Coded data generation or conversion – Code generator or transmitter – Transmitter for remote control signal
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-12
2004-06-08
Wong, Albert K. (Department: 2635)
Coded data generation or conversion
Code generator or transmitter
Transmitter for remote control signal
C341S173000, C340S870030, C340S870030, C340S870030, C348S734000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06747590
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF MY INVENTION
Cable and Satellite television reception is nearly ubiquitous in today's modern home. In the usual arrangement, a cable box (viz, set-top box) or satellite signal receiver is coupled with an ordinary television set (or televisor).
Video cassette recorder (VCR) machines are nearly universal in the modern home. VCR-machines have several distinct operating modes which may be “changed” by a remote controller. VCR-machines are typically hooked ahead of a televisor to provide playback of recorded tapes. Furthermore, they ordinarily include the equivalent of a televisor's “front end” components, e.g. a tuner and demodulator, which allows for off-the-air recording of television program content. Additionally, the television program received by the VCR-machine may re-modulate a subcarrier, usually centered on a locally vacant channel such as channel 3 or channel 4, and thenceforth couple the resulting signal with the televisor for viewable reception, either concurrent with recording of the program, or as a separate function.
DVD-machines have become popular for playback of pre-recorded digital video disk content. Similarly, DVD-machines may contain numerous features accessible through a remote controller.
At the present, digital video recorder (DVR) machines are beginning to make major inroads. The most common type affords up to 30 hours recording time on an internal hard disk drive. This class of machine is available from Panasonic and others and it is commonplace for most of the functions to be operable by a handheld remote controller.
Digital video disk recorders (DVDR) machines are also available which operate more like a VCR-machine, in that off-the-air programs may be recorded and played back, as well as offering to play-back prerecorded digital video disks, such as those offering motion picture presentations.
The primary betterment concerned with in this invention involves an ability for several pieces of equipment to operate in remotely controllable harmony with one-another. In principle, this means that there should be no erroneous unexpected command interaction between individual components of an overall equipment arrangement.
It is necessary to realize that the larger the number of pieces of equipment which are used together the greater the probability for some degree of random interaction becomes. Interaction may vary in extent. It may only affect the efficacity of a single command, or it may jam the entire remote interface. In particular, this potential interaction becomes an almost insurmountable problem when several similar devices are used together, such as the earlier mentioned “same make and model” VCR-machines.
Replication Video Tapes
Recognize that it is often desirable to be able to use two or more similar VCR-machines or other devices in close combination. Duplicating video tapes is a popular and desirable cause for using two VCR-machines together. Video tapes arc often duplicated for private purposes, such as weddings, showers, birthdays, anniversaries and holidays so various family members can have their own personal copies. Other widespread uses for duplication include church services and amateur sports (e.g., high school football, etc.)
I realize that tape duplicators are available, which in essence are two VCR-machine mechanisms hooked up in tandem with shared electronics. However, from an economic point of view, it is generally far less expensive to acquire two or more VCR-machines than a single duplicator machine. Two separate machines are also more useful in the average household, because each individual machine can be used with separate televisors even in different parts of a home. When a recording duplication session is anticipated, they are simply “brought together” for that purpose, after which they may again be placed elsewhere to service different televisors and different users. Furthermore, from an operational point of view, it makes more sense that the two VCR-machines be of the same type to avoid confusion in their usage.
The problem with using two of any “same kind” of remote controlled devices in close physical proximity is that the remote controller ordinarily utilized to operate them creates a command signal cross-talk between their individual control functions. In other words, commands sent to “one” machine will cause similar effects on the “other” machine. This is because devices of the “same kind” use essentially the same decoding instructions in response to the encoded commands sent by the remote controller.
In the past, I have been able to use two of the “same kind” of VCR-machines for tape duplication, etc. by placing the machines facing away from one-another, sort of back-to-back, where the remote controller signal beam is “visible” to only one machine at a time. I have enhanced this by placing a sheet of cardboard over the machines, sort of like an eyeshade, to limit a likelihood for a reflected beam erroneously reaching the unintended machine.
Sports Bar Environment
Several televisors are frequently used together in “sports bar” establishments. In practice, several televisors are variously mounted so as to be viewable by patrons in differing locations throughout the bar, saloon or restaurant establishment. Sometimes several televisors are used in immediate adjacency, each tuned to a “different” sports channel to allow for differing customer tastes. In this setting, it is often desirable to utilize all “the same make and model” televisors for aesthetic reasons, if no other. As a result, the likelihood for randomly occurring command interaction is substantial.
While it certainly may be obvious that using two devices, such as VCR-machines or televisors, of the “same make and model” together will give problems, this is not the only bothersome situation which may arise. It is not at all unusual for several dissimilar devices to be grouped and used together, such as with a cable box, a VCR-machine and a televisor. In this disparate setting it would be unusual for a remote controller to produce similar command response in any two of the devices. However, on the other hand it would not at all be unusual for the remote controller to cause “interference” and unwanted interaction and command errors to occur between devices.
Interference in the sense of its implications concerning devices used with this invention is most particularly described as the situation where the remote controller is used to send commands to a first device, and a second device is caused to have some undesirable level of random response to the command. The response may or may not be related to the intended instruction. In other words, if a remote controller is used to send a channel change instruction to a cable box to set it to channel “57” (for example), the same command may cause the input tuning of an associated televisor to randomly reset from channel “3” to channel “17”, or to introduce some other erratic change in operation of the televisor. Obviously, the reverse situation may be present where a command particularly sent to the televisor may cause some spontaneous corruption of the immediate cable box settings, such as channel selection or power-up state.
Having experienced this type of interference between devices, I realized that a novel provision for preemptively “changing” the decoding pattern of one device relative with another would be advantageous. In other words, if cross-talk manifested as random command interference was experienced between two VCR machines or other devices (even of the same make and model), the best expedient would be to provide the user with a capability for introducing an alternate decoding instruction pattern to one or the other of the devices. In practice, such a change in the decode instruction data set could be altered by merely “flipping” a slide switch or the like on the back panel of the device. This slide switch may be embodied in a manner similar to the switch used for changing between channel 3 and channel 4 commonly located on the back panel of VCR machines and cable boxes. The difference i
Weber Harold
Wong Albert K.
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