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title: Apparatus and methods for remote control of electronic devices
abstract: In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a portable computing device may be configured as a universal remote control to wirelessly control one or more electronic devices in a control area. The portable computing device may be configured to transmit over a network to a remotely located network server, one or more queries for control commands for communicating with each electronic device in the control area via control signals. The one or more queries may identify each of the electronic devices. The portable computing device may be configured to receive over the network from the network server, command codes for the portable computing device to communicate with each of the electronic devices through the control commands via the control signals. The portable computing device may be configured to execute the received command codes to communicate with each of the electronic devices in the control area.
url: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&S1=08983387&OS=08983387&RS=08983387
owner: Google Inc.
number: 08983387
owner_city: Mountain View
owner_country: US
publication_date: 20120628
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Some known computing devices are capable of controlling other nearby computing devices via wireless signals. A universal remote is an electronic device that is programmable to remotely operate various consumer electronics devices. Some universal remotes allow a user to manually program control codes into the universal remote. Some universal remotes provided with electronic devices include programmable capabilities for other electronic devices. For example a television remote can be programmed to operate a video player. Some universal remotes have limited memory and processing capability and programming a universal remote can be somewhat complex. Therefore there exists a need to provide a more user friendly universal remote.

In accordance with aspects of the disclosure a method of using a portable computing device as a universal remote control may be provided to wirelessly control one or more electronic devices in a control area. The method may include transmitting from the portable computing device over a network to a remotely located network server one or more queries for control commands for communicating with each electronic device in the control area via control signals. The one or more queries may identify each of the electronic devices. The method may include receiving at the portable computing device over the network from the network server command codes for the portable computing device to communicate with each of the electronic devices through the control commands via the control signals. The method may include executing by at least one processor of the portable computing device the received command codes to communicate with each of the electronic devices. The portable computing device may include one or more communication components including at least one of a transceiver a transmitter a receiver and an antenna to communicate with the network server over the network and each of the electronic devices in the control area.

In accordance with aspects of the disclosure an apparatus e.g. a portable computing device may be provided for use as a universal remote control to wirelessly control one or more electronic devices in a control area. The apparatus may include a module configured for transmitting over a network to a remotely located network server one or more queries for control commands for communicating with each electronic device in the control area via control signals. The one or more queries may identify each of the electronic devices. The apparatus may include a module configured for receiving over the network from the network server command codes for communicating with each of the electronic devices through the control commands via the control signals. The apparatus may include a module configured for executing the received command codes to communicate with each of the electronic devices. The portable computing device may include a processor and one or more communication components including at least one of a transceiver a transmitter a receiver and an antenna to communicate with the network server over the network and each of the electronic devices in the control area.

In accordance with aspects of the disclosure a computer program product may be provided wherein the computer program product may be tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium and include instructions that when executed by a processor are configured to transmit from a portable computing device over a network to a remotely located network server one or more queries for control commands for communicating with each electronic device in the control area via control signals. The one or more queries may identify each of the electronic devices. The computer program product may include instructions that when executed by the processor are configured to receive at the portable computing device over the network from the network server command codes for the portable computing device to communicate with each of the electronic devices through the control commands via the control signals. The computer program product may include instructions that when executed by the processor are configured to execute by at least one processor of the portable computing device the received command codes to communicate with each of the electronic devices. The portable computing device may include one or more communication components including at least one of a transceiver a transmitter a receiver and an antenna to communicate with the network server over the network and each of the electronic devices in the control area.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings and from the claims.

Some users have a proliferation of remote devices for common electronic devices such as televisions video players video recorders stereos etc. Having a single network connected device to control multiple electronic devices may reduce the need for multiple single purpose remotes and may replace lost and or broken remotes. As such aspects of the disclosure provide a hardware software system in which one or more necessary transceivers e.g. infrared frequency IRF transceivers and or radio frequency RF transceivers such as Bluetooth Wi Fi etc. may be provided in a user device such as the portable computing device of which may comprise a smart phone and or tablet computer. The software hardware system of the portable computing device may be configured to query a network maintained database of a remotely located network server to download control commands for each electronic device in the control area and where the electronic device permits automatically discover device identity to facilitate this process. In the case of electronic devices providing scheduled broadcast content e.g. television radio etc. the software hardware system of the portable computing device may be configured to search a network and provide linked schedules where the user may simply select e.g. tap click etc. the desired content via a graphical user interface GUI of the portable computing device and the portable computing device may switch the electronic device to the selected channel radio station etc. Software updates may allow for incorporation of new electronic devices that added to the control area . As new consumer electronic devices are provided as network ready less special purpose transceivers e.g. IR transceivers may be necessary.

In the example of the portable computing device may be implemented using any appropriate combination of hardware and or software configured for wired and or wireless communication over the network. The portable computing device may be implemented as a mobile communication device e.g. a smart phone a wireless cellular phone a Wi Fi access point a Bluetooth access point etc. adapted for communication with the network and in some implementations the control area . The portable computing device may be implemented as a personal computer PC a personal digital assistant PDA a notebook computer a tablet computer and or various other generally known types of wired and or wireless computing devices for communication with the network. It should be appreciated that the portable computing device may be referred to as a user device a user interface UI device a user terminal a client device or a customer device without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

The portable computing device may be configured for transmitting and receiving wireless communications signals to and from the network server over the network via any known wireless communications technologies and protocols including radio frequency RF microwave frequency MWF and or infrared frequency IRF wireless communications technologies and protocols adapted for communication over the network. Further the portable computing device may be configured for transmitting and receiving wireless communications signals to and from the one or more electronic devices in the control area via any known wireless communications technologies and protocols including RF MWF and or IRF wireless communications technologies and protocols adapted for communication over the network.

The portable computing device may be configured for transmitting over the network to one or more remotely located network servers one or more queries for control commands for communicating with each electronic device . . . in the control area via control signals. The one or more queries may identify each of the electronic devices . . . . The one or more queries may include information to identify each of the electronic devices . . . 

The portable computing device may be configured for receiving over the network from the network server command codes for the portable computing device to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . through the control commands via the control signals. In an implementation the portable computing device may be configured to download one or more control commands related to one or more of the electronic devices . . . in the control area . In another implementation the portable computing device may be configured to download one specific control command related to one or more of the electronic devices . . . in the control area . In another implementation the portable computing device may be configured to download one or more control commands related to only one specific electronic device . . . in the control area . In still another implementation the portable computing device may be configured to download only one specific control command related to only one specific electronic device . . . in the control area .

In some implementations command codes may refer to executable codes wherein a sequence of commands may be received by the portable computing device stored in memory and replayed to control a remote device such as one or more of the electronic devices . . . . As such the portable computing device may be configured to receive and store executable code from the network for example from a device vendor that may keep control codes proprietary or that may provide a specialized GUI for a control surface for a given target device.

The portable computing device may be configured for executing by at least one processor of the portable computing device the received command codes to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . located at least in the control area . In various implementations communication between the portable computing device and the electronic devices . . . may occur separately or simultaneously. In an implementation the portable computing device may be configured for executing by at least one processor of the portable computing device the received command codes to simultaneously communicate with a plurality of the electronic devices . . . located at least in the control area . In an implementation the portable computing device may be configured for executing by at least one processor of the portable computing device the received command codes to communicate with only one of the electronic devices . . . located at least in the control area .

The portable computing device may include one or more communication components including one or more transceivers one or more transmitters one or more receivers one or more transceiving antennas one or more transmitting antennas one or more receiving antennas and or some combination thereof to communicate with the network server over the network and each of the electronic devices . . . in the control area .

The remotely located network server may include one or more network maintained databases . The portable computing device may be configured for accessing an account stored on the network maintained database over the network to automatically synchronize one or more control commands across one or more other portable computing devices . . . along with the portable computing device . As such the command codes received by the portable computing device from the network server to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . through the control commands via the control signals may be automatically synchronized from the portable computing device to each other portable computing device . . . 

In an implementation each of the one or more other portable computing devices . . . may be configured to communicate with the network server over the network and access the account stored on the network maintained database of the network server over the network. Accordingly each of the one or more other portable computing devices . . . may be configured to receive or download over the network from the network server command codes for the portable computing device to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . through the control commands via the control signals.

In an implementation the synchronization feature of the portable computing device may be configured to include synchronizing one or more control commands across one or more other portable computing devices PCDs . . . so that each other portable computing devices PCDs . . . may be used as a universal remote control along with the portable computing device . For example if the portable computing device comprised a smart phone onto which control commands were downloaded for a stereo television overhead lights garage door opener unlocking or otherwise accessing a car via a car remote etc. and if the smart phone were used to log into an account on the network server then the control commands for one or more of the other portable computing devices . . . may be uploaded to the account. Then when one of the other portable computing devices . . . such as a tablet computer is used to log into the account on the network server the control commands may be downloaded from the account to the tablet computer so that the tablet computer may be used as a universal remote control in the control area. As such the control commands may not need to be separately installed on each one of the other portable computing devices . . . 

In another implementation the portable computing device may be configured to directly communicate with each of the other portable computing devices . . . for synchronizing the one or more control commands across one or more of the other portable computing devices . . . so that each other portable computing devices . . . may be used as a universal remote control along with the portable computing device

The portable computing device may be configured for uploading information associated with the one or more of the electronic devices . . . from the portable computing device to an account stored on the network maintained database of the network server over the network. The uploaded information may include one or more control commands and or command codes related to the one or more control commands.

The portable computing device may be configured for automatically discovering an identity of each electronic device . . . in the control area . One or more of the electronic devices . . . may be configured to wirelessly communicate with the portable computing device in the control area using a communication protocol such as any known wireless communication protocol including radio frequency RF communication protocols such as Bluetooth Wi Fi etc. and or infrared frequency IRF communication protocols.

In an implementation the portable computing device may be configured for automatically discovering an identity of each other portable computing device . . . in the control area . One or more of the other portable computing devices . . . may be configured to wirelessly communicate with the portable computing device in the control area using a communication protocol such as any known wireless communication protocol including radio frequency RF communication protocols such as Bluetooth Wi Fi etc. and or infrared frequency IRF communication protocols.

In various implementations one or more of the other portable computing devices . . . and one or more of the electronic devices . . . may be configured to communicate with any one of the other in the control area using a communication protocol such as any known wireless communication protocol including Wi Fi Bluetooth etc. However any communication between any devices in the control area may be authorized managed and terminated by the portable computing device including any communication with the network server from any device within the control area .

The network may be implemented as a single network or a combination of multiple networks. For example the network may include a wireless telecommunications network e.g. mobile communications network cellular telephone network Wi Fi network Bluetooth network etc. adapted for communication with one or more other communication networks such as the Internet. In other examples the network may include the Internet one or more intranets landline networks wireless networks and or one or more other appropriate types of communication networks. As such in various implementations the portable communication device the one or more other portable computing devices . . . and the network server may be associated with a particular link e.g. a link such as a URL Uniform Resource Locator to an IP Internet Protocol address .

In another implementation one or more of the other portable computing devices . . . may be configured for use as a universal remote control to wirelessly control the one or more electronic devices . . . in the control area via the communication hub .

The communication hub may be configured for receiving wireless communications signals from the portable computing device in the control area via any known wireless communications technologies and protocols including RF MWF and or IRF wireless communications technologies and protocols. The communication hub may be configured for transmitting wireless communications signals to each of the one or more electronic devices . . . in the control area via any known wireless communications technologies and protocols including RF MWF and or IRF wireless communications technologies and protocols.

For instance within the control area the portable computing device may transmit first wireless control signals to the communication hub via a first wireless protocol such as a radio frequency RF wireless communication protocol e.g. Wi Fi Bluetooth etc. . The communication hub may receive the first wireless control signals and convert the first wireless control signals of the first wireless protocol to second wireless control signals of a second wireless protocol that is different than the first wireless protocol such as an infrared frequency IRF wireless communication protocol. The communication hub may transmit the second wireless control signals via the second wireless protocol to at least one of the electronic devices . . . in the control area .

In the example of the method may include a process flow for a computer implemented method for using the portable computing device as a universal remote control to wirelessly control the one or more electronic devices . . . in the control area as described in reference to the system of . Further as described herein the operations may be configured to provide a simplified operational process flow that may be enacted by the portable computing device of and to provide features and functionalities as described in reference to .

At the method may include transmitting from the portable computing device over a network to the remotely located network server one or more queries for control commands for communicating with each electronic device . . . in the control area via control signals wherein the one or more queries identify each of the electronic devices . . . 

In an implementation the method may include automatically discovering an identity of each of the electronic devices . . . wherein each of the electronic devices . . . are configured to wirelessly communicate with the portable computing device in the control area using at least one communication protocol including for example an RF communication protocol e.g. Wi Fi Bluetooth etc. or an IRF communication protocol.

For instance one or more of the electronic devices . . . may include an RF ID chip attached thereto or integrated as part thereof. The portable computing device may be configured to communicate with the RF ID chip of the one or more of the electronic devices . . . and receive information such as identity information related to the corresponding electronic device . . . . This identity information may include one or more parameters e.g. manufacture name model number serial number date of manufacture etc. associated with the manufacturing entity that manufactured the specific electronic device . . . . The portable computing device may be configured to automatically discover the identity of each electronic device . . . by obtaining at least the model number of the corresponding electronic device . . . via the RF ID chip associated therewith.

In another instance one or more of the electronic devices . . . may include a barcode attached thereto or integrated as part thereof. The portable computing device may be configured to read the barcode via a scanner or picture image of the one or more of the electronic devices . . . and receive information such as identity information related to the corresponding electronic device . . . . This identity information may include one or more parameters e.g. manufacture name model number serial number date of manufacture etc. associated with the manufacturing entity that manufactured the specific electronic device . . . . The portable computing device may be configured to automatically discover the identity of each electronic device . . . by obtaining at least the model number of the corresponding electronic device . . . via the barcode associated therewith.

In still another instance identity information associated with one or more of the electronic devices . . . may be manually inputted by a user into the portable computing device via a user interface UI such as a graphical user interface GUI . The identity information that may be inputted by the user may include one or more parameters e.g. manufacture name model number serial number date of manufacture etc. associated with the manufacturing entity that manufactured the specific electronic device . . . . The portable computing device may be configured to obtaining at least the model number of the corresponding electronic device . . . via manual input by a user.

In the example of at the method may include receiving at the portable computing device over the network from the network server command codes for the portable computing device to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . through the control commands via the control signals. In an implementation the control signals may include at least one of radio frequency RF signals and infrared frequency IRF signals and the control area is defined by a communication protocol used by the portable computing device to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . via at least one of the RF signals and the IRF signals.

At the method may include executing by at least one processor of the portable computing device the received command codes to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . 

In an implementation the method may include executing by at least one processor of the portable computing device the received command codes to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . by sending infrared frequency IRF control signals directly to each of the electronic devices . . . to separately control each electronic device . . . based on an identity of each electronic device . . . 

As described herein the portable computing device may include one or more communication components including at least one of a transceiver a transmitter a receiver and an antenna to communicate with the network server over the network and each of the electronic devices . . . in the control area .

In an implementation the method may include uploading information associated with one or more of the electronic devices . . . from the portable computing device to an account stored on the network maintained database over the network wherein the uploaded information may include control commands. For instance a user of the portable computing device may upload control commands to an account in the network server and provide access to the account to one or more of the other portable computing devices . . . so that the user is able to download one or more control commands associated with the one of the electronic devices . . . to one or more of the other portable computing devices . . . to allow the one or more of the other portable computing devices . . . to control the one or more of the electronic devices . . . 

The method may include uploading information associated with one or more of the electronic devices . . . by an entity associated with the one or more electronic devices . . . to the network maintained database over the network wherein the uploaded information may include control commands. For instance a manufacturer of one of the electronic devices . . . in the control area may upload control commands to an account in the network server related to the one of the electronic devices . . . and provide access to the account to a user of the portable computing device so that the user is able to download one or more control commands associated with the one of the electronic devices . . . 

In an implementation each of the electronic devices . . . in the control area may comprise a media related device e.g. a television a monitor a video player an audio player a stereo a digital music player a computer etc. for broadcasting one or more types of entertainment services e.g. television related content video related content audio related content image related content etc. .

The method may include searching the network for a schedule of broadcast media related content for each of the electronic devices . . . . The schedule may include a schedule of broadcast media related content linked to each of the electronic devices . . . based on an identity of each electronic device . . . . The broadcast media related content may include data for at least one of text audio video images and still images.

The method may include providing a user interface UI to separately control each of the electronic devices . . . and to separately select scheduled content for each device based on an identity of each electronic device . . . and receiving user input via the user interface wherein the user input may include information related to the identity of each electronic device . . . . The method may further include providing a graphical user interface GUI with user actuated features to separately control each electronic device . . . and to separately select scheduled broadcast content for each electronic device . . . based on the identity of each electronic device . . . 

The user interface UI may comprise an audio based user interface and the method may further include receiving voice commands via the audio based user interface e.g. a microphone voice recorder etc. to separately control each electronic device . . . and to separately select scheduled broadcast content for each electronic device . . . based on the identity of each electronic device . . . 

In the example of the method may include a process flow for a computer implemented method for using the portable computing device as a universal remote control to wirelessly control the one or more electronic devices . . . in the control area via the communication hub as described in reference to the system of . Further as described herein the operations may be configured to provide a simplified operational process flow that may be enacted by the portable computing device of and to provide features and functionalities as described in reference to .

At the method may include transmitting from the portable computing device over a network to the remotely located network server one or more queries for control commands for communicating with each electronic device . . . in the control area via control signals wherein the one or more queries identify each of the electronic devices . . . 

At the method may include receiving at the portable computing device over the network from the network server command codes for the portable computing device to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . through the control commands via the control signals.

At the method may include executing by at least one processor of the portable computing device the received command codes to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . via the communication hub by sending first control signals e.g. RF control signals such as Wi Fi control signals Bluetooth control signals etc. via a first communication protocol e.g. RF communication protocol such as Wi Fi Bluetooth etc. to the communication hub to separately control each electronic device . . . based on an identity of each electronic device . . . . In an implementation the communication hub may be configured to receive the first control signals e.g. RF control signals via a first communication protocol e.g. RF communication protocol such as Wi Fi Bluetooth etc. convert the first control signals to second control signals e.g. IRF control signals of a second communication protocol e.g. IRF communication protocol that is different from the first communication protocol and send the second control signals e.g. IRF control signals via the second communication protocol e.g. IRF communication protocol to each electronic device . . . based on the identity of each electronic device . . . 

In the example of the method may include a process flow for a computer implemented method for using the portable computing device as a universal remote control to wirelessly control the one or more electronic devices . . . in the control area as described in reference to the system of . Further as described herein the operations may be configured to provide a simplified operational process flow that may be enacted by the portable computing device of and to provide features and functionalities as described in reference to .

At the method may include transmitting from the portable computing device over a network to the remotely located network server one or more queries for control commands for communicating with each electronic device . . . in the control area via control signals wherein the one or more queries identify each of the electronic devices . . . 

At the method may include receiving at the portable computing device over the network from the network server command codes for the portable computing device to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . through the control commands via the control signals.

At the method may include automatically synchronizing the control commands across one or more other portable computing devices . . . along with the portable computing device .

At the method may include executing by at least one processor of the portable computing device or at least one of the portable computing devices . . . the received command codes to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . 

In an implementation the method may include executing by at least one processor of the portable computing device or at least one of the portable computing devices . . . the received command codes to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . via the communication hub in a manner as described in reference to .

In an implementation the method may include accessing an account stored on the network maintained database of the network server over the network to receive at the portable computing device over the network from the network server the command codes for the portable computing device to communicate with each of the electronic devices . . . through the control commands via the control signals.

In particular is a diagram illustrating identity and status information related to the one or more electronic devices . . . as displayed e.g. rendered within the interaction GUI of the portable computing device such as for example the portable computing device . The interaction GUI may be displayed within a display of the portable computing device . In some implementations as shown in the interaction GUI may be displayed after one or more electronic devices . . . have been identified by the portable computing device .

As shown in the identity and status of the one or more electronic devices . . . may be displayed in different rows of the interaction GUI . In this implementation each electronic device . . . may be given at least one of a control area device number e.g. 1 2 3 . . . n a corresponding control area identifier e.g. identifiers ID1 ID2 ID3 . . . IDn and a control area status indicator e.g. active status or inactive status .

In an implementation each electronic device . . . identified by the portable computing device may be rank ordered based on at least one of the control area device number the control area identifier e.g. identifiers ID1 ID2 ID3 . . . IDn and or the control area status indicator . In some implementations as shown in the control area identifiers may refer to specific device information that may be used to provide identity information related to a specific electronic device . . . including at least one of manufacturer name model number serial number data of manufacture and type of identifier used to acquire the identity of the device such as RF ID barcode manual user input etc. In some implementations the control area identifiers may be randomly generated by the portable computing device assigned by a user and or may comprise temporary identifiers assigned by the portable computing device that may be used to conceal the actual identity of the corresponding electronic device . . . in the control area . In some implementations one or more of the identifiers may be deleted by a user of the portable computing device after being displayed.

The device information may include various other information in addition to the information shown. For instance the device information may include a particular interest or personal device name associated with a user. Further a password may be assigned by a user to use the control features the synchronization feature and any other features described herein. In an implementation a password may be assigned by a user to each of the electronic device . . . in the control area so that a password may be verified by the portable communication device prior to selection and or control of a particular electronic device . . . in the control area .

In some implementations as shown in selection of a particular device identifier by a user may be configured to trigger launching of an application e.g. launching of an application as defined within a preference of a user launching of a default application through which additional device interaction may be requested. For instance the interaction GUI may be configured so that when for example identifier ID1 is selected a control application enabling a control session with a user associated with identifier ID1 may be launched to control features of the selected electronic device such as at least one of the electronic devices . . . 

For instance in the example of the interaction GUI of the portable computing device may be configured to control features of a media device such as a any type of digital or analog video broadcast entertainment device including a satellite enabled monitor television digital video player digital video recorder DVR stereo receiver digital radio analog radio etc. In an implementation an identified device in the control area may include at least one of the electronic devices . . . that may comprise for example a satellite enabled monitor or television wherein control commands sent from the portable communication device to the identified device may include power channel up down volume up down mute guide record input select right left up down etc. In other implementations the control commands may include various other control commands in addition to the control commands shown in .

The interaction GUI or any other portion of the portable computing device may be configured to operate based on one or more platforms e.g. one or more similar or different platforms that may include one or more types of hardware software firmware operating systems runtime libraries and or so forth. In some implementations the interaction GUI may control a cluster of electronic devices . . . . In some implementations the interaction GUI may be configured to operate any electronic device in the control area and the interaction GUI may be configured to operate the remote server over the network. In some other implementations the interaction GUI may be configured to operate any electronic device inside and or outside the control area via the remote server .

In some implementations the interaction GUI may be configured to operate at a hub device such as for example the communication hub in the control area to thereby control the one or more electronic devices . . . in the control area . In some implementations the interaction GUI may function as a background application operating in conjunction with the portable computing device and or one or more other devices . In some implementations the interaction GUI may function as an application or service that may be accessed via an application programming interface API .

The interaction GUI may be or may include any type of hardware and or software configured to process attributes. In some implementations one or more portions of the components shown in the interaction GUI in may be or may include a hardware based module e.g. a digital signal processor DSP a field programmable gate array FPGA a memory a firmware module and or a software based module e.g. a module of computer code a set of computer readable instructions that may be executed at a computer . For example in some implementations one or more portions of the interaction GUI may be or may include a software module configured for execution by at least one processor. In some implementations the functionality of the components may be included in different modules and or different components. For example the functionality of the interaction GUI may be included in a single module or divided into several different modules.

Although not shown in some implementations the interaction GUI or portions thereof and or the portable computing device or portions thereof may be configured to operate within for example a data center e.g. a cloud computing environment a computer system one or more server host devices and or so forth. In some implementations the interaction GUI or portions thereof and or the portable computing device or portions thereof may be configured to operate within a network. Thus in some implementations the interaction GUI or portions thereof and or the portable computing device or portions thereof may be configured to function within various types of network environments that may include one or more devices and or one or more server devices. For example the network may be or may include a local area network LAN a wide area network WAN and or so forth. The network may be or may include a wireless network and or wireless network implemented using for example gateway devices bridges switches and or so forth. The network may include one or more segments and or may have portions based on various protocols such as Internet Protocol IP and or a proprietary protocol. The network may include at least a portion of the Internet.

For instance in various implementations the portable computing device may comprise one or more network communication devices e.g. smart phone wireless cellular phone Wi Fi access point Bluetooth access point etc. adapted for communication with the network and the control area . The portable computing device may be implemented as a PC PDA notebook computer tablet computer and or various other generally known types of wired and or wireless computing devices for communication with the network and the control area .

The portable computing device may be configured to wirelessly communicate with the network server over the network via a communication link established with at least one network interface component using any known wireless communications technologies and protocols including radio frequency RF microwave frequency MWF and or infrared frequency IRF wireless communications technologies and protocols adapted for communication over the network.

The portable computing device may be configured to wirelessly communicate with each of the other portable computing devices . . . each of the electronic devices . . . and or the communication hub in the control area via the communication link established with the at least one network interface component using any known wireless communications technologies and protocols including RF MWF and or IRF wireless communications technologies and protocols adapted for communication in the control area .

The portable computing device may be configured for use as a universal remote control to wirelessly control the one or more electronic devices . . . in the control area via another communication link established with at least one control interface component using any known wireless communications technologies and protocols including RF MWF and or IRF wireless communications technologies and protocols adapted for communication in the control area .

In accordance with aspects of the disclosure the computer system may include a bus or other communication mechanism for communicating information which interconnects subsystems and components such as for example at least one processing component e.g. processor micro controller digital signal processor DSP etc. system memory component e.g. RAM static storage component e.g. ROM disk drive component e.g. magnetic or optical one or more network interface components e.g. modem Ethernet card RF ID reader RF and or IRF transceiver RF and or IRF transmitter and or RF and or IRF receiver display component e.g. CRT or LCD input component e.g. keyboard cursor control component e.g. mouse or trackball and image capture component e.g. analog or digital camera scanner barcode reader and one or more control interface components e.g. RF and or IRF transceiver RF and or IRF transmitter and or RF and or IRF receiver . In one implementation disk drive component may comprise a database having one or more disk drive components.

In accordance with embodiments of the disclosure the computer system may be configured to perform specific operations by the at least one processor executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in system memory component . Such instructions may be read into system memory component from another computer readable medium such as static storage component or disk drive component . In other embodiments hard wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement the disclosure.

Logic may be encoded in a computer readable medium which may refer to any medium that participates in providing instructions to the at least one processor for execution. Such a medium may take many forms including but not limited to non volatile media and volatile media. In various implementations non volatile media may include optical or magnetic disks such as disk drive component and volatile media may include dynamic memory such as system memory component . In an aspect data and information related to executing instructions may be transmitted to computer system via a transmission media such as in the form of acoustic or light waves including those generated during radio wave and infrared data communications. In various implementations transmission media may include coaxial cables copper wire and fiber optics including wires that comprise bus .

Some common forms of non transitory computer readable media may include for example floppy disk flexible disk hard disk magnetic tape any other magnetic medium CD ROM any other optical medium punch cards paper tape any other physical medium with patterns of holes RAM PROM EPROM FLASH EPROM any other memory chip or cartridge carrier wave or any other medium from which a computer is adapted to read.

In various embodiments of the disclosure execution of instruction sequences to practice the disclosure may be performed by the computer system . In various other embodiments of the disclosure a plurality of computer systems coupled by communication link e.g. network of such as a LAN WLAN PTSN and or various other wired or wireless networks including telecommunications mobile and cellular phone networks may perform instruction sequences to practice the disclosure in coordination with one another.

Computer system may transmit and receive messages data information and instructions including one or more programs i.e. application code through communication link and communication interface . Received program code may be executed by processor as received and or stored in disk drive component or some other non volatile storage component for execution.

In accordance with aspects of the disclosure implementations of various techniques described herein may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry or in computer hardware firmware software or in combinations of them. Implementations may be implemented as a computer program product e.g. a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier a machine readable storage device a computer readable medium a tangible computer readable medium for processing by or to control the operation of data processing apparatus e.g. a programmable processor a computer or multiple computers . In some implementations a tangible computer readable storage medium may be configured to store instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform a process. A computer program such as the computer program s described above may be written in any form of programming language including compiled or interpreted languages and may be deployed in any form including as a stand alone program or as a module component subroutine or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program may be deployed to be processed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

Method steps may be performed by one or more programmable processors executing a computer program to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output. Method steps also may be performed by and an apparatus may be implemented as special purpose logic circuitry e.g. an FPGA field programmable gate array or an ASIC application specific integrated circuit .

Processors suitable for the processing of a computer program include by way of example both general and special purpose microprocessors and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally a processor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory or a random access memory or both. Elements of a computer may include at least one processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally a computer also may include or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to or both one or more mass storage devices for storing data e.g. magnetic magneto optical disks or optical disks . Information carriers suitable for embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non volatile memory including by way of example semiconductor memory devices e.g. EPROM EEPROM and flash memory devices magnetic disks e.g. internal hard disks or removable disks magneto optical disks and CD ROM and DVD ROM disks. The processor and the memory may be supplemented by or incorporated in special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user implementations may be implemented on a computer having a display device e.g. a cathode ray tube CRT a light emitting diode LED or liquid crystal display LCD display device for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device e.g. a mouse or a trackball by which the user may provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices may be used to provide for interaction with a user as well for example feedback provided to the user may be any form of sensory feedback e.g. visual feedback auditory feedback or tactile feedback and input from the user may be received in any form including acoustic speech or tactile input.

Implementations may be implemented in a computing system that may include a back end component e.g. as a data server or that may include a middleware component e.g. an application server or that may include a front end component e.g. a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user may interact with an implementation or any combination of such back end middleware or front end components. Components may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication e.g. communication network . Examples of communication networks include a local area network LAN e.g. the intranet and a wide area network WAN e.g. the Internet .

While certain features of described implementations have been illustrated as described herein many modifications substitutions changes and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. It is therefore to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the scope of the implementations. It should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only not limitation and various changes in form and details may be made. Any portion of the apparatus and or methods described herein may be combined in any combination except mutually exclusive combinations. The implementations described herein may include various combinations and or sub combinations of the functions components and or features of the different implementations described.

