Patent ID: 8115596

Claim:
A method for controlling distant equipment, said method comprising: receiving, by a passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tag comprised by a Programmable Secure Remote Controller (PSRC), radio frequency (RF) signals from a transmitter integrated in the distant equipment, said distant equipment being external to and remote from the PSRC, said PRSC not comprising an internal source of energy and requiring energy from a source external to the PSRC in order to operate, said PSRC configured to distribute sufficient energy from the RF signals to components of the PSRC to enable the components to operate, said components comprising the RFID tag; responsive to said receiving the RF signal, activating the RFID tag to generate information indicative of the distant equipment; decoding the information generated by the RFID tag, said decoding the information identifying the distant equipment; receiving a request to perform an operation that controls the distant equipment; after said receiving the request, activating a first predefined scenario for performing the operation that controls the distant equipment, wherein said activating the RFID tag, said decoding the information, said receiving the request, and said activating the first predefined scenario are performed by the PSRC, wherein the PSRC comprises a memory in which a plurality of predefined scenarios are stored, wherein each predefined scenario specifies how the distant equipment is to be controlled; and before said activating the first predefined scenario, receiving a selection by a user of the first predefined scenario from the plurality of predefined scenarios stored in the memory, wherein said receiving the selection of the first predefined scenario is performed by the PSRC, wherein the method further comprises: receiving a user password inputted to the PSRC by the user; validating the user password; combining the validated user password with the tag identification to create a resultant polynomial; generating a signature key based on a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) signature key logic, wherein said generating the signature key comprises using the resultant polynomial, and wherein the signature key facilitates operation by the PSRC in a flexible secure protocol; and after said generating the signature key, granting the request to perform the operation that controls the distant equipment, wherein said receiving the user password, said validating the user password, said combining, and said generating the signature key, said granting the request are performed by the PSRC.