Patent ID: 8732741

Claim:
A customer premises equipment system, comprising: a remote control unit including: a first transceiver; a first interface port; a first processor; and a first memory, accessible to the first processor, including first processor executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations including: participating in a bidirectional communication via the first interface port with a set-top box; and programming a communication parameter associated with the bidirectional communication; wherein the set top box includes: a second transceiver; a second interface port; a second processor; a second memory, accessible to the second processor, including second processor executable instructions that, when executed by the second processor, cause the second processor perform operations including: participating in the bidirectional communication via the second interface port with the remote control unit; and programming a communication parameter associated with the bidirectional communication wherein the communication parameter corresponds to a carrier frequency parameter; and a change schedule, stored in a schedule memory selected from the first memory and the second memory, the change schedule including information indicative of: change events that cause a change in the communication parameter; and a predetermined set of communication parameter values; wherein a program memory selected from the first memory and the second memory includes processor executable program instructions, that, when executed, cause a processor to perform operations, including: determining, based on the change events, whether it is time to change the communication parameter; responsive to determining that it is time to change the communication parameter, determining, based on the predetermined set of communication parameter values, a new value of the communication parameter, wherein the new value is different; and changing a current value of the communication parameter to the new value, wherein the new value is different than the current value.