Patent ID: 7154478

Claim:
A terminal, comprising: a remote-operation region operable to remotely control a plurality of devices; a display unit having a display screen for displaying a part of a total image that includes a two-dimensional array of regions; means for sorting a plurality of content portions into a plurality of groups such that a given part of the plurality of content portions is contained in a specific one of the plurality of groups, the plurality of devices being associated with the plurality of content portions such that a given one of the plurality of devices is associated with a particular one of the plurality of content portions, the plurality of groups being a plurality of rooms of a building in which the plurality of devices is located, a plurality of device functions, or a plurality of frequencies of use; means for generating a particular total image associated with a given one of the plurality of groups, the total image including a plurality of partial images associated with the content portions belonging to that group such that a given one of the part of the plurality of content portions is associated with a specific one of the plurality of partial images, the plurality of partial images being distributed among the two-dimensional array of regions such that a given one of the plurality of partial images is located at a particular region in the two-dimensional array of regions; means for generating and storing a plurality of content tables associated with the plurality of groups such that a given one of the plurality of content tables includes the part of the plurality of content portions contained in a particular one of the plurality of groups, a given one of the part of the plurality of content portions including a device name of the associated device, control information for controlling that device, a storage location of the specific one of the plurality of partial images that is associated with that device, and an identifier of the region in the total image at which that partial image is located; scroll means for moving a position of the total image relative to said display screen so that the part of the total image shown on said display screen includes at least a portion of one of the plurality of partial images; and means for obtaining, from said content table, the content portion associated with the partial image having the portion shown on said display screen and for causing said remote-control unit to remotely control the device that is associated with that content portion.