Patent Publication Number: US-2011063520-A1

Title: Multimedia System and Remote Control Searching Method

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a multimedia system and remote control searching method, and more particularly, to a multimedia system and remote control searching method capable of enhancing use convenience. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     With advances in multimedia technology, a variety of multimedia devices has become a part of life. For example, consumer multimedia products, such as televisions, stereos, projectors, digital versatile disk players, etc., are widely used by people. To enable users to easily control various functions, most of the multimedia devices are equipped with remote controls, such that the users are allowed to control the multimedia devices through the remote controls at will. 
     When the users want to control the multimedia device to perform a function through the remote control, the users can press a button corresponding to the function on the remote control, such that a wireless signal sent by the remote control would carry specific information corresponding to the function. After receiving the remote control signal, the multimedia device can interpret the specific information in the remote control signal, and perform the related function accordingly. 
     However, since the remote controls are small-sized, light-weighted and portable, they are easily taken to other places or even forgotten. Therefore, the users often need to spend some time searching for the remote controls before they can comfortably watch TV programs. If the remote controls cannot be found immediately, the users can only rely on buttons on televisions to perform channel selection, causing great inconvenience to the users. 
     For this reason, the multimedia systems in the prior art have to be improved. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide a multimedia system and remote control searching method, for enhancing convenience. 
     The present invention discloses a multimedia system, which includes a multimedia device and a remote control device. The multimedia device includes a trigger element, a detection unit and a wireless transmitter. The trigger element is utilized for generating a trigger signal. The detection unit is coupled to the trigger element, and is utilized for generating a searching signal when detecting the trigger signal. The wireless transmitter is coupled to the detection unit, and is utilized for wirelessly transmitting the searching signal. The remote control device is utilized for wirelessly transmitting a remote control signal to control operations of the multimedia device. The remote control device includes a wireless receiver and an alarm unit. The wireless receiver is utilized for receiving the searching signal. The alarm unit is coupled to the wireless receiver, and is utilized for generating an alarm effect according to the searching signal. 
     The present invention further discloses a remote control searching method of a multimedia device, for searching a remote control device corresponding to the multimedia device. The remote control device is utilized for wirelessly transmitting a remote control signal to control operations of the multimedia device. The remote control searching method includes generating a trigger signal; generating a searching signal according to the trigger signal; and wirelessly transmitting the searching signal to enable the remote control device to generate an alarm effect. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a schematic diagram of a multimedia system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 1B  is a functional block diagram of the multimedia system in  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a remote control searching method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B .  FIG. 1A  is a schematic diagram of a multimedia system  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 1B  is a functional block diagram of the multimedia system  10  in  FIG. 1A . The multimedia system  10  includes a multimedia device  110  and a remote control device  120 . The multimedia device  110  is preferably a television, and includes a trigger element  112 , a detection unit  114  and a wireless transmitter  116 . The trigger element  112  can be a button or a touch pad installed on the multimedia device  110 , and is utilized for generating a trigger signal S 1 . The detection unit  114  is coupled to the trigger element  112 , and is utilized for generating a searching signal S 2  when detecting the trigger signal S 1 . The wireless transmitter  116  is coupled to the detection unit  114 , and is utilized for transmitting the searching signal S 2  by a wireless way, such as by infrared, radio frequency (RF), wireless network, etc. The remote control device  120  is utilized for wirelessly controlling operations of the multimedia device  110 , and includes a wireless receiver  122  and an alarm unit  124 . The wireless receiver  122  is utilized for receiving the searching signal S 2 . The alarm unit  124  is coupled to the wireless receiver  122 , and is utilized for generating an alarm effect like sounds, lights or a combination of sounds and lights, for example, according to the searching signal S 2 . 
     In a word, after users generate the trigger signal S 1  through the trigger element  112 , the multimedia device  110  generates the searching signal S 2  through the detection unit  114 , and wirelessly transmits the searching signal S 2  through the wireless transmitter  116 . On the other hand, after the remote control device  120  receives the searching signal S 2  through the wireless receiver  122 , the alarm unit  124  generates the alarm effect, like sounds, lights or a combination of sounds and lights, according to the searching signal S 2 . In this case, the users can easily find the remote control device  120 , so as to save time for searching the remote control around and effort for recalling where the remote control is. 
     Please continue to refer to  FIG. 1B . The remote control device  120  further includes a signal generation unit  123  and a wireless transmitter  125 . The signal generation unit  123  is utilized for generating a remote control signal CMD according to a user&#39;s operation. The wireless transmitter  125  is coupled to the signal generation unit  123 , and is utilized for wirelessly transmitting the remote control signal CMD to the multimedia device  110 . On the other hand, the multimedia device  110  further includes an operating circuit  113 , a wireless receiver  115 , a function determination unit  117  and a control unit  119 . The operating circuit  118  is utilized for realizing functions of the multimedia device  110 . The wireless receiver  115  is utilized for receiving the remote control signal CMD sent by the remote control device  120 , and transmitting the received remote control signal CMD to the function determination unit  117 . The function determination unit  117  then determines an operating function of the operating circuit  113  according to the remote signal CMD to generate a determination result RES. The control unit  119  is coupled to the operating circuit  113  and the function determination unit  117 , and is utilized for controlling the operating circuit  113  to perform the operating function according to the determination result RES. As a result, the remote control device  120  can control the multimedia device  110  through the remote control signal CMD. Detailed operations of the multimedia device  110  and the remote control device  120  are known by those of ordinary skill in the art, which are also not a main point of the present invention, and thus not narrated herein. 
     In the embodiment of the present invention, not only does the remote control device  120  wirelessly transmit the remote control signal CMD to the multimedia device  110 , but the multimedia device  110  also wirelessly transmits the searching signal S 2 , so as to enable the remote control device  120  to generate the alarm effect. In other words, compared to the prior art where the multimedia device can only receive the control signal transmitted by the remote control in one direction, the multimedia device  110  according to the embodiment of the present invention can transmit the searching signal S 2  to the remote control device  120  and thus have a two direction communication function. Please note that the multimedia system  10  shown in  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B  is merely an exemplary illustration of the present invention. Modifications can certainly be made by those of ordinary skill in the art, and are not restricted. For example, in the embodiment of the present invention, the ways to wirelessly transmit the remote control signal CMD and the searching signal S 2  can be the same or different. If they are the same, the wireless transmitter and receiver of the multimedia device  110  and the remote control device  120  can be integrated into a single wireless transceiver module, such that production cost can further be saved. 
     Furthermore, operations of the multimedia device  110  can be summarized as a remote control searching process  20 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . The remote control searching process  20  includes the following steps: 
     Step  200 : Start. 
     Step  202 : Generate the trigger signal S 1  by the trigger element  112 . 
     Step  204 : Generate the searching signal S 2  by the detection unit  114  according to the trigger signal S 1 . 
     Step  206 : Wirelessly transmit the searching signal S 2  by the wireless transmitter  116  to enable the remote control device  110  to generate an alarm effect. 
     Step  208 : End. 
     Detailed operations of the remote control searching process  20  can be referred to the above descriptions, and are not narrated again herein. Namely, after the wireless receiver  122  of the remote control device  120  receives the searching signal S 2 , the alarm unit  124  generates the alarm effect, like sounds, lights or a combination of sounds and lights, for example, according to the searching signal S 2 . 
     In the prior art, the remote control is easily taken to other places of the house and forgotten. Thus, users often have to spend some time searching for the remote control before they can comfortably watch television programs. If the remote control cannot be found immediately, the users can only rely on buttons on televisions to perform channel selection, which causes great inconvenience to the users. By comparison, the multimedia system of the present invention has a remote control searching mechanism. When the users trigger the searching function, the remote control would make one or multiple alarm messages to enable the users to find the remote control quickly. Therefore, the users can save time for searching the remote control around and effort for recalling the location of the remote control, so as to enhance use convenience. 
     To sum up, the multimedia device of the present invention sends out the searching signal to enable the remote control to generate the alarm effects, so as to allow the users to find out the remote control quickly. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.