Associating a control device with an electronic component
View Patent ↗A method and device for associating a remote with a component. The method and system may include receiving a control command from the remote. Upon receiving the control command, an identification signal may be transmitted to a display. The identification signal may include information for identifying the component. The remote may be associated with the component based on the identification signal.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a set-top box, a pairing signal transmitted from a remote control;
in response to receiving the pairing signal, transmitting an identification signal from the set-top box to a television, the identification signal including identification information identifying the set-top box and the television;
receiving by the television the identification signal including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television;
in response to receiving the identification signal, displaying by the television a screen image based on the identification signal including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television;
sensing by the remote control the screen image based on the identification signal including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television that is displayed by the television;
in response to sensing the screen image based on the identification signal including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television that is displayed by the television, transmitting by the remote control the identification signal including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television to the set-top box;
receiving by the set-top box the identification signal including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television from the remote control;
in response to receiving the identification signal including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television from the remote control, associating the remote control with at least one of the set-top box and the television; and
after associating the remote control with at least one of the set-top box and the television, controlling by the remote control at least one function of at least one of the set-top box and the television.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting of the identification signal includes transmitting a first identification signal from the set-top box to a first television and transmitting a second identification signal from the set-top box to a second television.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first identification signal identifies the set-top box and the first television, and the second identification signal identifies the set-top box and the second television.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the associating of the remote control with at least one of the set-top box and the television includes the set-top box storing information in a memory.
5. The method of claim 4 , comprising:
transmitting, from the remote control to the set-top box, at least one command that controls the at least one function of at least one of the set-top box and the television.
6. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
receiving, by the set-top box, information identifying the remote control; and
associating the remote control with the set-top box based on the information identifying the remote control.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the identification signal includes a number, an alphanumeric sequence a graphic, a video sequence, or a pattern associated with the set-top box.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the associating of the remote with at least one of the set-top box and the television includes:
associating the remote control with the set-top box; and
through the set-top box, facilitating control of the television by the remote control.
9. The method of claim 8 , comprising storing an association of the remote control with the set-top box and the television in a memory of the set-top box.
10. The method of claim 8 , comprising:
determining that the remote control is associated with a third component; and
in response to determining that the remote control is associated with the third component, disassociating the remote control from the third component.
11. A method comprising:
transmitting a control command from a remote control to a set-top box;
receiving by the set-top box the control command from the remote control;
in response to receiving the control command from the remote control, transmitting by the set-top box to a television a signal including identification information identifying the set-top box and the television;
receiving by the television the signal including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television;
in response to receiving the signal including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television, displaying by the television a screen image based on the signal including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television;
detecting by the remote control, the screen image based on the signal identifying the set-top box and the set-top box displayed by the television;
in response to detecting the screen image based on the signal including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television, reconfiguring the remote control to control the set-top box; and
after reconfiguring the remote control to control the set-top box, controlling by the remote control at least one function of the set-top box or the television.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the transmitting of the signal including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television includes transmitting a first signal from the set-top box to a first television and transmitting a second signal from the set-top box to a second television.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first signal identifies the set-top box and the first television, and the second signal identifies the set-top box and the second television.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
in response to detecting the screen image based on the signal, transmitting by the remote control to the set-top box information including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television.
15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the identification signal includes a number, an alphanumeric sequence a graphic, a video sequence, or a pattern associated with the set-top box.
16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the detecting of the screen image based on the signal including the identification information identifying the set-top box and the television includes detecting with an optical sensor a pattern included in the screen image displayed by the television.
17. The method of claim 16 , comprising transmitting a confirmation from the remote control to the set-top box, the confirmation identifying the remote control to the set-top box.
18. The method of claim 11 , wherein:
the transmitting of the signal includes transmitting by the set-top box a first signal to the television and transmitting by the set-top box a second signal to a third component,
the first signal includes information identifying the set-top box and the television, and
the second display signal includes information identifying the set-top box and the third component.
19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining that the remote control is associated with a third component; and
in response to determining that the remote control is associated with the third component, disassociating the remote control from the third component.
20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the reconfiguring of the remote control includes reconfiguring the remote control to control the set-top box and to control the television through the set-top box.