Universal remote TV mouse

A positioning controller having a receiving side for receiving light from an infrared light source, the receiving side including an axis extending perpendicularly therefrom, and a vertical plane and a horizontal plane intersecting at the axis, the positioning controller comprising:

• a reference sensor for receiving light from the source, the reference sensor being masked to receive light within a predetermined range of acute angles measured from the axis;
• a vertical angle sensor for receiving light from the source, wherein a portion of the vertical sensor is masked to limit reception of light on a first side of a first plane bisecting the vertical angle sensor and to promote reception of light on a second side of the first plane;
• a horizontal angle sensor for receiving light from the source, the horizontal angle sensor being masked to receive a larger quantity of light from a first side of the vertical plane than from a second side of the vertical plane;
• a wide angle sensor for receiving light from the source and having a wider acceptance angle than that of the reference sensor;
• circuitry for detecting an off axis error condition using amounts of light received by the reference sensor and the wide angle sensor;
• circuitry for determining an orientation of the positioning controller relative to the light source, specifically, the pitch and yaw of the controller, using amounts of light received by the reference sensor, the vertical angle sensor, the horizontal angle sensor and the wide angle sensor.

An apparatus for monitoring an orientation of a positioning controller relative to an external infrared light source, comprising:

• a first photodiode for receiving a first portion of infrared light from the external infrared light source, the first photodiode masked to limit detection of light beyond a certain angle of orientation of the pointing device measured from a perpendicular axis;
• a second photodiode for receiving a second portion of infrared light from the external infrared light source, wherein a portion of the second photodiode is masked to limit reception of light on a first side of a first plane bisecting the second photodiode, and to promote reception of light on a second side of the first plane;
• a third photodiode for receiving a third portion of infrared light from the infrared light source, the third photodiode having a portion masked to limit reception of light on a first side of a second plane bisecting the photodiode, and to promote reception of light on second side of the second plane;
• a wide angle sensor for receiving a fourth portion of infrared light from the infrared light source and having a wider acceptance angle that that of the reference sensor;
• circuitry for detecting an off axis error condition using amounts of light received by the reference sensor and the wide angle sensor;
• circuitry for determining an orientation of the positioning controller using the first, second, third and fourth portions of received infrared light and for thereby determining the orientation of the positioning controller relative to the external infrared light source.

A method of obtaining a large range of operable distances between a positioning controller and a display, the positioning controller including a first reference sensor, a second wider angle reference sensor and an angle-detecting sensor, the method comprising the following steps:

• transmitting infrared light from a beacon located near the display;
• receiving the transmitted light into the reference sensors and the angle-detecting sensor, each of the reference sensors and the angle-detecting sensor generating an output proportional to the amount of light received therein;
• integrating the output of the reference sensors for a predetermined amount of time, each of the two integrals representing respective accumulation of output over the predetermined amount of time;
• and
• comparing the outputs of the first and second reference sensors to determine operation outside of a permissible range of operating angles.

A method of increasing the dynamic range of an infrared sensor device employing vertical, horizontal and reference sensors comprising the steps of:

• increasing the effective area of each of said vertical, horizontal and reference sensors by employing respective lens elements to increase their effective area wherein at least one sensor includes optics;
• employing a second reference sensor to detect data which is unreliable due to reflections within the sensor optics;
• providing a transmitted pulse of increased magnitude;
• and
• shaping said pulse to a pulse starting at a low level and proceeding to higher levels.

An apparatus for controlling electronic devices using infrared coded signals specific to each electronic device comprising:

• memory to store a number of device specific codes;
• a control circuit to convert user inputs into a plurality of said device specific codes;
• output circuitry to convert a selected device specific code into corresponding infrared signal;
• and
• circuitry to monitor an orientation of a positioning controller relative to an external infrared light source includes,
• a first photodiode for receiving a first portion of infrared light from the external infrared light source, wherein the first photodiode has a portion thereof masked to limit detection of light beyond a certain angle of orientation of the positioning controller measured from a perpendicular axis;
• a second photodiode for receiving a second portion of infrared light from the external infrared light source, wherein a portion of the second photodiode is masked to limit reception of light on a first side of a first plane bisecting the second photodiode, and to promote reception of light on a second side of the first plane;
• a third photodiode for receiving a third portion of infrared light from the external infrared source, wherein the third photodiode has a portion thereof masked to limit reception of light on a first side of a second plane bisecting the third photodiode, and to promote reception of light on a second side of the second plane;
• and circuitry for determining an orientation of the positioning controller, specifically, the pitch and yaw of the controller, using the first, second and third portions of received infrared light and for thereby determining the orientation of the positioning controller relative to the external infrared light source.

An apparatus for monitoring an orientation of a positioning controller relative to an external infrared light source, comprising:

• a reference sensor for receiving light from the source, the reference sensor being masked to receive light within a predetermined range of acute angles measured from a perpendicular axis;
• a vertical angle sensor for receiving light from the source, wherein a portion of the vertical sensor is masked to limit reception of light on a first side of a first plane bisecting the vertical angle sensor and to promote reception of light on a second side of the first plane;
• a horizontal angle sensor for receiving light from the source, the horizontal angle sensor being masked to receive a larger quantity of light from a first side of the vertical plane than from a second side of the vertical plane;
• a wide angle sensor having a relative output which when lower than the reference sensor output within a selected range of angles is higher than the reference sensor output outside said range;
• and
• circuitry for determining an orientation of the positioning controller relative to the light source, specifically, the pitch and yaw of the controller, using amounts of light received by the reference sensor, the vertical angle sensor, the horizontal angle sensor and the wide angle sensor.

A method of increasing the dynamic range of an infrared sensor device employing vertical, horizontal and reference sensors with optical elements comprising the steps of:

• employing a second reference sensor to detect data which is unreliable due to reflections within the sensor optical elements;
• providing a transmitted pulse of increased magnitude;
• and
• shaping said pulse to a pulse starting at a low level and proceeding to higher levels.