U.S. patent application number 16/106831 was filed with the patent office on 2018-12-13 for system and method for appliance control via a network.
This patent application is currently assigned to Universal Electronics Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Universal Electronics Inc.. Invention is credited to Paul D. Arling, Jeffrey Kohanek, Norman G. Sheridan.
Application Number | 20180357889 16/106831 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46931835 |
Filed Date | 2018-12-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180357889 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Arling; Paul D. ; et
al. |
December 13, 2018 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR APPLIANCE CONTROL VIA A NETWORK
Abstract
A first remote control application is configured to cause a
smart device to transmit at least one command for controlling at
least one functional operation of a controllable appliance in
response to a user interface element of the smart device being
activated while a second remote control application of a bridge
device is configured to cause the bridge device to transmit at
least one command for controlling at least one functional operation
of the controllable appliance in response to receiving at the
bridge device the at least one command transmitted from the smart
device. The at least one command is transmitted from the smart
device using a first transmission protocol and the at least one
command is transmitted from to the bridge device using a
transmission protocol recognized by the controllable appliance.
Inventors: |
Arling; Paul D.; (Irvine,
CA) ; Kohanek; Jeffrey; (Westminster, CA) ;
Sheridan; Norman G.; (Fremont, CA) |
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Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Universal Electronics Inc. |
Santa Ana |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Universal Electronics Inc.
|
Family ID: |
46931835 |
Appl. No.: |
16/106831 |
Filed: |
August 21, 2018 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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14736909 |
Jun 11, 2015 |
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16106831 |
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13328416 |
Dec 16, 2011 |
9088663 |
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14736909 |
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12148444 |
Apr 18, 2008 |
9350850 |
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13328416 |
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13071661 |
Mar 25, 2011 |
9852615 |
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12148444 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G08C 17/00 20130101;
G08C 2201/20 20130101; G06F 3/0486 20130101; G08C 23/04 20130101;
G08C 17/02 20130101; H04M 2250/22 20130101; H04M 1/72533 20130101;
G08C 2201/93 20130101; G08C 19/28 20130101; G08C 2201/92 20130101;
G08C 2201/70 20130101; G08C 2201/30 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G08C 17/02 20060101
G08C017/02; H04M 1/725 20060101 H04M001/725; G06F 3/0486 20060101
G06F003/0486; G08C 23/04 20060101 G08C023/04; G08C 19/28 20060101
G08C019/28; G08C 17/00 20060101 G08C017/00 |
Claims
1. A system for control of electronic consumer device (ECD)
functions, the system comprising: a device having a first
communication interface, a second communication interface, a third
communication interface, and a fourth communication interface,
wherein the device is programmed to use the first communication
interface to communicate with an ECD device for receiving from the
ECD device a device identifier data, to use the second
communication interface to communicate with an ECD function
information database to obtain a function information for the ECD
via use of the device identifier data whereupon the function
information for the ECD received via the second communication
interface is stored in a memory of the device, and to use the third
communication interface to transmit to the ECD a signal for
controlling the functional operation of the ECD in response to a
corresponding signal being received by the fourth communication
interface from a controlling device wherein the signal received via
the fourth communication interface from the controlling device is
used to select the function information for the ECD stored in the
memory of the device and the function information for the ECD is
used to create the signal for controlling the functional operation
of the ECD; and a single line bus communications cable that places
the first communication interface in communication with the
ECD.
2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the device identifier
data comprises a brand name and a model number for the ECD.
3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the device identifier
data comprises device type information.
4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the function
information for the ECD comprises a command data and command
transmitting protocol information and wherein the third
communication interface comprises an infrared (IR) communication
interface.
5. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the fourth
communication interface comprises a radio frequency (RF)
communication interface.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of and is a continuation
of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/736,909, filed on Jun. 11, 2015,
which application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of
U.S. application Ser. No. 13/328,416, filed on Dec. 16, 2011, which
application claims the benefit of and is a continuation-in-part of
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/148,444, filed Apr. 18, 2008,
and which application also claims the benefit of and is a
continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
13/071,661, filed Mar. 25, 2011.
[0002] The disclosures within these applications are incorporated
herein by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Controlling devices, for example remote controls, for use in
issuing commands to entertainment and other appliances, and the
features and functionality provided by such controlling devices are
well known in the art and have become ubiquitous in the home.
Wireless network technologies such as WiFi, Bluetooth, etc., are
increasing deployed in homes in support of personal communication,
productivity, and entertainment devices such as tablet computers,
smart phones, portable email devices, e-books, hand-held games
and/or game controllers, portable media players, etc. (all referred
to hereafter as "smart devices").
SUMMARY
[0004] This invention relates generally to controlling devices such
as remote controls, and more specifically to controlling devices
which incorporate wireless networking capability. In an exemplary
embodiment, a controlling device may be provisioned with a wireless
network interface such as a WiFi transceiver and associated
programming in addition to conventional IR and/or RF transmitters
and/or transceivers for issuing appliance commands. This wireless
network interface may be used to receive and relay appliance
command requests from other devices present on the network, for
example smart phones, tablet or desktop computers, or if enabled,
even distant devices via a wide area network such as the Internet.
Further, in some embodiments the controlling device, for example a
universal remote control, may utilize such a wireless networking
capability to communicate with local appliances or Internet based
services to facilitate setup and configuration of the controlling
device, for appliance identification purposes, etc.
[0005] A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features,
properties and relationships of the invention will be obtained from
the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which
set forth illustrative embodiments and which are indicative of the
various ways in which the principles of the invention may be
employed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] For a better understanding of the various aspects of the
invention, reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in
the attached drawings in which:
[0007] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system in which a
controlling device constructed in accordance with the instant
invention may be utilized;
[0008] FIG. 2 illustrates in block diagram form components of the
exemplary controlling device of FIG. 1;
[0009] FIGS. 3 and 4 further illustrate systems in which an
exemplary controlling device constructed in accordance with the
invention may be utilized;
[0010] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary operational flow as may be
implemented in configuring a smart device to utilize features of
the controlling device of FIGS. 1 and 4; and
[0011] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary operational flow as may be
implemented to cause a user-requested appliance command to be
issued in accordance with this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] With reference to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an exemplary
system in which a controlling device 100 is configured to control
various controllable appliances, such as a television 102, an AV
receiver 104 and a set top box ("STB") 106. As is known in the art,
the controlling device 100 may be capable of transmitting commands
to the appliances, using any convenient IR, RF, Point-to-Point, or
networked protocol 122, to cause the appliances to perform
operational functions. While illustrated in the context of a
television 102, AV receiver 104, and STB 106, it is to be
understood that controllable appliances may include, but need not
be limited to, televisions, VCRs, DVRs, DVD players, cable or
satellite converter set-top boxes ("STBs"), amplifiers, CD players,
game consoles, home lighting, drapery, fans, HVAC systems,
thermostats, personal computers, etc. Controlling device 100 may be
further adapted to support a wireless communication interface 126
to a local network, for example a home WiFi network enabled by a
router and wireless access point 112. Exemplary other devices with
wireless access to the network may include a smart phone 108, a
tablet computer 110, and STB 106. Router 112 may also offer wired
access 114 to the local network, for example supporting a desktop
computer 116. Access to a wide area network 120 such as the
Internet may be available through router 112 and network gateway
device 118 such as a cable modem, DSL service, etc. In some
embodiments, certain appliances may be digitally interconnected,
for example via HDMI interface cables 124. It will be appreciated
that although the illustrative WiFi network of FIG. 1 is depicted
as operating in the so-called "WiFi infrastructure mode", i.e.,
with all devices communicating through a common central switching
means (e.g., router 112), in many applications certain WiFi-enabled
devices may also be adapted to communicate directly with one
another on a point-to-point basis using the so-called "WiFi direct"
or "ad hoc networking" mode of operation. Accordingly, in the
further illustrations that follow WiFi links between devices may be
depicted for simplicity in the form of direct paths with the
understanding that any available WiFi operational mode may be used
without limitation, as appropriate for a particular embodiment.
[0013] With reference to FIG. 2, for use in commanding the
functional operations of one or more appliances, the controlling
device 100 may include, as needed for a particular application, a
processor 200 coupled to a ROM memory 204, a non-volatile
read/write memory 206, a RAM memory 205, a key matrix 216 (e.g.,
hard keys, soft keys such as a touch sensitive surface overlaid on
a liquid crystal (LCD), and/or an electroluminescent (EL) display),
transmission circuit(s) and/or transceiver circuit(s) 210 (e.g., IR
and/or RF) for use in issuing commands to controlled appliances, a
means 202 to provide feedback to the user (e.g., one or more LEDs,
illuminable keys, display, speaker, and/or the like), an
input/output port 218 such as a serial interface, USB port, modem,
etc., a power source 220 such as a battery, and clock and timer
logic 212 with associated crystal or resonator 214, a local network
interface and transceiver 222 such as for example an IEEE 802.11
"WiFi" interface, and in certain embodiments a low power timing
device 224 which may be incorporated into processor 200, for
example in the form of a nanopower ring oscillator as may be found
in the MAXQ610 microprocessor available from Maxim Integrated
Products Inc., may form part of local network interface 222, or may
comprise a separate component.
[0014] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, some or
all of the memories 204, 205, 206 may include executable
instructions (collectively, the controlling device program memory)
that are intended to be executed by the processor 200 to control
the operation of the controlling device 100, as well as data which
serves to define the necessary control protocols and command values
for use in transmitting command signals to controllable appliances
(collectively, the command data). In this manner, the processor 200
may be programmed to control the various electronic components
within the controlling device 100, e.g., to monitor the key matrix
216 and/or network interface 222, to cause the transmission of
signals, etc. The non-volatile read/write memory 206, for example
an EEPROM, battery-backed up RAM, FLASH, Smart Card, memory stick,
or the like, may additionally be provided to store setup data and
parameters as necessary. While the memory 204 is illustrated and
described as a ROM memory, memory 204 can also be comprised of any
type of readable media, such as ROM, FLASH, EEPROM, or the like.
Preferably, the memories 204 and 206 are non-volatile or
battery-backed such that data is not required to be reloaded after
battery changes. In addition, the non-transitory memories 204, 205
and 206 may take the form of a chip, a hard disk, a magnetic disk,
an optical disk, and/or the like. Still further, it will be
appreciated that some or all of the illustrated memory devices may
be physically combined (for example, a single FLASH memory may be
logically partitioned into different portions to support the
functionality of memories 204 and 206 respectively), and/or may be
physically incorporated within the same IC chip as the
microprocessor 200 (a so called "microcontroller") and, as such,
they are shown separately in FIG. 2 only for the sake of
clarity.
[0015] To cause the controlling device 100 to perform an action,
the controlling device 100 is adapted to be responsive to events,
such as a sensed user interaction with the key matrix 216, receipt
of a network transmission, etc. In response to an event,
appropriate instructions within the program memory (hereafter the
"controlling device operating program") may be executed. For
example, when a command function key is actuated on the controlling
device 100, the controlling device 100 may retrieve from the
command data stored in memory 204, 205, 206 a command value and
control protocol corresponding to the actuated function key and,
where necessary, current device mode and transmit that command to
an intended target appliance, e.g., STB 106, in a format
recognizable by that appliance to thereby control one or more
functional operations of that appliance. It will be appreciated
that the controlling device operating program can be used not only
to cause the transmission of commands and/or data to the
appliances, but also to perform local operations. While not
limiting, local operations that may be performed by the controlling
device 100 may include displaying information/data, favorite
channel setup, macro key setup, function key relocation, etc.
Examples of local operations can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos.
5,481,256, 5,959,751, and 6,014,092. Additionally, in the instant
invention the controlling device operating program of exemplary
controlling device 100 may be operative to send and receive
messages via local network transceiver 222 as will be disclosed in
greater detail hereafter. In certain embodiments the controlling
device operating program may utilize low power timer 224 to
periodically wake processor 200 from a quiescent state in order to
monitor transceiver 222 for incoming messages, for battery
conservation purposes as are known in the art.
[0016] In some embodiments, controlling device 100 may be of the
universal type, that is provisioned with a library comprising a
multiplicity of command codes and protocols, i.e., command data,
suitable for controlling various appliances. In such cases, for
selecting sets of command data to be associated with the specific
appliances to be controlled (hereafter referred to as a setup
procedure), data may be entered into the controlling device 100
that serves to identify each intended target appliance by its make,
and/or model, and/or type. Such data allows the controlling device
100 to identify the appropriate command data set within the library
of command data that is to be used to transmit recognizable
commands in formats appropriate for such identified appliances. The
library of command data may represent a plurality of controllable
appliances of different types and manufacture, a plurality of
controllable appliances of the same type but different manufacture,
a plurality of appliances of the same manufacture but different
type or model, etc., or any combination thereof as appropriate for
a given embodiment. In conventional practice as is well known in
the art, such data used to identify an appropriate command data set
may take the form of a numeric setup code entered via activation of
those keys that are also used to cause the transmission of commands
to an appliance (obtained, for example, from a printed list of
manufacturer names and/or models with corresponding code numbers,
from a support Web site, etc.). Alternative setup procedures known
or proposed in the art include scanning bar codes, sequentially
transmitting a predetermined command in different formats until a
target appliance response is detected, user interaction with a Web
site culminating in downloading of command data and/or setup codes
to the controlling device, etc. Since such methods for setting up a
controlling device to command the operation of specific home
appliances are well-known, these will not be described in greater
detail herein. Nevertheless, for additional information pertaining
to setup procedures, the reader may turn, for example, to U.S. Pat.
Nos. 4,959,810, 5,614,906, or 6,225,938, all of like assignee and
incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
[0017] In yet further alternative setup procedures, in certain
embodiments a controlling device with WiFi or other local network
connectivity may utilize this connectivity to facilitate the
identification of intended target appliances and their associated
command data sets. As illustrated in FIG. 3, exemplary controlling
device 100 may communicate directly 302 with an appliance, for
example STB 106, in order to execute an interactive setup procedure
as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,969,514, or to download appliance
identification data stored in the memory of appliance 106 or
derived from other appliances which share an HDMI interconnection
124 such as TV 102 or AV receiver 104, for example as described in
co-pending U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 12/716,365, entitled
"Digital Interconnect of Entertainment Equipment in the Home,"
13/240,604 entitled "System and Method for Configuring Controlling
Device Functionality," 13/198,072 entitled "System and Method for
Configuring the Remote Control Functionality of a Portable Device,"
all of common ownership and all incorporated herein by reference in
their entirety, or in the before mentioned 12/148,444 entitled
"Using HDMI-CEC to Identify a Codeset," of which this application
is a continuation-in-part. Once the desired appliance has been
identified, an appropriate command data set may be selected from a
library of command data sets preloaded in the memory of controlling
device 100; or may be downloaded into controlling device 100 from a
library of command data sets stored on a local appliance, for
example STB 106, or on a network accessible server 130. In the
event the command data set library is located on a Web server 130,
the requisite data set may be provisioned to a WiFi enabled
controlling device 100 either by direct interaction 304 with the
Internet 120, or via an intermediate appliance such as STB 106, as
appropriate for a particular embodiment.
[0018] With reference to FIG. 4, once so configured an exemplary
controlling device 100, in addition to its conventional
functionality, may be adapted to make itself available as a bridge
or relay device to issue appliance commands 402 in response to
requests 404 received via a wireless local network from, for
example, a remote control app resident in a smart device 108, as
will now be described in further detail.
[0019] Turning now to the flowchart of FIG. 5, after installation
on a smart device such as 108 of FIG. 4 a remote control app may be
placed into a setup mode at step 502. The setup mode may be
initiated for example by user activation of a "setup" icon,
automatically upon initial installation, etc., as appropriate. Once
in the setup mode, at steps 504 and 506 the remote control app may
determine, via additional user input for example, whether the setup
mode was invoked to configure a new location or to select an
existing location. By way of explanation, in some embodiments a
remote control app may be capable of supporting multiple appliance
configurations and multiple associated network-enabled controlling
devices, corresponding for example to living room/bedroom
locations, town home/vacation home locations, etc. As will be
appreciated step 504 may be omitted, for example if no location is
currently configured or in those embodiments in which only a single
location configuration is supported, etc. If neither of these
operations is indicated, at step 522 other setup operations
appropriate to a particular app may be performed, for example and
without limitation programming of activity macros (to the extent
these are not already available through controlling device 100),
entry of favorite channel information, setting of parental
controls, etc.
[0020] If it is determined at step 506 that a new location is to be
configured, at step 508 the app resident in smart device 108 may
initiate discovery of other devices present on the local wireless
network, and in particular devices which identify themselves as
compatible command relay platforms. If no such devices are found an
appropriate error report is communicated to the user at step 524,
whereupon the app may exit setup mode. If, however, compatible
command relay device(s) are found, at step 512 the app and a relay
device may be paired, i.e., numeric or alphanumeric codes, key
values, hardware addresses, serial numbers, etc. may be exchanged
between the app and the relay device (sometimes requiring user
interaction such as entering a numeric value presented on a
display, printed on a label, etc.) in order that they may uniquely
recognize transmissions from one another in the future. In the
event more than one compatible relay device was located at step
508, step 512 may also include soliciting input from a user to
select a particular command relay device. This pairing step may
also comprise user provision of a location name or other identifier
by which this particular command relay device and its associated
appliances may be identified in the future. In suitably equipped
smart devices this step may also include the association of GPS
coordinates with the stored configuration. If it is determined at
step 514 that pairing could not be successfully completed, an error
message is displayed as before and the app exits setup mode.
[0021] Once paired, at step 516 the smart device app may use the
now-established communication path to request appliance
configuration information from controlling device 100. Such
information may comprise, for example one or more of the number and
types of appliances currently configured in controlling device 100;
the identities of the command code data sets currently in use by
controlling device 100 for issuing commands to target appliances;
the configured appliance identification data such as brand or model
numbers, etc. Such information may be used by the smart device app
at step 518 to retrieve information for use in configuring GUI
pages, for example listings of supported commands, display icons,
etc., which may be downloaded from a Web server 130. In an
alternate embodiment, information regarding which specific command
functions are supported by each of the appliances may be provided
directly by controlling device 100 in place of, or in addition to,
the Web downloaded data. In a yet further alternate embodiment, an
identity associated with the controlling device 100 itself may be
utilized either in place of or in conjunction with the previously
described methods. For example, in cases where controlling device
100 was provided as original equipment together with a target
appliance, e.g. AV receiver 104, a MAC address, serial number, or
other identifying data procured from controlling device 100 may be
referred to a web service 130 whereat a database cross-referencing
controlling device MAC addresses, serial numbers, etc., to the
specific appliances with which they were shipped may be utilized to
exactly identify a target appliance, e.g. AV receiver 104, and its
corresponding features and command code set. At step 520 this
information may then be used to configure the smart device app GUI
to match the appliances to be controlled, for example by removal of
unsupported functions or addition of supported functions in touch
screen display pages, incorporation of appliance or brand specific
icons or logos, etc. As will be appreciated, in certain small
footprint embodiments of a remote control app, such GUI
customization may be forgone in favor of a standardized default GUI
which may present only frequently used command functions which are
common to a majority of appliance brands and models. Once any such
GUI customization is concluded, setup is complete and the app may
exit the setup mode or conduct any further location dependent
configuration steps, for example communicating with controlling
device 100 or STB 106 to download favorite channel settings
applicable to the current location.
[0022] Returning to step 504, if it is determined that the setup
mode was initiated in order to change the currently assigned
location, at step 526 the user may be requested to select a
location to be configured, for example from a displayed list of
location identities previously supplied by the user(s) at step(s)
512. Alternatively, in suitably equipped smart devices the current
GPS coordinates may be compared to those previously associated with
the presently selected location and location reconfiguration
automatically trigged if these coordinates differ by a significant
amount, e.g., by more than a room size for room locations or by a
house/yard size for house locations. Regardless, at step 530 it is
then determined if the relay device associated with that location
is in fact present in the current environment, i.e., is
discoverable. If not, at step 532 an appropriate error message is
displayed and the app exits setup mode. If the relay device is
confirmed as present, at step 534 it may next be determined if the
command relay device remains paired. By way of explanation, in some
embodiments a controlling device which is also operable as a
command relay device may be adapted to cancel or void its pairing
information if the controlled appliances are reconfigured, for
example an appliance is deleted or replaced, a new appliance is
added, etc. In such cases, step 534 may cause the smart device app
to continue at step 516, thereby reconfiguring the app to conform
to the new appliance configuration. If however no changes have been
made and the relay device remains paired, then processing may
continue at step 520 which may configure the app GUI to match the
selected location.
[0023] Once configured, an exemplary smart device remote control
app may be operative to cause appliance commands to be issued as
will now be described in conjunction with FIG. 6. When invoked at
step 602, the smart device remote control app may load and present
a GUI at step 604, e.g., display a set of icons representing
touch-activated command functions comprising one or more pages,
which GUI may have been configured and associated with the current
location of the smart device as described previously. At step 610
the exemplary smart device remote control app may then await user
input such as actuation of a touch icon, a hard key, a gesture or
motion, etc. Upon receipt of user input, at step 612 it may then be
determined if the input comprises an appliance command request. If
not, at steps 606 and 608 other input functions may be processed,
for example app termination and exit, display of additional pages
of command icons, etc.
[0024] If it is determined that the received input comprises a
request for an appliance command, at step 614 the requested
function is encoded using a standardized set of generic function
indicators and appliance type indicators which are compatible with
the controlling device operating program of an associated relay
device, e.g., controlling device 100 of the instant example. In
this regard, any convenient set of standard function and appliance
type indicators which is supported by both requesting and receiving
devices may be utilized as appropriate for a particular embodiment.
For reference and without limitation, examples of such sets of
standardized indicators may be found in U.S. patent applications
Ser. Nos. 11/088,694 or 12/716,365, both of common ownership and
incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Thereafter at
step 616 a request comprising the standard function indicator
information may be communicated via the local network to relay
device 100.
[0025] Upon receipt of such a request at step 620, at step 622 the
controlling device operating program of a command relay device such
as the exemplary controlling device 100 may retrieve from codeset
data stored in memory 204, 205, 206 the command value and control
protocol information which corresponds to the requested appliance
and function. Thereafter at step 624 this retrieved information may
be employed to transmit a command signal which will cause the
designated appliance to perform the desired operation.
[0026] While various concepts have been described in detail, it
will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various
modifications and alternatives to those concepts could be developed
in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. For example,
while presented above in the form of an illustrative embodiment in
which a WiFi enabled controlling device interacts with an app
resident in a smart device, it will be appreciated that the methods
described herein may be utilized in conjunction with any suitable
local network technology, e.g., Bluetooth, Zigbee, Zwave, etc., and
may serve to provide appliance control functionality to apps and/or
other software programming resident in many different types of
devices, e.g. smart devices, PCs, game consoles, home automation
systems, etc., local or remote.
[0027] Further, while described in the context of functional
modules and illustrated using block diagram format, it is to be
understood that, unless otherwise stated to the contrary, one or
more of the described functions and/or features may be integrated
in a single physical device and/or a software module, or one or
more functions and/or features may be implemented in separate
physical devices or software modules. It will also be appreciated
that a detailed discussion of the actual implementation of each
module is not necessary for an enabling understanding of the
invention. Rather, the actual implementation of such modules would
be well within the routine skill of an engineer, given the
disclosure herein of the attributes, functionality, and
inter-relationship of the various functional modules in the system.
Therefore, a person skilled in the art, applying ordinary skill,
will be able to practice the invention set forth in the claims
without undue experimentation. It will be additionally appreciated
that the particular concepts disclosed are meant to be illustrative
only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to
be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any
equivalents thereof.
[0028] All patents cited within this document are hereby
incorporated by reference in their entirety.
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