Patent ID: 8890664

Claim:
A remote control configuration method, comprising: receiving user input to initiate serial programming of a universal remote control; receiving a plurality of programming codes in an ordered sequence from an original remote control for a remote-controlled device, wherein the programming codes correspond to respective original remote control control elements and wherein each control element is selected from: a button, a soft key, and a slide bar; and submitting a query based on the programming codes to a database; responsive to the query uniquely identifying either the remote-controlled device or the original remote control, performing operations including: assigning a universal remote control control element to each programming code stored in the database associated with the universal remote control; and responsive to the query not uniquely identifying either the remote-controlled device or the original remote control, repetitively performing operations including: receiving an additional programming code from the original remote control; and submitting an additional query based on the programming codes including the additional programming code.