Patent ID: 8310391

Claim:
An electronic device constituting a remote control system together with a remote control device and at least one controlled device that receives a direct command signal broadcasted by the remote control device, the electronic device comprising: a first reception section that receives, from the remote control device, a direct command signal broadcasted to the electronic device and the at least one controlled device; a second reception section that receives, from the at least one controlled device, an indirect command signal having been generated by the at least one controlled device according to the direct command signal having been received from the remote control device; and a control section comprising signal selecting means that selects one intended command signal to which a response is needed from a signal group according to a predetermined rule, the signal group containing the direct command signal having been received by the first reception section and the at least one indirect command signal having been received by the second reception section, the control section further comprising: signal blocking means that blocks a command signal having not been selected by the signal selecting means in the signal group, so that the command signal having not been selected is not supplied to a command signal processing section that performs processing in response to the direct command signal or the indirect command signal; time measuring means that measures a time period elapsed since the first reception section or the second reception section has received any of the command signals; and input signal managing means that manages the reception of the direct command signal in association with the remote control device, which is a source device of the direct command signal, and manages the reception of the indirect command signal in association with each of the at least one controlled device, which is a source device of the indirect command signal, the input signal managing means determining, as being in a same signal group, the command signals having been received within the predetermined time period measured by the time measuring means, the signal blocking means blocking the command signal having not been selected by the signal selecting means, until the elapsed time period measured by the time measuring means reaches a predetermined time period.