Method and system for enabling detection of signals in the presence of noise

1. A method for transmitting data to a receiver, comprising the steps of:

(a) transmitting a pre-conditioning signal to the receiver, the pre-conditioning signal being separate from a leader of a data packet to be transmitted and having substantially the same format as the leader of the data packet, wherein the pre-conditioning signal includes one of the grow consisting of:

a dummy packet that has no effect on the receiver;

a packet having a control field that indicates the presence of a corrupted data field; and

a packet having at least a portion of its data field missing; and

(b) beginning to transmit the data packet to the receiver within a given period after beginning transmission of the pre-conditioning signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiver is an infrared receiver and steps (a) and (b) are performed by an infrared transmitter.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-conditioning signal has sufficient duration to allow a sensitivity adjustment in an automatic gain control of the receiver.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiver is included in a set top box.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiver comprises a television receiver circuit.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein steps (a) and (b) are performed by a transmitter having a plurality of controls, and step (a) is performed when:

actuation of one of the controls is detected, and

an amount of time since a most recent previous actuation of one of the controls is at least a threshold value.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

steps (a) and (b) are performed by a transmitter having a plurality of controls, actuation of at least one of the plurality of controls being represented by a single packet, and

step (a) is performed when one of the controls represented by a single packet is actuated.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the given period is approximately a period of the data packet.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the receiver is an infrared receiver in one of the group consisting of a set top box and a television;

the given period is approximately a period of the data packet;

the pre-conditioning signal has sufficient duration to cause a sensitivity adjustment in an automatic gain control of the receiver; and

steps (a) and (b) are performed by an infrared transmitter having a plurality of controls, and step (a) is performed when:

actuation of one of the controls is detected, and

an amount of time since a most recent previous actuation of any of the controls is at least a threshold value.

10. A transmitter, comprising:

means for transmitting a pre-conditioning signal to a receiver, the pre-conditioning signal being separate from a leader of a data packet to be transmitted and having substantially the same format as the leader of the data packet, wherein the pre-conditioning signal includes one of the group consisting of

a dummy packet that has no effect on a the receiver:

a packet having a control field that indicates the presence of a corrupted data field; and

a packet having at least a portion of its data field missing; and

means for beginning to transmit the data packet to the receiver within a given period after beginning transmission of the pre-conditioning signal.

11. The transmitter of claim 10 , wherein the transmitter is an infrared transmitter.

12. The transmitter of claim 10 , wherein the receiver is an infrared receiver, and the preconditioning signal has sufficient duration to allow a sensitivity adjustment in an automatic gain control of the receiver.

13. The transmitter of claim 10 , wherein the transmitter has a plurality of controls, and the transmitter transmits the pre-conditioning signal when:

one of the plurality of controls is actuated, and

an amount of time since a most recent previous actuation of any of the controls is at least a threshold value.

14. The transmitter of claim 10 , wherein:

the transmitter has a plurality of controls, actuation of at least one of the plurality of controls being represented by transmission of a single packet, and

the pre-conditioning signal is transmitted when one of the controls represented by transmission of a single packet is actuated.

15. The transmitter of claim 10 , wherein the given period is approximately a period of the data packet.

16. The transmitter of claim 10 , wherein:

the transmitter is an infrared transmitter in a remote control device having a plurality of controls;

the given period is approximately a period of the data packet;

the pre-conditioning signal has sufficient duration to allow a sensitivity adjustment in an automatic gain control of an infrared receiver; and

the pre-conditioning signal is transmitted when:

actuation of one of the controls is detected, and

an amount of time since a most recent previous actuation of any of the controls is at least a threshold value.

17. A system including the transmitter of claim 10 , wherein:

the transmitter is an infrared transmitter;

the system includes an infrared receiver, the receiver having an automatic gain control that adjusts a sensitivity of the receiver In response to receipt of the pre-conditioning signal.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the receiver has a pulse decoder, and the pulse decoder handles the pre-conditioning signal in the same manner that the pulse decoder handles a corrupt packet.