System and method for configuring a home appliance communications network

A method for configuring a target controlling appliance to communicate with a plurality of target controlled appliances, the method comprising:

• using configuration data to identify a plurality of command codes in a first command code library that are recognizable by the target controlled appliance such that the identified plurality of command codes are available to allow the remote control to control operations of the target controlled appliance;
• storing the configuration data in a memory of the remote control;
• transmitting from the remote control to the target controlling appliance a configuration message created using device data indicative of a type of each of the target controlled appliances and the configuration data read from the memory of the remote control;
• and
• using the configuration message at the target controlling appliance to identify a plurality of command codes in a second command code library that are recognizable by each of the target controlled appliances to configure the target controlling appliance such that the identified plurality of command codes are available to allow the target controlling appliance to control operations of each of the target controlled appliance.

A method for using a remote control having a memory to configure a target controlling appliance to communicate with a target controlled appliance, the method comprising:

• accepting configuration data which is used to identify a plurality of command codes in a first command code library that are recognizable by the target controlled appliance such that the identified plurality of command codes are available to allow the remote control to control operations of the target controlled appliance;
• storing the configuration data in the memory;
• creating a configuration message using the configuration data read from the memory;
• and
• transmitting the configuration message to the target controlling appliance where the target controlling appliances uses the configuration message to identify a plurality of command codes in a second command code library that are recognizable by the target controlled appliance to configure the target controlling appliance such that the identified plurality of command codes are available to allow the target controlling appliance to control operations of the target controlled appliance.

In a remote control having a memory, a readable media having instructions for use in configuring a target controlling appliance to communicate with a target controlled appliance, the instructions performing steps comprising:

• accepting configuration data which is used to identify a plurality of command codes in a first command code library that are recognizable by the target controlled appliance such that the identified plurality of command codes are available to allow the remote control to control operations of the target controlled appliance;
• storing the configuration data in the memory;
• creating a configuration message using the configuration data read from the memory;
• and
• transmitting the configuration message to the target controlling appliance where the target controlling appliances uses the configuration message to identify a plurality of command codes in a second command code library that are recognizable by the target controlled appliance to configure the target controlling appliance such that the identified plurality of command codes are available to allow the target controlling appliance to control operations of the target controlled appliance.