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Description  |
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to remote control devices, and in particular
to adjustable power remote devices for controlling a home entertainment
system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The consumer electronics industry has created many stand alone products for
specific functions, such as television viewing, video recording and
playback, broadband video receivers, playing recorded music and broadcast
music. Some devices combine functions, such as the combination TV/VCR, and
the audio cassette/AM/FM receiver to name a couple. One direction that
consumers are moving is toward larger televisions located within a family
room or living room with accompanying high quality stereo. Multiple
components are required, each providing separate functions. A large screen
television based on a 19 inch to 40 inch picture tube, or 46 inch to 60
inch projection system is used and viewed from a distance of two to five
meters. The television includes a tuner for receiving and decoding
National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) signals, infrared receiver
circuitry for a remote control, and in many cases stereo and surround
sound integrated into it, making it a very expensive device. Further, the
consumer likely has a video recorder/player, and perhaps a cable box/set
top box to receive cable or satellite transmission which may also include
a video tuner and other electronics to handle modulated, compressed and
encrypted video signals. In addition, a consumer is also likely to have a
separate stereo system complete with CD player, tuner and other audio
attachments, such as speakers. This duplicates much of the functionality
of the television system and adds to the cost of a home entertainment
center.
Most consumer electronic devices come with remote control devices, which as
in the case of the television above, require sensing circuitry to receive
and process the signals from the remotes. Such controls are typically
based on IR signals which can be interrupted by someone walking in front
of it, and are not able to be used in a different room from the receiver.
While a few have on-screen programming functions, and there are special
remote control devices which can be programmed to control multiple
consumer electronic devices found in a home entertainment center, there is
little consistency between such controls. In addition, there is no good
way to use different remote control units to control different programs
generating the information displayed in various windows on the screen.
This leads to confusion of the consumer, and the classic case of the
blinking "12:00" as consumers become frustrated trying to master all the
protocols required to appropriately control their electronic devices.
Trying to program a VCR to record a program in the future can also be
quite difficult. The expense of the additional circuitry in all the
devices to accomplish these functions is borne by the consumer.
Multimedia based personal computers today are configured with CD Rom
drives, and speakers as well as graphics drivers for displaying graphics
on a monitor attached to the computer. CD Rom drives are capable of both
reading data, such as computer programs, and reading audio information
such as music which is output from the attached speakers. Multimedia
titles for running on a PC usually are distributed on CD Rom, and involve
such things as animated encyclopedias and other books, as well as games
that may incorporate video clips which can be shown on a PC display. More
and more of the video information on such CDs is compressed in accordance
with Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) standards and requires
commercially available software or circuitry to decompress it and process
it for display. The display signal is typically of VGA quality. Some add
on products for PCs even provide a connection to video feeds from multiple
sources for playing in a window on the monitor screen. Typically, the
computer has a video graphics adapter (VGA or SVGA) card which processes
all the information to be displayed on a monitor and the monitor itself is
basically a picture tube that shows only what it is sent with very little
processing. However, most PC displays are small, and not suitable for
viewing by multiple people at the same time. It often happens that when a
family gets a new program such as a game, animated book or educational
game, everyone wants to see it being used for the first time, and they
huddle around a small display and vie for positions. In addition, there is
no good way for multiple users to interact on a single computer. For
viewing video feeds from cable or satellite, large screen consumer
television sets are most commonly used in the home entertainment center.
As can be seen, there is great duplication of function between the consumer
electronics and personal computers, both of which are more and more likely
to be found in a family room or great room of a home. This duplication of
function leads to much more money being spent to fully outfit the home
entertainment center and provide additional functions. When one component
fails, since it has duplicate function, it is expensive to replace. One
system that tried to solve some of the above problems is shown in U.S.
Pat. No. 5,192,999 to Graczyk et al. That system has a television circuit
and an audio circuit within a personal computer, both of which are
controlled by a remote control device. The television circuit is used to
receive common cable or broadcast video signals in NTSC format, which
inherently have a lower quality than video signals currently broadcast by
digital broadcasting satellite. NTSC format signals are interlaced, which
means that every other line is refreshed during each scan of the picture
tube. For example, odd lines would be refreshed during a first scan, and
even lines during a second scan. Since there are 60 scans per second, odd
lines are refreshed 30 times per second, and even lines are refreshed 30
times per second. VGA monitors refresh at least 60 times per second,
providing a more coherent spacial and temporal image. The NTSC signal is a
lower bandwidth signal than digital MPEG, which has a much higher
bandwidth and allows productive use of even higher resolution monitors.
While Graczyk et al. does convert the NTSC signals to VGA format for
display by a data quality analog monitor, the signal quality is limited
because of the lower bandwidth transmission. NTSC signals have a great
effect on the type of text that can be displayed. With an interlaced
display, the text displayed in normal fonts appears to jump as alternate
lines are refreshed. There have been several attempts to design fonts that
minimize this jump effect, but none have worked well. A VGA display,
refreshing each line with every scan of the tube, does not have this
problem, and provides a much sharper and readable image for text.
The monitor described by Graczyk is shown as a standard PC analog VGA
monitor, and reference is commonly made to a single user. Such monitors
are fairly small, having a maximum viewing area of 17.5 inches (44.5 cm)
at the high end of the PC market. They are not nearly suitable for viewing
in a home entertainment environment. They are designed for close viewing,
having pixels very close together. Current home entertainment systems are
much larger and expensive due to all the other circuitry they have as
described above.
One satellite broadcast system is that provided by DirecTV, a unit of G. M.
Hughes Electronics. Direct Broadcast Satellites, "DBS" provide more than
150 channels of high-quality MPEG based video, sound and data to 18 inch
(45.7 cm) receiving antennas. Rights to make subscriber terminals are
licensed by DirectTV, and several other companies contributing technology.
News Datacom Corporation provides encryption and security for the DBS
system, providing decryption keys, software and an access card for each
subscriber terminal. Thomson Consumer Electronics provides consumer
subscriber terminals in the form of set top boxes called integrated
receiver/decoders "IRDs" which convert the high-quality television signals
into NTSC for showing on a standard television. Each IRD demodulates,
decodes, decrypts and outputs video and data, which is displayed on a
subscriber television. Error correction, decompression and demultiplexing
to separate out video data from other data is also provided in the IRD.
While S Video output is provided, there is no provision for monitor/VGA
quality output capability. Other sources of MPEG based video include
optical fiber based cable systems, compact disk, video clips available on
the Internet network, both old and proposed HDCD (high-definition compact
disk) formats, and other existing and proposed satellite, digital cable,
and asynchronous-transfer mode ("ATM")-based systems as well as wireless
digital broadcasts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A multipurpose computer system is provided with circuitry to control
consumer electronics, such as a large monitor or television for group
interaction and of text, graphics and video in a home entertainment
environment. The circuitry provides audio and video tuning capability for
display of received high quality video signals on the monitor without an
intermediate conversion to a lower quality NTSC format. The circuitry
decodes the received video signals and converts them to VGA format which
provides images of higher quality than NTSC. The monitor is capable of
directly displaying VGA signals, and is not required to have a television
tuner circuit, remote control, or audio circuitry. This significantly
reduces the cost of the monitor and improves the quality of display as
opposed to typical large screen televisions which contain complex tuning
circuitry.
In one embodiment, the high quality video signals are received from
satellites broadcasting digital video signals, digital cable signals and
other wireless digital broadcasts. One example is direct broadcasting
satellite "DBS" signals having a quality of video signal higher than that
provided by NTSC broadcasts. The DBS signals are MPEG-compressed video,
audio and data. The DBS signals are received by a video receiver circuit
board which is compatible with a standard personal computer peripheral
component interconnect (PCI) bus and fits within the chassis of a personal
computer. The video receiver cards have panel connectors for receiving
coax cable from an antenna which directly receives the DBS signals. The
card has functional blocks comprising a satellite tuner, digital
demodulator, forward error correction, conditional access and
decryption/demultiplexing. The demultiplexor provides the capability of
receiving data packets which range from information on television programs
being broadcast, to computer programs for downloading into computer
memory.
The video receiver card outputs digital video, audio and data streams onto
the peripheral component interconnect "PCI" bus where it can be accessed
by the computer main processor for manipulation and storage. When stored
in a personal computer memory, the program information may be organized in
a commercially available database format. This permits the use of database
functions to be applied to the data. Rather than being stuck viewing the
program information as provided by the broadcaster, the data immediately
becomes manipulable by database commands, allowing queries of program
information. Searches are used to show programs having certain actors or
subject matter, and even have programs meeting the query automatically
recorded. One use entails a user designating a series to be recorded, and
the database keeps track of what has been recorded or already viewed,
avoiding duplicate recording, as well as providing easy access to the
recorded programs. In general, by capturing data along with video and
audio in a form which a personal computer can process, the possibilities
for computer applications are endless. Interaction with movies,
classrooms, other players of games such as golf and a host of other
possibilities becomes clear.
Further embodiments of the system include a settop box version, where all
the circuitry is integrated into one or two cards in a box designed to sit
on top of a television set having VGA input. In another version, all the
circuitry is included inside of the television chassis.
In one embodiment of the invention, closed caption information provided in
video signals is captured, and stored in the database for searching. This
provides the ability to instantly find current programming discussing
events that a user is interested in. In a further embodiment, speech
recognition circuitry is used to convert speech to text or commands for
similar searching capability. Given current speech recognition
capabilities, not all words may be recognized. Only those that are
recognized are stored in the database or used as a command. Much of the
information so captured is not relevant in a certain amount of time, so a
data retention mechanism is used to identify old data and delete it from
the database once the database has exceeded its allocated resource level.
A standard FIFO algorithm based on the time expired since the programs
described have been shown is employed. Further algorithms are user
selectable to relevancy rank data in accordance with user preference.
A video graphics adapter (VGA) card also coupled to the PCI bus converts
the digital data stream into VGA and video signals for display on the
monitor. In addition to being a home entertainment system, a fully
functional computer system forms the heart of the entertainment system.
Instead of buying all the individual consumer electronics parts, such as a
large screen television, settop box for receiving broadband video, audio
amplifier/receiver, CD player, universal remote control, video game
machine, answering machine and fax, and a personal computer as some
consumers do today, they need only buy the home entertainment system of
the present invention. The cost is about the same as that for the
individual traditional consumer electronics parts, making the personal
computer essentially free.
Support for remote control of both the personal computer and the monitor
functions is also provided in the personal computer as well as standard PC
VGA graphic display functions normally associated with personal computers.
Additional functions also become available based on the integration of
devices and digitized data, video and audio. In this manner, no audio,
remote control or channel tuning electronics is required in the display,
which results in a much lower price for a large monitor suitable for home
entertainment. Both a handheld remote control having standard television
and in one embodiment, video cassette recorder controls, and a full
function remote keyboard having similar standard television and video
cassette recorder controls are provided. Both transmit key signals
identifying the key pressed, as well as a signal identifying the source of
the key signal. The key signals are preferably RF signals typically in the
megahertz range, but can also be IR or other suitable form of radiation.
RF signals have the advantage over infrared "IR" signals in that they are
not interrupted by someone walking between the remote and the receiver.
Light source interference and jamming of other IR receivers is minimized
by using RF signals. It may also be used in a different room from the
receiver.
The personal computer contains suitable receiving circuitry, which provides
indications of the keys being pressed, with the identity of the remote
control device sending the signal. In one embodiment, an industry standard
architecture (ISA) board or module is plugged into both the keyboard and
mouse ports. Another bus, such as a serial, RS232 or microchannel bus may
also be used. The board contains RF receiver circuitry which receives the
RF signals, decodes them and routes them to the appropriate port for
processing. A receiving module is programmed to distinguish between the
sources of the remote control transmitted signals, and directs keystrokes
to the keyboard port, and mouse movements to the mouse port. The signals
at the two ports then control which program the remote key signals affect.
If the handheld remote is activated, the key signals usually would control
what channel is being displayed, or cause a recorded program to fast
forward, play or reverse. It could however be selected to move to the next
image or otherwise control a program designed to display pictures taken on
a digital camera. Keyboard keys are more likely to control a computer
program application such as a word processor, spread sheet or electronic
mail program. In one embodiment, the television like controls are used to
override the remote hand held television controls in channel selection.
Just as easily, the hand held remote controls paging through electronic
mail. Additionally, the hand held remote has a pointing device, such as a
trackball, or miniature joystick with normally associated keys for
selecting functions identified by the cursor on the display being moved by
the pointing device. The keyboard contains an integrated touchpad for
performing similar function, and additionally for transmitting signatures,
providing the ability to ensure that an authorized user is requesting a
transaction. Given the entertainment room environment, a touchpad provides
the further benefit of being able to withstand greasy popcorn and chicken
fingers which might foul other pointing devices. In a further embodiment,
each remote control device has its own unique cursor associated with it.
In this manner, it is easier for the user of a particular device to know
which program will be affected when the remote is used.
The remote controls are also used to control the data supplied to more than
one display. In one embodiment, a display is located in a den, where it is
displaying a financial application, such as a checkbook balancing program.
The personal computer is set up to drive multiple monitors, and the remote
control keyboard is assigned to the monitor in the den to control the
running and display of information from the financial application.
The remote control devices are used to control one or more cursors
displayed on the monitor as part of a graphical user interface into the
home entertainment system. Cells displayed as boxes containing descriptive
text are associated with video programs and with video programs and with
computer programs, may be selected to view and/or run the programs.
Several icons, such as pictures, video clips or list boxes indicating
functions, like record are used to provide functions by dragging and
dropping cells onto the icons. Other icons include remind, buy, picture in
picture and view full screen to name a few. In one embodiment, each remote
control controls its own cursor to allow multiple users to control
different portions of the system.
In a further preferred embodiment, the remote control devices are equipped
with a user mechanism to reduce the power of the transmitted radio
frequency signals depending on their distance from the computer. Circuitry
is provided to detect the power level of the signal received and provide
an indication on the computer screen, or transmit power level signals back
to the remote control device indicative of the power level of the signal
received. The remote control device has means to adjust the power, either
by the user varying the resistance of the power amplifier, or by digital
adjustment of the power amplifier based on the power level signals
transmitted from the computer. The ability to control the power level of
the signals helps lengthen the time required between replacing batteries
which power the remotes.
In yet a further embodiment, remote earphones are provided. The personal
computer has the capability to generate separate sound tracks for each
window being displayed on the monitor. It assigns each to one or more sets
of earphones and transmits a local FM signal or broadcast IR or RF which
is received and played by the earphones set to the right channel. The
earphones have tuning circuitry that allows them to be set to a desired
channel, or they may be fixed to different frequencies, and software is
used to set the frequency or frequencies on which the audio associated
with a window is broadcast.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a home entertainment system for processing and
displaying high quality video in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a top view representation of the end of a shell connector for
coupling to a monitor in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing major components of a personal computer
in the home entertainment system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a tuning circuit in the personal computer of
FIG. 3.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a video graphics adapter in the personal
computer of FIG. 3.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an audio card in the personal computer of FIG.
3.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing input and output connectors which are
provided in the personal computer of FIG. 3.
FIG. 8 is a block functional diagram showing the functional elements of a
database storing programming information which can be displayed on the
system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 9a is a top view of a hand held remote control device in one
embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9b is a cut away side view of a hand held remote control device in one
embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9c is a cut away side view of an alternative hand held remote control
device in one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a top view of a keyboard remote control device in one embodiment
of the present invention.
FIG. 11a is a high level flow diagram showing how commands from the remote
controls of FIGS. 9a-c and 10 are processed.
FIG. 11b is a high level block diagram showing the association of remote
control devices to applications.
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing power adjustment controls for the remote
control devices of FIGS. 9a-c and 10.
FIG. 13 is a block diagram representation of a user interface displayed on
the screen of the present invention.
FIGS. 14a-f are block diagram representations of a user interface for
interacting with the home entertainment system of the present invention.
FIG. 15 is a block diagram representation of a video-conferencing system
based on the home entertainment system of the present invention.
FIG. 16 is a block diagram representation of an alternative video
conferencing system based on the home entertainment system of the present
invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment,
reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof,
and in which is shown by way of illustration specific preferred
embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are
described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to
practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments
may be utilized and that structural, logical and electrical changes may be
made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present
inventions. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be
taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present inventions is
defined only by the appended claims.
Numbering in the Figures is usually done with the hundreds and thousands
digits corresponding to the figure number, with the exception that the
same components may appear in multiple figures. Signals and connections
may be referred to by the same number or label, and the actual meaning
should be clear from the context of use.
In FIG. 1, a home entertainment system is shown generally at 110. External
to the home entertainment system, a satellite 112, which in one preferred
embodiment is a HS601 model, operated by Hughes at a 101 degree west
longitude geosynchronous orbital location, transmits signals comprising
150 channels of modulated digital video, audio and data signals at a
frequency of about 12 GHz. The satellite signals are received by the home
entertainment system 110 by an antenna 114 containing a low noise block
converter amplifier. The antenna is preferably about 18 inches in diameter
and receives left and right hand circularly polarized signals between 12.2
and 12.7 Ghz. The antenna provides a "downconverted-spectrum" signal
between 950 and 1450 MHz via a coaxial cable or other suitable
communication medium 116 to a system device 118, such as a personal
computer or other system or circuitry capable of processing data. Suitable
antennas are already being manufactured and sold by RCA Corporation by
direct sales and through numerous major retail chains such as Radio Shack.
The system 118 contains circuitry and software to further processes the
signals from the antenna, generally demodulating and decoding the signal
to produce a VGA signal. The VGA signal is provided via a standard VGA
compatible monitor cable 120 to drive a large screen data quality monitor
122 suitable for viewing in a family room or entertainment type room
environment. The system 118 provides for user input by means of remote
controls 124 and 126. Remote control 124 comprises a handheld size device
with standard television controls and numeric keypad, and in one
embodiment, VCR controls and a pointing device. It provides RF
(radio-frequency) or IR (infrared) control signals received by the system
118. Remote control 126 is a full function personal computer keyboard,
with additional standard television and VCR controls, pointing device
which is preferably in the form of a touchpad, and it also provides RF
control signals to the system 118. RF control signals were selected over
IR or hardwired in one embodiment due to the home entertainment
environment. It allows the system to be in a different room from the
monitor 122, or if in the same room, a clear line of sight is not
required. In another embodiment, IR control signals were selected because
of the availability of many standard circuitry at low cost. Further detail
of the remote control devices is provided below.
The monitor cable 120 is a standard type cable typically used on VGA
display devices, and comprises up to fifteen electrical conductors,
interfacing with the monitor 122 in a D series shell connector indicated
at 210 in FIG. 2. The fifteen leads, some of which are blank, end in pins
in the connector which is a molded over, shielded, triple row, 15
position, subminiature D, straight male plug. The leads are labelled and
identified in a table indicated generally at 212 next to the
representation of shell connector 210. The monitor contains a suitable
female connector for receiving the male shell connector 210.
The monitor 122 in FIG. 1 is preferably capable of displaying at least VGA
quality data and video. At least 640 by 480 pixels of resolution are
displayable on the monitor. Alternative monitors of higher quality, such
as SVGA providing an even greater number of pixels are also used in a
further embodiment. Many common graphics cards support multiple such
formats, providing great flexibility. The tube size is 33 inches with a
diagonal viewing size of 31 inches. An alternative tube size of 29 inches
with 27 inch viewing area is lower cost and more suitable for an entry
model entertainment system. Monitor 122 preferably contains an analog tube
with an aspect ratio of 4 by 3, supports VGA input, has a dot pitch of
approximately 0.8 to 0.95 millimeters for the 33 inch tube and 0.65 to 0.8
millimeters for the 29 inch tube with a misconvergence of 1 to 1.5
millimeters, a bandwidth of 15 Mhz, a brightness of about 33 FL. One CRT
which may be used is manufactured by Mitsubishi, having a model and type
number of M79KKZ111X. The above specifications may easily be modified for
larger tube sizes, but are designed to provide optimal viewability from a
distance of less than two to about four meters for a combination of data
and high quality video. If the viewing distance is desired to be less, the
tube size and dot pitch should be decreased. If the tube size is not
decreased, more pixels would need to be displayed for adequate viewing of
data. SVGA monitors providing more lines would be more appropriate.
Standard digital monitor controls to control brightness, contrast,
vertical and horizontal sizing and positioning, on/off (rest/resume) are
also provided, with both a user accessible manual control panel, and
circuitry for receiving control information from personal computer 18 in
via monitor cable 120. Further embodiments of monitor 22 include larger
displays of 35 and 40 inches viewable and LCD large projection screen type
displays. Both aspect ratios of 4:3 and 16:9, commonly referred to as wide
screen are supported.
Further detail of the functional blocks of system 118 are shown in FIG. 3.
A processor 310 resides on a system board containing an industry standard
PCI bus 312. A random access memory 314 is coupled to both the processor
310 for direct access, and to the PCI bus 312 for direct access by other
components also coupled to the PCI bus 312.
The other components comprise a receiver 316, video graphics adapter, VGA
converter card 318, sound card 320 and modem 322. An RF receiver 324 is
coupled to standard keyboard and mouse ports, which in turn are coupled
through a standard keyboard/mouse adapter to an ISA bus 326 to processor
310. Both keyboard 126 and handheld remote 124 transmit RF signals
identifying the key pressed, as well as a signal identifying the source of
the key signal. The RF signals are typically in the megahertz range, but
can also be IR or other suitable form of radiation. RF signals have the
advantage over infrared "IR" signals in that they are not interrupted by
someone walking between the remote and the receiver. This is especially
important during a drag and drop type of activity. If the signal is
interrupted for example, a needed document might be dropped on a trash can
icon, causing the document to be unintentionally deleted. Light source
interference and jamming of other IR receivers is minimized by using RF
signals. It may also be used in a different room from the receiver.
RF receiver 324 receives the RF signals, which provide indications of the
keys being pressed along with the identity of the remote control device
sending the signal. RF receiver 324 comprises an ISA board or module
plugged into both standard keyboard and mouse ports. The board contains RF
receiver circuitry which receives the RF signals, decodes them and routes
them to the appropriate port for processing. A system controller program
running on processor 310 supervises software drivers which are programmed
to distinguish between the sources, and control which program the remote
key signals affect. If the handheld remote is activated, the key signals
usually would control what channel is being displayed, or cause a recorded
program to fast forward, play or reverse. It could however be selected to
move to the next image in a program designed to display pictures taken on
a digital camera. Keyboard keys are more likely to control a computer
program application such as a word processor, spread sheet or e | | |
