Patent ID: 6724339
Filing Date: 2004-04-20
Classification: G08C

Abstract:
A system for controlling the operation of a home appliance, comprising:a hand-held remote control having a keypad including a plurality of keys, a memory for storing a command code library for use in commanding the operation of the home appliance and programming for mapping command codes from the command code library to keys of the keypad, a radio frequency receiver circuit, and an infrared transmission circuit; and a relay unit including a button corresponding to a key of the keypad and a radio frequency transmission circuit for sending a radio frequency command signal to the remote control in response to activation of the button, the radio frequency command signal including data identifying the button; wherein, in response to the reception of the radio frequency command signal by the radio frequency receiver circuit, the remote control uses the data identifying the button to cause the infrared transmission circuit to transmit to the home appliance a command code from the command code library that is mapped to the key of the keypad that corresponds to the button.