Abstract:
A microphone/speaker-contained wireless remote control system for an Internet device, comprising a system body and a remote controller, each of which includes a circuitry for performing a voice compression operation and modulating an analog audio signal into a digital signal. The remote controller further includes a speaker for transferring an audio signal from the Internet device to the user, and a microphone for receiving a user&#39;s voice. In the case where a singing room function is selected, the user&#39;s voice received by the microphone is processed in a digital manner. Radio frequency signals are transmitted and received between the remote controller and Internet device through antennas.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates in general to remote controllers for a personal computer and other Internet devices, and more particularly to a microphone/speaker-contained wireless remote control system for an Internet device and a method for controlling the operation of a remote controller therein, in which the remote controller is adapted to transmit and receive digital signals to/from the Internet device. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     With a growing interest in the Internet, the number of users connecting to the Internet through personal computers is recently on an explosively increasing trend. According to such a trend, television receiver manufacturers have developed television receivers capable of readily connecting viewers to the Internet therethrough. 
     As a result of the above developments, there have been marketed Internet television receiver products having an Internet phone function, a singing room function and other functions in addition to the original television receiver function. 
     However, in one such conventional Internet television receiver, because an Internet phone connected to the Internet television receiver is of either a wired type or wired/wireless type, the user has the trouble of moving to the Internet phone to speak over it. 
     On the other hand, in another conventional Internet television receiver, the user can connect a general telephone directly to the Internet television receiver, dial a telephone number using a remote controller and speak over it This technique does not utilize an Internet phone, but merely couples an existing telephone function with the Internet television receiver. For this reason, a separate telephone cable must be provided to allow the user to speak over the telephone while using an Internet function. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a microphone/speaker-contained wireless remote control system for an Internet device and a method for controlling the operation of a remote controller therein, in which the remote controller comprises a microphone, speaker and signal modulation/demodulation circuit, for transmitting and receiving digital signals to/from the Internet device, thereby allowing the user to make a wireless telephone conversation over the remote controller or sing using it as in a singing room, resulting in a convenience to the user. 
     In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by a provision of a microphone/speaker-contained wireless remote control system for an Internet device, comprising a system body and a remote controller, each of which includes a circuitry for performing a voice compression operation and modulating an analog audio signal into a digital signal. The remote controller further includes a speaker for transferring an audio signal from the Internet device to the user, and a microphone for receiving a user&#39;s voice. In the case where a singing room function is selected, the user&#39;s voice received by the microphone is processed in a digital manner. Radio frequency signals are transmitted and received between the remote controller and Internet device through antennas. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a view showing the appearance of a microphone/speaker-contained wireless remote control system for an Internet device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the microphone/speaker-contained wireless remote control system for the Internet device in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an alternative embodiment of the microphone/speaker-contained wireless remote control system for the Internet device in accordance with the present invention; and 
     FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the operation of a remote controller in the microphone/speaker-contained wireless remote control system for the Internet device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 is a view showing the appearance of a microphone/speaker-contained wireless remote control system for an Internet device in accordance with the present invention. As shown in this drawing, the wireless remote control system comprises a system body  3  including an infrared-ray receiver  37  for receiving an infrared-ray signal and a transmitting/receiving antenna  31  for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals, and a remote controller  1  including an infrared-ray transmitter  22  for transmitting the infrared-ray signal to the infrared-ray receiver  37  in the system body  3  to remotely control the system body  3 , a transmitting/receiving antenna  11  for transmitting and receiving the radio frequency signals to/from the transmitting/receiving antenna  31  in the system body  3 , a plurality of key buttons  23 ′ for applying various commands to the system body  3 , and a track ball  23 ″ acting as a mouse. 
     The system body  3  may preferably be a set-top box. 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the microphone/speaker-contained wireless remote control system for the Internet device in accordance with the present invention. As shown in this drawing, the body  3  of the wireless remote control system includes the transmitting/receiving antenna  31  which transmits and receives audio radio frequency signals to/from the transmitting/receiving antenna  11  in the remote controller  1 . A modulation/demodulation circuit  32  detects an audio signal from the audio radio frequency signal received at the transmitting/receiving antenna  31  and rectifies the detected audio signal. An amplifier  33  amplifies an output signal from the modulation/demodulation circuit  32  to a predetermined level. A vocoder  34  decodes a compressed signal from the amplifier  33 . A microcomputer  35  controls the entire operation of the system body  3  in response to an output signal from the vocoder  34 , an output signal from the infrared-ray receiver  37  and a signal inputted through a personal computer (PC) interface  36 . The PC interface  36  functions to perform a signal interfacing operation between the microcomputer  35  and a PC. The infrared-ray receiver  37  is adapted to receive an infrared-ray signal from the infrared-ray transmitter  22  in the remote controller  1 . 
     The remote controller  1  of the wireless remote control system includes a codec  16  for converting an analog audio signal from a microphone  21  into a digital signal or converting a digital signal from a vocoder  14  into an analog signal and outputting the converted analog signal to a speaker  20 . The vocoder  14  is adapted to voice-compress the digital signal from the codec  16  or decode a compressed signal from an amplifier  13 . The amplifier  13  functions to amplify an output signal from the vocoder  14  to a predetermined level. A modulation/demodulation circuit  12  converts the signal amplified by the amplifier  13  into the audio radio frequency signal to be received at the transmitting/receiving antenna  31  in the system body  3 . The transmitting/receiving antenna  11  is adapted to transmit and receive the audio radio frequency signals to/from the transmitting/receiving antenna  31 . A power supply controller  18  acts to control charging/discharging of a battery  19 . The key buttons  23 ′ and track ball  23 ″ are contained in a remote control key box  23  to generate electrical signals in response to user&#39;s operations. A microcomputer  15  is provided to convert an output signal from the remote control key box  23  into a digital code and output the converted digital code to the infrared-ray transmitter  22  through an amplifier  17 . 
     In the wireless remote control system with the above-mentioned construction, the remote controller  1  performs a general function or voice communication with the system body  3  on the basis of the following algorithm according to a user&#39;s selection. 
     FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the operation of the remote controller  1  in the microphone/speaker-contained wireless remote control system for the Internet device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, which is mainly executed by the microcomputer  15  in the remote controller  1 . 
     First, the system is powered on and connected to the Internet. The user may watch a television or search the Internet for desired information under such a condition. If the user wishes to utilize a singing room function or transmit his voice to the system body  3  using the remote controller  1  while watching the television or searching the Internet, then he will push a desired one of the key buttons  23 ′ on the remote controller  1 . 
     Subsequently, the microcomputer  15  in the remote controller  1  reads a key input signal from the pushed key button on the remote controller  1  at step S 1  and determines at step S 2  in response to the read key input signal whether the user has pushed a microphone ON key to transmit his voice to the system body  3  using the microphone  21  in the remote controller  1 . 
     If the microphone ON key has been pushed at the above step S 2 , then the microcomputer  15  determines at step S 31  whether the microphone ON key has again been pushed by the user. 
     In the case where it is determined at the above step S 31  that the microphone ON key has not again been pushed by the user, the microcomputer  15  turns on the microphone  21  and maintains its turned-on state, at step S 32 . However, if it is determined at the above step S 31  that the microphone ON key has again been pushed by the user, the microcomputer  15  recognizes that the user does not use the microphone  21  and then turns off the microphone  21  at step S 33 . 
     On the other hand, when the user wishes to receive an output signal from the system body  3  through the speaker  20  in the remote controller  1 , he will push a desired one of the key buttons  23 ′ on the remote controller  1 . 
     Then, at step S 41 , the microcomputer  15  in the remote controller  1  reads a key input signal from the pushed key button on the remote controller  1  and determines in response to the read key input signal whether the user has pushed a speaker ON key to receive an audio signal from the system body  3  through the speaker  20 . 
     If the speaker ON key has been pushed at the above step S 41 , the microcomputer  15  determines at step S 51  whether the speaker ON key has again been pushed by the user. 
     If it is determined at the above step S 51  that the speaker ON key has not again been pushed by the user, the microcomputer  15  turns on the speaker  20  and maintains its turned-on state, at step S 53 . To the contrary, if it is determined at the above step S 51  that the speaker ON key has again been pushed by the user, the microcomputer  15  recognizes that the user does not use the speaker  20  and then turns off the speaker  20  at step S 52 . 
     On the other hand, if the speaker ON key has not been pushed at the above step S 41  or after the above step S 52  or S 53  is performed, the microcomputer  15  determines at step S 61  whether a different key input signal has been generated. Upon determining at step S 61  that the different key input signal has been generated, the microcomputer  15  converts the generated key input signal into a digital code and outputs the converted digital code to an infrared-ray port at step S 62 . 
     At this time, the different key input signal may be a command that the remote controller  1  transmits to the infrared-ray receiver  37  in the system body  3  through the infrared-ray transmitter  22  to select a different function of the Internet device. 
     In accordance with the above-mentioned method, the wireless remote control system can convert a digital signal based on an Internet phone function installed in a personal computer or any other Internet device into an analog audio signal. As a result, the user can make a telephone conversation over the microphone  21  and speaker  20  of the remote controller  1  through wireless communication with the system body  3 . 
     Further, the microphone  21  of the remote controller  1  can be used as a wireless microphone for a computer associated function (for example, a singing room function). 
     Moreover, the user can listen to all audio signals from the system body  3  through the speaker  20  of the remote controller  1  anywhere. 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an alternative embodiment of the microphone/speaker-contained wireless remote control system for the Internet device in accordance with the present invention. As shown in this drawing, the wireless remote control system comprises a system body  300  and a remote controller  100  similarly to the first embodiment. The system body  300  includes a central processing unit  304  for controlling the entire operation of the Internet device, an infrared-ray receiver  308  for receiving an infrared-ray signal, an infrared-ray module  307  for converting the infrared-ray signal received by the infrared-ray receiver  308  into an electrical signal, a bus controller  305  for smoothly controlling a system bus, a local area network (LAN) module  306  for performing data communication based on an Internet communication protocol, a sound processor  303  for converting an input digital signal into an audio signal, and a radio frequency (RF) module  302  for converting an electrical signal from the sound processor  303  into an RF signal or an RF signal received at a transmitting/receiving antenna  301  into the digital signal to the sound processor  303 . 
     The remote controller  100  includes a microcomputer  106  for controlling the entire operation of the remote controller  100 , a key matrix unit  107  for combining input key signals, an infrared-ray module  108  for converting a control signal from the microcomputer  106  into the infrared-ray signal to be received by the infrared-ray receiver  308  in the system body  300 , an infrared-ray transmitter  109  for transmitting the infrared-ray signal from the infrared-ray module  108  to the infrared-ray receiver  308 , a microphone  105  for converting a user&#39;s voice into an electrical signal, a speaker  104  for converting an electrical signal into a sound, an amplifier  103  for amplifying the electrical signal to the speaker  104  or from the microphone  105  to a predetermined level, and an RF module  102  for converting an electrical signal from the amplifier  103  into an RF signal or an RF signal received at a transmitting/receiving antenna  101  into an electrical signal. 
     The operation of the second embodiment is performed as shown in FIG. 4 in the same manner as that of the first embodiment. 
     As apparent from the above description, a remote controller for an Internet device comprises a microphone, speaker and audio transmission/reception circuit, for transmitting and receiving audio signals to/from the Internet device, thereby allowing the user to make a telephone conversation over the remote controller conveniently without using a separate telephone line. Therefore, the present invention is very useful to the industry of manufacturing remote controllers for a variety of Internet devices. 
     Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.