Abstract:
This invention allows for an electronic doll-house to be constructed at a reasonable cost that provides the ability to identify the location of a number of figures that a child may manipulate in a play space. By use of IR communications and the characteristics of such a communications link, a doll-house is provided that combines the ability to be built at a relatively low cost with the advantages of not requiring physical contacts, special purpose RFID chips and transceiving arrangements, or other expensive sensing methods. In brief, the invention makes use of an IR transmitter that sends a unique ID code upon user activation which allows for power savings, the elimination of contact points or RF components, the localization of the signal to a room in a doll-house, and by use of reflecting paths, allows relative independence of orientation. These capabilities are that of a low cost system that allows a system controller to locate an object within a doll-house and consequently allow for an improved location and/or player object specific game play.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention relates generally to the field of toys. Particularly, the invention relates to doll-houses, dolls and playsets therefor. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Doll-houses have a long history and are well known. Historically they have been passive structures into which a user inserts toy furniture and toy doll figures in order to play house. That is, other than a child&#39;s imagination, there was no stimulus from a passive doll-house to keep a child with a limited attention span interested in playing house. 
   Electronics, if any were added to a doll-house, typically were limited to the possible provision of sound effects and electric lighting. The sound effects and electric lighting were typically limited in that they were fixed and did not respond to how a young user or child would play with a doll-house and its characters. For example, a child may move a character from one room to another. A typical electronic toy doll-house would not respond to such a change. Neither the sound effects nor the electric lighting were responsive to changes made by a child or user. 
   Doll-houses tend to have a complex shape. That is, they tend to have many rooms and many levels or floors. This complexity can make it uneconomical to try and incorporate wired electronics throughout multiple levels and multiple rooms of an electronic doll-house design. Moreover, there is a significant amount of area in a typical sized doll-house in which to mount wired type electronics such as wired switches, wired sensors, electrical connectors, and wired output devices. Additionally, multiple printed circuit boards may need to be used throughout such a wired electronic doll-house. If more than one room is provided, each room may require such wired circuitry increasing the number of electrical components. Using such wired circuitry throughout an electronic doll-house design is costly and deters an electronic doll-house from being sold at an affordable price. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a side view of a doll-house incorporating the wireless interactivity of the invention. 
       FIG. 2  is perspective view of the doll-house of  FIG. 1  illustrating a clam shell design of one embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 3  is a front view of an open design of another embodiment of the invention including exemplary rooms, furniture, and characters that may be used in embodiments of the invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating the wireless interactivity between toy characters/objects and the wireless interactive doll-house. 
       FIG. 5A  is a cutaway view of an embodiment of a toy character/object with a wireless transmitter. 
       FIG. 5B  is a cutaway view of another embodiment of a toy character/object with a wireless transmitter positioned different from that of FIG.  5 A. 
       FIG. 6  is a magnified cross sectional view of a portion of FIG.  4 . 
       FIG. 7  is a magnified perspective view of another portion of FIG.  4 . 
       FIG. 8  illustrates another embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 9  illustrates another embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 10A  illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment of a wireless receiver with an integrated optical blinder for use with the embodiment of the interactive wireless doll-house of FIG.  9 . 
       FIG. 10B  is a side view of the wireless receiver illustrated in FIG.  10 A. 
       FIG. 10C  is a top view of the wireless receiver illustrated in FIG.  10 A. 
       FIG. 10D  is a cross sectional side view of another embodiment of a wireless receiver with integrated optical blinder for use with the embodiment of the interactive wireless doll-house of FIG.  9 . 
       FIG. 10E  is a top view of the lens with integrated optical blinder of the wireless receiver illustrated in FIG.  10 D. 
       FIG. 11A  illustrates an electrical schematic for an embodiment of a toy character/object. 
       FIG. 11B  illustrates an electrical schematic for another embodiment of a toy character/object. 
       FIGS. 12-1  and  12 - 2  illustrate an electrical schematic for an embodiment of a wireless interactive doll-house. 
       FIG. 13  illustrates a table of exemplary character identification values and exemplary repetition rates for exemplary toy characters/objects. 
       FIG. 14  illustrates an exemplary waveform diagram generated by an exemplary toy character/object for wireless transmission to a wireless interactive doll-house. 
       FIG. 15  illustrates an exemplary waveform diagram received by a wireless interactive doll-house corresponding to the wireless transmission of the exemplary waveform diagram of FIG.  14 . 
       FIG. 16A  illustrates a flow chart diagram of an exemplary room scanning routine executed by the doll-house processor. 
       FIGS. 16B-1  and  16 B- 2  illustrate a flow chart diagram of an exemplary room processing routine executed by the doll-house processor. 
   

   Like reference numbers and designations in the drawings indicate like elements providing similar functionality. 
   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   In the following detailed description of the invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be obvious to one skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances well known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the invention. 
   The invention may be practiced in a number of ways. In the preferred embodiment, the wireless interactive doll-house recognizes the individual toy objects and/or characters by receiving an infrared (IR) transmission of an IR light signal. The wireless dolls, toy characters, and/or toy objects transmit an IR signal to be detected by such an IR detector located in the doll-house. This detector may be located in the upper corner of each room of the doll-house. Alternatively, the IR detector may be located outside of the doll-house if its to be centrally located in an open space play area. By proper choice of materials, the wireless dolls, wireless toy characters, and/or wireless toy objects may have the IR emitter (or IR transmitter) in a hidden location inside the body thereof. Some plastics and plastic pigments are opaque to visible light while at the same time are transparent to other non-visible wavelengths of radiant energy, such as infrared (IR) signals. In other cases, plastics and pigments may be opaque to both visible light and other non-visible wavelengths, such as infrared. Opaque means that it exhibits opacity, the ability to block or obstruct the passage of radiant energy. Thus, a wireless doll, toy character, and/or object can be transparent to an IR light signal and have a natural toy look—non-electronic looking—because of the plastics and plastic pigments being opaque or reflective of visible light and transparent to infrared. Furthermore with the IR emitter mounted inside the body of wireless dolls, toy characters, and/or toy objects, no opening is needed in the wireless dolls, toy characters, and/or toy objects that might otherwise collect dirt, liquids or other debris. The wireless interactive doll-house may include one host system including a processor which operates a software program. Thus the wireless interactive doll-house may be programmed such that each IR receiver (or IR sensor) is scanned to detect the proper location (i.e., the specific rooms of the doll-house) of the dolls, toy characters, and toy objects in the doll-house. Knowing the room location of each within the doll-house, allows sound effects, voices and other elements (such as lighting) to be generated in response to each player&#39;s specific actions during game playing. The result is in an enhanced interactive experience or game play between a young user and the doll-house. 
   The present invention provides an improved doll-house that allows a young user or child to experience an enhanced level of interactive game play at a reasonable cost. The present invention incorporates identification devices in each toy character (e.g., a doll) and toy object (e.g., a piece of furniture) and provides wireless connectivity to the doll-house to reduce the amount of wiring and electrical components used therein. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a wireless interactive doll-house  100 A incorporating the wireless components of the present invention is illustrated. Doll-house  100 A is a clam shell or folding doll house design that includes a first doll-house half  102 A and a second doll-house half  102 B. Doll-house  100 A further includes a toy roof  103 , a latch  104 , a pivot pin  105 , a catch  106 , a window  108 , and a door  110 . The toy roof  103 , windows  108 , and door  110  are toy equivalents of similar elements commonly found in actual houses. The latch  104 , the pivot pin  105 , and the catch  106  are for holding the first doll-house half  102 A and the second doll-house half  102 B of the doll-house  100 A in a closed configuration. To generate sounds in response to wireless interactivity, the doll-house  100 A includes at least one speaker such as speaker  114 L and/or speaker  114 R hidden from view by a left speaker grill  112 L and a right speaker grill  112 R, respectively. To open the doll-house  100 A, the latch  104  may be pivoted around the pivot pin  105  and released from the catch  106 . In this manner, the first doll-house half  102 A and the second doll-house half  102 B may be separated at from each other at one end of the doll-house  100 A. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the wireless interactive doll-house  100 A incorporating the wireless interactivity of the present invention is illustrated in an open position. To support the wireless interactivity of the present invention, the doll-house  100 A includes one or more optical blinders  200  in each floor. At least one optical blinder  200  is found in each room  203  of the doll house  100 A. A typical room in a doll house is a scaled room that may model a room in a real house. A doll house room typically has an open face in order to allow a user to move objects, including wireless toy characters, in and out of the room during doll-house play. 
   To allow the doll-house  100 A to open into a first half doll-house  102 A and a second doll-house half  102 B, one or more hinges  202  are included at one end and a latch  104 , pivot pin  105 , and a catch  106  at an opposite end. Inside the doll-house  100 A are one or more interior walls  204 I, one or more exterior walls  204 E, one or more interior doors  205 , one or more floors  206 , and one or more ceilings  208 . As will be discussed further below, each optical blinder  200  hides a wireless detector/receiver which is used to detect a wireless transmission from a wireless doll, wireless toy character, or wireless toy object that may be placed in one of the one or more rooms  203  of an wireless interactive doll house. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a wireless interactive doll-house  100 B having an open design and incorporating the wireless components of the present invention is illustrated. The doll-house  100 B has a physical layout that includes one or more floors  206 , one or more ceilings  208 , one or more interior walls  204 I, and one or more exterior walls  204 E to form one or more rooms  203 . The doll-house  100 B may further include a roof  103 , one or more windows  108 , one or more exterior doors  110 , and one or more interior doors  205 . Placed inside the one or more rooms  203  of the doll-house  100 B are toy characters or dolls  300  and objects  304  to form a wireless interactive doll-house system or playset. Exemplary dolls or toy characters  300  may be a family  302  including members such as a mother  300 A, a father  300 B, and one or more children  300 C, such as a daughter (e.g., Suzy) or a son (e.g., Johnny). Exemplary dolls or toy characters may include friends, other family relatives, co-workers or other types of dolls or toy persons. Alternatively and/or in addition to, the doll or toy characters  300  may be toy objects  304  such as a birthday cake, a pieces of furniture  304 A, musical instruments, appliances (e.g., television  304 B), tools, a family pet (e.g., dog and/or cat  304 C), or any other toy object which may be placed within a doll house or other toy structure. The toy objects  304  may or may not wirelessly interact with the doll house in alternate embodiments. 
   To generate sound effects in response to the wireless interactivity between one or more dolls, toy characters or toy objects and the doll-house, the doll-house  100 B includes a speaker  114  near the roofline hidden from view by a speaker grill  112 . The sound effects may be a simulated dialogue between two characters in the same room. Alternatively, the sound effects may be sounds or noises that are typically made by the real object such as a television program on a television or a vacuum cleaner motor noise of a vacuum cleaner for example. The doll-house  100 B may also include visual lighting effects that are responsive to the wireless interactivity between the toy characters and/or toy objects and the doll-house. For example, the lights may be dimmed in a room when a birthday cake is placed in a room so that lighting on a cake may simulate birthday candles. Alternatively, a wireless toy character may include a flashlight that turns on to light a room in response to a simulated time of day (e.g., night time). Exterior and interior lighting may be provided responsive to a simulated time of day (e.g., night time). Alternatively, the doll house may instead be a fire station and the visual effects may be a red flashing light to indicate a fire and that the firemen need to leave the fire station to attend the fire, for example. 
   To provide the wireless interactivity, the toy characters  300  and objects  304  include a wireless transmitter to transmit a signal to the one or more wireless receivers in the doll house  100 B. In the case of IR wireless signals, each room may include a wireless receiver hidden by an optical blinder  200 . In this case, the roof  103 , the one or more windows  108 , the one or more exterior doors  110 , the one or more interior doors  205 , the one or more floors  206 , the one or more ceilings  208 , the one or more interior walls  204 I, and the one or more exterior walls  204 E forming the one or more rooms  203  may be made opaque (i.e., not transparent) to IR wireless light signals so that each room can be scanned separately. The optical blinder  200  in each room may be made opaque (i.e., not transparent) to IR wireless light signals to limit a wireless receiving area to a room inside the doll house and exclude areas outside. 
   When the toy characters  300  and/or objects  304  are moved from outside the doll-house  100 B into a room inside the doll-house  100 B, or are moved from room to room within the doll-house, they wirelessly interact with the doll-house  100 B. This wireless interaction typically causes the doll house to generate a response thereto referred to as a programmed response. The programmed response may be a visual effect (e.g., light fixture turning on and off), a sound effect (e.g., a radio station playing when a radio is moved into a room, or a scripted conversation or dialogue between characters takes place), or a motion effect (e.g., a fan starts turning to cool a room). 
   Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a wireless interactive doll-house  100 C is illustrated with one or more toy characters or toy objects  400  including a wireless transmitter to form an exemplary wireless interactive doll house system. In  FIG. 4 , the toy characters  300  and toy objects  304  previously described with respect to  FIG. 3  are collectively referred to here as wireless toy characters  400 . The wireless interactive doll house  100 C is divided up into a plurality of rooms  203 A- 203 F. Hidden behind the optical blinders  200  in each room  203 A- 203 F (generally referred to as room or rooms  203 ), are a wireless receiver  401 . In the embodiment of the doll house  100 C of  FIG. 4 , the IR sensors  401  are located in the top corner of each room  203 . In alternate embodiments, the IR sensors  401  may be located in different positions in the room such as a floor or as part of a room fixture. Each of the wireless toy characters  400  includes a wireless transmitter  404  to transmit a wireless signal to a wireless receiver  401 . As discussed previously and further below, in the preferred embodiment the wireless transmitter  404  is an infrared transmitter and the wireless receiver  401  is a infrared receiver. Each wireless toy character  400  further includes transmit electronics  405 . The doll-house  100 C includes one or more interior walls  204 I, one or more exterior walls  204 E one or more floors  206 , and one or more ceilings  208 , and may include other elements of a doll house. 
   As previously discussed, the roof  103 , the one or more windows  108 , the one or more exterior doors  110 , the one or more interior doors  205 , the one or more floors  206 , the one or more ceilings  208 , the one or more interior walls  204 I, and the one or more exterior walls  204 E forming the one or more rooms  203  of the doll house may be made opaque (i.e., not transparent) to IR wireless light signals so that each room  203 A- 203 F may be scanned separately. With IR sensors located within the body of a room  203 , they are shielded from the emissions generated in any of the other rooms that may have wireless toy characters or toy objects in them. The optical blinder  200  in each room may be made opaque (i.e., not transparent) to IR wireless light signals to limit a wireless receiving area to a room inside the doll house and exclude areas outside. The optical blinders can be used around the IR detectors  401  to block viewing of areas that are not of interest, such as any IR signal radiating from outside the doll house and the outside environment. Optical blinding of the IR sensors  401  may be used to prevent reflections from people or objects outside of the doll house from being seen by the sensors. Thus, each of the wireless receivers  401  and optical blinders  200  in each room  203 A- 203 F establishes a receiver boundary  402 A- 402 E. In the embodiment of the doll-house  100 C, each of the optical blinders  200  establishes a reception angle θ R  (“theta R”) for each of the wireless receivers  401  and a reception area  403 A- 403 E (generally referred to as “reception area  403 ”) for the respective receiver boundary  402 A- 402 E (generally referred to as “receiver boundary  402 ”). 
   As previously discussed, each of the wireless toy characters  400  includes a wireless transmitter  404  to transmit a wireless signal to a wireless receiver  401 . Each wireless transmitter  404  establishes an emission or transmission angle θ T  (“theta T”) of the wireless toy character  400 . By the use of a wide emission angle light emitting diode (LED) in the wireless doll, wireless toy character or wireless toy object, such as a plus or minus (+/−) seventy degrees for θ T , and a wide reception angle IR receiver in the doll house in combination with any optical blinding, such as plus or minus (+/−) fifty degrees for θ R , when combined with the ability of IR light to bounce within the confines of a room, can insure that a wireless doll, wireless toy character, or wireless toy object in a room may be detected by the wireless receiver, detector or sensor  401 . In contrast a wireless toy character outside of a reception area  403  defined by the receiver boundary  402 , such as wireless toy character  400 ′ in  FIG. 4 , would not be detected by the wireless receiver, detector, or sensor  401 . 
   Doll-house  100 C additionally includes the one or more hinges  202  between the first doll-house half  102 A and the second doll-house half  102 B of the doll-house  100 C. The left speaker  112 L and/or right speaker  112 R may be hidden from view by a speaker grill  114 L and speaker grill  114 R, respectively. Otherwise, the speakers may be hidden from view under the flooring  206 . In which case, the doll-house  100 C may include a left speaker  114 L′ in a floor  206 ′ and/or a right speaker  114 R′ in a floor  206 ″. With both left and right speakers, stereo sound effects may be generated by the doll house. 
   In  FIG. 4 , the doll-house  100 C further includes, as may other embodiments, one or more switches  410  to control the interactivity between the doll-house  100 C and the one or more wireless toy characters  400 . The one or more switches  410  may be part of a printed circuit board located under the floor  206 ″ and hidden from view. The printed circuit board includes electronic circuitry (referred to as “doll house electronics”) to monitor each of the IR detectors  401  located in each room  203 . As discussed previously, the doll house electronics may include a processor (i.e., a microcontroller) executing a software program (referred to as the “doll house software”). If a valid signal is detected by the doll house electronics, the doll house software processes the signal and takes whatever action is specified by the programming of the microcontroller. Specific locations of the wireless toy characters  400  within the wireless interactive doll house may automatically generate an audio script of sound effects which is to be played by the doll house through the speakers. For example, if the toy characters representing mother and daughter are both located in a doll house room such as a toy kitchen, the doll house may play one of a number of scripts specific to mother and daughter being in the kitchen together. Alternatively the doll house can be manually commanded to play a script based on the locations of the dolls in the wireless interactive doll house by a user pressing one of the switches  410 , such as a play button or switch. 
   Referring now to  FIGS. 5A-5B , cutaway views of embodiments a wireless toy character  400 A- 400 B are illustrated.  FIGS. 5A-5B  illustrate an exemplary physical arrangement of components within a wireless toy character  400 . The wireless toy character  400 A- 400 B has an opaque body, housing or shell  502  that may reflect visible light. The opaque body, housing or shell  502  may be shaped as a toy character such as a mother, father, sister, brother, man, woman, or child. Alternatively, the opaque body, housing or shell  502  may be shaped as an object such as a dog, furniture, pie, cake, or some other type of object. 
   The wireless toy character  400 A further includes an internal infrared (IR) light emitting diode (LED)  404 A and the transmit electronic assembly  405  which may be inside and hidden from view by the opaque body, housing, or shell  502 . As discussed previously, the opaque body, housing, or shell  502  is transparent to the wavelength or frequency of the wireless signal and opaque to visible light in one embodiment. The wireless transmitter  404 A is mounted internal to wireless toy character  404 A and has an emission angle of θ T . The type of wireless transmitter  404 A may be selected to provide a desired angle of emission θ T . In one embodiment, the wireless transmitter  404 A is an infrared light emitting diode (LED) and has a wide emission angle of θ T , such as plus or minus (+/−) seventy degrees. In another embodiment, the body, housing, or shell  502  may not be transparent to the wireless signal, but instead have an opening and the wireless transmitter may be configured therein so that the wireless signal need not pass through a body, housing, or shell  502  but through the opening. 
   Referring to  FIG. 5B , the wireless transmitter  404 B is mounted in the wireless toy character  400 B different from wireless transmitter  404 A mounting in wireless toy character  400 A of FIG.  5 A. Other elements of the wireless toy character  400 B using similar reference numbers are similar to the wireless toy character  400 A of FIG.  5 A. The wireless transmitter  404 B is mounted so that an emission end is near an opening  512  in the body, housing, or shell  502  of the wireless toy character  400 B. The wireless transmitter  404 B has an emission angle of θ T ′ through the opening  512 . The size of the opening  512  and the type of wireless transmitter  404 B may be selected to provide a desired angle of emission θ T ′. The type of wireless transmitter  404 A may be selected to provide a desired angle of emission θ T . 
   The transmit electronic assembly  405  in each of the wireless toy characters  400 , includes a printed circuit board  504 , a push button switch  505  and/or a jiggle switch  506 , transmit electronics  507 , and one or more batteries  508 . The IR LED  404 A may be directly coupled to the printed circuit board  504  or indirectly coupled to the PCB  504  (i.e., electrically coupled) by one or more wires  510  as shown. A wireless toy character  400  may further include one or more light bulbs or light emitting diodes  513  that emit at visible wavelengths to add a lighting effect to the toy character  400  such as a flashlight  514  within a dark room, for example. In another case, the one or more light emitting diodes  513  that emit at visible wavelengths may be used to simulate birthday candles of a birthday cake. 
   In one embodiment, the wireless toy characters  400  may be configured to wirelessly transmit and emit an identification (ID) signal repetitively in a continuous manner after being powered on by a power switch. However, this approach does not conserve power. In another embodiment, the wireless transmission and emission of an identification (ID) signal is triggered and not continuously emitted until the power is turned off. The wireless transmission may be triggered by a motion of the wireless toy character or object  400  or by the user pressing a button which is included as a part of the wireless toy character  400 . This approach allows for more control by the player and for the conservation of battery power since the wireless ID emission need only be transmitted one or more times over a fixed period of time after the trigger and not repeatedly transmitted in a continuous approach while power is supplied to the wireless toy character  400 . In  FIG. 5A , the wireless toy character  400 A may include a button switch  505  and/or a jiggle switch  506 . The jiggle switch  506  implements the triggering of the wireless transmission and emission of an identification (ID) signal by a motion of the wireless toy character or object  400 A. The button switch  505  implements the triggering of the wireless transmission and emission of an identification (ID) signal by the user pressing a button. The pressing of the button for the control of the characters or objects can be a function of the game play or activity of a user. 
   As discussed previously, each wireless toy character or object  400  emits an identification (ID) signal so that it can be sensed by a wireless receiver which is apart of the doll house  100 . In the preferred embodiment, the ID signal is repeated one or more times over a fixed period of time upon the triggering event (e.g., movement or pushed button). The emitted ID signal includes a data packet including a field or ID code that identifies the toy character or object  400  to the doll house  100 . The ID code embedded in the data packet may be unique so that each wireless toy character or object  400  can be uniquely identified in one embodiment. In another embodiment, the same or another ID code may be common to more than one wireless toy character  400  to connote a common characteristic among them. The repetitive transmission of the data packet with the ID code may be chosen so that (1) the ID signal is repeated a sufficient number of times so that it will be received and the wireless toy character  400  identified during a scan of the various rooms in the doll house  100  by the controller; and (2) the rate of repetition of the ID signal is different across wireless toy characters or objects  400  to further distinguish from each. With differing repetition rates of the ID signal, even if two buttons on two wireless toy characters  400  are pressed by a user at the same time to trigger the ID signal emission, the differing repetition rates will insure that a clear, non overlapped transmission will be sent by each within a room. 
   Referring momentarily to  FIG. 13 , an exemplary table of ID data packets  1302  and repetition rates  1304  for different wireless toy characters  400 . The repetition rates  1304  differ from each wireless toy character  400  as does the ID data packet  1302 . For example consider the wireless toy character  400  as a birthday cake, the ID data packet is 00101 which is repeated over a fixed period of time at the rate of three cycles per second (3.0 cycles/sec.). Additional data fields may be added so that further information may be transmitted about each of the wireless toy characters  400 . 
   Referring now to  FIG. 6 , a magnified cross sectional view of a portion of  FIG. 4  illustrates the location of doll house electronics associated with the wireless interactive doll house  100 C. The doll house electronics of the doll house  100 C is located under the floor  206 ″. The doll house electronics includes a printed circuit board  600  having a controller  601 . The printed circuit board  600  may be referred to herein as a doll house printed circuit board. The controller  601  may be a microprocessor or microcomputer which may include a programmable memory to store control or program code for operation of the wireless interactive doll house  100 C. Furthermore, the printed circuit board  600  may include other circuits  602  such as an external memory, digital logic, analog amplifiers, transistors, resistors, capacitors, and/or inductors for operation of the wireless interactive doll house  100 C. A base  603  of the doll house  100 C may include a battery door  604  that opens to obtain access to a battery compartment  605  of the doll house  100 C and one or more batteries  608  therein. Otherwise, the doll house  100 C may be provided with a power supply converter that plugs into a wall plug and an alternating current power supply which is provided by the power companies, such as 110v AC in the United States, in order to provide a DC power supply to the electronic components of the doll house printed circuit board  600 . The base may further provide supports and extrusions that support and hold the printed circuit board  600  in place within the doll house  100 C. The doll house electronics further includes the one or more switches  410 . The one or more switches  410  may include an ON/OFF power switch  610 , a mode switch  611 , a speak switch  612 , and a volume switch  613 . The speak switch  612  when manually selected commands the doll house to generate the programmed response in response to the location of the wireless toy characters therein. The mode switch  611  toggles the doll-house between operating in an automatic mode and a manual mode. In automatic mode, the programmed response is automatically generated (e.g., scripts of dialogue are automatically played through the speaker) based on location of the dolls within the doll house. In a manual mode, a user has to press the speak switch  612  in order for the doll house to generate the programmed response. The doll house electronics may further include the speaker  114  or right speaker  114 R′ coupled to the printed circuit board  600 . Alternatively, a wire or cable may be used to electrically couple the printed circuit board  600  to a remote speaker  114  or pair of speakers  114 L and  114 R as illustrated in FIG.  4 . In any case, the doll house electronics generate the programmed response such as sound signals which are coupled to the speaker(s)  114  for sound effects which are responsive to the interaction between the wireless toy characters  400  and the doll house  100 C. 
   In  FIG. 6 , one or more wires or cables  620  couple between the doll house printed circuit board  600  and the one or more wireless receivers  401  of the doll house to connect them together. In a preferred embodiment, the one or more wires or cables  620  are electrical wires or cables strung along the one or more hinges  202  between the halves  102 A and  102 B to electrically connect the doll house printed circuit board  600  and the one or more wireless receivers  401  of the doll house together. In another embodiment, the one or more wires or cables  620  may be hidden from view behind a hollow wall and routed between the doll house printed circuit board  600  and the one or more wireless receivers  401  in each room of each floor. In yet another embodiment, the one or more wires or cables  620  are fiber optic cables or light pipes to direct the wireless transmission from each room to a wireless receiver mounted on the printed circuit board  600 . In yet another embodiment, the wireless receivers  401  may each be self powered and include an RF wireless transmitter to transmit the information to a wireless receiver mounted to the printed circuit board  600 . The wireless transmitter and receiver may be designed to operate using the Bluetooth specification, for example. 
   To expand the functionality of the doll house  100 C and/or to update/change the program code for the controller  601 , the doll house printed circuit board  600  may include a connector  615  which receives a connection of an external memory card  616 . The external memory card  616  may be received by the doll house  100 C through a slot  617  in an external wall or base of the doll house. The external memory card  616  includes the connection  618  and a memory device  619 . The memory device  619  may have expansion code of new scripts of sound effects associated with newly introduced wireless toy characters  400 . Alternatively, the memory device  619  may have update code that updates the functionality of the existing doll house and wireless toy characters  400  or repairs bugs in the prior code. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 7 , a magnified perspective view of a portion of  FIG. 4  illustrates the wireless receivers  401  located behind the optical blinders  200  in greater detail. In this embodiment, the optical blinder  200  is at a corner of each room and forms the wireless receiver boundary  402  and to establish the reception area  403  of the respective room  203 . The optical blinder  200  may also be referred to herein as a corner optical blinder. The one or more wires or cables  620  couple between the doll house printed circuit board  600  and the one or more wireless receivers  401 . In one embodiment, an electrical couple is established by the one or more wires or cables  620 . The one or more hinges  202  hold the first half and the second half of the doll house  100 C rotatably coupled together. The one or more wires or cables  620  can route along the inside portion of the wall or along the one or more hinges  202  of the doll house  100 C. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 8 , an interactive wireless doll house  100 D is illustrated as another embodiment of the invention. Instead of the corner optical blinders  200  of  FIG. 4 , the interactive wireless doll house  100 D has optical blinders  200 ′ of a different shape or dimensions that extend over the length of a room. The optical blinders  200 ′ may be an extrusion from the ceiling at the edge of the room that has the appearance of a valance or a raised curtain. The optical blinders  200 ′ may also be referred to herein as valance optical blinders  200 ′. The valance optical blinders  200 ′ conceal the wireless receivers  401  from view. The valance optical blinders  200 ′ are also opaque to the wireless signal frequency and wavelength to form the receiver boundaries  402 A′,  402 B′, and  402 C′; reception angles; and reception areas  403 A′,  403 B′, and  403 C′ in rooms  203 A′,  203 B′ and  203 C′, respectively. In alternate embodiments, the type of optical blinders used in an interactive wireless doll house may be mixed. For example, corner optical blinders  200  may be used in some rooms of a doll house while the valance optical blinders  200 ′ may be used other rooms. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 9 , an interactive wireless doll house  100 E is illustrated as another embodiment of the invention. Instead of the corner optical blinders  200  of  FIG. 4  or the valance optical blinders  200 ′ of  FIG. 8 , the interactive wireless doll house  100 E incorporates wireless receivers  401 ′ with blinders. The blinders are part of the optical elements of the wireless receivers  401 ′. The wireless receivers  401 ′ form the receiver boundaries  402 A″,  402 B″, and  402 C″; reception angles; and reception areas  403 A″,  403 B″, and  403 C″ in rooms  203 A″,  203 B″ and  203 C″, respectively. In order to do so, the wireless receivers  401 ′ include integrated optical blinders. 
   Referring now to  FIGS. 10A-10C , an embodiment of a wireless receiver  401 A′ for use as the wireless receivers  401 ′ of the doll house  100 E with the integrated optical blinders is illustrated. The wireless receiver  401 A′ includes a housing or body  1000 A, a lens  1001 A, and an optical blinder  1002 A. The optical blinder  1002 A is integrated into the wireless receiver so that the corner optical blinders or valance optical blinders need not be used in rooms of the doll house. As with the wireless receivers  401 , the mounting angle in the room is also important to properly form the receiver boundaries  402  and the reception areas  403  in each room  203 . The optical blinder  1002 A is opaque to the wireless signal frequency or wavelength so that a signal is received over a reduced area and angle. The optical blinder  1002 A alters the normal reception angle theta R (“θ R ”) over a certain portion of a normal reception cone area. In the doll house, it is the portion nearest the open face of the doll house that is preferably altered by the optical blinder. 
   In  FIG. 10B , an infrared light emitting diode  1003 A is mounted behind the lens  1002 A to a header  1004 A. The lens  1002 A is a semi-spherical lens having a round shape. The optical blinder  1002 A covers over portion of the lens  1002 A to alter the reception angle, theta R. Because the lens  1002 A is semi-spherical and has a round shape, the optical blinder  1002 A attached to a portion thereof is a sliver of the semi-sphere or arc shaped. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 10C , the optical blinder  1002 A alters a normal reception angle θ RN  (“theta sub RN”) with respect to a normal optical axis  1010  with the emitter  1003 A. The optical blinder  1002 A alters the normal reception angle θ RN  to a blinder reception angle θ RB  (“theta sub RB”) on one side. The normal reception angle, θ RN , is greater than the blinder reception angle, θ RB . The blinder reception angle, θ RB , moves a reception boundary in towards the normal  1010  and reduces the reception area so that it encompasses a room of the doll house and avoids receiving signals in an area outside the doll house. This allows the interactive wireless doll house to be designed without the corner or valance type of optical blinders  200  and  200 ′ in each room. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 10D , a wireless receiver  401 B′ is illustrated including an integrated optical blinder. The wireless receiver  401 B′ includes a shell or housing  100 B, a lens  1001 B, an optical blinder  1002 B, and an emitter device  1003 B coupled to a header  1004 B. Lens  1001 B is a flat lens. The optical blinder  1002 B is flat as well and covers over a portion of the flat lens. The optical blinder  1002 B is opaque to the wireless signal frequency or wavelength so that a signal is received over a reduced area and angle. The optical blinder  1002 A alters a normal reception angle θ RN  (“theta sub RN”) with respect to a normal optical axis  1010  with the emitter  1003 B. The optical blinder  1002 B alters the normal reception angle θ RN  to a blinder reception angle θ RB  (“theta sub RB”) on one side. The normal reception angle, θ RN , is greater than the blinder reception angle, θ RB . The blinder reception angle, θ RB , moves a reception boundary in towards the normal  1010  and reduces the reception area so that it encompasses a room of the doll house and avoids receiving signals in an area outside the doll house. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 10E , an exemplary portion of the lens  1001 B is covered by the optical blinder  1002 B so that the blinder reception angle, θ RB , is reduced from that of the normal reception angle, θ RN . More or less of the lens  1001 B is covered to alter the blinder reception angle, θ RB , and reduce the reception boundary  402  and the reception area  403  of a room  203 . While a flat lens and a round or semi-spherical lens have been shown and discussed to include the optical blinder, other types of lenses may have an optical blinder coupled thereto in order to similarly reduce the reception angle, reception boundary and reception area. 
   Referring now to  FIGS. 11A and 11B , schematic diagrams of the typical transmitter electronics within a wireless toy character or doll  400  is illustrated. Each wireless toy character  400  has transmitter electronics that pulses the IR emitting diode with a unique identification pattern upon activation. That is, the transmitter electronics of the wireless toy characters in  FIGS. 11A and 11B  generate wireless infrared output signals (IROUT and IROUT′) from an infrared emitter D 1 , D 2  in response to being activated by one or more switches S 1 -S 3 . The wireless infrared output signals (IROUT and IROUT′) may be programmed to be unique to the respective character  400 .  FIGS. 5A-5B  illustrate how the transmitter electronics may mounted inside the body of the wireless toy character  400 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 11A , the transmitter electronics includes an integrated circuit  1100 A, a reset switch S 1 , a start switch S 2 , one or more batteries BT 1 -BT 3 , an infrared light emitting diode (IR-LED) D 1 , a switching transistor Q 1 , capacitors C 1  and C 2 , and resistors R 1 -R 4  coupled together as shown and illustrated. The integrated circuit  1100 A may be a commercially available microcontroller (e.g., a Sunplus SPEF06A) or a custom circuit. Alternatively, the integrated circuit  1100 A may be assembled together by discrete logic components but may require more space inside the wireless toy character  400 . In any case, the integrated circuit  1100 A has programmable identification fields and transmission timing as will be discussed more fully below. The transmitter electronics are powered by a power supply PS, made up of the one or more batteries BT 1 -BT 3  and the filtering capacitor C 1 . In a preferred embodiment, the batteries BT 1 -BT 3  are three LR44 button battery cells and capacitor C 1  is a 0.10 uf capacitor. Resistor R 1 , having a resistance of 56K in a preferred embodiment, is coupled at one end to the positive power supply VDD and to the oscillator input OSC of the IC  1100 A at an opposite end. Resistor R 2  couples between the collector of transistor Q 1  and the cathode of the IR LED D 1 . The anode of the IR LED D 1  is coupled to the positive power supply terminal VDD. The emitter of transistor Q 1  is coupled to ground or the negative power supply terminal, ground. Transistor Q 1  is a bipolar junction transistor to switch the IR-LED on and off, an 2SC9012 in a preferred embodiment. Resistor R 3  is coupled between the positive power supply terminal VDD and reset input of the IC  1100 A. Capacitor C 2  filters out noise by being coupled across the reset input of the IC  1100 A and the negative power supply terminal, ground. Resistor R 4  is coupled between the base of transistor Q 1  and IR-TX output of the IC  1100 A. 
   The integrated circuit  1100 A can be started or activated, for example, by means of switches S 1  or S 2  operable by a user. Switch S 1  may be manually selected to reset the integrated circuit  1100 A and start up an identification sequence which is repeatedly transmitted by the wireless toy character  400 . That is, switch S 1  is a user operable switch that may be directly operated by a user. Switch S 2  may be automatically selected by a user through motion of the wireless toy character  400 , for example. That is, switch S 2  may sense some action of the user, such as a jiggling or other movement the wireless toy character  400 . Switch S 2  is an optional jiggle switch that closes upon sensing sufficient movement to couple the positive power supply VDD into the input P 1 . 0  of the integrated circuit  1100 A. Switch S 1  when closed, couples the negative power supply Gnd into the reset input of the integrated circuit  1100 A to reset and activate the integrated circuit  1100 A. In either or both cases of switches S 1  and S 2 , it may be required that the switch be pressed or switched for a period of time, one second for example, before the integrated circuit  1100 A is activated. This time period requirement may be used to prevent accidental triggering of a wireless emission or transmission from the wireless toy character  400 . 
   Upon activation, the integrated circuit  1100 A drives one or more wireless emitters, such as the IR LED D 1 , to emit a unique wireless transmission pattern or signal, referred to as IROUT signal. The IR-TX output from the integrated circuit  1100 A causes transistor Q 1  to switch ON and OFF generating an electrical current signal through the IR LED D 1 . The electrical current signal through IRLED D 1  is transduced into an wireless signal, IROUT. 
   In the preferred embodiment, the emitter is an infrared emitter and the unique wireless transmission pattern or signal IROUT is in the form of infrared (IR) radiation or infrared optical signal. The wireless transmission pattern or signal IROUT may consist of a variable length pulse modulated on a carrier frequency of 40 kHz, for example. However other transmission modes may be used including a direct signaling method disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 10/170,489, entitled “System, Method, and Apparatus for Bi-directional Infrared Communication” by David Small and James Hair filed on Jun. 12, 2002 which is incorporated herein by reference. The emission levels or amplitude of the signal IROUT may be optimized for an appropriate distance. That is, the emission level or amplitude of the IROUT signal may be limited in the radiation level or intensity at a certain distance away from the emitter IR LED D 1  so that it is not sensed by a detector or receiver. In this manner a longer path of reflections, such as from outside of the doll house to a wall of a users room and back will be of an insufficient level to activate the detectors. At the same time, the emission level or amplitude of the IROUT signal may be limited in the radiation level or intensity at a certain distance away from the emitter IR LED D 1 , in the immediate locale of the doll house (such as within a doll house room for example), will be of a sufficient level to activate the detector. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 11B , another exemplary embodiment of transmitter electronics is illustrated for a wireless toy character  400 . The transmitter electronics includes an integrated circuit  110 B, a start switch S 3 , one or more batteries BT 1 -BT 2 , an infrared light emitting diode IR-LED D 2 , a capacitor C 1 , and resistors R 5 -R 6  coupled together as shown and illustrated. The integrated circuit  1100 B may be a commercially available microcontroller (e.g., a Sonix SN67d03) or a custom circuit. Alternatively, the integrated circuit  1100 B may be assembled together by discrete logic components but may require more space inside the wireless toy character  400 . In any case, the integrated circuit  1100 B has programmable identification fields and transmission timing as will be discussed more fully below. The transmitter electronics are powered by a power supply PS, made up of the one or more batteries BT 1 -BT 2  and the filtering capacitor C 1 . In a preferred embodiment, the batteries BT 1 -BT 2  are a pair of LR54 battery cells and capacitor Cl is a 0.10 uf capacitor. Resistor R 5 , having a resistance of 330K in a preferred embodiment, is coupled at one end to the positive power supply VDD and to the oscillator input OSC of the IC  1100 B at an opposite end. Resistor R 6  couples between the positive power supply VDD and the anode of the IR LED D 2 . The cathode of the IR LED D 2  is coupled to the output terminal P 2  of the integrated circuit  1100 B to receive a modulated electrical signal. An electrical current signal is generated at the output terminal P 2  of the integrated circuit  1100 B and through the IR LED D 2 . The wireless emitter, IRLED D 2 , generates the IROUT′ signal responsive thereto in the form of an infrared optical signal in a preferred embodiment. The data signal modulated into the IROUT′ signal will be discussed with reference to  FIGS. 13-15  below. 
   Switch S 3  couples between the positive power supply VDD and the input P 1  of the integrated circuit  1100 B. Switch S 3  may be the jiggle switch S 2  or the manual switch S 1  and function as previously described. In either case, switch S 3  activates the integrated circuit  1100 B to generate an IROUT′ signal transmission. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 12-1  and  12 - 2 , an exemplary schematic of the doll house receiver electronics for the wireless electronic doll house  100  is illustrated. The wireless signals IROUT emitted by the wireless toy characters  400  or objects are detected by the doll house receiver electronics. The exemplary schematic of doll house receiver electronics illustrated in  FIG. 12  may include a doll house processor or microcontroller  1200 , one or more infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F, the speaker  114 , switches  610 - 614 , capacitors C 11 -C 17 , resistors R 11 -R 13 , quartz crystal Y 1 , BJT transistor Q 11 , and one or more batteries BT 11 -BT 13  coupled together as shown. The doll house receiver electronics may further include a program expansion memory  1202  or a connector for interfacing to the doll house processor or microcontroller  1200  in order to update the program, expand functionality, or add additional scripts for the wireless characters  400 . The infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F are strategically located within the wired doll house  100  within each room, for example. Other elements of the doll house receiver electronics may be physically provided within the wired doll house  100  as discussed previously with reference to FIG.  6 . 
   In one embodiment, the doll house processor or microcontroller  1200  is a Sunplus SPDS106A single chip controller including a number of data input/output ports, a crystal oscillator, and an audio output port. The doll house processor or microcontroller  1200  includes a memory for storing a program. The doll house processor or microcontroller  1200  is programmable in order to implement a software program for detecting the wireless characters  400  within rooms of the doll-house  100  and for execution of stored audio scripts related thereto. The software program can be updated or enhanced through the program expansion memory  1202  or other means. Alternatively, the program expansion memory  1202  may be utilized to provide additional scripts for pre-existing wireless characters  400  or for new wireless characters  400  that may be added into a doll-house playset. In other embodiments, the functionality of the doll house processor or microcontroller  1200  may be implemented using multiple chips, multiple microprocessors, or a combination of discrete parts and/or ASICs. 
   Switches  610 - 614  may be used to operate the wireless interactive doll house  100 . Switches  611 - 614  are momentary switches that couple between ground and an input to the doll-house processor  1200 . Switch  610  is a slider, a toggle, or throw switch that can make a fixed or semi-permanent electrical connection in a closed position. Switch  610  couples between a battery terminal and the positive power supply terminal VDD of the power supply PS. The On/Off switch  610  is used by a user to turn the receiver electronics of the wireless doll house  100  on and off. Switches  611 - 614  electrically couple a user selection into the doll-house processor or microcontroller  1200 . Mode switch  611  is used to set the mode of operation of the wireless doll-house to either speak automatically upon movement of characters or objects or to speak manually upon depression of the speak switch  612 . Speak switch  612  is used to command the interactive doll house to speak based on the current placement of wireless characters  400  in the rooms of the doll-house, particularly when the mode is set to speak manually. Volume switch  613  is used to adjust the speaker volume or amplitude of the speaker  114  up or down. An optional reset switch  614  may be provided in order to manually reset the receiver electronics of the wireless doll-house  100 . The optional reset switch  614  has one terminal coupled to the reset input terminal of the doll-house processor  1200 . 
   Speaker  114  couples to the audio output terminals of the doll-house processor  1200  in order to provide audible sounds or character scripts associated with the wireless characters  400  when placed and detected within a room of the doll-house  100 . That is, the receiver electronics of the doll house illustrated in  FIG. 12  receive one or more infrared input signals (IR INPUT) into the one or more infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F and generates the audible output sound signal (AUDIO OUT) in response thereto. 
   The crystal Y 1  in conjunction with the capacitors C 12  and C 13  couple into the crystal input terminals of the doll house processor  1200 . The crystal Y 1  is a quartz crystal utilized in an oscillator circuit to establish an accurate clock frequency. Capacitors C 12  and C 13  are of substantially equal capacitance and are twenty picofarrads in one embodiment. 
   The one or more infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F are electrically coupled in parallel to the doll-house processor or microcontroller  1200  through the ROOMi signal lines (ROOM 0 -ROOM 5 ). The one or more infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F respectively receive one or more infrared input signals (IR INPUT) and generate an electrical signal (e.g., a current) in response thereto on the respective ROOMi signal line. In one embodiment, one or more infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F are similar to those commonly used in TV and consumer electronic IR remote control products. 
   The one or more infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F may have the power provided to them cycled on and off in order to conserve power in the wireless doll-house  100 . Transistor Q 11  switches the power provided by the power terminal VCC on and off to the one or more infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F in response to a control signal from the doll-house processor  1200 . The power pin VCC of each of the one or more IR detectors  401 A- 401 F are coupled together to the collector of transistor Q 1  and a first terminal of capacitor C 17 . The base of transistor Q 1  is coupled to the PB 0  output terminal of the doll-house processor or microcontroller  1200  through the resistor R 13 . The emitter of the transistor Q 1  is coupled to the positive power supply terminal VCC from the power supply PS. A signal from the output PBO from the doll-house processor  1200  controls the switching of transistor Q 1  as to whether power is supplied or not to the one or more infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F. The power to the one or more infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F may be turned off for example when the doll-house processor  1200  goes into sleep mode to conserve battery power. 
   The output pin OUT from each of the one or more infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F is coupled to a respective input (PCO-PC 5 ) of the doll-house processor  1200  through the respective ROOMi signal line (ROOM 0 -ROOM 5 ). The output pin OUT from the one or more infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F will generate an electrical signal thereon upon detecting an IR INPUT signal. That is, the one or more infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F will generate an output signal thereon upon detecting the output signal from a character  400 . The output signal on the respective output pin OUT and respective ROOMi signal line is coupled into the doll-house processor  1200  for further analysis and demodulation of the data signal contained therein. In one embodiment the wireless characters  400  generate the ID data signal on an infrared carrier modulated at 40 kHz which may be detected by the one or more infrared detectors  401 A- 401 F. The 40 kHz modulated IR ID signal transmitted from the characters  400  within the doll-house  100  are detected by the IR detectors  401  and their data signal is coupled into the doll-house processor or microcontroller  1200 . 
   The one or more batteries BT 11 -BT 13  in conjunction with the switch  610 , capacitors C 14  and C 15  are the power supply PS to the wireless interactive doll-house  100 . The power supply provides a positive supply voltage on the positive power supply terminal VDD. In one embodiment, the one or more batteries BT 11 -BT 13  are three AAA batteries coupled in series to provide 4.5 volts nominally. The on/off switch  610  when closed, couples the battery power to the positive power supply terminal VDD and the electrical components of the wireless interactive doll-house  100 . 
   Referring now to  FIG. 13 , a table of an exemplary set of waveform identifiers  1306 , ID data packets  1302  (i.e., doll number  1412  in FIGS.  14 - 15 ), and repetition rates  1304  for an exemplary family of wireless toy characters  400  is illustrated for the purposes of discussion herein. It is understood that these values are only exemplary and that other values and other identifiers may be used to identify each toy character. That is, the table illustrates sample code values and varying transmit timing rate for an exemplary set of various wireless toy characters or objects  400 . Additional data fields may be added or the device number  1414  may be used so that further information may be transmitted about each of the wireless toy characters  400 . 
   In order to further distinguish among each wireless toy character  400 , the repetition rates  1304  differ from each as does the ID data packet  1302 . For example, consider the birthday cake as the wireless toy character  400 . The ID data packet  1302  is 00101 which is repeated over a fixed period of time at the rate of three cycles per second (3.0 cycles/sec.) for the birthday cake. In contrast, consider the Dad as the wireless toy character. The ID data packet  1302  is 00001 which is repeated over a fixed period of time at the rate of ten cycles per second (10.0 cycles/sec.) for the dad. The repetition rate for the wireless toy characters may also be chosen on the level of recognition importance of the character. That is, it may be more important to recognize the presence of Dad in a room, for example, then the presence of the birthday cake in a room. The differences in repetition rate for the wireless toy characters also allows for each to be received at different times to help avoid overlapping signals. 
     FIGS. 14-15  illustrate exemplary waveforms including a serial object identification sequence for detecting a wireless toy character within a room of the wireless doll-house. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 14 , an exemplary transmitted ID waveform  1400  is shown. The waveform  1400  is made up of a series of modulated 40 kilohertz (kHz) IR transmission bursts  1402 . The typical period for each single wide pulse  1402  is approximately 0.5 milliseconds (ms) in one embodiment. The total time period for the whole waveform  1400  is approximately 10.5 ms. In this embodiment logical zeroes  1404  may be sent as a single width pulse (i.e., 0.5 ms pulse) and logical ones  1406  may be sent as double wide pulses (i.e., a 1 ms pulse). The off periods between the transmission bursts  1402  may be 0.5 ms in duration in one embodiment. It is obvious that the format of the transmitted ID waveform  1400  and the pulse widths of transmission bursts for representing logical ones or zeros may be varied. 
   The first pulse  1410  in the ID waveform is a three wide header calibration pulse  1410  of approximately 1.5 ms which is used by the doll-house to calibrate the time period of the single wide 0.5 ms pulse and the double wide 1 ms pulses that are to follow. The next sequence of pulses  1412  in the ID waveform  1400  are for indicating the doll or character number. The next sequence of pulses  1414  in the ID waveform  1400  are for indicating a device number. The device number is currently a fixed number but is reserved for future expansion, functionality, programmability and differentiation between wireless toy characters  400 . 
   The header calibration pulse  1410  is provided because the wireless doll-house  100  and the wireless toy characters or objects  400  that communicate with the wireless doll-house  100  may be operating at different frequencies. This may be due to variations in the frequencies of the processor clock (i.e., oscillator variation) in each. The processor clocks may vary due to differences in battery power supply voltages, temperature, timing resistors tolerances or variations in the manufacture of the microcontroller integrated circuits (e.g., ICs  1100 A- 1100 B). For instance at a high voltage power supply level, the clock of the CPU may run faster and a logical one may be 100 clocks (i.e., 100 clock cycles), while at a low voltage power supply level the same signal may be only 75 clocks. The doll-house processor (i.e., the processor or microcontroller in the doll-house) analyzes the pulse widths of the header calibration pulses  1401  that it receives and by such analysis it can determine what the pulse length of a “logical 1” or a “logical 0” pulse. The doll-house processor does this by analyzing the header pulse width  1410  at the start of the ID packet for any device that is in a known format so that it knows what is being sent as a one and what is being sent as a zero. Using the measured header pulse time period, the doll-house processor can accurately determine the time periods that the wireless toy characters  400  are using to transmit logical ones or zeroes. The triple long header pulse  1410  is also used to uniquely identify the start of a valid transmission. 
   The data in the waveform of  FIG. 14  is represented in serial format with the most significant bit (MSB) presented first. The device bits  1414  comprise a code to identify what kind of device is sending the data. In one embodiment the device bits  1414  are set to 010 binary (010b) for all the dolls. The device bits  1414  may be used to help distinguish dolls, furniture, different families, different settings (e.g., office, home, work), etc. Otherwise, the device bits  1414  may be used for further expansion. 
   The command portion or doll number  1412  (i.e., ID data  1302  in  FIG. 13 ) may consist of five binary bits which allows for command numbers from 0 (00000b) to 31 (11111b). The exemplary waveform  1400  of  FIG. 14  illustrates a waveform for a doll number  2  (00010b). Doll number  2 , for example, may be “mom” among the wireless toy characters  400  communicating with the wireless doll-house  100  as its depicted in the table of FIG.  13 . 
   Referring now to FIG.  15  and to  FIGS. 12-1  and  12 - 2 , a typical waveform  1500  (corresponding to waveform  1400  of  FIG. 14 ) is illustrated which is received and demodulated by the receiver electronics of the wireless doll-house  100 . The waveform  1500  has a serial data stream which is further analyzed by the doll-house processor  1200  to determine the doll number  1412  and the device number  1414  for a wireless character. In one embodiment, the IR detectors  401  generate active low signals  1501  on the output terminals OUT in response to detecting a 40 kHz infrared carrier signal from a wireless toy character  400 . In absence of the 40 kHz infrared carrier signal, the IR detectors  401  allow the output terminals OUT to be pulled up to a high signal level  1502 . The doll-house processor  1200  receives the active low signals  1501  on the output terminals OUT from the IR detectors  401  in response to the receiving modulated 40 kHz carrier signals and the high signal levels  1502  when the modulated 40 kHz carrier signal is not detected. The waveform  1500  illustrates an example of the waveform on a ROOMi (where i is a variable) signal line for a given wireless character in ROOMi that is received by the doll-house processor  1200 . The doll-house processor analyzes the serial data stream in the waveform to detect the header  1410 , and the bits of the doll number  1412 , and the bits of the device number  1414 . In response to the ID received, the doll-house processor may generate an audible script or sounds as the AUDIO OUT signal. 
   The doll-house processor  1200  is programmed to scan the rooms within the doll-house  100  in parallel and detect wireless signals therein. That is, the wireless doll-house  100  and the doll-house processor  1200  looks at each IR receiver  401  in a parallel fashion to detect if one or more characters  400  are within the rooms (corresponding to ROOM 0 -ROOM 5  signal lines) of the doll-house  100 . 
   However, the data stream from a wireless character  400  may be transmitted in a serial fashion to the doll-house  100 . The doll-house and the doll-house processor  1200  use a room scanning routine in an attempt to obtain a serial data stream and evaluate the presence of a valid IR transmission from a wireless character  400 . An input register is present within the doll-house processor  1200  to store bits of data in parallel on the ROOMi signal lines from each room. During the room scanning routine, the doll-house processor  1200  takes a snapshot of the input register and stores this value within a page of memory of the doll-house processor  1200  to obtain a part of the serial data stream. The room scanning routine repeats over and over in a loop obtaining a part of the serial data stream for each room once every ‘loop’ of the room scanning software. 
   The room scanning routine is a software loop which is continuously executed. During the room scanning routine, all room receivers are sampled simultaneously and then the sampled states are processed sequentially, one room at a time by a room processing routine. 
     FIG. 16A  illustrates a flow chart diagram of an embodiment of a room scanning routine executed by the doll-house processor  1200 . The process starts at block  1600  upon power up and continues in a loop thereafter. At block  1602 , input registers coupled to the ROOMi lines are clocked in order to simultaneously sample the ROOMi signals. Next at block  1604 , the value stored in the input registers is stored into memory. Then at block  1606 , a room processing routine is called to evaluate the new values. 
   Referring now to  FIGS. 16B-1  and  16 B- 2 , a flow chart diagram is illustrated of an embodiment of the room processing routine executed by the doll-house processor  1200 . The process begins with a ROOMi at block  1610 . 
   At block  1612 , the process initially determines whether the room&#39;s receiver is in an IR-present (“active”) or IR-not-present (“inactive”) state. 
   If active, an active pulse duration timer is incremented at block  1614  to determine how long a time (expressed in number of consecutive software loops) it has been in the active state. 
   If inactive, at block  1616  a determination is made whether or not the specific ROOMi&#39;s receiver was in the active state during the last loop of the software routine, in order to detect transitions. 
   If block  1616  determines the receiver for the given room was in the inactive state during the last loop as well, an inactive pulse duration timer is incremented at block  1618  to determine how long a time (expressed in number of consecutive software loops) it has been in the inactive state. Then, the software routine jumps to block  1624  to determine if the time stored in the inactive pulse duration timer is greater than a timeout value. In one embodiment, the timeout value is sixty-four (64) loops of the room scanning routine of FIG.  16 A. In another embodiment, the timeout value is twice the duration of the header bit of the current bitstream. If the timeout value has not been exceeded, this loop of the software routine is done at block  1690  and it can then process the next room. If the timeout value has been exceeded, then the software routine jumps to block  1630 . That is, if at any time the inactive state of a room&#39;s receiver lasts for longer than sixty-four (64) loops or two times the duration of the header bit in the current bitstream (if a valid header bit has been received), the bitstream information for the room is cleared and the timing information restarted to indicate that the bitstream has been lost or corrupted at block  1630 . Then, this loop of the software routine is done at block  1690  and it can then process the next room. 
   If block  1616  determines the receiver for the given room was in the active state during the last loop), a transition from active to inactive state is detected and the routine jumps to block  1620 . 
   At block  1620 , a determination is made as to whether or not that was the first active pulse in the given bitstream to check whether this potential bit is a header bit (the first bit in a bitstream) or a data bit (all subsequent bits in a bitstream). 
   If at block  1620  the potential bit is determined to be a header bit, then the software routine jumps to block  1626 . At block  1626 , the duration of the potential bit is checked to determine if it is of a valid duration for an expected header bit. If it is a valid duration for a header bit, then the routine jumps to block  1632  where the room is recorded as having received a valid header bit in it&#39;s bitstream and other bitstream information is cleared for the given room. Then, the duration of the received header bit is used to calibrate the receiver timing to the transmitter timing at block  1634  and this loop of the software routine is done at block  1690  and it can then process the next room. If at block  1626  the header bit is determined to be invalid because it is either too long or too short in duration, the bit is discarded and the given room is considered to have received neither a header bit nor any other bitstream information. At block  1630 , all bitstream information is cleared for the given room and this loop of the software routine is done at block  1690  and it can then process the next room. 
   Alternately at block  1620 , if the bit is determined to be a data bit (that is, a valid header bit has previously been seen in this room&#39;s bitstream and it is not the first active pulse in the bitstream), then the software routine jumps to block  1622 . 
   At block  1622 , the calibration timing from the prior received header bit is used to determine if the given data bit is a logical one or a logical zero, and the appropriate logical value is shifted into the received bitstream (e.g., stored in a shift register of the processor) for the given room. 
   Then at block  1628 , a determination is made whether or not the given data bit is the eighth data bit (i.e., the nth data bit of an expected n-bit data stream). If it is not the eighth data bit, this loop of the software routine is done at block  1690  and it can then process the next room. If it is the eighth data bit, the software routine jumps to block  1636 . 
   Once the room has received a header bit and 8 data bits consecutively, the data bits are evaluated to determine if they form a valid signature for one of the dolls. 
   At block  1636 , a determination is made as to whether or not the data bits of the given bit stream correspond to one of one or more predetermined doll codes known to the doll-house to form a valid doll code. If a valid doll code is not determined, (i.e., an invalid signature), the software routine jumps to block  1644  where the bitstream information stored for this room is cleared to start over during the next loop of the room scanning routine of FIG.  16 A. 
   If a valid doll code (i.e., a valid signature) for one of the dolls is detected then the doll&#39;s position with the respective signature is updated. This position updating consists of checking to see if the doll was last seen in this room at block  1638  and if so, then the doll&#39;s present position is updated to indicate that it is currently present in this room at block  1640 . 
   Alternatively, if at block  1638  it is determined that the doll was previously seen in a different room, or not seen at all, then the software routine jumps to block  1642 . At block  1642 , the doll is recorded as having been seen most recently in this room, but the doll&#39;s present position is not immediately updated—this will be done upon having seen the doll&#39;s signature twice consecutively in the same room. That is, the given room is not flagged as the doll&#39;s current location unless a valid signature for the given doll is detected in the same room in consecutive loops of this room processing routine. Then the software routine jumps to block  1644  where the bitstream information stored for the given room is cleared and to start over during the next loop of the room scanning routine of FIG.  16 A. Then, this loop of the software routine is done at block  1690  and it can then process the next room. 
   If the last room is processed in the room processing routine of  FIG. 16B , the next loop of the room scanning routine of  FIG. 16A  can begin. That is, the room processing routine of  FIG. 16B  can be completed between clocks of the input registers to sample the ROOMi signals. 
   When multiple characters  400  are in the same room at the same time, their transmitted signals may overlap and clash with one another over a given period of time. This overlap during the given period of time can result in the generation of invalid data, which is cleared. 
   To allow characters  400  in the same room at the same time to be recognized, each character  400  may have a different repetition rate  1304  over which they transmit their ID signatures. This staggers over time the transmission of each respective ID signature of the multiple characters  400  in a room so that they are transmitted often and at differing intervals, thereby overcoming a potential clash of data. 
   The doll-house processor  1200  may further provide error correction/detection to eliminate ghost locations that may appear from moving characters around the doll-house or to avoid activation when characters  400  are outside of the doll-house  100  but still close enough to be marginally recognized by one or more rooms. The doll-house processor  1200  may maintain a list of last known locations (e.g., rooms) for each wireless character  400 . When a wireless character  400  is recognized, the doll-house processor may store the new location (e.g., a room) and compare it to the last known location (e.g., a room). For error correction purposes the doll-house will not recognize a new location for a wireless character  400  unless the current position matches the last known location. That is for error detection/correction, a wireless character  400  needs to be recognized twice in the same room before the wireless doll-house  100  is activated to generate sounds or play a script of simulated dialogue from one or more characters  400 . 
   Other embodiments can be practiced within the scope of this invention. The simplified wireless communication and location techniques can be used in other toys in addition to doll-houses such as action figure playsets, toy vehicles, models, toy army equipment and other devices. While IR signaling has been discussed, any other omni-directional signaling method that can have its signals blocked by means of a wall or divider such as ultrasonic sound, visible light, ultraviolet light or various forms of visible light can be used. While the hiding of the IR emitter by a blinder has been discussed as a novel feature, one can practice this invention with the emitter being visible. While one IR emitter has been discussed as part of the characters for the doll-house as being an inexpensive method of emitting light, for other reasons such as range, object shape, or style, more than one emitter may be employed in the characters. While a single system of detecting the location of the objects in a doll-house has been discussed, it is contemplated that it is possible to allow for multiple detection and response systems to be located in one doll-house and that these multiple systems may be hooked together by any variety of means that could include, but are not limited to a serial bus, a parallel bus, optical beams or radio communication. 
   Furthermore, error detection and correction techniques can be used over the IR communication link in order to enhance the reliability of the data transmissions. Some examples would include transmitting error correction and detection codes with each ID, encoding each command or ID with more than the minimal number of bits so that corruption of a command could be detected and corrected, using faster processors as a doll-house processor so that they can perform more analysis of the edge timings and momentary signal drops that might occur, and using multiple processors so each processor may only need to concentrate on a single room or less than a full set of rooms within a doll-house. 
   Furthermore, the doll-house may be another type of toy structure such as a toy office building with multiple offices interacting with office workers such as bosses and employees; a toy store with departments a fire station with multiple rooms interacting with firemen; a toy school house with multiple rooms interacting with children, teachers, and parents; as well as other toy structures having multiple rooms where a toy character may be placed and an interaction occur within that room. Alternatively, the doll-house may be a toy vehicle such as a toy car, toy school bus or toy fire truck with each seat or each row of seats defining a new IR reception area into which interaction would take place when a toy passenger or character is placed therein. With the scripts played by the toy doll-house, toy structure or toy vehicle being software programmable, the invention can be ready applied to any toy structures and toy characters. 
   While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art. For example, while wireless interactive doll-houses have been described herein, the technology of the present invention may be used in other types of toy houses, housings, structures, or playsets so that wireless interaction can occur between a toy figure and said toy houses, housings, structures, or playsets therefor. Rather, the claimed invention should be construed according to the claims that follow below.