Universal soft remote control

1. A universal remote control for providing wireless remote control of one or more devices, said devices being equipped for remote control by respective original remote controls having visual appearances different from one another, said universal remote control comprising:

a memory that stores one or more descriptions associated with one or more original remote controls that are selectively emulated by the universal remote control, said descriptions including information describing the visual appearances of the original remote controls that the descriptions are associated with; and,

a graphical user interface upon which is displayed a representation of one of the original remote controls selected for emulation by the universal remote control, said representation having a visual appearance substantially the same as the original remote control being emulated.

2. The universal remote control of claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface is implemented on a touch screen liquid crystal display.

3. The universal remote control of claim 1 , wherein the representation includes soft buttons that correspond to actual buttons on the original remote control being emulated, said soft buttons having substantially the same appearance and relative location on the graphical user interface as the actual buttons have on the original remote control being emulated.

4. The universal remote control of claim 3 , further comprising:

a transmitter that emits signals in accordance with a user touching the soft buttons, said signals emitted from the transmitter mimicking those that the original remote control being emulated emits when the corresponding actual buttons are pressed thereon.

5. The universal remote control of claim 4 , wherein the transmitter is an infrared transmitter that emits infrared signals or a radio frequency transmitter that emits radio frequency signals.

6. The universal remote control of claim 1 , further comprising:

an external interface, said external interface arranged to receive descriptions for original remote controls from a source external to the universal remote control, said received descriptions being stored in the memory.

7. The universal remote control of claim 6 , wherein the external interface is a serial port, a universal serial bus port, or a communications port.

8. A method of emulating one or more original remote controls having visual appearances that are different from one another, said method comprising:

(a) storing descriptions of each original remote control to be emulated, said descriptions including information describing the visual appearances of the original remote controls to which the descriptions apply;

(b) determining which one of the original remote controls to emulate; and,

(c) displaying a replica of the original remote control being emulated, said replica having a visual appearance substantially the same as the original remote control being emulated.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

providing in the displayed replica soft buttons that correspond to actual buttons on the original remote control being emulated, said soft buttons having substantially the same appearance and relative location on the replica as the actual buttons have on the original remote control being emulated.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

emitting signals in accordance with a user touching the soft buttons, said emitted signals mimicking those that the original remote control being emulated emits when the corresponding actual buttons are pressed thereon.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving descriptions for original remote controls from a source external to the universal remote control, said received descriptions being stored in step (a).

12. A universal remote control for emulating one or more original remote controls having visual appearances that are different from one another, said universal remote control comprising:

means for storing descriptions of each original remote control to be emulated, said descriptions including information describing the visual appearances of the original remote controls to which the descriptions apply;

means for determining which one of the original remote controls to emulate; and,

means for displaying a replica of the original remote control being emulated, said replica having a visual appearance substantially the same as the original remote control being emulated.

13. The universal remote control of claim 12 , wherein the means for displaying comprises a touch screen liquid crystal display.

14. The universal remote control of claim 12 , further comprising:

means for providing in the displayed replica soft buttons that correspond to actual buttons on the original remote control being emulated, said soft buttons having substantially the same appearance and relative location on the replica as the actual buttons have on the original remote control being emulated.

15. The universal remote control of claim 14 , wherein the means for providing comprises a graphic user interface.

16. The universal remote control of claim 14 , further comprising:

means for emitting signals in accordance with a user touching the soft buttons, said emitted signals mimicking those that the original remote control being emulated emits when the corresponding actual buttons are pressed thereon.

17. The universal remote control of claim 16 , wherein the means for emitting comprises at least one of an infrared transmitter that emits infrared signals or a radio frequency transmitter that emits radio frequency signals.

18. The universal remote control of claim 12 , further comprising:

means for receiving descriptions for original remote controls from a source external to the universal remote control, said received descriptions being stored in the means for storing.

19. The universal remote control of claim 18 , wherein the means for receiving comprises at least one of a serial port, a universal serial bus port, or a communications port.

20. The universal remote control of claim 1 , wherein each description stored in the memory is associated with one of a record or file that includes:

a field that identifies the original remote control associated with the description;

data used to paint the representation of the original remote control associated with the description on the graphical user interface; and,

a button map that interrelates coordinate locations on the graphical user interface with signals that are transmitted from the universal remote control in response to the locations being touched.

21. The universal remote control of claim 1 , wherein the button map further interrelates the coordinate locations on the graphical user interface with corresponding buttons on the originate remote control associated with the description.

22. The method of claim 8 , wherein step (c) comprises:

displaying replicas of a plurality of different sides of the original remote control being emulated, said displayed replicas having visual appearances substantially the same as corresponding sides of the original remote control being emulated.