Patent ID: 8897897

Claim:
A companion remote control system to be used with a smart device for controlling a plurality of controlled components, the system comprising: a companion remote control unit configured for remote communication, the companion remote control unit providing a predetermined set of labeled buttons corresponding to a plurality of user commands available to a user desiring to interact with a controlled component; a software application configured for running on the smart device, the software application providing a graphical interface for the user to designate a selected controlled component from the plurality of controlled components; and a control processor capable of communicating with the companion remote, the smart device and the plurality of controlled components, the control processor programmed to receive communication from the smart device identifying the selected controlled component and to receive communication from the companion remote indicative of the user commands, the control processor further programed to correlate the user commands received from the companion remote to appropriate instructions for the selected controlled component, with the control processor thus instructing the selected controlled component based on the user commands received from the companion remote, thereby allowing the user to interact with the selected controlled component using the companion remote as if the companion remote was dedicated to the selected controlled component.