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

1. A method for transmitting at least one data packet toward a receiver, comprising:

transmitting toward the receiver a pre-conditioning packet adapted to avoid processing by an application being executed by a device including the receiver; and

transmitting toward the receiver the first of the at least one data packet within a predefined time period after transmitting the pre-conditioning packet, wherein:

each of the at least one data packets comprises a control field and a payload data field, the control field including an inverted copy of data within the respective payload data field; and

the pre-conditioning packet comprises a control field and a payload data field, the control field not including an inverted copy of data within its respective payload data field.

2. A method for transmitting at least one data packet toward a receiver, comprising:

transmitting toward the receiver a pre-conditioning packet adapted to avoid processing by an application being executed by a device including the receiver; and

transmitting toward the receiver the first of the at least one data packet within a predefined time period after transmitting the pre-conditioning packet, wherein:

each of the at least one data packets comprises a control field and a payload data field, the control field including a checksum of data within the respective payload data field; and

the pre-conditioning packet comprises a control field and a payload data field, the control field not including a checksum of data within its respective payload data field.

3. A method for transmitting at least one data packet toward a receiver, comprising:

transmitting toward the receiver a pre-conditioning packet adapted to avoid processing by an application being executed by a device including the receiver; and

transmitting toward the receiver the first of the at least one data packet within a predefined time period after transmitting the pre-conditioning packet, wherein:

the pre-conditioning packet comprises a control field including an invalid payload data indicator.

4. A method for transmitting at least one data packet toward a receiver, comprising:

transmitting toward the receiver a pre-conditioning packet adapted to avoid processing by an application being executed by a device including the receiver;

transmitting toward the receiver the first of the at least one data packet within a predefined time period after transmitting the pre-conditioning packet, and

transmitting each remaining data packet of the at least one data packet toward the receiver, wherein:

if a predetermined amount of time elapses between a transmission of one packet and a time for transmission of a next data packet, a pre-conditioning packet is transmitted before the next data packet is transmitted.

5. A method for transmitting at least one data packet toward a receiver, comprising:

transmitting toward the receiver a pre-conditioning packet adapted to avoid processing by an application being executed by a device including the receiver; and

transmitting toward the receiver the first of the at least one data packet within a predefined time period after transmitting the pre-conditioning packet, wherein:

the steps of transmitting are performed by a transmitter having a plurality of controls; and

the step of transmitting a pre-conditioning packet is performed in response to a detecting an actuation of one of the controls when an amount of time since a most recent previous actuation of one of the controls is at least a threshold value.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the amount of time is approximately a period of the data packet.

7. A transmitter, comprising:

means for transmitting toward a receiver a pre-conditioning packet and a first data packet, the pre-conditioning packet adapted to avoid processing by an application being executed by a device including the receiver, the first data packet being transmitted toward the receiver within a predefined time period after the transmitting of the pre-conditioning packet, 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.

8. The transmitter of claim 7 , 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 packet is transmitted when one of the controls represented by transmission of a single packet is actuated.

9. The transmitter of claim 7 , wherein the transmitter is included within a system, the system further comprising:

an infrared receiver having an automatic gain control that adjusts a sensitivity of the receiver in response to receipt of the pre-conditioning packet;

the transmitter comprising an infrared transmitter.

10. The transmitter of claim 9 , wherein the infrared receiver has a pulse decoder for processing the pre-conditioning packet as a corrupted data packet.

11. The transmitter of claim 7 , wherein the transmitter is an infrared transmitter.

12. The transmitter of claim 7 , wherein the receiver is an infrared receiver, and the transmitting of the pre-conditioning packet is of a duration sufficient to allow a sensitivity adjustment in an automatic gain control of the receiver.