U.S. patent number RE35,954 [Application Number 08/618,905] was granted by the patent office on 1998-11-10 for vcr with cable tuner control.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Smart VCR Limited Partnership. Invention is credited to Michael R. Levine.
United States Patent |
RE35,954 |
Levine |
November 10, 1998 |
VCR with cable tuner control
Abstract
A single remote control transmitter can advantageously control
three units including a cable tuner/descrambler, a video
recorder/player and a television receiver. One of these three
units, preferably the video recorder/player, is a master unit. It
receives remote control signals from a hand held remote control
transmitter. The master unit is initialized using on screen prompts
to learn the remote control signals for the other units which are
slaves. The prompts ask the user to operate various controls on the
remote control transmitter of the proposed slave unit, while
receiving and analyzing the remote control transmissions. This
permits the master unit to build a translation table for control of
the slave units. The master unit may include a read only memory of
remote control codes for a number of possible slave units. The
master unit can abort the initialization process if it recognizes
the requested remote control transmission is according to one of
the remote control codes stored in the memory. The system
preferably separates control of the plural processes so that each
one of the cable tuner/descrambler, the video recorder/player and
the television receiver are employed for only certain
functions.
Inventors: |
Levine; Michael R. (Boca Raton,
FL) |
Assignee: |
Smart VCR Limited Partnership
(Birmingham, MI)
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Family
ID: |
27086001 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/618,905 |
Filed: |
March 20, 1996 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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609291 |
Nov 5, 1990 |
5123046 |
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Reissue of: |
805300 |
Dec 10, 1991 |
05297204 |
Mar 22, 1994 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
380/242; 341/176;
348/734; 380/52; 455/151.2; 398/106; 386/359 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N
21/42221 (20130101); H04N 7/167 (20130101); H04N
21/41265 (20200801); H04N 5/7755 (20130101); H04N
5/50 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04N
7/167 (20060101); H04N 5/445 (20060101); H04N
5/775 (20060101); H04N 5/50 (20060101); H04N
007/167 (); H04H 001/02 (); H04B 010/04 (); H04B
010/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;348/734,460 ;358/335
;380/7,10,49,52 ;455/131,151.1,151.2,151.4 ;341/176
;359/146,145,148 ;340/825.72 ;386/46 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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2719827 |
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Nov 1978 |
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DE |
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2918846 |
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Nov 1980 |
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DE |
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0026791 |
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Feb 1980 |
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JP |
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0153432 |
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Nov 1980 |
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JP |
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0150104 |
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Nov 1980 |
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JP |
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0096304 |
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Aug 1981 |
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JP |
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Other References
Cable Data Advertisement in "Cablevision", vol. 7, No. 34, May 3,
1982. .
"Cablevision" Magazine, Feb. 9, 1981. .
J. Bennion et al, "Interactive Videodisc Systems for Education",
Journal of the SMPTE, vol. 84, No. 12, Dec. 1975; pp. 949-953.
.
Cable Data Advertisement, "Cablevision", Feb. 9, 1981. .
Dap II Advertisement, Nov.-Dec. 1981. .
N. Kokado et al, "A Programmable TV Receiver"; IEEE Trans. on
Consumer Electronics, Feb. 1976, pp. 69-82. .
C. Clifford et al, "Microprocessor Based, Software Defined
Television Controller"; IEEE Trans. on Consumer Electronics, Aug.
1978, pp. 436-442. .
Cable Data Advertisement in "Cablevision", vol. 7, No. 30, Apr. 5,
1982..
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Primary Examiner: Gregory; Bernarr E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
Gifford,Krass,Groh,Sprinkle,Patmore,Anderson&Citkowski
Parent Case Text
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/609,291,
filed Nov. 5, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,046.
Claims
Having thus described my invention I claim:
1. In a television viewing system of the type including a
television receiver that receives control signals, a first
hand-held remote transmitter that transmits control signals to at
least said television receiver, a first associated unit that
provides video signals to said television receiver, and a second
hand-held remote transmitter that transmits control signals to at
least said associated unit, wherein said television receiver and
said first hand-held remote transmitter constitute a master unit
and said first associated unit and said second hand-held
transmitter constitute a slave unit, said master unit being
trainable to transmit control signals to said slave unit, the
method of training said master unit as to the required control
signal codes for transmission to the slave unit comprising the
steps of:
generating displays on the screen of the television receiver
requesting the operator to use the second hand-held transmitter of
the slave unit to transmit at least certain control signals to said
master unit;
receiving said control signals at the master unit from the second
hand-held transmitter of the slave unit; and
establishing a conversion memory within said master unit, based on
such received control signals, to enable said master unit to
transmit control signals to the slave unit.
2. The method of claim 1 in which said first associated unit is a
video recorder/player.
3. The method of claim 2 in which said television viewing system
further includes a second associated unit comprising a tunable
video signal receiver and scrambled signal descrambler and a third
hand-held remote transmitter, wherein said second associated unit
and third hand-held remote transmitter constitute a second slave
unit, said master unit being further trainable to transmit control
signals to said second slave unit, said method further including
the steps of:
generating displays on the screen of the television receiver
requesting the operator to use the hand-held transmitter of the
second slave unit to transmit at least certain control signals;
receiving said control signals at the master unit from the
hand-held transmitter of the second slave unit; and
establishing a conversion memory within said master unit, based on
such received control signals, to enable said master unit to
transmit control signals to the second slave unit.
4. The method of claim 1 in which said associated unit is a tunable
video signal receiver and scrambled signal descrambler.
5. The method of claim 1 in which said master unit includes a code
memory containing codes representing the control codes of a
plurality of known hand-held remote transmitters, said method
further comprising the steps of:
comparing said control signals received at the master unit from the
second hand-held transmitter with the contents of said code memory;
and
establishing said conversion memory within said master unit as a
matching portion of said code memory if said received control
signals match a portion of said code memory.
6. In a television viewing system of the type including a
television receiver that receives control signals, a first
hand-held remote transmitter that transmits control signals to at
least said television receiver, a first associated unit that
provides video signals to said television receiver, and a second
hand-held remote transmitter that transmits control signals to at
least said first associated unit, wherein said first associated
unit and said second hand-held remote transmitter constitute a
master unit and said television receiver and first hand-held remote
transmitter constitute a slave unit, said master unit being
trainable to transmit control signals to said slave unit, the
method of training said master unit as to the required control
signal codes for transmission to the slave unit comprising the
steps of:
generating displays on the screen of the television receiver
requesting the operator to use the first hand-held transmitter of
the slave unit to transmit at least certain control signals to said
master unit;
receiving said control signals at the master unit from the first
hand-held transmitter of the slave unit; and
establishing a conversion memory within said master unit, based on
such received control signals, to enable said master unit to
transmit control signals to the slave unit.
7. The method of claim 6 in which said first associated unit is a
video recorder/player.
8. The method of claim 7 in which said television viewing system
further includes a second associated unit comprising a tunable
video signal receiver and scrambled signal descrambler and a third
hand-held remote transmitter, wherein said second associated unit
and third hand-held remote transmitter constitute a second slave
unit, said master unit being further trainable to transmit control
signals to said second slave unit, said method further including
the steps of:
generating displays on the screen of the television receiver
requesting the operator to use the third hand-held transmitter of
the second slave unit to transmit at least certain control
signals;
receiving said control signals at the master unit from the third
hand-held transmitter of the second slave unit; and
establishing a conversion memory within said master unit, based on
such received control signals, to enable said master unit to
transmit control signals to the second slave unit.
9. The method of claim 6 in which said first associated unit is a
tunable video receiver and scrambled signal descrambler.
10. The method of claim 9 in which said television viewing system
further includes a second associated unit comprising a video
recorder/player and a third hand-held remote transmitter, wherein
said second associated unit and third hand-held remote transmitter
constitute a second slave unit, said master unit being further
trainable to transmit control signals to said second slave unit,
said method further including the steps of:
generating displays on the screen of the television receiver
requesting the operator to use the third hand-held transmitter of
the second slave unit to transmit at least certain control
signals;
receiving said control signals at the master unit from the third
hand-held transmitter of the second slave unit; and
establishing a conversion memory within said master unit, based on
such received control signals, to enable said master unit to
transmit control signals to the second slave unit.
11. The method of claim 6 in which said master unit includes a code
memory containing codes representing the control codes of a
plurality of hand-held remote transmitters, said method further
comprising the steps of:
comparing said control signals received at the master unit from the
first hand-held transmitter with the contents of said code memory;
and
establishing said conversion memory within said master unit as a
matching portion of said code memory if said received control
signals match a portion of said code memory.
12. In a television viewing system of the type including a
television receiver that receives control signals, a first
hand-held remote transmitter that transmits control signals to at
least said television receiver, a video recorder/player that
provides video signals to said television receiver, a second
hand-held remote transmitter that transmits control signals to at
least said video recorder/player, a tunable video signal receiver
and scrambled signal descrambler that provides video signals to at
least said television receiver, and a third hand-held remote
transmitter that transmits control signals to at least said
descrambler, wherein said video recorder/player and said second
hand-held remote transmitter constitute a master unit and said
descrambler and third hand-held remote transmitter constitute a
slave unit, said master unit being trainable to transmit control
signals to said slave unit, the method of training said master unit
as to the required control signal codes for transmission to the
slave unit comprising the steps of:
generating displays on the screen of the television receiver
requesting the operator to use the third hand-held remote
transmitter of the slave unit to transmit at least certain control
signals to the master unit;
receiving said control signals at the master unit from the third
hand-held transmitter of the slave unit; and
establishing a conversion memory within said master unit, based on
such received control signals, to enable said master unit to
transmit control signals to the slave unit.
13. The method of claim 12 in which said master unit includes a
code memory containing codes representing the control codes of a
plurality of hand-held remote transmitters, said method further
comprising the steps of:
comparing said control signals received at the master unit from the
third hand-held transmitter with the contents of said code memory;
and
establishing said conversion memory as a matching portion of said
code memory if said received control signals match a portion of
said code memory.
14. In a television viewing system of the type including a
television receiver that receives control signals, a first
hand-held remote transmitter that transmits control signals to at
least said television receiver, a video recorder/player that
provides video signals to said television receiver, a second
hand-held remote transmitter that transmits control signals to at
least said video recorder/player, a tunable video signal receiver
and scrambled signal descrambler that provides video signals to at
least said television receiver, and a third hand-held remote
transmitter that transmits control signals to at least said
descrambler, wherein said descrambler and said third hand-held
remote transmitter constitute a master unit and said video
recorder/player and said second hand-held remote transmitter
constitute a slave unit, said master unit being trainable to
transmit control signals to said slave unit, the method of training
said master unit as to the required control signal codes for
transmission to the slave unit comprising the steps of:
generating displays on the screen of the television receiver
requesting the operator to use the second hand-held transmitter of
the slave unit to transmit at least certain control signals to said
master unit;
receiving said control signals at the master unit from the second
hand-held transmitter of the slave unit; and
establishing a conversion memory within said master unit, based on
such received control signals, to enable said master unit to
transmit control signals to the slave unit.
15. The method of claim 14 in which said master unit includes a
code memory containing codes representing the control codes of a
plurality of hand-held remote transmitters, said method further
comprising the steps of:
comparing said control signals received at the master unit from the
second hand-held transmitter with the contents of said code memory;
and
establishing said conversion memory as a matching portion of said
code memory if said received control signals match a portion of
said code memory. .Iadd.
16. The method of claim 6 in which said television viewing system
further includes a second associated unit comprising a tunable
video signal receiver and scrambled signal descrambler and a third
hand-held remote transmitter, wherein said second associated unit
and third hand-held remote transmitter constitute a second slave
unit, said master unit being further trainable to transmit control
signals to said second slave unit, said method further including
the steps of:
generating displays on the screen of the television receiver
requesting the operator to use the third hand-held transmitter of
the second slave unit to transmit at least certain control
signals;
receiving said control signals at the master unit from the third
hand-held transmitter of the second slave unit; and
establishing a conversion memory within said master unit, based on
such received control signals, to enable said master unit to
transmit control signals to the second slave
unit..Iaddend..Iadd.17. The method of claim 6 in which said
television viewing system further includes a second associated unit
comprising a video recorder/player and a third hand-held remote
transmitter, wherein said second associated unit and third
hand-held remote transmitter constitute a second slave unit, said
master unit being further trainable to transmit control signals to
said second slave unit, said method further including the steps
of:
generating displays on the screen of the television receiver
requesting the operator to use the third hand-held transmitter of
the second slave unit to transmit at least certain control
signals;
receiving said control signals at the master unit from the third
hand-held transmitter of the second slave unit; and
establishing a conversion memory within said master unit, based on
such received control signals, to enable said master unit to
transmit control signals to the second slave
unit..Iaddend..Iadd.18. In a television viewing system including a
television receiver and an associated unit controlled by a
hand-held remote-control signal transmitter, the associated unit
being connected to said television receiver to provide a video
signal thereto, a master unit, comprising:
video display generation means operative to display a message on
said television receiver requesting a user to transmit a
remote-control signal to said master unit using the hand-held
remote-control signal transmitter of said associated unit;
a remote-control signal receiver to receive said transmitted
signal;
a remote-control signal transmitter; and
a controller in electrical communication with said remote-control
signal receiver and transmitter, said controller being operative to
interpret said received signal, enabling said master unit to
control the operation of said associated unit using said
remote-control signal transmitter..Iaddend..Iadd.19. The television
viewing system of claim 18, wherein said associated unit is capable
of performing multiple functions, and wherein said controller, upon
interpreting said received signal, enables said master unit to
control said multiple functions..Iaddend..Iadd.20. The television
viewing system of claim 19, further including:
a second hand-held remote-control signal transmitter to which said
master unit remote-control signal receiver is responsive, said
master unit being further operative to control the operation of
said associated unit in accordance with a signal received from said
second hand-held remote-control signal
transmitter..Iaddend..Iadd.21. In a television viewing system
including a television receiver and a system component responsive
to a hand-held remote-control transmitter, a master component,
comprising:
a remote-control signal transmitter;
a remote-control signal receiver;
video display generation means; and
a controller in communication with said remote-control signal
transmitter and receiver and said video display generation means,
said controller being operative to perform the following
functions:
cause said video display generation means to display a request on
said television receiver instructing a viewer to use said hand-held
remote transmitter to transmit a control signal associated with the
operation of said system component,
receive and interpret said control signal, enabling said master
unit to assume control over the operation of said system component
using said remote-control signal transmitter..Iaddend..Iadd.22. The
television viewing system of claim 21, further including multiple
system components, and wherein:
said controller is operative to display requests associated with
the operation of each system component enabling said master unit to
control each of said system components..Iaddend..Iadd.23. The
television viewing system of claim 21, wherein said system
component is a video recorder/player..Iaddend..Iadd.24. The
television viewing system of claim 21, wherein said system
component is a cable converter/descrambler..Iaddend..Iadd.25. The
television viewing system of claim 21, wherein said system
component is said television receiver..Iaddend.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to programmable systems for recording
television signals provided to the system on multi-channel sources
such as cable or satellite, in which at least certain of the
channels require descrambling and more particularly to such a
system in which the video recorder/player transmits a signal to the
remote control receiver of a tuner/descrambler at the time of
occurrence of a program to be recorded, to ensure that the
tuner/descrambler is tuned to the channel it is desired to
record.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Most video recorder/players of the type intended to be used with
television receivers include a system for enabling the automatic,
unattended recording of programs scheduled for future transmission.
In such systems the operator can load a future schedule memory with
signals representing the channel, starting time and ending time (or
alternatively duration) of one or more future occurring programs
that it is desired to record. The system includes a real time clock
and when a comparator determines that the present time has reached
the starting time of a program to be recorded the tape drive is
energized and the channel number stored in the memory is used to
control the tuner of the video recorder/player. When the real time
reaches the ending time of the program the recording process is
terminated.
Often the source of signals for the video recorder/player
constitutes either a cable or satellite multi-channel signal
including one or more channels which are scrambled to prevent their
reception by an unauthorized source. These signals must be
descrambled before they can be recorded or displayed on the
television receiver. Tuner/descramblers are typically employed for
this purpose. Popularly called "cable boxes" these units receive
the output of the cable and/or the satellite and may be tuned by
the operator, typically employing an infrared remote control
device, to a desired channel. The output of the cable box is
provided to the video recorder/player and either directly to the
T.V. receiver or via the video cassette recorder.
A variety of arrangements may be used to interconnect the
tuner/descrambler, the video recorder/player and the T.V. receiver
such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,630,133 and 4,771,456.
Some of these systems allow one channel to be recorded while a
different channel is displayed on the T.V. receiver.
In all of these systems the proper recording of a future scheduled
television program occurring on one of the scrambled channels
requires that the descrambler be tuned to the desired channel at
the time of occurrence of the signal to be recorded. Often the
future schedule memory is programmed a long time in advance of the
time of occurrence of the program to be recorded. If the system is
used for real time viewing or recording between the time of
programming and the time of occurrence of the future program to be
recorded, the channel selector on the descrambler may have been
adjusted to tune some channel other than the one that it is desired
to record. The operator must then return the descrambler setting to
the proper channel before recording for the system to operate
properly. Particular difficulty is encountered when the schedule
memory is programmed to record two future programs occurring on
different scrambled channels. It is then necessary to adjust the
scrambler setting after the occurrence of the first program before
the occurrence of the second one.
The value to the user of a remote control for various types of
electronic equipment has resulted in a proliferation of remote
control units. A system including a cable tuner/descrambler, a
video recorder/player and a television receiver may have three
different remote control units. This results in confusion because
the user needs to select the appropriate remote control unit before
entering a remote control command. In addition, there is an
apparent overlap in functions because each of these units are
capable of channel selection. Because of these problems there is a
need for a single remote control unit which can operate all the
users equipment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed toward a system and method of
operation which eliminates the need for the operator to ensure that
the cable box is tuned to an appropriate channel at the time the
signal occurring on that channel is to be recorded by providing
means whereby the future schedule memory of the video
recorder/player can exercise control over the channel to which the
descrambler is tuned using the remote control receiver incorporated
in the descrambler.
Broadly, the present invention provides a remote control
transmitter which sends a signal to the remote control receiver of
the cable box causing it to tune to the appropriate channel at the
time the future schedule memory controls the system to record a
program occurring on that channel. The video recorder/player system
preferably includes a switch which allows the operator to select
one of the several popular cable boxes so that the code transmitted
to the cable box remote control receiver is appropriate to tune it
to the channel dictated by the future schedule memory. The remote
control transmitter may also send a signal to the cable box causing
it to be energized if its power supply arrangement is such that it
is not energized at all times or at least when the video cassette
recorder is energized.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the control that the
video recorder/player exercises over energization and tuning of the
cable box allows the use of a single remote control transmitter to
control both the video recorder/player and the cable box,
eliminating the need for separate remote control transmitters for
each.
The components which must be added to a conventional video
recorder/player to enable use of the system of the present
invention are relatively simple and inexpensive and substantially
simplify the process of recording future scheduled programs and the
overall operation of the system.
A single remote control transmitter can advantageously control
three units including a cable tuner/descrambler, a video
recorder/player and a television receiver. One of these three
units, preferably the video recorder/player, is a master unit. It
receives remote control signals from a hand held remote control
transmitter. The master unit is initialized using on screen prompts
to learn the remote control signals for the other units which are
slaves. The prompts ask the user to operate various controls on the
remote control transmitter of the proposed slave unit, while
receiving and analyzing the remote control transmissions. This
permits the master unit to build a translation table for control of
the slave units. The master unit may include a read only memory of
remote control codes for a number of possible slave units. The
master unit can abort the initialization process if it recognizes
the requested remote control transmission is according to one of
the remote control codes stored in the memory. The system
preferably separates control of the plural processes so that each
one of the cable tuner/descrambler, the video recorder/player and
the television receiver are employed for only certain
functions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other features of the present invention will be described
in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the preferred embodiment of the
invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the manner in which one of the
cable tuner/descrambler, the video recorder/player or the
television receiver controls the other two units;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the video recorder/player which
controls the cable tuner/descrambler and the television receiver in
accordance with the present invention; and
FIGS. 4 and 5 are examples of message screens produced by the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawing, the system of the present invention
broadly employs a "cable box," generally indicated at 10, a video
recorder/player, generally indicated at 12, and a television
receiver 14. This system receives multiple television signals
simultaneously over a wide band carrier 16 such as a community
cable system or a broadcast satellite. The units are interconnected
so as to allow a single television channel on the cable/satellite
input 16 to be tuned, descrambled if it constitutes a scrambled
premium channel, and either recorded for future playback by the
video recorder/player 12 or displayed on the television receiver
14.
The cable box 10, video recorder/player 12 and television receiver
14 can be interconnected in a variety of different manners
including the arrangements illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,771,456
or 4,630,133 and the present invention is not considered to be
limited to the interconnection arrangement illustrated in the
figure.
The cable box 10 includes a tuner/descrambler 18 connected to
receive the broad band input signal on line 16 and operative to
tune and demodulate a single channel and use that signal to
remodulate a locally generated radio frequency signal so as to
provide the tuned signal on a single channel tunable by the
television receiver 14. Typically cable box 10 will be switchable
so as to provide an output on either of two adjacent television
channels, so that the television receiver 14 may be tuned to
whichever of the channels is not used by local television broadcast
stations. The channel that unit 18 is tuned to is controlled by a
channel selector 20 and if that channel is received in scrambled
form, the unit 18 acts to descramble the signal. Typically, the
channels will be scrambled if a premium charge is made for their
reception.
Channel selector 20 may be typically controlled manually or by
output signals from a remote control receiver 22. The remote
control receiver may also control the power supply 24 for the cable
box.
The output of the tuner/descrambler is provided to a tuner and
demodulator unit 26 forming part of the video recorder/player 12.
The unit 26 is normally adjustable so that it can receive any
channel, but when it is used with a cable box 10 that provides
output on a single channel, it must be adjusted to receive the
channel which the cable box outputs. The output of the
tuner/demodulator 26 is provided both to a tape drive unit 28 to
allow recording of the output signal and to an RF modulator 30
providing output to the television receiver 14. The RF modulator is
again tuned to a channel that is not used by a television broadcast
station in the area. Television receiver, 14 is normally tuned to
the output channel of the modulator 30. The playback heads of the
tape drive 28 are also connected to the RF modulator 30. The unit
employs an internal switching system (not shown) so that the output
of the tuner/demodulator 26 is provided to the modulator 30 except
when the tape drive is in playback mode.
In order to allow the unattended recording of previously programmed
television signals, a future schedule memory 32 may be loaded with
digital signals representative of the channel and time of
occurrence of the programs which the operator desires to record.
The time of occurrence signals may take a variety of forms
including start and end time of programs or start time and
duration. The operator of the system will normally load signals
into the future schedule memory using a remote control transmitter
34 which typically provides infrared control signals to a remote
control receiver 36 forming part of the video recorder/player.
Signals from the remote control receiver are provided to a
microprocessor 38 that loads the signals into the future schedule
memory 32.
A real time clock 40 is also connected to the microprocessor 38
which operates to compare present time signals with the times
loaded in the future schedule memory for the recording of programs.
When real time coincides with the time of occurrence of a program
loaded in the future schedule memory 32, the microprocessor sends
signals to the tuner and demodulator 26 and to the tape drive 28
causing the proper channel to be tuned and recorded by the tape
drive 28.
As heretofore described, the system is conventional and works
properly as long as the tuner/descrambler 18 has been tuned to a
channel stored in the future schedule memory 32 prior to time of
occurrence of a particular program. With alternative connection
arrangements in which the cable 16 is provided directly to the
tuner/demodulator 26 of the video recorder/player, it is only
necessary that the tuner/descrambler 18 forming part of the cable
box is properly tuned when a premium channel requiring descrambling
is to be recorded. In either arrangement, the failure to maintain
the cable box tuned to the proper channel is one of the frequent
reasons that the operator does not achieve recording of the desired
program.
In order to obviate the possibility of recording the wrong channel
because of the tuner/descrambler 18 being improperly tuned at the
time of recording, the system of the present invention allows the
video recorder/player to achieve control over the channel to which
the unit 18 is tuned via a dedicated remote control transmitter 40.
Transmitter 40 is permanently positioned relative to the cable box
10 so that its output signals are received by the remote control
receiver 22. For example, the transmitter 40 may be taped to the
cable box adjacent the remote control receiver 22. The remote
control transmitter 40 is connected to the video recorder/player by
a flexible cable 42 to allow this positioning. The remote control
transmitter 40 is energized by signals outputted by the
microprocessor 38 on line 44, representing the channel associated
with a program stored for recording in the future schedule memory
32, generated at the time of occurrence of that program.
In order to allow the remote control transmitter 40 to be used with
any of the several types of cable boxes which are in use, each of
which may employ a different coding for channel selection, the
video recorder/player 12 includes three decoders 46a, 46b and 46c
which convert the channel selection output signals from the
microprocessor into one of three formats, each for use with a
different make of cable box 10. A manual selector switch 48 allows
one of the three decoders 46a, 46b or 46c to be connected between
the microprocessor 38 and the transmitter 40. The remote control
transmitter 40 may also send signals to the remote control receiver
22 energizing the power supply 24 at the time of occurrence of a
program to be recorded.
Since the only control signals for a cable box 10 constitute the
power ON or OFF signal and the channel selection signal, this
arrangement allows the remote control transmitter 34 for the video
recorder/player 12 to also exercise full control over the cable box
10, thereby eliminating the need for the operator to employ two
remote control transmitters for the two units. In this mode the
microprocessor 38 would send appropriate channel and power signals
to the dedicated remote control transmitter 40 whenever
appropriately commanded by the remote control transmitter 34,
independent of operation of the future schedule.
In use, the operator may use the remote control transmitter 34 in
the manner of the prior art to load channel and time of occurrence
of a desired program to be recorded in the future schedule memory
32. Until the time of occurrence of that program the system can be
used in the normal manner and the tuner 18 of the cable box 10 can
be tuned to any desired channel. When the real time as provided to
the microprocessor 38 by the clock 40 coincides with the start time
of a program loaded into the future schedule memory the
microprocessor sends appropriate control signals to the transmitter
40 to cause tuner 18 to select the appropriate channel. The output
signal of the tuner 18 is provided through the tuner and
demodulator 26 of the video recorder/player 12 to the tape drive
28, which is also energized by the microprocessor 38, to record the
selected program.
FIGS. 2 to 5 illustrate various aspects of a further aspect of this
invention. The value to the user of a remote control for various
types of electronic equipment has resulted in a proliferation of
remote control units. A system including a cable tuner/descrambler,
a video recorder/player and a television receiver may have three
different remote control units. This results in confusion because
the user needs to select the appropriate remote control unit before
entering a remote control command. In addition, there is an
apparent overlap in functions because each of these units is
capable of channel selection. However, in a cable system only the
cable tuner/descrambler need be used for channel selection. The
cable tuner/descrambler produces a signal on a predetermined
channel and both the video recorder/player and the television
receiver must tune this channel to properly operate. Use of the
remote control unit for either the video recorder/player or the
television receiver for channel selection would result in loss of
signal.
Because of these problems there is a need for a single remote
control unit which can operate all the user's equipment. So called
universal remote control units are known in the art. These
universal remote control units learn the transmission coding of the
various single equipment remote control units. Then the user is
capable of putting the universal remote control unit in a mode for
control of each of the various systems. This technique reduces the
remote control clutter, but does not solve the confusion problem.
The user must still be aware of which system he wants to control
and put the universal remote control unit in the proper mode. This
is equivalent to selecting the proper of the plural remote control
units for each system. Also known in the art are remote controls
from a single manufacturer which can control differing equipment
made by that manufacturer. This solution requires the user to
select only that manufacuturer's equipment. In the case of the
three pieces of equipment which tend to be used together, a cable
tuner/descrambler, a video recorder/player and a television
receiver, the user does generally not select the manufacturer of
the cable tuner/descrambler but takes the equipment selected by the
cable system operator. Thus there is currently no satisfactory
solution to the remote control proliferation problem.
The present invention proposes a solution to this problem. FIG. 2
illustrates this schematically. Cable tuner/descrambler 110
receives the multi-channel input signal from the television cable.
Cable tuner/descrambler 110 tunes a particular one of these
channels, descrambling the signal in the case of authorized
reception of a scrambled channel, and produces a television signal
on a predetermined channel. It is conventional to provide this
output signal on either channel 3 or 4, depending on the broadcast
channel not being used in that area. Remote control receiver 115
enables remote control of cable tuner/descrambler 110. The
functions controlled may include: the ON/OFF status; and the
channel tuned. It is known in the art to control the channel tuned
either by scrolling through the channels sequentially, or by direct
access in response to the channel number, or both.
Video recorder/player 120 receives the output signal of cable
tuner/descrambler 110. Video recorder/player 120 may: record this
television signal, either unattended under control of its record
program memory or while the user views the television signal via
television receiver 130; pass the television signal unaltered to
television receiver 130 for current viewing; or playback a
previously recorded video tape for viewing via television receiver
130. The playback function may include fast forward and reverse,
either blind or while viewing the tape, and stop action. In
addition, because generally video recorder/player 120 is
constructed to operate by direct broadcast reception, channel
selection is generally permitted in much the same manner as
described above regarding cable tuner/descrambler 110. The output
of video recorder/player 120 is a television signal, generally on
the same predetermined channel as the output of cable
tuner/descrambler 110 for the same reason. In addition, video
recorder/players generally have a bypass mode in which the signals
received at its input are passed directly to its output. This
bypass mode is useful for simultaneously recording and viewing
differing broadcast television channels. Remote control receiver
121 preferably enables all of the operating modes noted above as
well as controlling the ON/OFF status of video recorder/player
120.
Television receiver 130 receives the output signal from video
recorder/player 120. Television receiver 130 provides a visible and
audible output of a selected television signal. This is the useful
portion of the system from the point of view of the user. Remote
control receiver 135 permits remote control of the operating mode
of television receiver 130. The controls normally accessible via
remote control receiver 135 include: ON/OFF status; volume by way
of a volume increase command and a volume decrease command; and
channel selection. Channel selection may be made via sequential
scanning or direct access or both.
In accordance with this invention, the user employs a single hand
held remote control transmitter 140 for control of all functions of
a cable tuner/descrambler, a video recorder/player and a television
receiver. One of these units is a master and receives remote
control signals from the hand held remote control transmitter 140.
The other units are slaves and receive remote control signals from
a remote control transmitter formed as part of the master unit. In
the preferred embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 2, video
recorder/player 120 is the master unit. Video recorder/player 120
employs remote control transmitter 122 for control of both cable
tuner/descrambler 110 via remote control receiver 115 and
television receiver 130 via remote control receiver 135. Thus both
cable tuner/descrambler 110 and television receiver 130 are slaves
to video recorder/player 120. Those skilled in the art would
realize that any of these three units may operate as the master
unit controlling one or both of the other units as slaves.
The television receiver is used in teaching video recorder/player
120 the remote control codes needed for control of both cable
tuner/descrambler 110 and television receiver 130. FIG. 3
illustrates in schematic form the internal form of video
recorder/player 120. Video recorder/player 120 includes tuner 123,
which can tune all of the broadcast television channels and
optionally may be capable of tuning additional television channels
used in cable systems. The separate video and audio signals are
supplied to video tape drive 124. Video tape drive 124 includes the
capability of recording a program including video and the
accompanying audio, playing back the video and audio of a
previously recorded program and performing tape transport
functions. The output of video tape drive 124 is supplied to signal
selector 125. Signal selector/modulator 125 selects the signal to
be output from video recorder/player 120. This output is either the
signal from tuner 123, the output of video tape drive 124 or the
output from character generator 126. Note that signal
selector/modulator 125 includes the hardware for modulating the
selected signal on the predetermined television channel. The output
of selector/modulator 125 is supplied to television receiver
130.
The functions of video recorder/player 120 are controlled by
microprocessor 127. Microprocessor 127 preferably includes the
capability of storing a program of future programs to be recorded
in the manner described above in conjunction with FIG. 1.
Microprocessor 127 includes the additional functions of control of
cable tuner/descrambler 110 and television receiver 130 via remote
control transmitter 122. This process also includes initialization
so that microprocessor 127 knows the coding of remote control
signal to transmit to control the desire function.
This initialization process takes place employing read only memory
128, programmable read only memory 129, television receiver 130 and
the remote control for the particular slave unit. Read only memory
128 includes the program for control of microprocessor 127, data
regarding the remote control codes employed by a plurality of
possible slave units, and various messages to be described. Upon
initial entry into the ON mode, microprocessor 127 checks a
particular address in programmable read only memory 129 which
indicates whether microprocessor 127 has been initialized for
control of the slave units. If microprocessor 127 has been so
initialized, then the initialization process described below is
skipped. If microprocessor 127 has not been initialized, then the
initialization process is begun. There is preferably a method for
requesting re-initialization of microprocessor 127. This would be
useful, for example, upon replacement of one of the slave
units.
Microprocessor 127 recalls a message from read only memory 128 and
commands character generator 126 to produce a video screen
including that message. Character generator 126 cooperates with
signal selector/modulator 125 to produce a video signal
corresponding to the selected messages. These message prompt the
user to operate at least certain of the controls on the remote
control transmitter for the desired slave unit. FIG. 4 illustrates
an example of such a message appearing on screen 131 of television
receiver 130. Receipt of the requested remote control signal
enables microprocessor 127 to analyze the coding and store
appropriate data in programmable read only memory 129. Following
receipt and analysis of each remote control signal, microprocessor
127 selects and displays a message requesting operation of another
control.
In the preferred embodiment, microprocessor 127 uses only certain
of the possible remote control codes for control of a particular
type of slave unit. Microprocessor 127 need only issue ON/OFF mode
commands and channel selection commands to cable tuner/descrambler
110. A typical initialization sequence would request operation of
the ON/OFF toggle command or separate ON and OFF commands if so
equipped. These would be followed by the channel scanning commands
for up (FIG. 4) and down, and by the digit commands for direct
channel access if so equipped. Microprocessor 127 need only issue
ON/OFF mode commands and volume selection commands to television
receiver 130. A typical initialization sequence would request
operation of the ON/OFF toggle command, or separate ON and OFF
commands if so equipped, followed by the volume up and down
commands. Microprocessor 127 writes data into programmable read
only memory 129 indicating that microprocessor 127 is initialized
upon completion of this process.
Microprocessor 127 may recognize the requested operation
corresponds to one of the remote control code sets stored in read
only memory 128. Upon recognition of the fact that the received
remote control signals correspond to those employed by a one of the
plurality of possible slave units, microprocessor 127 aborts the
prompting process for that slave unit. Microprocessor 127 then
stores in programmable read only memory 129 the identity of the
recognized slave unit. This permits microprocessor 127 to generate
the needed remote control signals from the data stored in read only
memory 128. Microprocessor 127 preferably recalls a corresponding
message indicating to the user that the identity of the slave unit
has been recognized for display via character generator 126. FIG. 5
illustrates an example of such a message.
Following initialization, all remote control functions take place
via the hand held remote control transmitter for the master unit.
If the command is intended for the master unit, then that unit
executes the commanded operation. If the command is intended for
one of the slave units, then the appropriate remote control signal
is transmitted via the remote control transmitter formed as part of
the master unit. The slave unit receives this remote control signal
and then executes the commanded operation.
In the preferred embodiment video recorder/player 120 is the master
unit. Initial operation of a power ON/OFF mode toggle at hand held
remote control transmitter 140 causes microprocessor 127 to place
video recorder/player 120 in the ON mode. Microprocessor 127 then
reads programmable read only memory 129 or read only memory 128 as
appropriate to determine the power command for cable
tuner/descrambler 110. Microprocessor 127 then controls remote
control transmitter 122 to generate the corresponding remote
control signal. A similar process is repeated to turn ON television
receiver 130. Upon receipt of a channel selection command from hand
held remote control transmitter 140, appropriate remote control
signals are transmitted to cable tuner/descrambler 110. Any remote
control signals dealing with tape operations (record, fast forward,
rewind, playback, pause, still frame) and dealing with programming
the memory of scheduled future recording are executed directly via
microprocessor 127. Lastly, received volume control commands are
translated into the appropriate remote control signals for control
of television receiver 130 via remote control transmitter 122 and
remote control receiver 135. Thus a single hand held remote control
transmitter can advantageously control the three units. This single
hand held remote control transmitter need be no more complex than
the individual remote control transmitters for the three
systems.
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