Apparatus and methods for providing initializing settings to an appliance

A system for setting a first clock in an appliance having a remote controller with a second clock, the system comprising:

• means for communicating background information on the appliance to a remote site;
• means for converting the background information describing the appliance into a first sequence of commands for setting the first clock in the appliance;
• means for downloading over a telephone connection the first sequence of commands for setting the first clock in the appliance;
• means for storing the first sequence of commands in a memory in the remote controller;
• means for actuating a single command on the remote controller;
• means for processing the single command in the remote controller to insert a time read from the second clock in the remote controller into the first sequence of commands for setting the first clock in the appliance to form a sequence of time commands;
• and
• means for transmitting the sequence of time commands from the remote controller to the appliance to set the first clock in the appliance.

A method for initializing settings in an appliance comprising the steps of:

• initiating a telephone connection with a remote site;
• communicating background information on the appliance to the remote site;
• converting the background information into a first sequence of commands;
• downloading over the telephone connection the first sequence of commands for initializing settings in the appliance;
• storing the first sequence of commands in a memory in the remote controller;
• downloading over the telephone connection data-for-initializing;
• storing the data-for-initializing in the memory in the remote controller;
• activating a single command on the remote controller;
• processing the single command in the remote controller to read the first sequence of commands from the memory and to read the data-for-initializing from the memory;
• inserting the data-for-initializing into the first sequence of commands to form a command-data sequence, upon the single command;
• and
• transmitting the command-data sequence from the remote controller to the appliance to initialize settings in the appliance, upon the single command.

A system for initializing settings in an appliance comprising:

• means for initiating a telephone connection with a remote site;
• means for communicating background information on the appliance to the remote site;
• means for converting the background information into a first sequence of commands;
• means for downloading over the telephone connection the first sequence of commands for initializing settings in the appliance;
• means for storing the first sequence of commands in a memory in the remote controller;
• means for downloading over the telephone connection data-for-initializing;
• means for storing the data-for-initializing in the memory in the remote controller;
• means for activating a single command on the remote controller;
• means for processing the single command in the remote controller to read the first sequence of commands from the memory and to read the data-for-initializing from the memory;
• means for inserting the data-for-initializing into the first sequence of commands to form a command-data sequence, upon the activation of the single command;
• and
• means for transmitting the command-data sequence from the remote controller to the appliance to initialize settings in the appliance, upon the activation of the single command.

A method for testing the validity of a downloading procedure for initializing settings in an appliance comprising the steps of:

• initiating a telephone connection with a remote site;
• downloading over the telephone connection to a remote controller for the appliance, a first sequence of commands for setting a first clock in the appliance;
• downloading over the telephone connection to the remote controller for the appliance, a second sequence of commands to set a second clock in the remote controller;
• storing the first sequence of commands in a memory in the remote controller;
• actuating a single command on the remote controller;
• processing the single command in the remote controller to insert a time read from the second clock in the remote controller into the first sequence of commands for setting the first clock in the appliance to form a sequence of time commands;
• transmitting the sequence of time commands from the remote controller to the appliance to set the first clock in the appliance;
• and
• communicating the times set on the first clock and the second clock to the remote site over the telephone connection.

A system for testing the validity of a downloading procedure for initializing settings in an appliance comprising:

• means for initiating a telephone connection with a remote site;
• means for downloading over the telephone connection to a remote controller for the appliance, a first sequence of commands for setting a first clock in the appliance;
• means for downloading over the telephone connection to a remote controller for the appliance, a second sequence of commands to set a second clock in the remote controller;
• means for storing the first sequence of commands in a memory in the remote controller;
• means for actuating a single command on the remote controller;
• means for processing the single command in the remote controller to insert a time read from the second clock in the remote controller into the first sequence of commands for setting the first clock in the appliance to form a sequence of time commands;
• means for transmitting the sequence of time commands from the remote controller to the appliance to set the first clock in the appliance;
• and
• means for communicating the times set on the first clock and the second clock to the remote site over the telephone connection.

A remote controller for initializing settings in an appliance, the remote controller comprising:

• means for initiating a telephone connection with a remote site;
• means for communicating background information on the appliance to the remote site;
• means for converting the background information into a first sequence of commands;
• means for downloading over the telephone connection the first sequence of commands for initializing settings in the appliance;
• means for storing the first sequence of commands in a memory in the remote controller;
• means for downloading over the telephone connection data-for-initializing;
• means for storing the data-for-initializing in a memory in the remote controller;
• means for activating a single command on the remote controller;
• means for processing the single command in the remote controller to read the first sequence of commands from the memory and to read the data-for-initializing from the memory;
• means for inserting the data-for-initializing into the first sequence of commands to form a command-data sequence, upon the activation of the single command;
• and
• means for transmitting the command-data sequence from the remote controller to the appliance to initialize settings in the appliance, upon the activation of the single command.

A method for setting a first clock in an appliance at a remote site comprising the steps of:

• communicating background information on the appliance to the remote site;
• converting the background information describing the appliance into a first sequence of commands for setting the first clock in the appliance;
• transmitting the first sequence of commands for setting the first clock in the appliance to a remote controller;
• storing the first sequence of commands in a memory in the remote controller;
• activating a single command on the remote controller;
• processing the single command in the remote controller to insert a time read from a second clock in the remote controller into the first sequence of commands for setting the first clock in the appliance to form a sequence of time commands;
• and
• transmitting the sequence of time commands from the remote controller to the appliance to set the first clock in the appliance.