Abstract:
Electronic device/system with customized remote control mechanism and method thereof. The electronic device works under a setup mode for showing functions of the electronic devices to a user, and instructs the user to perform a customized operation on the remote controller for a user-defined function, such as pressing a user-selected button on the remote controller. While receiving a remote signal triggered by the customized operation, the electronic device can correlate the customized operation to the user-defined function. After exiting the setup mode, the electronic device can work under a normal mode for receiving the remote signals of the remote controller, analyzing which customized operation is performed on the remote controller, and then executing the function corresponding to the performed customized operation.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The invention relates to an electronic device/system with a customized remote control mechanism and method thereof, and more particularly, to an electronic device/system capable of providing a user interface to help the user establish a customized remote control mechanism/set customized remote controller and method thereof.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     As electronic techniques have been successfully applied and greatly advanced. As a result, these electronic devices have become a part of modern life. For example, consumer products, such as TV display for playing video and multimedia, CD players, DVD players, are all well known and utilized everywhere. In order to provide the user to use an easily-controlled interface for every electronic device, each of electronic devices has a corresponding remote controller, especially a wireless remote controller so that the user can control the electronic device through the remote controller.  
         [0005]     As is known by those skilled in the art, the current remote control technique is characterized by a one to one relationship. In other words, each electronic device has only one specific remote controller. In the above-mentioned remote control technique, each function of an electronic device fixedly corresponds to a remote signal, which has specific information. The specific remote controller of the electronic device often comprises buttons, which correspond to different functions. In other words, a button for controlling to a specific function can make the remote controller output the remote signal (e.g., infrared rays or electromagnetic remote signals) having the specific information related to the function. When the user wants to control the electronic device to execute a certain function, the user can push the button corresponding to the function so that the remote controller outputs the remote signal carrying the related information of the particular function. When the electronic device receives the remote signal, the electronic device determines the specific information of the remote signal and then executes the corresponding function according to the corresponding relationship between the specific information and the function.  
         [0006]     However, the above-mentioned prior art remote control mechanism has its disadvantages. Because the corresponding relationship between specific information of each remote signal and each function has been stored in the electronic device, the electronic device can only be controlled by its specific remote controller. That is, if other remote controllers are being used, the remote signals of other remote controller do not carry the specific information of the electronic device, even in the situation where the electronic device receives remote signals outputted by other remote controllers, the electronic device cannot know which function is going to be executed. In other words, the above-mentioned one-to-one relationship may cause an inconvenience to the user. This means that when the user loses the specific remote controller or the specific remote controller is out of order, the user has to find another specific remote controller corresponding to the electronic device. Furthermore, other type of remote controllers cannot replace the specific remote controller. The remote controller is inconvenient, increases cost and wastes time.  
         [0007]     To sum up, the specific remote controller is inconvenient for the user, because the user has only one choice for selecting the only specific remote controller. In addition, some specific remote controllers have many functions resulting in a proliferation of buttons on the remote controllers. However, because of the one-to-one relationship between the specific remote controller and the electronic device, the user still must accept the specific remote controller instead of choosing the desired remote controller. Furthermore, the user cannot define the button/operation function of the specific remote controller.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     It is therefore one of the primary objectives of the claimed invention to provide an electronic device/system with a customized remote control mechanism and method thereof so that the user can define the button function and choose a desired remote controller to establish the remote control mechanism for solving the above-mentioned problem of the prior art remote control mechanism.  
         [0009]     For the electronic device, the relationship between each function and the specific information of each remote signal can be defined by the user. In addition, the electronic device can operate in a setup mode. In the setup mode, the user can change the specific information of each remote signal corresponding to each function so that the user can define the operations of the remote controller. Similarly, the user can choose the desired remote controller in this mode. Furthermore, the electronic device can receive the remote signal outputted by the customized remote controller, cause the specific information of the remote signal to correspond to each function of the electronic device, and stored the new relationship. Therefore, when the user utilizes the customized remote controller to output the remote signal, the electronic device can execute corresponding functions according to the stored corresponding relationships such that the user can utilize the customized remote controller and remote control mechanism to control the electronic device.  
         [0010]     In addition, in the setup mode, the electronic device can utilize a visual picture or sounds to cooperate with the buttons on the electronic device in order to achieve a user interface. Because of the user interface, the claimed invention can firstly show each remote control function of the electronic device. In addition, the user can select a function through the user interface. Then, the user interface can show the user how to perform a re-defining operation in order to correspond to the selected function. Therefore, the user can select an easy button of the remote controller to output corresponding remote signal. And then the electronic device can receive the remote signal outputted by the remote controller, store the specific information carried in the remote signal, set the corresponding relationship between the specific information and the selected function, and store the corresponding relationship. After the setup mode is performed completely, when the user pushes the same button to output the remote signal, the electronic device can execute the aforementioned selected function according to the stored corresponding relationship. In other words, the re-defining remote control mechanism can be accomplished through aforementioned steps.  
         [0011]     In contrast to the prior art, the electronic device/system and related remote control mechanism have the following advantages. First, the user can define the button function of a remote controller. This makes the button function more suitable for the user. Moreover, the user can choose any other remote controllers. Moreover, after the chosen remote controller is set up in the setup mode, the user can operate the selected remote controller to control the electronic device. Therefore, this can reduce cost and save time associated with the remote control mechanism, and meet different demands of remote control mechanism/remote controller according to the different users.  
         [0012]     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an electronic system composed of an electronic device and a remote controller according to the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating the electronic device shown in  FIG. 1  as it operates in a setup mode according to the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating the electronic device shown in  FIG. 1  as it operates in a normal mode according to the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a flow of a setup procedure in a setup mode.  
         [0017]      FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating that a user interface of the visual screen is utilized to perform the flow shown in  FIG. 4 .  
         [0018]      FIG. 6  is a diagram of a data structure of each remote signal carrying related information.  
         [0019]      FIG. 7  is a diagram of a receiving module of the electronic device shown in  FIG. 1  of an embodiment according to the present invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9  are diagrams of the electronic system of two embodiments according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0021]     Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which is a block diagram of an electronic system  10  composed of an electronic device  12  and a remote controller  30  according to the present invention. Please note that the electronic device  12  can be (but is not limited to) a multimedia playback device, such as a TV, a display, a CD player, a DVD player, a recorder, an amplifier, or any other consumer products (e.g., an air conditioner). As shown in  FIG. 1 , the electronic device  12  comprises a function module  14 , a control module  16 , a memory module  20 , a look-up module  22 , and a receiving module  18 . The electronic device  12  further comprises a management module  24 , a setup module  26 , and an interface module  28 . The remote controller  30  is utilized to support the remote control mechanism such that the user can control the electronic device  12  through the remote controller  30 .  
         [0022]     In the electronic device  12 , the function module  14  is utilized to execute each function F( 1 ), F( 2 ), . . . , F(M) of the electronic device  12 . The control module  16  is utilized to control the operation of the function module  14  and to determine which function the function module  14  is to be executed. For example, if the electronic device  12  is a TV or a display, the function module  14  can comprise the display screen and related driving circuits. And each function F( 1 ), F( 2 ), . . . , F(M) can be “power on”, “sound adjustment”, “luminance adjustment”, and so on. On the other hand, if the electronic device  12  is an optical disc (e.g., a DVD disc) player, the function module  14  can comprise the motor, utilized for rotating the optical disc, the pickup head, utilized for reading optical disk, and other hardware. And the function F( 1 ), F( 2 ), . . . , F(M) can be “power on”, “eject”, “play”, “pause”, “previous/next”, “FF/FB”, and “SF/SB”. The control module  16  can be a microprocessor for controlling the function module  14 . In addition, the remote controller  30  can comprise a plurality of buttons K( 1 ) through K(Q). Each button respectively corresponds to different remote signals IR( 1 ) through IR(Q), wherein each of the different remote signals carries different specific information. When the user pushes a certain button K(q), where q=1˜Q, the remote controller  30  can output the corresponding remote signal IR(q). Please note that the remote signal can be a wireless signal, such as an infrared ray or electromagnetic remote signal.  
         [0023]     Corresponding to the remote controller  30 , the receiving module  18  of the electronic device  12  can receive each remote signal IR(q) outputted by the remote controller  30 , and provide a corresponding format signal If(q) according to related information/specific information carried by the remote signal IR(q). Please note that in  FIG. 1  and in the following figures. IR(˜) represents remote signals outputted by the remote controller, and If(˜) represents format signals corresponding to the remote signal. On the other hand, in order to establish the remote control mechanism of the electronic device  12 , the memory module  20  of the electronic device  12  can store a plurality of format signals R( 1 ) through R(M), where each format signal R( 1 ) through R(M) respectively corresponds to each function F( 1 ) through F(M) of the electronic device  12 . When the electronic device  12  is being remotely controlled, the receiving module  18  provides a corresponding format signal If(q) after receiving a remote signal IR(q). And the look-up module  22  can determine whether the format signal If(q) complies with one of the reference format signals according to the records stored in the memory module  20 . If the format signal complies with a reference format signal R(m), where m=1˜M, the control module  16  can control the function module  14  to start performing the function F(m), where m=1˜M, corresponding to the reference format signal R(m), according to the correspondence relationship in the memory module  20 .  
         [0024]     As mentioned previously, in the prior art remote control mechanism, the corresponding relationship between the specific information of the remote signal and the function is fixedly embedded, and cannot be changed (especially cannot be changed by users.) In other words, assuming that the electronic device  12  utilizes the prior art (that is, the electronic device  12  needs to work in coordination with the specific remote controller  30  in order to establish the remote control mechanism), we could know that the corresponding relationship stored in the memory module  20  cannot be changed. Each reference format signal is fixedly equal to a format signal If(˜). This makes the relationship between the electronic device and the remote controller a one-to-one relationship. Therefore, if other remote controllers are utilized to control the electronic device  12 , because the specific information carried by the remote signals outputted by other remote controllers do not comply with the specific format signal If(˜), the electronic device  12  cannot be remote controlled by other remote controllers.  
         [0025]     In contrast to the prior art, the present invention can allow the user to define the content (definition) of each reference format signal such that the user can reset the remote control mechanism according to his needs. That is, the user can establish a customized remote control mechanism to break the limitations of the prior art remote control mechanism. In order to achieve the technique of the present invention, the present invention setup module  26  of the electronic device  12  can be utilized to reset the content of each reference format signal. This can make each reference format signal not fixedly equal to the format signal carried by a remote signal. After the setup module  26  resets the content, the reference format signal can be changed to be a format signal carried by another remote signal. This allows the user to re-define the button function of the specific remote controller. Similarly, the reference format signal can be the format signal of the remote signal outputted by other remote controllers. Therefore, the user can select other remote controllers to establish the remote control mechanism of the electronic device  12 .  
         [0026]     In coordination with the setup module  26 , the interface module  28  of the electronic system  10  can provide a user interface (UI) such that the user can establish a re-defined remote control mechanism through the user interface. In addition, the management module  24  can be utilized to control whether the re-defining operation needs to be performed. The management module  24  can switch the electronic device  12  to a setup mode or a normal mode. In other words, the user can trigger the management module  24  through using the interface module  28  in order to switch the electronic device  12  to the setup mode and the normal mode. In the setup mode, the user can further control the setup module  26  through the interface module  28  in order to reset the content/definition of each reference format signal. In the normal mode, the electronic device  12  can operate normally according to the re-defined remote control mechanism. This allows the user to utilize customized button function or a customized remote controller to control the electronic device  12 . In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the interface module  28  can comprise buttons  32 ,  34 , and  36 . The buttons  32 ,  34 , and  36  help the user trigger the setup mode/normal mode and select the reference format signal to be re-defined.  
         [0027]     In order to further illustrate the electronic device  12  as it operates in each of the modes, please refer to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  (in conjunction with  FIG. 1 ).  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  respectively show the electronic device  12  as it operates in a setup mode and a normal mode. First, as shown in  FIG. 2 , when the user wants to reset the remote control mechanism of the electronic device  12 , the user can trigger the electronic device through the user interface provided by the interface module  28  for operating in the setup mode. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , assume that the user wants to utilize the button K( 2 ) of the remote controller  30  to control the function F( 1 ) of the electronic device  12 . Therefore, the user can select the function F( 1 ) to be reset through the information shown by the user interface, and the setup module  26  can prepare to redefine the reference format signal R( 1 ) corresponding to the function F( 1 ). And then, the user interface can show the user how to perform a re-defining operation (i.e., that is, to push the button K( 2 )) such that the remote controller  30  outputs a corresponding remote signal IR( 2 ). After receiving the remote signal IR( 2 ), the receiving module  18  can provide a corresponding format signal If( 2 ) according to its related information. And then, the management module  24  transfers the format signal If( 2 ) to the setup module  26  (but not to the look-up module  22 ). And then, the setup module  26  can store the format signal If( 2 ) in the memory module  20  as a reference format signal R( 1 ). Therefore, the button K( 2 ) can be utilized to control the function F( 1 ). After the remote control mechanism of the function F( 1 ) is set up, the user interface can show the user how to setup other functions. For example, if the user wants to utilize the button K( 5 ) to remote control the function F(M), the user can select the function F(M) through the user interface such that the setup module  26  prepares the corresponding format signal R(M). And then, the user interface can inform the user to perform the re-defining operation on the function F(M). That is, the user pushes the button K( 5 ) to be re-defined. Therefore, through the operations of remote controller  30 , the receiving module  18 , management module  24 , and the setup module  26 , the reference format signal R(M) inside the memory module  20  can be redefined as the reference signal IF( 5 ). In other words, through the relationships “button K( 5 )—remote signal IR( 5 )—format signal If( 5 )—reference format signal R(M)—function F(M)”, the button K( 5 ) can finally correspond to the function F(M).  
         [0028]     After the customized remote control mechanism is set up in the setup mode, the definition of each reference format signal is stored in the memory module  20 . Therefore, the user can cause the management module  24  to exit the setup mode through the operation of the interface module  28 . After the setup mode is finished, the management module  24  can switch the electronic device  12  into the normal mode. As shown in  FIG. 3 , in the normal mode, the user can utilize the aforementioned customized (i.e., redefined) remote control mechanism in the setup mode to remote control the electronic device  12 . In the normal mode, the setup mode  26  can pause operation. When the user pushes the button of the remote controller  30  to output the remote signal IR(˜), the receiving module  18  provides a corresponding format signal If(˜) according to the remote signal IR(˜), and the management module  24  transfers the format signal to the lookup module  22 . Therefore, the lookup module  22  can compare the definition of each reference signal stored in the memory module  20  with the format signal If(˜). If the format signal If(˜) complies with a certain reference format signal, the lookup module  22  can transfer the comparison result to the control module  16 . Therefore, the control module  16  controls the function module  14  to perform the function. For example, if the user pushes the button K( 2 ) to make the remote controller  30  to output the remote signal IR( 2 ), the lookup module  22  finds out that the format signal If( 2 ), which corresponds to the remote signal IR( 2 ), complies with the reference format signal R( 1 ) stored in the memory module  20 . Therefore, the electronic device  12  can start to perform the function F( 1 ). In other words, the electronic device  12  can operate according to the customized remote control mechanism set in the setup mode.  
         [0029]     Please note that as mentioned previously in  FIG. 1 - FIG. 3 , the remote controller  30  can be the specific remote controller of the electronic device  12 , or any other remote controller. Through the setup mode shown in  FIG. 2 , the user can redefine the buttons of the specific remote controller. For example, the button K( 2 ) originally corresponds to the function F( 2 ). After the redefining operation is performed as shown in  FIG. 2 , the button K( 2 ) can newly correspond to the function F( 1 ). In other words, in the present invention, the user can re-define the button function of the specific remote controller, and the user does not have to accommodate himself to the original function of the specific remote controller. Similarly, the remote controller  30  can be another remote controller selected by the user. Therefore, the user can establish a remote control mechanism with a better flexibility.  
         [0030]     Please refer to  FIG. 4  (in conjunction with  FIG. 2 ). The flow  100  shown in  FIG. 4  can be regarded as a setup procedure, which is the operation flow of the present invention electronic device  12  in the setup mode. The flow  100  comprises following steps:  
         [0031]     Step  102 : The electronic device  12  starts the setup mode. When the user wants to establish the customized remote control mechanism, the electronic device  12  can be triggered to be in the setup mode;  
         [0032]     Step  104 : The electronic device  12  shows each function of the electronic device  12  to the user. The user can select a remote control mechanism corresponding to a specific function to be redefined. In the embodiment of the present invention, the interface module  28  of the electronic device  12  can inform the user by a visual screen or sounds, and allow the user to select the function. For example, if the electronic device  12  is a TV or a display, the electronic device  12  should comprise a screen. In addition, the present invention can utilize the on-screen display (OSD) to inform the user. On the other hand, if the electronic device  12  is a DVD player, the electronic device  12  is coupled to a screen or TV in order to output the images. Therefore, the present invention can utilize the coupled screen to inform the user. Similarly, if the electronic device  12  is a sound player, the electronic device  12  can output sounds by itself or through an external amplifier. Therefore, the present invention can utilize the sounds to inform the user. In fact, the electronic device  12  often comprises a small screen to show the current operation situation. The present invention can surely utilize the small screen to inform the user. Furthermore, the electronic device  12  can comprise buttons (such as the buttons  32  and  36  shown in  FIG. 2 ) such that the user can select a function through the buttons.  
         [0033]     Step  106 : The user performs the corresponding redefining operation of the remote controller  30  to make the corresponding redefined operation correspond to the function selected in step  104 . After the previous step  104  is completed, the electronic device  12  should know which the remote control mechanism is to be reset, and the electronic device  12  can inform the user to start performing the redefining operation. After the electronic device  12  informs the user, the user can perform the redefining operation of the remote controller  30 . For example, the user can push a button selected by the user.  
         [0034]     Step  108 : After the user performs the redefining operation of the remote controller  30  in step  106 , the electronic device  12  can receive a remote signal outputted by the remote controller. And then, the electronic device  12  can generate a corresponding format signal according to the related information carried by the remote signal.  
         [0035]     Step  110 : According to the selected function selected in step  104 , the electronic device  12  can utilize the memory module  30  to store the format signal in step  108  as the reference format signal corresponding to the function such that the corresponding relationship between the format signal and the function can be established. Therefore, the “button-remote signal-format signal-reference format signal-function” relationship allows the user to make the redefining operation determined in the step  106  correspond to the function determined in the step  104 .  
         [0036]     Step  112 : After the step  110 , the electronic device  12  can inform the user to query the user whether a remote control mechanism corresponding to another function is going to be setup/redefined. If the user wants to perform the redefining operation on another remote control mechanism, the step  104  is performed again such that the user can select another function and redefine the remote control mechanism of the selected function. On the other hand, if the user does not want to perform another redefining operation, the following step  114  can be performed.  
         [0037]     Step  114 : The electronic device  12  leaves the setup mode such that the flow  100  is completely performed.  
         [0038]     And then, the electronic device  12  operates in a normal mode (as shown in  FIG. 3 ) to perform a normal procedure. In the normal mode, the electronic device  12  can detect related information (that is, the format signal) of the remote control signal to see whether the related information complies with a corresponding format signal of each function of the electronic device when receiving the remote control signal of the remote controller  30 . Here, if the related information of the remote signal complies with a certain reference format signal, the electronic device  12  can execute the function corresponding to the reference format signal such that the customized remote control mechanism is successfully performed.  
         [0039]     Please refer to  FIG. 5  (in conjunction with  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4 ).  FIG. 5  illustrates how the electronic device  12  informs the user to perform the flow  100  according to the present invention. In  FIG. 5 , the user interface is a visual screen utilized to inform the user. In this embodiment, the user can push the button  36  of the interface module  28  ( FIG. 2 ) such that the electronic device  12  operates in the setup mode. In the step  104 , the user interface can show each function (such as the functions can be power on/off, disc out, play, pause, next section/previous section, FF/REW, etc. (here, we assume that the electronic device  12  is a DVD player)), which can be remotely controlled, through a visual screen. Furthermore, the visual screen can utilize a notification sentence (such as “select a FUNCTION to configure”) to inform the user to select a function and redefine the remote control mechanism of the function. The user can push the button  32  to select different functions, and the selected function can be highlighted in the visual screen. After the user selects the function to be customized, the user can push the button  34  to confirm. In addition, the flow  100  can go to the step  106 .  
         [0040]     Here, the selected function is “PLAY”. In the step  106 , the user interface can utilize a notification sentence “Press a button “PLAY” to inform the user to perform the redefining (customizing) operation through utilizing the remote controller  30 . Therefore, the user can select a button of the remote controller  30 , and the button (after the setup operation is completely performed) can be utilized to control the function “PLAY” by the remote controller  30 . Here, after the user pushes the button, the flow  100  goes to the following steps  108  and  110 , and further to the step  112 . In step  112 , the user interface can inform each function of the electronic device  12  to the user again such that the user can decide whether to select another function to setup the remote controlling mechanism. On the other hand, the user can decide to leave the setup mode. For example, the user can push the button  36  to leave the setup mode. Another option is for the visual screen to have an “exit” function for the user to push the button  32  to select this option and push the button  34  to confirm the “exit” function. Therefore, the electronic device  12  can leave the setup mode and be back to the normal mode. In the step  112 , the visual screen of the user interface can show the function (in  FIG. 5 , the function is “PLAY”) in a special way in order to represent that the function has been reset. Furthermore, the interface module  28  can also utilize the touch pad to implement the user interface shown in  FIG. 5 . This makes the user capable of directly selecting desired function through using the touch pad.  
         [0041]     In addition, the present invention can inform the user by a sound and help the user to perform the setup procedure of the flow  100 . For example, the buttons of the user interface can have numbers such as “1”, “2”, “3”, etc. When the step  104  is being performed, the user interface can make sounds such as “if you want to reset the function “X”, please push the button “1””. Therefore, the user can select the function to be reset. Similarly, when the step  106  is being performed, the user interface can make sounds “please push the desired button of the remote controller” such that the user can perform the redefining operation.  
         [0042]     In the above-mentioned user interfaces, the buttons (such as the buttons  32 - 36  shown in  FIG. 5 ) of the user interface can be utilized to help the operation of the flow  100 . These buttons have their corresponding functions on the electronic device  12 , or on the specific remote controller of the electronic device  12 . In other words, the specific remote controller of the electronic device  12  can have a plurality of function buttons to control the functions of the electronic device  12 . In addition, the specific remote controller can each have setup buttons to help the redefining procedure of the flow  100 . By utilizing the setup buttons, the user can rearrange the function of each function button of the specific remote controller. Similarly, the user can utilize the setup buttons of the specific remote controller to perform the flow  100  on other remote controllers. Therefore, a typical remote controller can establish the remote control mechanism between the typical remote controller and the electronic device  12 .  
         [0043]     In another embodiment, the present invention can directly utilize the control pads of the electronic device  12  to implement the user interface in the setup mode. In fact, most of the electronic devices have a control pads, which have each buttons for controlling the specific function of the electronic device. For example, the DVD player has a “play” button to control the DVD playback function, and a “pause” button to control the pause function. Therefore, if the present invention is implemented in this electronic device, when this electronic device operates in the normal mode, these buttons can correspond to the original functions as they are designed. In addition, when the electronic device operates in the present invention setup mode, the user can directly push buttons of the control pads to select the function corresponding to the certain button in step  106 . For example, when the user wants to redefine the “play” function of the remote control mechanism, the user can directly push the “play” button of the control pad. The electronic device can know that the user wants to redefine the “play” function according to the controlling operation on the control pad of the user. And then, the user can perform the customized operation on the remote controller in order to reset the remote control mechanism of the “play” function through the step  108  to step  110 .  
         [0044]     Generally speaking, the remote signal generated by the current remote controller (e.g. infrared ray remote controller) does not have a signal encoding format/protocol. That is, different types of remote controllers often utilize different encoding formats/protocols to carry specific information. In order to support different types of remote controllers and easy for the users to utilize other types of remote controllers to establish the remote controlling mechanism, the present invention electronic device  12  can embed a plurality of different encoding formats/protocols to read remote signals of different formats/protocols and analyzes corresponding format signal from these remote signals.  
         [0045]     Please refer to  FIG. 6 , a remote signal carries specific information in different encoding formats/protocols. As shown in  FIG. 6 , every time the user pushes a button, the remote controller outputs a piece of remote signal, which can be regarded as a packet. In this remote signal waveform, the signal is modulated through a carrier modulation to form a digital “0” and a digital “1” indicated by different waveforms. Through collecting a plurality of waveform pieces, a packet-type remote control signal can be formed. For example, the packet-type remote control signal can comprise a lead, custom code/inversed custom code, data code/inversed data code, and separation code. Here, the custom code/inversed custom code is utilized to identify the remote controller itself, the data code/inversed data code is utilized to carry specific information to identify different remote signals. In other words, in a same remote controller, remote signal packets corresponding to different buttons can have the same custom codes/inversed custom codes. However, the remote signals corresponding to different buttons have different data codes/inversed data codes. Therefore, the different buttons are able to correspond to different remote signals.  
         [0046]     However, please note that the remote signal packet outputted by different remote controller in different formats/protocols have different leads. In addition, the other parts of the packet have different bit number. For example, as shown in  FIG. 6 , in the NEC encoding format/protocol, the custom code/inversed code and the data code/inversed data code are 8 bits, and there is no separation code (the bit number of the separation code is 0). In the SANYO encoding format/protocol, the custom code/inversed code is 13 bit, and the data code/inversed data code are 8 bits. In the Mitsubishi encoding format/protocol, the custom code and the data codes are 8 bits, the separation code is 1 bit. There are no inversed custom code and inversed data code. In addition, other different protocol establishers may provide other remote controllers with different formats/protocols.  
         [0047]     In order to widely support remote signals defined by different encoding formats/protocols and allow the user to utilize different types of remote controllers to establish the remote control mechanism with the electronic device  12 , the present invention electronic device  12  should have a specific remote signal identifying mechanism such that a corresponding format signal can be extracted from the remote signals defined by different encoding formats/protocols. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the remote signal identifying mechanism can embed a plurality of remote signal encoding formats/protocols (for example, the above-mentioned NEC, SANYO, and Mitsubishi encoding formats/protocols). If the remote signal does not belong to these embedded remote signals by encoding formats/protocols, the format signal can be formed through appropriately processing the remote signals (such as sampling the remote signals). In addition, the format signal can be utilized to represent the original remote signals.  
         [0048]     Please refer to  FIG. 7  (in conjunction with  FIG. 1 ).  FIG. 7  illustrates the remote signal identifying mechanism of the receiving module  18  according to the present invention. In the receiving module  18  of the electronic device  12 , the receiving module  18  can further comprise a receiving circuit  38 , an identifying module  40 , a decoding module  42 , and a sampling module  46 . The receiving circuit  38  can receive the remote signal as the electronic remote signal, and transfer the electronic remote signal to the identifying module  40 . For example, the receiving circuit  38  can comprise a light sensor to detect an infrared-ray remote signal and transform it into an electronic remote signal. The identifying module  40  can determine whether the encoding format/protocol of the remote signal belongs to the embedded encoding formats/protocols according to the electronic remote signal. For example, the identifying module  40  can detect the lead of the remote signal and determine whether the electronic remote signal complies with a certain embedded encoding format/protocol according to the lead. If it does, the electronic remote signal is transferred to the decoding module  42 , and the decoding module  42  can perform the decoding operation on the electronic remote signal according to the complied embedded remote signal by encoding format/protocol such that the custom codes and data codes of the remote signal can be obtained. And then, the custom codes and the data codes can be utilized as a format signal corresponding to the remote signal.  
         [0049]     Alternatively, if the identifying module  40  determines that the encoding format of the electronic remote signal does not comply with the embedded remote signal formats/protocols, the identifying module  40  transfers the electronic remote signal to the sampling module  46 . Therefore, the sampling module  46  samples the waveform of the electronic remote signal (for example, the first rising edge/falling edge can trigger the sampling operation), and a series of sampled digital data can be utilized as the format signal corresponding remote signal. To sum up, the present invention receiving module  18  can obtain related information (especially the digital information) from the remote signal to form corresponding format signal. Therefore, the format signal is able to represent/correspond to the remote signal. In the setup mode, the format signal obtained by the receiving module  18  from the remote signal can be utilized to define the reference format signal corresponding to each function. On the other hand, in the normal mode, the receiving module  18  can compare the format signal obtained from the following remote signal with each reference format signal such that the remote control mechanism can be achieved.  
         [0050]     Because the present invention breaks the limitation of the one-to-one relationship between the prior art electronic device and the specific remote controller, the present invention can be implemented as many applications. Please refer to  FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9  (in conjunction with  FIG. 1 ).  FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9  illustrate different applications of the present invention. First, as shown in  FIG. 8 , in the present invention electronic system  10 , the user can utilize the present invention technique to utilize different remote controllers (such as the remote controllers  30  and  30   b  shown in  FIG. 8 ) to remotely control the electronic device  12 . Except for the specific remote controller (such as the remote controller  30 ) of the electronic device  12 , the user can utilize other types of remote controllers  30   b . That is, the above-mentioned setup mode/procedure shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4  can be performed to establish the remote control mechanism between the remote controller  30   b  and the electronic device  12 . For example, the user can select the function F( 1 ) to redefine the remote control mechanism of the function F( 1 ) in the setup mode. And then, the user can push the button Kb( 1 ) of the remote controller  30   b  to output the remote signal IRb( 1 ), and utilize the electronic device  12  to add the corresponding format signal Ifb( 1 ) to the reference format signal R( 1 ) corresponding to the function F( 1 ). Therefore, the function F( 1 ) can simultaneously correspond to the format signal Ifb( 1 ) and Ifb( 2 ). And the button K( 2 ) of the remote controller  30  and the button Kb( 1 ) of the remote controller  30   b  can be both utilized to control the function F( 1 ) of the electronic device  12 . In other words, if the user is not satisfied with the specific remote controller of the electronic device  12 , the user can select another corresponding remote controller. The user can utilize the present invention setup mode/procedure to make some often-used functions of the electronic devices correspond to the buttons of the selected remote controller. In addition, rarely used functions do not have to be set up in the selected remote controller. Therefore, the user can define a better selected remote controller.  
         [0051]     As shown in  FIG. 9 , if the present invention can be utilized in different electronic devices, the present invention can integrate the remote control mechanisms of different electronic devices in a same remote controller. That is, the present invention allows the user to utilize the same remote controller to remote control different electronic devices. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 9 , the present invention electronic system  10  comprises not only the electronic device  12 , but also another electronic device  12   b , which has the same function block diagram as the electronic device  12 . Therefore, the electronic device  12   b  can also operate in a setup mode/normal mode such that the user can establish the customized remote control mechanism. The user can perform the redefining operation on the electronic device  12  to make the buttons K(Q 0 ) to K(Q 1 ) correspond to the function F( 1 ) to F(M) of the electronic device  12 . And then, the user can perform the redefining operation on the electronic device  12   b  make the buttons K(Q 2 ) to K(Q 3 ) correspond to the function Fb( 1 ) to Fb(M) of the electronic device  12   b . After the redefining operation, the user can utilize the same remote controller  30  to remotely control different electronic devices  12  and  12   b . In this embodiment, the user can integrate the remote control mechanisms of different electronic devices into the same remote controller. For example, the remote control mechanisms of a TV and a DVD player can be integrated in the same remote controller. Therefore, it is more convenient for the user to remotely control different electronic devices by utilizing the same remote controller.  
         [0052]     To sum up, in the prior art remote control mechanism, the electronic device can only be remote controlled by the specific remote controller. Therefore, the user has to accommodate himself to the specific remote controller. In contrast to the prior art, the present invention remote control mechanism can allow the user to customize the function corresponding to each button. Even to the extent where the user can utilize other remote controllers. Therefore, the present invention can make the remote control mechanism of the electronic device/system more suitable to the user, and decrease the maintaining cost and time. In the present invention, each module can be respectively implemented by the hardware circuit or software/firmware. For example, in  FIG. 1 , the lookup module  22 , setup module  26 , the management module  24 , and the control module  16  of the electronic device  12  can be integrated in a same micro-controller, or a micro-controller executes different software or firmware programs to achieve the functions of different modules. In addition, the identifying module  40 , the decoding module  42 , the sampling module  46 , the management module  24 , the setup module  26 , the lookup module  22  and the control module  16  can be integrated in a micro-controller. Furthermore, except for the remote controller, the present invention can be utilized in other input peripherals such as keyboard/mouse. This allows the user to redefine the control mechanisms between these input peripherals and the electronic device.  
         [0053]     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.