VCE control of a cable converter unit

A videocassette recorder having cable box control capability, comprising:

• an input terminal for coupling to a television signal output terminal of said cable box for receiving a television signal on a particular channel;
• a tuner for tuning said particular television channel of a number of channels in response to a control signal, said particular channel being the output channel of said cable box;
• a controller for generating said control signal for causing said tuner to select said particular television channel;
• a data input circuit, coupled to said controller, for entering data in response to operation by a user;
• a memory circuit coupled to said controller for storing channel data and data corresponding to said commands for controlling said cable box;
• and
• a remote control signal transmitter coupled to said controller for transmitting remote control signals for controlling said cable box, said cable box having a tuner for selecting one of a plurality of RF signals and converting said selected RF signal to said particular television channel for application to said videocassette recorder;
• said controller in response to data entered by said user generates said remote control signals and applies said remote control signals to said remote control signal transmitter;
• and
• a detector for detecting an active television signal, said detector being coupled to said tuner of said VCR for receiving a signal derived from said particular channel, and in response to the detection of a predetermined characteristic of a television signal on said predetermined channel generates a signal indicative of an active television signal and applies said indicative signal to said controller, said indicative signal exhibiting a variation when said tuner of said cable box is tuned from channel to channel;
• said controller causes transmission of said remote control signals to said cable box to cause said tuner of said cable box to select channels sequentially and said controller performs an autoprogramming function by monitoring said indicative signal for said variation as a feedback signal to determine which of said sequentially selected channels is an active television channel, and storing a list of said active television channels in said memory circuit of said VCR;
• said controller in response to a CHANNEL UP command or a CHANNEL DOWN command entered by a user, maintains said tuner of said videocassette recorder on said particular television channel and transmits a channel change command to said cable box, causing said cable box to tune to a next active channel of said list in a desired direction of change.