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System and method for optimizing memory usage in a universal

1. 0020 To provide flexibility in the event that a consumer needs to configure the universal controlling device 100 to command functional operations of a further appliance for example an appliance being newly added to the home the universal controlling device 100 can cause the entirety of or the un used portions of the pre installed library of command code sets to be sent to an appliance capable ofcommunicating with the universal controlling device 100 such as set top box 102 for backup prior to its deletion from the memory device 400 ofuniversal controlling device 100 This optional method for backing up the library of command code sets will be seen to be particularly useful in instances where the consumer does not have the ability to access a database of command codes from an external source of information such as from an Internet server The backed up library of command code sets could then be returned to the universal controlling device 100 in whole or in part as needed In this regard it will be appre ciated that appliance configuration information could be pro vided to the universal controlling device 100 directly to the US 2014 0317363 A1 set top box 102 or the like to thereby cause the set top box 102 to provide to the universal controlling device 100 only that portion of the command code set library that is needed to adapt the universal controlling device 100 to command func tional operations of an intended target appliance in
2. The universal controlling device 100 also includes mode keys 212 e g AUX CBL VCR and TV the activation of which places the universal controlling device 100 into a mode to transmit commands to a particular type or types of appliance Still further the uni versal controlling device 100 may include programmable keys e g for assigning macro commands thereto For con figuring the universal controlling device 100 a setup key 208 is also provided It will be appreciated that while illustrated as hard keys the keys of the universal remote control 100 may be implemented as soft keys for example by being displayed onan LCD touch screen or the like and the universal control ling device 100 could be implemented as a stand alone remote control or as an app resident on a smart device such as a smart phone tablet computer or the like US 2014 0317363 A1 0016 By way of further example referring to FIG 3 the universal controlling device 100 may include as needed for a particular application one or more processors 300 coupled to a memory devices such as a ROM memory 308 a RAM memory 310 and or non volatile read write memory 306 a key matrix 302 e g physical buttons a touch screen display or a combination thereof an internal clock and timer 301 transmission circuit s 304 e g IR and or RF receiver cir cuit s and or transceiver circuit s e g IR and or RF not illustrated a means 303 to
3. 4 illustrates an exemplary method for optimiz ing memory usage employed in connection with a process for configuring a universal controlling device and 0012 FIG 5 illustrates an exemplary method for optimiz ing memory usage employed in connection with a process for upgrading a universal controlling device DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 0013 The following describes systems and methods for among other things optimizing memory usage in a universal controlling device 0014 By way of example FIG 1 illustrates an exemplary system 110 wherein a universal controlling device 100 may be configured and then used to command control functional operations of various appliances such as the illustrated cable set top box 102 TV set 104 VCR 106 and or the like 0015 For use in remotely commanding an appliance to perform an operational function the universal controlling device 100 an example of which is illustrated in FIG 2 includes a set of command keys within a key matrix wherein the command keys within the key matrix are each assigned to one or more operational functions In this regard the univer sal controlling device 100 has command keys for use in con trolling common operational functions i e functions that are usually widely supported by devices of a common device type e g power 202 digit tuning 204 volume control 208 chan nel up down control 206 volume up down control 208 media transport 210 navigation 214 etc
4. in its entirety 0004 The command codes for controlling functional operations of appliances of various types and various manu facturers i e a library or set of command codes are often pre stored in the memory of the universal controlling device The user then interacts with the universal controlling device to identify to the universal controlling device which appliance s the user desires to control i e the user manually enters an appliance or brand code usually obtained from a tabulation in a printed user manual or the like into the universal controlling device and the universal controlling uses that user provided identity information to access those preprogrammed codes that are appropriate for controlling functional operations of the identified appliance s In this regard examples of known methods for performing an initial setup of a universal con trolling device may be found in for example the above men tioned U S Pat Nos 4 959 810 and 7 907 222 as well as U S Pat No 5 614 906 entitled Method for Selecting a Remote Control Command Set and U S Pat No 4 703 359 entitled Universal Remote Control Unit with Model Identification Capability each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety An additional system and method for setting up a universal remote control is also disclosed in U S Pat No 6 650 248 SUMMARY 0005 While known setup methods do work for their intended purpose the f
5. to identify which command code set s within the library of command code sets are to be used to command operational functions of one or more intended target appliances configu ration information is provided to the universal controlling device 100 Such configuration information can be provided Oct 23 2014 to the universal controlling device 100 in a number of differ ent manners such as via use of the keypad to enter an appli ance code or a quick setup code via the reading of a barcode ora RFID label via a communication from an appliance etc Exemplary method for configuring the controlling device 100 to command functional operations of one or more intended target appliances are described in by way of non limiting example only the incorporated U S Pat Nos 4 959 810 7 046 161 7 386 398 and 7 907 222 0019 Turning now to FIG 4 in an exemplary embodi ment a universal controlling device 100 is distributed with a complete library of command code sets 402 stored in one or more memory devices 400 As also illustrated memory device 400 will also include other data and or instructions required to make the universal controlling device 100 oper able as intended As additionally illustrated when the univer sal controlling device 100 is configured to command func tional operations of one or more intended target appliances those command code sets within the library of command code sets 402 that have not been selected for use as a re
6. To cause the universal controlling device 100 to perform an action the universal controlling device 100 is adapted to be responsive to events such as a sensed consumer interaction with the key matrix 302 receipt of a transmission etc In response to an event being detected appropriate instructions and or data within the memory devices are executed and or accessed For example when a command key is activated on the universal controlling device 100 the uni versal controlling device 100 may execute instructions that cause a code data value corresponding to the activated com mand key to be retrieved from a command code data set stored in the memory device and to cause the retrieved code data value to be transmitted to an intended target appliance in a format recognizable by that appliance It will be appreciated that the instructions within the memory devices can be used not only to cause the transmission of command codes and or data to the appliances but also to perform local operations While not limiting local operations that may be performed by the universal controlling device 100 include displaying infor mation data favorite channel setup macro button setup com mand function key relocation etc Since examples of local operations can be found in U S Pat Nos 5 481 256 5 959 751 and 6 014 092 they will not be discussed in greater detail herein for the sake of brevity 0018 To configure the universal controlling device 100 i e
7. US 20140317363A1 as United States a2 Patent Application Publication o Pub No US 2014 0317363 A1 Hatambeiki et al 43 Pub Date Oct 23 2014 54 71 72 73 21 22 60 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING MEMORY USAGE IN A UNIVERSAL CONTROLLING DEVICE Applicant UNIVERSAL ELECTRONICS INC Santa Ana CA US Arsham Hatambeiki Irvine CA US Jan VanEe Irvine CA US Christopher Lee Somerville Los Angeles CA US Daniel Morrionne Orange CA US Inventors UNIVERSAL ELECTRONICS INC Santa Ana CA US Assignee Appl No 14 209 008 Filed Mar 13 2014 Related U S Application Data Provisional application No 61 788 561 filed on Mar 15 2013 Publication Classification 51 Int CI G06F 12 02 2006 01 52 G06F 12 023 2013 01 ehe sk ON aria ka 711 159 57 ABSTRACT A method for optimizing memory usage in a device having a universal controlling application includes receiving into the device data for use in configuring the universal controlling application wherein the data is used to identify from within a library of command code sets stored in a memory of the device a command code set that is appropriate for use in commanding functional operations of the appliance and caus ing a non identified one or more of the command code sets of the library of command code sets stored in the memory of the device to be discarded to thereby create freed space i
8. dicated by such configuration information 0021 In such a system the set top box 102 could also be the source of any additional data and or instructions that are to be installed into the memory device 400 of the universal controlling device 100 once the unneeded information in the memory device 400 has been discarded as described above For example once the set top box 102 receives an indication from the universal controlling device 100 that memory space has been freed e g a signal indicative of the successful discarding of the unneeded command codes sets being issued to the set top box 102 from the universal controlling device 100 completion of the backup being detected by the set top box 102 or the like the set top box 102 can transmit any such upgrade information to the universal controlling device 100 as described above Thus if the set top box 102 is a device that is adapted to respond to signals from the universal controlling device 100 wherein the signals are intended to have data that is indicative of motion made with the universal controlling device 100 the instructions for adapting the universal con trolling device 100 to transmit such signals can be prestored on the set top box 102 and provided to the universal control ling device 100 for storage in the free memory space as described above In this manner individual appliances can have stored thereon any instructions that would be needed for programming the universal contro
9. lling device 100 to operate with command etc any functionalities that might otherwise not be usable with the programming as originally provisioned with the universal controlling device 100 As will be appre ciated such a system allows for the provision of a base uni versal controlling device 100 that can be upgraded as needed with overly burdening the memory of the universal control ling device 100 with programming for supporting appliance functionalities that would not otherwise be applicable to the user s home configuration 0022 Inthe described system in which the universal con trolling device 100 is adapted to bi directionally communi cate with an appliance such as set top box 102 it is contem plated that the appliance could also be provisioned with and a library of command codes sets In this instance the universal controlling device 100 that would be used with the set top box 102 e g auniversal controlling device that would be a partof a system that would be installed by a cable or satellite services provider can then be provisioned with only those command code sets that are known to be or likely to be missing from the library of command code sets provisioned with the set top box 102 for example command code sets for televisions DVRs etc that have been introduced into the market after the set top box 102 was manufactured and distributed to the service provider To this end the build of the library of command code sets t
10. memory of the set top box 102 be transferred to the universal controlling device 100 The identification of which command code sets to transfer to the universal control ling device 100 can be performed in any of the manners previously described In addition it is contemplated that the command code sets prestored in the memory of the universal controlling device 100 could be transferred to other legacy controlling device i e devices in need of an upgrade either directly or by being installed in and later transferred from the set top box 102 In the latter case it will be appreciated that the set top box 102 having received command code sets from the universal controlling device 100 will thus have an updated and complete library of command code sets which is particu larly useful in instances where the set top box 102 is intended to command functional operations of further appliances in a home theater system or otherwise intended to be a source of command code sets for use by other devices in the home 0024 In instances where a master or super remote control is to be used to provide command codes sets for use in a consumer s universal controlling device 100 or a system which includes the universal controlling device 100 and a set top box 102 as is commonly done with professional install ers a time stamp for the library of command code sets installed in the set top box 102 could be obtained for example by keying in a SKU scanning a barc
11. n the memory of the device 302 Ty Pa 804 si INSTRUCTIONS e 400 ALL sn oe ASY GE AND OR er CODE SETS nagi nan N i DATA i Device Configuration i Y 195 Fa a 402 405 TA Fi ONA NANA NANA AA AA BREI m INSTRUCTIONS m 409 3 DE Hays 3 S H i ANDAR DATA a US 2014 0317363 A1 Oct 23 2014 Sheet 1 of 5 Patent Application Publication a 3 FIGURE 1 US 2014 0317363 A1 Oct 23 2014 Sheet 2 of 5 Patent Application Publication FIGURE 2 US 2014 0317363 A1 Oct 23 2014 Sheet 3 of 5 Patent Application Publication o cr G A A R ZZ RARS memory we pap ch a Z 2 Z HES SOEST ORE 8 mg og rrzezparzeja Ki 2 w Batanes R GE KG NAT Fi umi CZ FIGURE 3 Patent Application Publication Oct 23 2014 Sheet 4 of 5 US 2014 0317363 A1 m 804 202 FR gt INSTRUCTIONS po AND OR O 8 DAT A N EJ ALL CODE SETS i Device Configuration AOS 402 pa INSTRUCTIONS O 400 USED CODE Pama oss SETS EUCERIN N TEANN NN FREN ANDAR N DATA i OEI Patent Application Publication NA START m N 3 ERASE SECONDARY MEMORY 4 PER LEN DOWNLOAD NEW FIRMWARE AND STORE EN WA eR REN A CT 3 SEN TAARN ARY I OPPERE AA AEREI EIEII LIREI rata N N a EDT NN WE Ka PARAAKANRAKYPIKAPYENEN TANAN ANNE AR Oct 23 2014 Shee
12. nd even at US 2014 0317363 A1 times to keep a golden image if all goes wrong with the device These requirements thus make over the air firmware upgrades a less attractive option to customers However it is proposed that in a design of a device having co processors each having internal nonvolatile memory such as a device that is using a secondary chip for port expansion like a device having a MAXQ to handle QWERTY side keys this addi tional memory can also be used for secondary storage during a firmware upgrade process For example during a firmware upgrade memory space in the secondary chip can be freed e g be erased at the beginning of the upgrade process which would of course make the QWERTY functionality of the device in this example temporarily non functional after the original programming image of the secondary chip is backed up to a target side memory so it can be retrieved after the firmware update of the main chip is done and the original firmware image or received firmware upgrade image as stored in the freed memory space is erased therefrom For example the downloaded firmware upgrade can be temporarily stored in the secondary memory and then be verified before being transferred to the primary memory or the original firmware can be temporarily stored in the secondary memory and erased after verification of the received firmware upgrade as stored in the primary memory In either case the backed image of the secondary memor
13. o be provisioned in the set top box 102 would be given a first time stamp and the build of the possible library of command code sets to be provisioned in the universal con trolling device 100 would be given a second time stamp When the second time stamp is later in time than the first time stamp the build of the library of command code sets to be provisioned in the set top box 102 would be compared to the build of the library of command codes sets to be provisioned in the universal controlling device 100 with the command codes sets found in both being removed from the build of the Oct 23 2014 library of command codes sets to be provisioned in the uni versal controlling device 100 prior to the library of command code sets being stored in the memory of the universal con trolling device 100 As will be appreciated storing in the memory of the universal controlling device 100 only a subset of a library of command code sets will likewise free space in the memory of the universal controlling device 100 which free memory space could be used for other purposes as described herein 0023 When the universal controlling device 100 has pre stored therein only the command code sets that cannot be found in the library of command code sets provisioned to the set top box 102 with which the universal controlling device 100 is to be used configuration of the universal controlling device 100 may require that some of the command code sets stored in the
14. ode reading a RFID tag etc to thereby identify which command code sets in a master library of command code sets e g as stored in the master or super remote control are likely to be missing from the library of command codes sets installed in the set top box 102 The identified command codes sets could then be transferred to the consumer s universal controlling device 100 and or the set top box 102 for the purposed above described As will again be appreciated such a system removes the need for expensive larger memory sized remotes used for the masses and only requires a special SKU or the like to be used on appliances e g settop boxes that are provided by installers Such a system can also be used in a self install scenario where the user has requested a Multi room system in which there is no need for all remotes to be provided with a full library of command code sets and the concept of one super remote plus other controlling devices having smaller command code set memory footprints applies Yet further it will be appreciated that such a system allows for the pushing out of configuration changes to a set top box 102 if the set top box in not Internet connected through the use of controlling devices 0025 Ina system design supporting over the air or the like type of firmware upgrades of the universal controlling device 100 it is usually required to maintain the current firmware image while downloading a new firmware image a
15. ollowing describes exemplary systems and methods for optimizing the usage of memory within a universal controlling device particularly upon configuration of a universal controlling device The following also describes exemplary systems and methods for distributing command code sets to one or more devices in a home theater environment Still further the following describes exemplary system and method for optimizing the usage of memory to facilitate upgrades of a device having a universal controlling application Oct 23 2014 0006 A better appreciation of the objects advantages features properties and relationships of the systems and methods described hereinafter will be obtained from the detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth illustrative embodiments which are indicative of the various ways in which the principles of the systems and methods may be employed BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0007 For use in better understanding the exemplary sys tems and methods described herein reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in the following drawings in which 0008 FIG 1 illustrates an exemplary system in which the universal remote control may be used 0009 FIG 2 illustrates a top view ofan exemplary univer sal remote control for use in the system of FIG 1 0010 FIG 3 illustrates a block diagram view of various components of the exemplary universal remote control of FIG 2 0011 FIG
16. provide visual feedback to the consumer e g LED display and or the like means to pro vide audio feedback to the user e g a speaker not illus trated a power supply 307 and or a serial I O port e g a jack or contacts not illustrated As will be understood by those of skill in the art the non transitory memory device s include executable instructions that are intended to be executed by the processor 300 to control the operation of the universal remote control 100 In this manner the processor 100 may be programmed to control the various electronic components within the universal controlling device 100 e g to monitor the power supply 307 to cause the transmission of signals display icons and or HTML pages etc The non volatile read write memory 306 for example an EEPROM or the like may be provided to store setup data and parameters as necessary such that data is not required to be reloaded after battery changes It is to be understood that the memory devices may take the form of any type of non transitory readable media such as for example a Smart Card memory stick a chip a hard disk a magnetic disk and or an optical disk Still further it will be appreciated that some or all of the illustrated memory devices may be physically incorporated within the same IC chip as the microprocessor 300 a so called microcontroller and as such they are shown separately in FIG 3 only for the sake of clarity 0017
17. sult of the configuration process can be discarded e g the data infor mation in the corresponding memory space can be deleted or otherwise designated as being overwritable As a result the memory 400 will now have free memory space 406 for use in storing further data and or instructions in addition to the command codes set s selected from the library 402 as a result of the configuration process and the initially stored data and or instructions 404 provided to make the universal con trolling device 100 operable as desired Using the now free memory space the universal controlling device 100 can be updated with command data for commanding extended func tional operations of one or more of the intended target appli ances with further GUI elements etc as described in U S Published Application No 2006 0200538 which is incorpo rated herein by reference in its entirety Similarly the now free memory space can be updated with functionality that would be useful with the underlying device providing the universal controlling capabilities e g the device ships with programming that only supports basic accelerometer based flip detection and after configuration of the controlling device application sufficient space is freed for installation of programming that will support more advanced accelerometer gesture recognition Yet further the free memory space could beutilized to store scripts or byte code for virtual machines in advanced devices
18. t 5 of 5 US 2014 0317363 A1 FIGURE 5 pam RETRIEVE INSTALL YERIEY BACKUP OF FIRMWARE NU OAD D ee s FROMSTB ERASE i Ent SECONDARY a MEMORY COPY FIRMWARE TO PRIMARY MEMORY US 2014 0317363 A1 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING MEMORY USAGE IN A UNIVERSAL CONTROLLING DEVICE RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION 0001 This application claims the benefit of U S Provi sional Application No 61 788 561 filed on Mar 15 2013 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety BACKGROUND 0002 This invention relates generally to remote control systems and more particularly to systems and methods for optimizing memory usage in a universal controlling device 0003 Manufacturers typically provide a remote control with an appliance and as such different appliance types of different manufacturers are often commanded with different remote controls To minimize the number of individual remote controls a user requires universal controlling devices have been developed In this regard universal controlling devices having a library of command codes for commanding various functional operations of various types of appliances of various manufacturers are well known By way of example only universal controlling devices are described in com monly assigned U S Pat Nos 4 959 810 5 255 313 5 552 917 and 7 907 222 each of which is incorporated herein by reference
19. y for example as stored in an external device such as the set top box 102 can be restored to the secondary memory after such processing A non limiting exemplary method for performing such an operation is illus trated in FIG 5 0026 While specific embodiments of the present inven tion have been described in detail it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alterna tives to those details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure For example and as previously noted the functionality of the universal controlling device 100 can be included in other smart devices such as PDAs personal computers home devices or the like Further while the exemplary embodiment above is presented in terms of interactions between a set top box and a universal remote control it will be appreciated that many other appliance Oct 23 2014 types e g TVs PVRs DVDs PCs etc may be substituted for the set top box without altering the spirit of the invention Accordingly it will be understood that the particular arrange ments and procedures disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any equivalents thereof 0027 All of the cited patents and patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety What is claimed is 1 A method for optimizing memor
20. y usage in a device having a universal controlling application comprising receiving into the device data for use in configuring the universal controlling application wherein the data is used to identify from within a library of command code sets stored in a memory of the device a command code set that is appropriate for use in commanding functional operations of the appliance causing a non identified one or more of the command code sets of the library of command code sets stored in the memory of the device to be discarded to thereby create freed space in the memory of the device 2 The method as recited in claim 1 wherein discarding the non identified one or more of the command codes sets of the library of command code sets comprises deleting the non identified one or more of the command codes sets from the memory of the device 3 The method as recited in claim 1 wherein discarding the non identified one or more of the command codes sets of the library of command code sets comprises making memory locations in which are stored the non identified one or more of the command codes sets overwriteable 4 The method as recited in claim 1 comprising storing updgrade data for the universal controlling application in the freed space in the memory of the device 5 The method as recited in claim 1 comprising storing updgrade data for the device in the freed space in the memory of the device

System and method for optimizing memory usage in a universal

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