US5537463A — Magnetic modem in a remote control

Claim 1

Independent Claim 137 words

A remote control comprising: a microprocessor including a CPU and memory means; a keypad including keys for operating said remote control coupled to said microprocessor; signal outputting circuitry; driver circuitry coupled to said microprocessor for driving said signal outputting circuitry; hardware and software, including said microprocessor, for generating output signal data which is supplied to said driver circuitry; a coupling transducer in said remote control for picking up magnetic signals from a device capable of emitting or transmitting magnetic signals; coupling circuitry for coupling said coupling transducer to said microprocessor; and, decoding means including one or both of decoding hardware or decoding software coupled to or received in said microprocessor for decoding the magnetic signals picked up into bits and/or bytes of output signal data; and, means for storing said bits and/or bytes in said memory means.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 137 words

A remote control comprising: a microprocessor including a CPU and memory means; a keypad including keys for operating said remote control coupled to said microprocessor; signal outputting circuitry; driver circuitry coupled to said microprocessor for driving said signal outputting circuitry; hardware and software, including said microprocessor, for generating output signal data which is supplied to said driver circuitry; a coupling transducer in said remote control for picking up magnetic signals from a device capable of emitting or transmitting magnetic signals; coupling circuitry for coupling said coupling transducer to said microprocessor; and, decoding means including one or both of decoding hardware or decoding software coupled to or received in said microprocessor for decoding the magnetic signals picked up into bits and/or bytes of output signal data; and, means for storing said bits and/or bytes in said memory means.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 18 words

The remote control of claim 1 wherein said decoding hardware or software includes a band pass filter section.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 18 words

The remote control of claim 1 wherein said decoding hardware or software includes a signal boosting amplifier section.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 15 words

The remote control of claim 1 wherein said decoding software includes a Costas Loop section.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 28 words

The remote control of claim 4 wherein said decoding software includes a bit sync tracking/data extractor section which is coupled to or supplied to said Costas Loop section.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 29 words

The remote control of claim 5 wherein said decoding software includes a bit shift register section which is coupled to or supplied to said bit sync tracking/data extractor section.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 10 words

The remote control of claim 1 including a visual display.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 28 words

The remote control of claim 1 wherein said memory means of said remote control includes an EEPROM for storing data that is picked up by said coupling transducer.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 51 words

The remote control of claim 1 wherein said remote control further includes a buzzer or code generating circuit which includes a buzzer, which is coupled to said CPU and which is operable to generate tone signals for communicating through a telephone handset and over a telephone line with a host computer.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 51 words

The remote control of claim 1 wherein said coupling transducer is coupled into a band pass filter circuit forming at least part of said hardware the output of which is coupled to a signal boosting amplifier circuit also forming part of said hardware and having an output coupled to said CPU.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 14 words

The remote control of claim 1 wherein said coupling transducer is a pick-up coil.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 18 words

The remote control of claim 1 wherein said electro-magnetic signal emitting or transmitting device is a telephone handset.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 19 words

The remote control of claim 1 further including indicating means for indicating when a data transmission has been completed.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 14 words

The remote control of claim 13 wherein said indicating means include light emitting means.

Claim 16

Independent Claim 182 words

A method for communicating instructions and/or function code data for operating a controlled consumer electrical appliance, such as a television set, from a host call-in station including a computer to a signal coupling system comprising an electro-magnetic signal coupling transducer in a remote control, said method comprising the steps of: encoding function code data into bits forming bytes where each bit is defined by a predetermined number of cycles of a carrier frequency and the logic, 1 or 0, of the data bit is defined by an in-phase timing of the cycles, and the logic 0 or 1, is defined by a 180 degree out-of-phase timing of the cycles; transmitting the carrier frequency to an electro-magnetic signal emitting device; picking up with the signal coupling transducer the carrier frequency emitted from the electro-magnetic signal emitting device; decoding the data bit logic contained in the carrier frequency with one of or both of decoding hardware in the remote control or decoding software stored in the memory of the remote control; and, storing the decoded function code data in memory of the remote control.

Claim 17

Independent Claim 182 words

A method for communicating instructions and/or function code data for operating a controlled consumer electrical appliance, such as a television set, from a host call-in station including a computer to a signal coupling system comprising an electro-magnetic signal coupling transducer in a remote control, said method comprising the steps of: encoding function code data into bits forming bytes where each bit is defined by a predetermined number of cycles of a carrier frequency and the logic, 1 or 0, of the data bit is defined by an in-phase timing of the cycles, and the logic 0 or 1, is defined by a 180 degree out-of-phase timing of the cycles; transmitting the carrier frequency to an electro-magnetic signal emitting device; picking up with the signal coupling transducer the carrier frequency emitted from the electro-magnetic signal emitting device; decoding the data bit logic contained in the carrier frequency with one of or both of decoding hardware in the remote control or decoding software stored in the memory of the remote control; and, storing the decoded function code data in memory of the remote control.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 11 words

The method of claim 15 wherein the carrier is 2400 Hz.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 13 words

The method of claim 15 wherein the predetermined number of cycles is 8.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 18 words

The method of claim 15 wherein said decoding hardware or decoding software includes a band pass filter section.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 18 words

The method of claim 15 wherein said decoding hardware or decoding software includes a signal boosting amplifier section.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 14 words

The method of claim 15 wherein said decoding software includes a Costas Loop section.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method of claim 20 wherein said decoding software includes a bit sync tracking/data extractor section which is coupled to or supplied to said Costas Loop section.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 28 words

The method of claim 21 wherein said decoding software includes a bit shift register section which is coupled to or supplied to said bit sync tracking/data extractor section.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 30 words

The method of claim 15 including the step of displaying on a visual display of the remote control messages relating to the transfer of data to the remote control memory.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method of claim 15 wherein said memory means of said remote control includes an EEPROM for storing data that is picked up by said coupling transducer.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 42 words

The method of claim 15 including the steps of: generating, with a buzzer or code generating circuit which includes a buzzer, a tone signal and communicating the tone signal through a telephone handset and over a telephone line to a host computer.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 30 words

The method of claim 15 including the step of: indicating to a user of the remote control when a data transmission to or from the remote control has been completed.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 13 words

The method of claim 15 wherein said coupling transducer is a pick-up coil.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1999-07-16	2000-01-15	2000-07-16	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2003-07-16	2004-01-15	2004-07-16	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2007-07-16	2008-01-15	2008-07-16	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Magnetic modem in a remote control

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