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US 8,302,121 B2Granted
TV remote control signal log
AssigneesSony Corporation, Sony Electronics Inc.
InventorsRobert Blanchard, Behram DaCosta, Peter Shintani
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An interceptor detects command signals from a TV remote control and logs the signals. The signals can be correlated not just to channel number but also to programs by accessing a program/channel database. A log of channels/programs that have been viewed by, e.g., a child can thus be obtained and viewed by a parent.
Claims12
An interceptor comprising:
- a processor;
- an infrared interceptor receiver receiving at least TV channel commands originating from a TV remote control, the receiver communicating the commands to the processor, wherein
- the processor accesses a database to correlate the commands to TV programs, the processor generating a log of programs displayed on a TV, wherein channel up/down commands snooped from a command signal generator by the interceptor are used to ascertain corresponding channels accessed by means of the channel up/down commands, wherein the interceptor checks whether it has missed a transmission by comparing sequence numbers in transmitted packets from the command signal generator such that responsive to a determination that a sequence number of packets indicates a missing packet, the interceptor synchronizes with the TV or STB by commanding the TV or STB to tune to a channel.
A method for logging television use, comprising:
- receiving, at an interceptor, channel change signals from a TV remote control;
- correlating the channel change signals to TV programs;
- and
- displaying a log of the programs to a user, wherein channel up/down commands snooped from the remote control by the interceptor are used to ascertain corresponding channels accessed by means of the channel up/down commands, wherein responsive to a determination that an “acknowledge” packet sent from the TV or STB to the remote control was responsive to a packet from the command signal generator that was not detected by the interceptor, the interceptor synchronizes by commanding the TV or STB to tune to a channel.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.