appliance 10 to signal receipt of the data Power source 116 preferably in the form of common alkaline battery cells provides electrical power to the components of device 16 0047 Transfer device 16 may be configured to transfer data from the appliance back to the computer as well This facilitates synchronization of the virtual and real appliances as explained above Data from the appliance may be loaded into the transfer device by means of an opto electronic link in the same manner by which data is loaded from the computer Preferably however the transfer device will have direct electrical coupling to the appliance for applications involving two way communications Transfer of data into the computer may be accomplished in a number of ways For example transfer device 16 may couple directly to a serial or parallel input port of the computer as discussed previ Feb 10 2005 ously in which case a single physical port on the transfer device may serve as both input port and output port Alter natively transfer device 16 may include a sound transducer by which data may be transferred through a microphone coupled to the computer 0048 Transfer device 16 may be configured in various forms Preferably device 16 is easily portable Device 16 may be in the form of a pen or wand with optical detector 104 and infrared transmitter 114 at one end Transfer device 16 may also be integrated with a conventional remote contr
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search