System, methods, devices and computer program products for controlling electronic appliances within a local area

#The present invention relates in general to communication systems and, more particularly, to methods, devices, computer program products and a system for controlling one or more electronic appliances within a local area, e.g. a home or an office location.

#The digital era has digitized various electronic appliances, e.g. TV's, music systems, personal computer products (PC products), kitchen appliances e.g. microwave ovens, etc. such that the operation thereof can be centrally controlled by a computer system. In other words, the computer system becomes the central hub or control gate system for the various digital electronic appliances. Therefore, the on/off control of various digital electronic appliances can become easier and more humane for the users of such digital electronic appliances.

#The avalanche of digitized electronic appliances has made it possible to create digital local areas, e.g. digital homes or digital office locations, in which the various electronic appliances are tied into a more or less seamless multimedia environment. A digital local area such as a digital home may be an entire habitat with the user right at the center. Whatever lifestyle of the user, the digital home can make the life more entertaining, more productive and more fun.

#Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention, wherein embodiments of the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary network diagram comprising a mobile terminal, short-range devices, an electronic apparatus, and electronic appliances;

#FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the network diagram of FIG. 1 when implemented in a home environment;

#Embodiments of the present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

#FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a communication system 100 within a local area, such as a home environment 200 (see FIG. 2) in which embodiments of the invention can be implemented. FIG. 2 illustrates a home environment 200, which includes a living room 210, a bedroom 220, and a kitchen 230. However, it is to be understood that embodiments of the present invention can be used in any environment, including but not limited to a home environment, an office environment, a retailer environment, etc. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the system 100 comprises a mobile terminal 110, e.g. a mobile telephone, one or more short-range devices 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, an electronic apparatus 130 and one or more electronic appliances 140, 141, 142, 143. As is further disclosed in FIG. 2, the one or more short-range devices 120-125 are scattered throughout the home environment. For example, the one or more short-range devices 120-125 may be set out throughout the home environment 200 such that there is only one or two short-range devices 121-125 in each room of the home environment 200. Thus, each of the scattered short-range devices 120-125 may be associated with a specific area, e.g. a room, of the home environment 200. In one embodiment, each of the short-range devices 120-125 is associated with an area-ID, e.g. a room-ID.

#In FIGS. 1 and 2, the mobile terminal 110 is embodied as a mobile telephone. Embodiments of the invention may be implemented into a wide variety of mobile terminals. The mobile terminal 110 may e.g. be a portable radio communication equipment, a mobile radio terminal, a mobile telephone, a cellular telephone, a pager, a communicator, an electronic organizer, a smart phone and a computer, etc. Reference will however be to a mobile telephone 110 below, which is only for illustrative purpose and should not be considered as limiting to the embodiments of the invention set forth herein.