System and method supporting infrared remote control over a network

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#The development of home networks to distribute video content digitally presents new problems to system designers seeking to integrate the control of multiple devices in the home. An early example is the use of coaxial cable to distribute analog video content throughout a home. Although it was relatively easy to connect multiple televisions to a common video source such as a VCR located in a different room, the standard remote controls for the VCR would not allow a homeowner to directly control a remotely located VCR from the room where the TV was located, which is where the operator typically would desire to view the video. In prior analog systems, remote control of a source not located in the room where the content was played was accomplished with either UHF radio remote controls (an uncommon solution for home equipment and susceptible to interference from neighbors) or more typically with the use of infrared repeaters that would collect IR control signals in a given room and then either retransmit them by bouncing them down a hallway, send them by a dedicated wired connection to the program source, or retransmit the signals using radio waves, again suffering interference from other radio sources. All of these techniques require additional dedicated components and wiring making their installation relatively expensive.

#FIG. 1 shows an overview of a typical implementation of one embodiment the invention.

#FIG. 2 is a more detailed overview showing the basic system and an alternate scheme for use with A/V sources that are not connected to the digital home network.

#FIG. 3 is an alternate embodiment that includes a central decode and command distributor that allows multiple display media to share multiple program sources.

#Referring to FIG. 1, in one embodiment of the invention, the home network system comprises 2 boxes: a remote settop box 101 and a central settop box 102. The central settop box 102 includes a home network interface 103 and an IR packet decoder 104, although these functions could be separated into two physically distinct units. An IR cable 105 connects the IR packet decoder to an IR Blaster 106, whose construction may be conventional. A program source such as a VCR 107 is connected to network interface 103 by either an analog or digital link 108. An IR remote control 109 can now send IR commands 110 to remote settop box 101. Remote settop box 101 packetizes the IR commands 110 and forwards them across digital network 111 to network interface 103. IR packet decoder 104 translates packetized IR commands received from the network 111 and forwards them to IR blaster 106. IR blaster 106 broadcasts an IR blaster command 115 to conventional program source 107. The program source 107 responds to the commands and sends its program content to the digital network 111 via link 108 and the network interface 103. Finally, the remote display or speakers 112 receives the program from source 107, even though source 107 may be separated from IR remote 109 and display 112 by one or more walls 113.

#Remote Box.

#FIG. 4a is a detailed view of the remote settop box 101. The IR receiver 401 within the remote box is typically a photodiode, with a simple RC filter 402 at the output. The RC filter 402 is sufficiently broadband to receive all varieties of IR remote control signals. Most IR remote controls 109 generate signals 110 that are either baseband signals with pulse widths in the range of 3-7 μs on/20 μs off or AM modulated carriers around 30-40 KHz. Buffer/amplifier 403 forwards the received signal to the remote signal processor 405 over interrupt line 404.