Patent Abstract:
A bridge device, in communication with a smart device, functions to command one or more controllable appliances in response to communications received from the smart device. The bridge device also includes input elements by which the bridge device can be used to directly command common functional operations of the one or more controllable appliances. In this manner, common functional operations, such as volume control, playback pause/resume control, etc., may be made readily available without necessitating the use of the smart device, while the more sophisticated GUI provided by the smart device remote control app may be advantageously utilized when more complex or less frequently used command functions are to be performed.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Personal communication, productivity, and entertainment devices such as cellular phones, PDAs, portable email devices, tablet computers, e-books, hand-held games, portable media players, etc. (all referred to hereafter as “smart devices”) are known to include features such as graphical user interfaces on color touch screens, Bluetooth and/or WiFi capability, etc. Increasingly, such smart devices also incorporate support for ancillary applications (hereafter referred to as “apps”) for example calendars, email, maps and navigation, etc. Such ancillary applications may be pre-installed in a smart device or may be made available for download by a user. Certain apps may comprise an ability to issue commands to entertainment and other appliances, for example in conjunction with a GUI offering the features and functionality of a universal remote control, as a user convenience in conjunction with a TV guide display to enable channel selection, etc. 
     In order to effect such control functionality, it is known in the art to provision a smart device with hardware and/or firmware suitable for the generation of appliance command signals. Provision of such hardware and/or firmware may be internal, i.e. built into a smart device; may be external, i.e., in the form of add-on attachments to a smart device; or may be discrete, i.e., in the form of a separate self-contained unit which receives wireless signals from a smart device and converts them to appropriate appliance command transmissions. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to systems and methods for equipping a smart device with appliance command functionality, and in particular to the provision of a discrete device for receiving and converting appliance command requests from a smart device, which discrete device may also include the ability to directly issue appliance commands in response to user input. 
     It is known in the art to provide a self-contained bridge device, comprising for example a receiver, a processing/translation means, and a transmitter, which bridge device is capable of receiving generic appliance command requests from a smart device via, for example, an RF link such as Bluetooth or WiFi and translating these command requests into appliance-recognizable transmissions, these transmissions usually (but not necessarily) taking the form of infrared (“IR”) encoded signals which may emulate a target appliance&#39;s original equipment remote control. The availability of such bridge devices greatly facilitates the deployment of remote control apps for smart devices, since apps intended for use in conjunction with bridge devices may then comprise a simple software GUI with no requirement for additional hardware or firmware installed onto or built into the target smart device. 
     However, the use of smart device apps for appliance control, with or without prior art bridge units as described above, may remain less than optimal in many environments. Since a smart device, particularly a smart phone, is essentially a personal device, it may not be readily available for communal use when several persons are present in the environment to be controlled, for example a family watching TV in the home. Furthermore, minor equipment adjustments which necessitate repeated activation of a smart device remote control app, for example such as may occur each time a TV commercial airs and audio volume needs to be adjusted, may constitute a considerable inconvenience to the owner of the smart device. 
     The improvement presented herein addresses these and other shortcomings. An inventive bridge unit provides the RF reception and command translation functionality of prior art units while additionally accepting direct control inputs for a limited number of commonly used appliance command functions. These direct control inputs may take the form of pushbuttons, knobs, touchpads, etc., located on the physical bridge unit itself, which unit may be designed to be placed in the environment at an easily accessible location such as, for example, on a coffee table. In this manner, commonly used adjustments such as volume or muting, playback pause/resume, etc. may be made readily available without necessitating the use of a smart device, whilst the more sophisticated GUI provided by a smart device remote control app may be advantageously utilized when more complex or less frequently used command functions are to be performed, and/or where appliance or media control is a feature of the app, for example when implementing functionality such as described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/327,875 “System and Method for Interacting with a Program Guide Displayed on a Portable Electronic Device” or Ser. No. 12/761,161 “System and Methods for Enhanced Metadata Entry” both of common ownership and both incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, properties and relationships of the invention will be obtained from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth illustrative embodiments and which are indicative of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a better understanding of the various aspects of the invention, reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in the attached drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary system in which an exemplary bridge device in accordance with the instant invention may be used alone and/or in conjunction with a smart device as a controlling device; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates in block diagram form the major components of the exemplary bridge device of  FIGS. 1 and 3 ; 
         FIG. 3  further illustrates the exemplary bridge device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary operational flow as may be implemented in one embodiment of the bridge device of  FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a system incorporating an exemplary alternate embodiment of a bridge device in accordance with the instant invention; and 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a system incorporating a yet further exemplary alternate embodiment of a bridge device in accordance with the instant invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Turning now to  FIG. 1 , there is illustrated an exemplary system in which a smart device, such as a smart phone  102 , may be adapted to control various controllable appliances, such as a television  108 , a cable set top box combined with a digital video recorder (“DVR”)  114 , an AV receiver  112 , and a DVD payer  110 . Transmission of commands to the appliances may be facilitated by a combination command input and bridge device  100 , which when functioning as a bridge device may receive wireless signals  104  from an app resident in smart phone  102  and convert these to appropriate infrared (“IR”) signals  106  recognizable by the target appliances, and when functioning as a command input device may accept user mechanical input via one or more knobs or switches and likewise convert these inputs to appropriate IR signals  106 ; all to cause the appliances to perform one or more operational functions. While illustrated in the context of a television  108 , DVR  114 , AV receiver  112 , and DVD player  110  it is to be understood that controllable appliances may include, but need not be limited to, televisions, VCRs, DVRs, DVD players, cable or satellite converter set-top boxes (“STBs”), amplifiers, CD players, game consoles, home lighting, drapery, fans, HVAC systems, thermostats, personal computers, etc. Also, while illustrated in the context of IR command transmissions, it will be appreciated that in general, command transmissions by bridge device  100  may take the form of any convenient IR, RF, hardwired, point-to-point, or networked protocol, as necessary to cause the respective target appliances to perform the desired operational functions. Further, while communications  104 ,  106 , etc., between exemplary devices are illustrated herein as direct links, it should be appreciated that in many instances such communication may take place via a local area network or personal area network, and as such may involve various intermediary devices such as routers, access points, etc. Since these items are not necessary for an understanding of the instant invention, they are omitted from the Figures for the sake of clarity. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 , for use in commanding the functional operations of one or more appliances, an exemplary bridge device  100  may include, as needed for a particular application, a processor  200  coupled to a ROM memory  208 ; a RAM memory  210 ; a non-volatile read/write memory  206 ; user input means  220  such as hard keys, soft keys on a touch sensitive surface, knobs, sliders, etc.; transmission circuit(s) and/or transceiver circuit(s)  202  (e.g., IR and/or RF) for issuance of commands to controlled appliances; receiver and/or transceiver circuit(s)  204  for receipt of command requests, e.g., from a smart phone  102 ; means  218  to provide feedback to the user (e.g., one or more LEDs, illuminable keys, display, speaker, and/or the like); an input/output port  216  such as a serial interface, USB port, modem, Zigbee, WiFi, or Bluetooth transceiver, etc.; a power source  220  such as a battery or a mains power adapter; and clock and timer logic  212  with associated crystal or resonator  214 . 
     As will be understood by those skilled in the art, some or all of the non-transient, physically embodied memories  206 ,  208 ,  210  may include executable instructions (collectively, the bridge device program memory) that are intended to be executed by the processor  200  to control the operation of the bridge device  100 , as well as data which serves to define the necessary control protocols and command values for use in transmitting command signals to controllable appliances (collectively, the command data). In this manner, the processor  200  may be programmed to control the various electronic components within the controlling device  100 , e.g., to monitor the input means  220  and request receiver  204 , to cause the transmission of appliance command signals, etc. The non-volatile read/write memory  206 , for example an EEPROM, battery-backed up RAM, FLASH, Smart Card, memory stick, or the like, may additionally be provided to store setup data and parameters as necessary. While the memory  208  is illustrated and described as a ROM memory, memory  208  can also be comprised of any type of readable media, such as ROM, FLASH, EEPROM, or the like. Preferably, the memories  206  and  208  are non-volatile or battery-backed such that data is not required to be reloaded after battery changes. In addition, the memories  206 ,  208  and  210  may take the form of a chip, a hard disk, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and/or the like. Still further, it will be appreciated that some or all of the illustrated memory devices may be physically combined (for example, a single FLASH memory may be logically partitioned into different portions to support the functionality of memories  206  and  208  respectively), and/or may be physically incorporated within the same IC chip as the microprocessor  200  (a so called “microcontroller”) and, as such, they are shown separately in  FIG. 2  only for the sake of clarity. 
     To cause the bridge device  100  to perform an action, the bridge device  100  may be adapted to be responsive to events, such as a sensed user interaction with input means  220 , receipt of a request from a smart phone  102 , etc. In response to an event, appropriate instructions within the program memory (hereafter the “bridge device operating program”) may be executed. For example, when a command request is received from a smart phone  102 , the bridge device  100  may retrieve from the command data stored in memory  206 ,  208 ,  210  a command value and control protocol corresponding to the requested function and device and transmit that command to an intended target appliance, e.g., TV  108 , in a format recognizable by that appliance to thereby control one or more functional operations of that appliance. 
     Bridge device  100  may comprise a universal controller, that is a device provisioned with a command data library which encompasses a multiplicity of command codes and protocols suitable for controlling appliances of various different model and manufacture. The library of command data may represent a plurality of controllable appliances of different types and manufacture, a plurality of controllable appliances of the same type but different manufacture, a plurality of appliances of the same manufacture but different type or model, etc., or any combination thereof as appropriate for a given embodiment. In all such cases, for selecting sets of command data to be associated with the specific appliances to be controlled (hereafter referred to as a setup procedure), data may be provided to the bridge device  100  that serves to identify each intended target appliance by its make, and/or model, and/or type. Such setup data allows the bridge device  100  to identify the appropriate command data set within the library of command data that is to be used to transmit recognizable commands in formats appropriate for such identified appliances. 
     The setup procedure for an illustrative bridge device  100  may comprise any method appropriate for a particular embodiment. For example, a setup procedure may entail one or more of: manipulating user input means  220  such as activating pre-defined combinations of buttons or other controls; performing configuration selection using an external system such as a PC or DVR  114  and downloading the resultant setup data to bridge device  100  via, for example, a USB port  216  or wirelessly via a WiFi or Bluetooth transceiver  204 ; executing a setup app on smart phone  102  and wirelessly transferring setup data as above; etc. Additionally, in some embodiments all or part of the required command data library may be downloaded into bridge device  100  as part of the set up process, originating for example from a local database resident in DVR  114  or smart phone  102  (i.e., stored in conjunction with a smart phone app), or from a remote Internet server based database accessed either directly by bridge device  100  or by using DVR  114  or smart phone  102  as an intermediary. Further, PC, DVR or smart phone based set up application processes may be local, Web server based, or a combination thereof as appropriate for a particular embodiment. Since systems and methods for setting up a universal controlling device to command the operation of specific home appliances are well-known, these will not be described in greater detail herein. Nevertheless, for additional information pertaining to setup procedures, the reader may turn, for example, to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,959,810, 5,872,562, 7,653,212, or 7,612,685, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     As is known in the art, the bridge device operating program may be adapted to monitor wireless receiver circuit  204  for command request messages originating from a smart phone  102 . Upon receipt of such a request, the bridge device operating program may retrieve from the command data stored in memory a command value and control protocol corresponding to the requested function and the identified device and may cause transmitter circuit  202  to output that command in a format recognizable by the target appliance. In accordance with the instant invention, an exemplary bridge device may additionally include means for direct user input on the device itself and further operating programming to monitor such input(s)  220  and output appliance commands in response thereto. With reference now  FIG. 3 , an illustrative bridge device  100  in accordance with the instant invention may include on its external surface various means for user input comprising buttons  304 ,  308 , a twistable ring  302 , and a rotatable wheel  306  which wheel may also function as a button or switch when depressed. In this manner seven distinct user inputs may be supported: three buttons presses, clockwise and anticlockwise ring twists, and clockwise and anticlockwise wheel rotations. As will be appreciated, many other configurations of input mechanisms are possible and accordingly the example presented in  FIG. 3  is intended to be illustrative and not limiting. As shown, the exemplary bridge device  100  of  FIG. 3  may include multiple IR transmitters arranged around the periphery of bridge device  100  so as to radiate IR signals  106  in multiple different directions, e.g., positioned at 180 degree or 90 degree or 45 degree intervals about the device, thus ensuring that command transmissions are visible to the target appliance(s) regardless of the orientation of bridge device  100 . In the illustrative embodiment, for aesthetic reasons and/or for mechanical protection such transmitters may be positioned behind an IR-transparent lens  310  of tinted polycarbonate or acrylic plastic. 
     In the illustrative embodiment, the operating program of bridge device  100  may comprise two modes for acceptance of direct user interaction: In a default mode of operation, clockwise and anti-clockwise twists  320 , 322  of outer ring  302  may result in transmission of volume up/down commands to TV  108 , while clockwise and anti-clockwise rotations  324 , 326  of wheel  306  may result in transmission of forward/rewind commands to DVR  114  and depression  328   a  of wheel  306  may result in transmission of a play/pause command to DVR  114 . In this embodiment, activation of button  304  may result in both the transmission of a command to DVR  114  to cause a display of program guide information by DVR  114  and setting bridge device operating program to a navigation mode, wherein user interactions  320  through  328  with ring  302  or wheel  306  may result in transmission of DVR  114  program guide navigation commands up/down, left/right, and select. Activation of either the “select” function  328  of wheel  306  or the “Exit” button  308  may cause transmission of an appropriate command to DVR  114  together with restoration of the bridge device operating program to the default mode. In this manner, the direct commands currently available to a user of the bridge device  100  may be automatically adapted as appropriate to the operational status of a controlled device such as DVR  114 . In some embodiments the current operational mode of bridge device  100  may be indicated the user via, for example, a user feedback device  218  comprising an illuminable translucent ring surrounding wheel  306 . It will be appreciated that in various embodiments such bridge device mode switching functionality may be supported or supplemented via other means: for example one or more of the controlled devices may communicate current system status directly to bridge device  100 , e.g., DVR  114  may indicate a current operational status; TV  108  may indicate a currently selected input to bridge device  100  to allow automatic selection of DVR  114  or DVD  110  at the target appliance for play/pause commands; an app loaded in smart phone  102  may signal a preferred operational mode to a bridge device; etc. 
     By way of further example, a series of steps which may be performed by an exemplary bridge device operating program is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . Upon initial power-up, at step  402  the bridge device operating program may place bridge device  100  into a known initial state, which may include in the example presented setting the initial operational mode to a default value. Thereafter, at steps  404 , 406  the exemplary bridge device operating program may commence scanning receiver  204  and user input devices  206  (i.e.,  302  through  308 ) for activity. As will be appreciated, in certain embodiments, particularly those in which a bridge device power source  222  is battery-based, such input scanning may not entail active execution of program instructions but may rather comprise placing microprocessor  200  into a low power state pending a wake up interrupt from one or more of these input sources. If user interaction with any of input devices  302  through  308  is detected, at step  414  the exemplary bridge device operating program may first determine the current operating mode of the bridge device, i.e., navigation mode or default mode as described above in connection with  FIG. 3 . According to this determination, at steps  420  or  422  the appropriate target appliances may be set. For example, as described earlier in conjunction with  FIG. 3  if bridge device  100  is operating in default mode the target appliance for ring rotations  320 , 322  may be TV  108 , while if bridge device  100  is operating in navigation mode the target appliance for the same user actions may be DVR  114 . As will be appreciated, the exact assignment of appliances to particular modes and to specific user interactions may be configurable and/or dynamic (assigned for example by interaction with appliances themselves to determine which are currently active) and as such, the assignments mentioned herein are by way of example only and not limiting. 
     Once a target appliance has been determined, at steps  424 ,  428  and  432  the exemplary bridge device operating program may next determine the desired command (i.e., the action to be performed by the target appliance), retrieve from command data storage the appropriate command value and control protocol for the selected target appliance, and transmit the command in a format recognizable by the appliance to be controlled. Upon completion of these steps, at step  426  the exemplary bridge device operating program may next determine if the command transmitted comprised a “Guide” command (i.e. corresponding to button  304 ). If so at step  434  the bridge device operational mode is set to “Navigation”, thus ensuring that subsequent user interactions with inputs  302  through  308  will be directed to the appliance(s) configured for this mode of operation. If not, at step  440  it is next determined if the command just transmitted was either of “Select” or “Exit” in which case, in keeping with the methodology described above in conjunction with  FIG. 3 , at step  438  the bridge device operational mode is returned to “Default”. Thereafter, processing of the event is complete and receiver and input scanning is resumed. 
     If receipt of a transmission by receiver  204  is detected, at step  412  the exemplary bridge device operating program may determine if the received transmission comprises an appliance control request, for example from smart phone  102 . If so, at step  418  the target appliance type is set as indicated in the received request, and thereafter processing continues at step  424  as described previously. If the received transmission is not a control request, at step  410  it is next determined if this comprises a request to alter the bridge device mode of operation (i.e. the response to user interactions with inputs  302  through  308 ). This may occur, for example, in embodiments where an appliance such as DVR  114  may explicitly signal operational state to the bridge device. If it is determined that a request to place the bridge device into a specific mode has been received, then appropriate action may be taken by the exemplary bridge device operating program at steps  426  and  430 . 
     Finally, at step  408  it is determined if the received transmission comprises updated bridge device configuration data, such as may for example have been created via a set up app on smart phone  102 , a PC or STB based configurator, etc. If so, at step  416  the updated configuration data is stored, for example in non-volatile memory  206 , whereafter input event scanning resumes at steps  404  and  406 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 5 , in certain cases a bridge device  100  may not have a wireless communication protocol in common with smart phone  102 , for example and without limitation bridge device  100  may support only RF4CE and/or Bluetooth communication while smart phone  102  supports only WiFi local communication. In such instances, an intermediary device  500  may serve to receive wireless signals  104   a  comprising command requests from smart phone  102  and retransmit these command requests in a format which is compatible with a communication protocol supported by bridge device  100 . As will be appreciated, though illustrated in the form of wireless transmission  502 , in general such retransmission may take any form appropriate for a particular embodiment of bridge device  100 : RF, IR, ultrasonic, hardwired, etc. Also, the functionality of intermediary device  500  may reside in a standalone unit provisioned expressly for this purpose, or may be incorporated in some other item of equipment, for example DVR  114 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , in a yet further embodiment a remote control  600  which is capable of two-way communication  602  with a STB or DVR  114  via any convenient protocol such as for example RF4CE or XMP may also serve as a bridge device when equipped with appropriate programming. In such an application, STB or DVR  114  may act as an intermediary device in a similar manner to that described above, receiving command requests from smart phone  102  and relaying these to remote control  600  via two-way communication link  602 . Programming in remote control  600  may perform as previously described to translate the received requests into command transmissions  106  in a format recognizable by an appliance to be controlled, for example TV  108 . In some embodiments, the remote control  600  may be adapted to be placed into a recharging station. Such a remote control  600  may then be limited to serving as a bridge only when the remote control  600  is sensed to be placed into the docking station. Further, the docking station could be provided with the circuitry need to receive signals from an intermediary device with the docking station then functioning to relay any signals so received to a docked remote control  600 , for example, transmitted via the charging contacts. 
     While various concepts have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those concepts could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. For example, in an alternate embodiment, a bridge device may be incorporated into some other item of equipment, for example a smart phone charging base, a portable keyboard or game controller device, a table lamp, etc. 
     Further, while described in the context of functional modules and illustrated using block diagram format, it is to be understood that, unless otherwise stated to the contrary, one or more of the described functions and/or features may be integrated in a single physical device and/or a software module, or one or more functions and/or features may be implemented in separate physical devices or software modules. It will also be appreciated that a detailed discussion of the actual implementation of each module is not necessary for an enabling understanding of the invention. Rather, the actual implementation of such modules would be well within the routine skill of an engineer, given the disclosure herein of the attributes, functionality, and inter-relationship of the various functional modules in the system. Therefore, a person skilled in the art, applying ordinary skill, will be able to practice the invention set forth in the claims without undue experimentation. It will be additionally appreciated that the particular concepts disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any equivalents thereof. 
     All patents cited within this document are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7