Trainable remote controller and method for determining the frequency of a learned control signal

A trainable transceiver for learning signal characteristics of an RF control signal received from a remote control transmitter used to remotely actuate a device and for subsequently transmitting a modulated RF signal having the learned signal characteristics, the trainable transceiver comprising:

• an antenna;
• a wideband receiver coupled to the antenna, the wideband receiver configured to receive an RF control signal from the remote control transmitter without scanning for the RF control signal;
• and
• a control circuit coupled to the wideband receiver and having a training mode configured to filter out the carrier frequency of the RF control signal and to analyze the modulation of the RF control signal to determine a device type associated with the remote control transmitter, and wherein the control circuit is configured to use the device type determination to determine a plurality of possible RF frequencies for use in subsequent transmissions by the trainable transceiver in a feedback-based process for identifying the frequency, wherein the determination of the RF frequency occurs without scanning of the receiver, and wherein the control circuit is configured to cause the transceiver to transmit new RF control signals based on the determined device type and the determined plurality of possible RF frequencies, and wherein the control circuit is configured to cause the transmissions to be sequential and to be sequenced such that the commonly used frequencies of the plurality of possible RF frequencies are interspersed with less commonly used frequencies, wherein the control circuit is configured to use the sequential transmissions in a feedback-based process for determining whether a transmission has been successfully received by the device for remote actuation.

A method for training a transceiver to learn a set of signal characteristics of an RF control signal received from a remote control transmitter used to remotely actuate a device, the transceiver having an antenna and a wideband receiver, the method comprising:

• initiating a training sequence;
• receiving the RF control signal using the wideband receiver;
• determining a device type associated with the RF control signal without analyzing or determining the frequency of transmission of the received RF control signal;
• and
• determining a plurality of possible RF frequencies associated with the RF control signal based on the determined device type;
• conducting a feedback-based process for determining a frequency for remotely actuating the device by transmitting new RF control signals to the device and waiting for user feedback indicating a successful actuation, wherein the new RF control signal transmissions are sequential and are sequenced such that the commonly used frequencies of the determined plurality of possible RF frequencies are interspersed with less commonly used frequencies.

A method for training a transceiver to learn a set of signal characteristics of an RF control signal, the method comprising:

• initiating a training sequence;
• receiving an RF control signal from a remote control transmitter used to actuate a device, wherein a wideband receiver coupled to an antenna receives the RF control signal without scanning for the RF control signal;
• identifying and storing a control code of the RF control signal;
• identifying at least one data characteristics from a set of data characteristics for the RF control signal;
• determining a manufacturer of the device from a pre-stored list of manufacturers based on the at least one data characteristic and without scanning for and determining the carrier frequency of the RF control signal;
• and
• selecting a plurality of RF frequencies from a pre-stored list of frequencies based on the determined manufacturer;
• conducting a feedback-based process for determining the frequency by transmitting new RF control signals having the control code, wherein the new RF control signal transmissions are sequential and are sequenced such that the commonly used frequencies of the selected RF frequencies are interspersed with less commonly used frequencies.