Method and apparatus for determining channel reception of a receiver

A method for identifying the channel to which a monitored remotely controlled receiver is tuned comprising the steps:

• receiving one of a plurality of viewer entered selections;
• transmitting a first unique predetermined control signal by wireless transmission in response to said received one of said viewer entered selections;
• receiving said transmitted first predetermined control signals;
• processing said first received predetermined control signals to identify said viewer entered selection;
• identifying the channel corresponding to said identified viewer entered selection;
• generating a second predetermined control signal representative of said identified viewer entered selection;
• and
• radiating by wireless transmission said generated second predetermined control signal to said remotely controlled receiver.

Apparatus for identifying the channel to which a remotely controlled receiver is tuned comprising:

• first wireless transmitter means for receiving a plurality of viewer entered selections and for transmitting a first predetermined control signal for each of said viewer entered selections;
• receiver means for receiving said transmitted first predetermined control signals;
• sensor means for identifying an operational mode of the monitored receiver;
• processor means coupled to said receiver means for processing said first received predetermined control signals, said processor means including means for storing each of said first predetermined control signals, means for correlating each of said stored first predetermined control signals with a predetermined second control signal, said second control signals having a predefined format for controlling the monitored receiver, means responsive to said processed signal for identifying said viewer entered selection, means responsive to said identified viewer entered selection to identify the tuned channel, and means for identifying said second predetermined control signal corresponding to said identified viewer entered selection and;
• second wireless transmitter means coupled to said processor means for receiving and transmitting said identified second predetermined control signal to said monitored receiver.

A method for non-invasively monitoring a remotely controlled receiver that is responsive to signals radiated by wireless transmission to determine the channel to which the receiver is tuned, comprising the steps of:

• radiating by wireless transmission a first signal representative of a viewer entered channel selection;
• determining and logging the channel selection entered by the viewer;
• and
• radiating by wireless transmission a second signal representative of the viewer entered selection to said receiver to tune the receiver to the channel selected by the viewer.