Patent ID: 8704698

Claim:
A universal remote control apparatus comprising: a computer configured to discover a first device and a second device via a first channel, receive, from each of the first and second devices via the first channel, first device information of the first device and second device information of the second device, receive, from a user, a first selection of the first device and a second selection of the second device, transmit a selection signal to each of the selected firs and second devices via the first channel, receive a notification signal in response to the selection signal from each of the selected first and second devices via a second channel, provide, to the user, a list of input interfaces of the selected second device based on the first device information and/or the second device information, receive, from the user, a third selection of an input interface from the list of the input interfaces, the selected input interface corresponding to a connection between the first and second devices, generate a batch instruction to control the selected first and second devices based on the first and second device information and the selected input interface, the batch instruction comprising standard control message information of the selected first and second devices, and transmit the batch instruction to each of the selected first and second devices via the first channel.