Patent ID: 7639115

Claim:
A method for pairing a bidirectional object acting as a command receiver with a bidirectional object acting as a command transmitter, the command receiver having three distinct states: a first state in which the command receiver is not paired, a second state in which the command receiver is allocated temporarily to a command transmitter, and a third state in which the command receiver is paired to a command transmitter, the method comprising the following stages: (a) temporarily allocating a plurality of command receivers to a command transmitter, the temporary allocation moving the command receivers from the first state to the second state and rendering the command receiver responsive to only commands from the command transmitter to which it is allocated; then (b) selecting a command receiver from among the plurality of temporarily allocated objects by: (b1) the command transmitter sending a response request command to one of the temporarily allocated objects; (b2) the response request command recipient responding by sending a signal that allows a user to visually or audibly identify the response request command recipient; (b3) if the user determines that the response request command recipient is not a desired object for pairing, repeating the stage of sending a response request command, but to another of the temporarily allocated objects; and (b4) if the user determines that the response request command recipient is the desired object for pairing, proceeding to step (c); (c) sending a pairing command from the command transmitter to the command receiver, (c1) the command receiver moving from the second state to the third state upon receipt of the pairing command; and (c2) the command receiver being non-responsive to initiator events while in the third state, and then (d) releasing the temporarily allocated objects distinct from the paired object, the non-selected command receivers going from the second state to the first state.