Abstract:
A method for controlling an electronic device including at least one working mode includes receiving an input signal, determining whether the input signal is a switch signal, and determining whether the input signal is a function signal. When the input signal is the switch signal, the working mode of the electronic device will be changed into another working mode. When the input signal is the function signal, a function corresponding to the function signal will be executed.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a remote system for controlling an electronic device and a method thereof, and more specifically, to a remote system capable of controlling an electronic device at different working modes and a method thereof. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    With the development of new technology, electronic devices used widely in daily life, such as TV, a video recorder, and/or so on, have gained more and more functions. That is to say, control interfaces for controlling the electronic devices also have gained more and more complicated operations. A remote controller is the most representative example. Because the remote controller is used to control all functions of the corresponding electronic device, there are many function keys set on the remote controller. 
         [0005]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram of a remote controller  10  according to the prior art. The remote controller  10  comprises an input interface  12 , firmware  14 , a decoder  16 , and a wireless module  18 . The input interface  12  comprises a plurality of function keys for generating a function signal corresponding to a function key pressed by a user. The firmware  14  is coupled to the decoder  16  for initializing the decoder  16 . The decoder  16  is coupled to the input interface  12  for receiving and decompiling the function signal generated by the input interface  12 , and for controlling the wireless module  18  to transmit a wireless signal corresponding to the function signal to an electronic device  20  after the function signal has been decompiled by the decoder  16 . When the electronic device  20  receives the wireless signal, the electronic device  20  will execute a function corresponding to the function signal, such as channel switching, volume adjusting, and so on, after decompiling the wireless signal to the function signal. In such a manner, each function key on the input interface  12  can only correspond to a function. That is to say, a relation between the function key and the function is one-to-one. However, the one-to-one relation between the function key and the function results in numerous function keys being set on the remote controller  10 . Therefore, not only are the operations of the remote controller  10  difficult, but also the size of the remote controller  10  can not be reduced because of the numerous keys. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention discloses a method for controlling an electronic device having at least one working mode comprising receiving an input signal, determining whether the input signal is a switch signal, wherein the working mode of the electronic device will be changed when the input signal is the switch signal, and determining whether the input signal is a function signal, wherein a function corresponding to the function signal will be executed when the input signal is the function signal. 
         [0007]    The present invention further discloses a remote system comprising a remote controller comprising a mode-switching interface for generating a switch signal, a function-controlling interface for generating a function signal, and a first wireless module coupled to the mode-switching interface and the function-controlling interface, for transmitting wireless signals corresponding to the switch signal and the function signal, and an electronic device comprising a second wireless module for receiving the wireless signals corresponding to the switch signal and the function signal, a memory module comprising a key table for saving a relation between the switch signal and the function signal, and a processor for changing a working mode of the electronic device based on the key table and the switch signal or for executing a function of the working mode based on the key table and the function signal. 
         [0008]    The present invention further discloses a remote system comprising a remote controller comprising a mode-switching interface for generating a switch signal, a function-controlling interface for generating a function signal, and a memory module comprising a key table for saving a relation of the switch signal and the function signal, a first wireless module coupled to the mode-switching interface and the function-controlling interface, for transmitting a corresponding signal based on the key table, and an electronic device comprising a second wireless module for receiving the corresponding signal, and a processor for changing a working mode of the electronic device when the corresponding signal is the switch signal and for executing a function of the working mode when the corresponding signal is the function signal. 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 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram of a remote controller according to the prior art. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram of a remote system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a diagram of the remote system in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a method for controlling the electronic device having at least one working mode in the remote system in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a functional block diagram of a remote system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]    Please refer to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram of a remote system  50  according to a first embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 3  is a diagram of the remote system  50  according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to  FIG. 2  first. The remote system  50  comprises a remote controller  52  and an electronic device  54 . The remote controller  52  comprises a mode-switching interface  56  (please refer to  FIG. 3  at the same time), a function-controlling interface  58  (please refer to  FIG. 3  at the same time), and a first wireless module  60 . The mode-switching interface  56  is used for generating a switch signal. The function-controlling interface  58  is used for generating a function signal. The first wireless module  60  comprises firmware  62  and a first decoder  64 . The first wireless module  60  is coupled to the mode-switching interface  56  and the function-controlling interface  58  separately for transmitting wireless signals corresponding to the switch signal and the function signal. The firmware  62  is used for initializing the first decoder  64 . The first decoder  64  is used for decompiling the switch signal generated by the mode-switching interface  56  or the function signal generated by the function-controlling interface  58 . Then, the wireless module  60  transmits a wireless signal corresponding to the decompiled switch signal or the decompiled function signal to the electronic device  54 . 
         [0015]    Please refer to  FIG. 2  again. The electronic device  54  can be a notebook. The electronic device  54  comprises a second wireless module  70 , a second decoder  72 , a memory module  74 , and a processor  76 . The second wireless module  70  is used for receiving the wireless signal transmitted by the first wireless module  60 . The memory module  74  comprises a key table  78 . The key table  78  is used for saving a relation between the switch signal and the function signal. The processor  76  changes a working mode of the electronic device  54  based on the key table  78  if the wireless signal is decompiled to the switch signal by the second decoder  72 . For example, the processor  76  changes the working mode of the electronic device  54  from a video playback mode to a report playback mode. Likewise the processor  76  executes a function of the working mode based on the key table  78  if the wireless signal is decompiled to the function signal by the second decoder  72 . For example, the processor  76  can execute a forward function in the video playback mode, or a page-up function in the report playback mode. In addition, a number of function options is not limited by the key table  78 , but instead depends on the capacity of the memory module  74 . In such a manner, the present invention can utilize few function keys and the key table  78  to control more functions on the electronic device  54 . 
         [0016]    Please refer to  FIG. 3 . The remote controller  52  further comprises a case  66  and a display device  68  installed on the case  66 . The display device  68  can be an LED (light emitting diode) screen or an LCD (liquid crystal display) screen. The display device  68  is used for displaying information about the working mode or the function of the electronic device  54 . For example, when the working mode is a video playback mode, the display device  68  displays ‘video playback mode’. 
         [0017]    Please refer to  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a method for controlling the electronic device  54  having at least one working mode in the remote system  50  according to the present invention. The method comprises the following steps. 
         [0018]    Step  102 : The remote controller  52  receives an input signal when a user operates the mode-switching interface  56  or the function-controlling interface  58 ; 
         [0019]    Step  104 : Determine whether the input signal is a switch signal. If so, go to Step  108 . If not, go to Step  106 ; 
         [0020]    Step  106 : Determine whether the input signal is a function signal. If so, go to Step  110 . If not, go to Step  112 ; 
         [0021]    Step  108 : Change a working mode of the electronic device  54  according to the switch signal; 
         [0022]    Step  110 : Control the electronic device  54  to execute a function of the working mode according to the function signal; 
         [0023]    Step  112 : Wrong operation. Go back to Step  102 . 
         [0024]    The mode-switching interface  56  mentioned in Step  102  can be a mode-switching key. The function-controlling interface  58  mentioned in Step  102  can be a plurality of function-controlling keys having corresponding instruction icons respectively. Furthermore, a relation between the switch signal and the function signal can be predetermined by the key table  78  or be set by the user. The wrong operation mentioned in Step  112  means that the user operates the remote controller  52  incorrectly. For example, if the user presses the undefined function key, the remote controller  52  will be in a stand-by state and not generate a wireless signal to control the electronic device  54  until the user operates the remote controller  52  correctly. 
         [0025]    Please refer to  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  is a functional block diagram of a remote system  150  according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Differences between the remote system  50  and the remote system  150  are a position of the key table and a processing flow of the input signal. Components mentioned in both the first and the second embodiments represent components with similar functions. The remote system  150  comprises a remote controller  152  and an electronic device  154 . The remote controller  152  comprises firmware  156 , the mode-switching interface  56 , the function-controlling interface  58 , and a first wireless module  158 . The electronic device  154  comprises the second wireless module  70 , the second decoder  72 , and the processor  76 . The firmware  156  comprises a key table  160 . The first wireless module  158  comprises the first decoder  64  for receiving an input signal generated by the mode-switching interface  56  or the function-controlling interface  58  and decompiled by the first decoder  64 , and for transmitting a corresponding wireless signal to the electronic device  154  based on a relation between a switch signal and a control signal saved by the key table  160 . The second wireless module  70  is used for receiving the corresponding wireless signal transmitted from the wireless module  158 . After the wireless signal is decompiled by the second decoder  72 , the processor  76  controls the electronic device  154  based on the decompiled wireless signal. In other words, if the wireless signal is decompiled to a switch signal by the second decoder  72 , the processor  76  changes a working mode of the electronic device  154  according to the switch signal. If the wireless signal is decompiled to a function signal by the second decoder  72 , the processor  76  executes a function of the current working mode according to the function signal. 
         [0026]    The remote systems and the method thereof according to the present invention utilize relations between switch signals and function signals predetermined by a key table or set by a user to change the one-to-one relation between the function key and the function mentioned in the prior art into a one-to-many relation. In such a manner, both a number of keys set on a remote controller and the size of the remote controller can be reduced. 
         [0000]    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.