Patent ID: 7308051

Claim:
A method for decoding a signal having at least one segment comprising one of an on segment and an off segment, the segment having a temporal length demarcated by a temporal start time and a temporal end time and being judged to be a match if the temporal length of such segment is within a predetermined match range, the method comprising: receiving the signal into a first device; sampling the signal with circuitry at a first predetermined time after the temporal start time to determine if the temporal end time has occurred prior to such first predetermined time; if the temporal end time has been determined to have occurred prior to such first predetermined time, determining that the temporal length of the segment is less than the predetermined match range and therefore that the segment is not a match, and terminating decoding of the signal; if the temporal end time has been determined not to have occurred prior to such first predetermined time, proceeding by sampling the signal with circuitry at a second predetermined time after the first predetermined time to determine if the temporal end time has occurred prior to such second predetermined time and after the first predetermined time; if the temporal end time has been determined to have occurred prior to such second predetermined time and after the first determined time, determining that the temporal length of the segment is within the predetermined match range and therefore that the segment is a match, and causing the first device to perform a predetermined function with respect to a second device; if the temporal end time has been determined not to have occurred prior to such second predetermined time and after the first determined time, proceeding by sampling the signal with circuitry at a third predetermined time after the second predetermined time to determine if the temporal end time has occurred prior to such third predetermined time and after the second predetermined time; if the temporal end time has been determined to have occurred prior to such third predetermined time and after the second determined time, determining that the temporal length of the segment is within the predetermined match range and therefore that the segment is a match, and causing the first device to perform the predetermined function with respect to the second device; if the temporal end time has been determined not to have occurred prior to such third predetermined time and after the second determined time, determining that the temporal length of the segment is greater than the predetermined match range and therefore that the segment is not a match, and terminating decoding of the signal.