System and method for reconfiguration of an entertainment system controlling device

#Home entertainment systems in which multiple media sources and multiple media rendering devices are coupled through a central routing device such as an AV receiver are well known in the art, as are universal controlling devices adaptable to issue commands to a multiplicity of appliances of different manufacture and/or type and which are frequently associated with such home entertainment systems. As these home entertainment systems become increasingly complex due to the proliferation of media formats, appliance types, etc., the user actions required to configure a home entertainment system to match a desired activity such as watching TV or listening to music have become increasing onerous and error prone. Various methods have been proposed for automating all or part of these configuration operations, for example through use of controlling device based macro sequences such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,959,751 or state-based control such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,784,805. However, such methods may themselves be subject to error when equipment configurations or connections are not as expected, leading only to further user frustration.

#This invention relates generally to improved methods for configuring a multi-input and/or multi-output home entertainment system to match a user's desired activities. In such systems, the outputs and inputs of the various components are generally routed to and switched through one central device such as an AV receiver. The inventive methods described herein comprise a cooperative effort between the AV receiver and an associated universal controlling device such as a remote control in which activation of an activity key or button on the controlling device results in transmission of a signal to the AV receiver to initiate certain previously defined configuration actions, which actions may be conditioned upon the AV receiver's determination of the current status of connected devices. In addition, certain controlling device command transmissions to other appliances in the home entertainment system may also be initiated as a result of said activity key activation, either unilaterally by the controlling device or at the request of the AV receiver. Since the AV receiver has access to appliance status information not available to the controlling device (by virtue of the AV receiver's physical connection to those appliances), and the controlling device in turn has access to appliance command functions not available to the AV receiver, the cooperative execution of an activity configuration request in this manner may result in more reliable and user-friendly system operation. In addition, since prior art initial user set up of AV receivers is generally GUI based and includes assignment of user-friendly names to source and destination appliances (for example, “DVD” in place of “Video input 3”), a user's initial specification of desired activity configurations may be facilitated by the use of these features when configuring activities.

#A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, properties and relationships of the invention will be obtained from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth illustrative embodiments and which are indicative of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.

#For a better understanding of the various aspects of the invention, reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in the attached drawings in which:

#FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system in which the methods of the instant invention may be practiced;

#FIG. 2 further illustrates an exemplary controlling device of the system of FIG. 1;

#Turning now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an exemplary home entertainment system in which the audio/video outputs of a group of various media source appliances such as for example a set top box (“STB”) 104, a first DVD player 106, a second DVD player 108, a game console 110, and a CD changer 112 are all connected as inputs to an AV receiver 102. AV receiver 102 in turn functions to switch the currently desired input media stream to one or more designated outputs of AV receiver 102 which are, in turn, connected to various audio and/or video rendering devices such as TV 114, projector 118, and/or loudspeakers 116; all as is well known in the art. In some embodiments AV receiver 102 may also include a network interface 120, for example Ethernet, for the routing of streaming media input/output from or to other areas of the home. When included, such a network interface may also be available for Internet access, download of firmware updates and/or other data into AV receiver 102, etc., again as well known in the art. Also illustrated is a universal controlling device 100 which is capable of transmitting commands to the appliances, using any convenient IR, RF, Point-to-Point, or networked protocol, to cause the appliances to perform operational functions. While illustrated in the context of a home entertainment system, it is to be understood that appliances controllable by universal controlling device 100 may include, but need not be limited to, televisions, VCRs, DVRs, DVD players, cable or satellite converter set-top boxes (“STBs”), amplifiers, AV receivers, CD players, game consoles, home lighting, drapery, fans, HVAC systems, thermostats, personal computers, etc. In a preferred embodiment, controlling device 100 supports bidirectional communication 130 with AV receiver 102 via any convenient IR or RF protocol.

#In an exemplary embodiment, controlling device 100 may be further adapted to function in cooperation with AV receiver 102 to configure the illustrative entertainment system in accordance with a user's desired activities. To this end, as illustrated in FIG. 2, an exemplary controlling device may be provisioned with a series of activity selection keys or buttons 200 with designations such as, for example, “Watch TV”, “Watch a Movie”, “Listen to Music”, “Play a Game”, etc. Activation of such an activity selection key may cause AV receiver 102 and/or controlling device 100 to cooperatively place the exemplary home entertainment system into a user-specified state which has been associated with that activity, as will be described in further detail hereafter.

#Turning now to FIG. 3, for use in commanding the functional operations of one or more appliances, the controlling device 100 may include, as needed for a particular application, a processor 300 coupled to a ROM memory 304, a RAM memory 305, a key matrix 316 (e.g., hard keys, soft keys such as a touch sensitive surface overlaid on a liquid crystal (LCD), and/or an electroluminescent (EL) display), transmission circuit(s) and/or transceiver circuit(s) 310 (e.g., IR and/or RF), a non-volatile read/write memory 306, a means 302 to provide feedback to the user (e.g., one or more LEDs, display, speaker, and/or the like), an input/output port 318 such as a serial interface, USB port, modem, Zigbee, WiFi, or Bluetooth transceiver, etc., and clock and timer logic 312 with associated crystal or resonator 314.