US2009184926A1PendingUtilityA1

Touch-screen remote control for multimedia equipment

55
Assignee: KATES LAWRENCEPriority: Nov 8, 2004Filed: Nov 19, 2008Published: Jul 23, 2009
Est. expiryNov 8, 2024(expired)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:Lawrence Kates
H04Q 9/04H04N 21/41265H04N 21/42204H04N 21/47H04N 21/4314H04N 21/43615H04N 21/42221H04N 21/43637H04N 21/42226H04N 21/42224H04N 21/478H04N 21/42209H04N 21/42206H04N 21/42222H04N 5/782
55
PatentIndex Score
0
Cited by
0
References
0
Claims

Abstract

A multimedia control system presents program schedule information to a user in a visually and intellectually-intuitive manner. The multimedia control system can be used to display programming information, control multimedia devices, control home automation devices, etc. In one embodiment, a control screen used to display programming information is configured as a touch screen to allow the user to select programming, control multimedia devices, or perform other functions by touching the screen. In one embodiment, the system uses a consistent, user-selectable, intuitive user interface. In one embodiment, programming information is dynamically updated to provide the user with current programming information, such as, for example, sports scores, commercial breaks, news stories, documentary contents, etc.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
1 . A multimedia control system, comprising:
 a processor;   a touch-screen display provided to said processor;   a communications interface provided to said processor, said communications interface configured to receive programming information over at least one communications channel; and   one or more remote-control interfaces provided to said processor, said processor configured to receive said programming information from said communications interface and to display said programming information on said touch-screen display as a program screen, said processor configured to control one or more multimedia devices using said one or more remote-control interfaces in response to user inputs from said touch-screen display, said processor further configured to provide a dialog-type display in response to user selection of a program displayed on said program screen, said processor configured to update said program screen to indicate the current content of one or more programs in said programming information.   
     
     
         2 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said remote-control interface comprises an infrared interface. 
     
     
         3 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said remote-control interface comprises a radio-frequency interface. 
     
     
         4 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said communication channel comprises a computer network. 
     
     
         5 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said communication channel comprises an Internet connection. 
     
     
         6 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said communication channel comprises a wireless networking channel. 
     
     
         7 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said communication interface comprises a satellite-radio receiver. 
     
     
         8 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said communication interface comprises a local area network interface. 
     
     
         9 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said communication interface comprises a wireless local area network interface. 
     
     
         10 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said program screen comprise one or more graphical user interface buttons. 
     
     
         11 . The multimedia control system of  claim 10 , wherein at least one of said graphical user interface buttons comprises a button to select a desired program. 
     
     
         12 . The multimedia control system of  claim 10  wherein at least one of said graphical user interface buttons comprises a button to select a device-control screen. 
     
     
         13 . The multimedia control system of  claim 10  wherein at least one of said graphical user interface buttons comprises a button to select a setup screen. 
     
     
         14 . The multimedia control system of  claim 10 , wherein at least one of said graphical user interface buttons comprises a button to open a dialog-type window corresponding to a selected program. 
     
     
         15 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said programming information comprises information related to a current score of a program showing a sporting event. 
     
     
         16 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said programming information comprises information related to a current news topic of a news program. 
     
     
         17 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said programming information comprises information related to a current news topic of a news program. 
     
     
         18 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said program screen comprises at least one or more graphical user interface buttons, each graphical user interface button corresponding to a program, each graphical user interface button configured to display an icon corresponding to said program. 
     
     
         19 . The multimedia control system of  claim 18 , wherein said icon displays video content of said program. 
     
     
         20 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said icon corresponds to an episode of said program. 
     
     
         21 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said programming content comprises cable television programming. 
     
     
         22 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said programming content comprises satellite television programming. 
     
     
         23 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said programming content comprises satellite radio programming. 
     
     
         24 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said programming content comprises broadcast radio programming. 
     
     
         25 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said programming content comprises DVD programming. 
     
     
         26 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said programming content comprises audio CD programming. 
     
     
         27 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said programming content comprises previously-recorded programming. 
     
     
         28 . The multimedia control system of  claim 1 , wherein said programming content comprises previously-recorded programming stored in a PVR. 
     
     
         29 . A method for controlling one or more multimedia devices, comprising:
 receiving entertainment programming information over at least one communications channel;   receiving supplemental programming information over at least one communications channel;   displaying said programming information on a display screen as a program screen;   updating said program screen according to said supplemental programming information to indicate a current content of one or more entertainment programs during a time period of said one or more entertainment programs;   opening a dialog-type window for a first entertainment program in response to a first user-input command; and   sending a remote-control command to one or more multimedia devices to select a second entertainment program in response to a second user-input command.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , said sending a remote-control command comprises sending an infrared signal. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said sending a remote-control command comprises sending a radio-frequency signal. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 28 , receiving entertainment programming comprises receiving data from a computer network. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 28 , receiving entertainment programming comprises receiving data from an Internet connection. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 28 , receiving entertainment programming comprises receiving data from a wireless communication channel. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 28 , receiving entertainment programming comprises receiving data from a wireless computer network. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 28 , receiving entertainment programming comprises receiving data from a satellite-radio system. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 28 , receiving entertainment programming comprises receiving data from a local-area network. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 28 , receiving entertainment programming comprises receiving data from a cable television network. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said program screen comprises one or more graphical user interface buttons. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein at least one of said graphical user interface buttons comprises a button to select a desired program. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising selecting a device-control screen. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising selecting a setup screen. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising selecting a program display format. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising selecting a program screen format. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein said program screen format comprises a matrix of program buttons corresponding to programs that are currently available. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein said program screen format comprises a matrix wherein a first axis corresponds to time and a second axis corresponds to channel. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein said program screen format comprises a matrix wherein a first axis corresponds to time and a second axis corresponds to genre. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said supplemental programming information comprises information related to a current score of a program showing a sporting event. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said supplemental programming information comprises information related to a current news topic of a news program. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said supplemental programming information comprises information related to a current topic of a science-related program. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said program screen comprises at least one or more graphical user interface buttons, each graphical user interface button corresponding to a program, each graphical user interface button configured to display an icon corresponding to said program. 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein said icon displays video content of said program. 
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein said icon corresponds to an episode of said program. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said entertainment programming comprises cable television programming. 
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said entertainment programming comprises satellite television programming. 
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said entertainment programming comprises satellite radio programming. 
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said entertainment programming comprises broadcast radio programming. 
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said entertainment programming comprises DVD programming. 
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said entertainment programming comprises audio CD programming. 
     
     
         60 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said entertainment programming comprises previously-recorded programming. 
     
     
         61 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said entertainment programming comprises previously-recorded programming stored in a PVR. 
     
     
         62 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said human-interface device comprises a touch-screen. 
     
     
         63 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said human-interface device comprises a computer mouse. 
     
     
         64 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said human-interface device comprises a trackball. 
     
     
         65 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said human-interface device comprises a speech-recognition system.

Join the waitlist — get patent alerts

Track US2009184926A1 — get alerts on status changes and closely related new filings.

We store only your email — no account needed. See our privacy policy.