Two-way communications between a remote control unit and one or more devices ...

(54) TWO-WAY COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN A REMOTE CONTROL UNIT AND ONE OR MORE DEVICES IN AN AUDIO/VISUAL ENVIRONMENT

(75) Inventors: John M. Van Ryzin, Madison; Peter Douma, Wyckoff, both of NJ (US)

(73) Assignees: Sony Corporation, Park Ridge, NJ (US); Sony Electronics, Inc., Tokyo (JP)

( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.

(21) Appl. No.: 09/074,682

(22) Filed: May 8, 1998

(51) Int. C I. II04Q 19/02

(52) U.S. CI 340/825.25; 340/825.69;

340/825.24; 341/176

(58) Field of Search 340/825.25, 825.24,

340/825.69; 341/176; 455/151.4, 92, 95

(56) References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

4,817,203 3/1989 Tsuramoto et al 455/603

4,999,622 3/1991 Amano et al. .

5,363,355 11/1994 Takagi 369/32

5,410,326 * 4/1995 Goldstein 348/734

5,420,573 5/1995 Tanaka et al 340/825.24

5,488,357 1/1996 Sato et al 340/825.25

5,532,684 * 7/1996 Katsu 340/825.25

5,594,709 1/1997 Nagano et al 369/32

5,625,608 * 4/1997 Grewe et al 369/24

5,646,608 7/1997 Shintani 340/825.25

5,822,098 * 10/1998 Morgaine 359/142

5,990,803 * 10/1998 Park 340/825.34

* cited by examiner

Primary Examiner—Michael Horabik Assistant Examiner—-Yves Dalencourt (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Renee Michelle Larson

(57) ABSTRACT

A remote control unit in an audio/visual system has a two-way communications link with one or more audio/ visual devices. The bi-directional flow of information between the remote control unit and the audio/visual device (s) provides for the creation of remote control commands that are customized based upon the characteristics of the particular A/V device being controlled by the remote control unit. The remote control unit may additionally have another two-way communications link with one or more information-providing devices, such as a personal computer capable of accessing the Internet, that can provide the remote control unit with information available outside the audio/visual environment. The bi-directional flow of information of the two-way communications links is accomplished with a two-way infra-red link or a two-way serial link.

20 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets