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EP-4226637-B1 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONFIGURING INPUT ELEMENTS OF A CONTROLLING DEVICE

EP4226637B1EP 4226637 B1EP4226637 B1EP 4226637B1EP-4226637-B1

Inventors

  • HASCHER, Thomas
  • KOOPMANS, MENNO

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20211027

Claims (14)

  1. A method for configuring a controlling device, having a configurable input element, to command a functional operation of an intended target appliance, the method comprising: determining a presence of an over-the-top (OTT) media device within an ecosystem that includes the controlling device; determining a presence of a first OTT media app installed on the OTT device; if the first OTT media app is installed on the OTT device:- using a data representative of the first OTT media app and a data representative of the OTT device determined to be within the ecosystem to identify at least one command that is required to be transmitted to the OTT device to cause the OTT device to launch the first OTT media app; and causing the at least one command to be provisioned to the controlling device for assignment to the configurable input element of the controlling device whereupon the controlling device is configured to respond to an activation of the configurable input element by transmitting the at least one command to cause the OTT device to launch the first OTT media app.
  2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising using the data representative of the OTT device to identify the controlling device to which the at least one command is to be provisioned.
  3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the controlling device comprises an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) remote control provided for use specifically with at least the OTT device.
  4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the controlling device comprises a smart device having a remote control app installed thereon.
  5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising automatically causing the at least one command to be provisioned to the controlling device and automatically causing the at least one command to be assigned to the configurable input element of the controlling device.
  6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising accepting input from a user to cause the at least one command to be assigned to the configurable input element of the controlling device.
  7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising subsequent to the controlling device being configured determining a presence of a second OTT media app installed on the OTT device, the second OTT media app being accessed more often by a user within a predetermined period of time relative to the first OTT app, using a data representative of the second OTT media app determined to be installed on the OTT device and a data representative of the OTT device determined to be within the ecosystem to identify at least one further command that is required to be transmitted to the OTT device to cause the OTT device to launch the second OTT media app installed on the OTT device, and causing the at least one further command to be provisioned to the controlling device for assignment to the configurable input element of the controlling device whereupon the controlling device is configured to respond to an activation of the configurable input element by transmitting the at least one further command to cause the OTT device to launch the second OTT media app installed on the OTT device instead of the first OTT media app installed on the OTT device.
  8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one command comprises a sequence of menu navigation commands for indirectly launching the first OTT media app installed on the OTT device.
  9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one command comprises a command to directly launch the first OTT media app installed on the OTT device.
  10. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising subsequent to the controlling device being configured determining a presence of a second OTT media app installed on the OTT device, the second OTT media app being accessed more often by third party users within a predetermined period of time relative to the first OTT app, using a data representative of the second OTT media app determined to be installed on the OTT device and a data representative of the OTT device determined to be within the ecosystem to identify at least one further command that is required to be transmitted to the OTT device to cause the OTT device to launch the second OTT media app installed on the OTT device, and causing the at least one further command to be provisioned to the controlling device for assignment to the configurable input element of the controlling device whereupon the controlling device is configured to respond to an activation of the configurable input element by transmitting the at least one further command to cause the OTT device to launch the second OTT media app installed on the OTT device instead of the first OTT media app installed on the OTT device.
  11. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising causing a data repository associated with a cloud server to be searched to at least determine the presence of the first OTT media app installed on the OTT device.
  12. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising causing a data repository associated with the OTT device to be searched to at least determine the presence of the first OTT media app installed on the OTT device.
  13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the configurable key comprises a hard key.
  14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the configurable key comprises a soft key, and further comprising causing data for automatically installing the soft key on the controlling device to be provisioned to the controlling device.

Description

BACKGROUND Systems and methods for obtaining information about appliances that are included within a given environment, such as the home, are known in the art. Most often, such information is obtained to configure or "set-up" a controlling device. In this regard, a controlling device is typically configured by being provisioned with an appropriate set of command data, from within a library of command data sets, for each of the specific appliances to be controlled. The appliance identifying information in such a system is typically information that serves to identify each appliance by its make, and/or model, and/or type. By way of example, US Patent No. 10,305,969 describes a system and method for appliance detection and app configuration. A presence of an appliance on a wireless network, which includes a smart device, is detected and data received from the appliance is used to initiate a retrieval of the app. When the retrieved app is installed on the smart device the app is usable with the smart device to provide at least an interface between the smart device and the appliance. In some circumstance, installation of the app on the smart device may also include causing the app to be synchronized with a corresponding app that was prior installed on another smart device capable of communicating with the appliance. In an additional example, US Publication No. 2016/0219141 describes a method and system in which an appliance includes a Bluetooth module which is used to communicate with an appliance app on a smartphone. The appliance app connects with the appliance and with the appliance manufacturer to provide a connection path from the appliance to the manufacturer's diagnosis computer system. The appliance and the manufacturer's diagnosis computer system can then interact and perform information transfers and diagnostic operations as desired. In some cases, the appliance app is also involved and is used to request user operations, both for information and to assist in the diagnosis if needed. As a still further example, U.S. Publication No. 2015/0229985 describes a controlling device having a configurable key. An overlay, such as a sticker, is provided to the configurable key and includes an indicia representative of a media content and machine readable data indicative of an identity of the media content represented by the indicia. A memory of the controlling device stores a correspondence between the configurable key and data indicative of a source of the media content. Upon activation of configured, configurable key, the controlling device uses select command codes from a library of command codes and the correspondence between the configurable key and the data indicative of the source of the media content to transmit one or more commands for causing one or more appliances to access the source of the media content. Other known systems are described in US 2018/167762 A1, showing systems in which smart devices discover apps installed on other household devices, send this information to a remote server, and receive recommendations for "missing" apps or media. The server or devices compare installed apps with desired ones and promote or install missing apps to improve user convenience; US 2015/026745 A1, explaining a remote-control configuration system where a TV and a configuration server automatically identify the user's set-top box through IP-based locale and vendor lookup tables. The TV guides the user with simple questions, retrieves model-specific control data, and uploads it to the remote control, enabling seamless multi-device control; and US 2016/188311 A1, which presents systems enabling automatic installation of applications on consumer devices such as media players. A smart device discovers the controlled device, determines missing apps, and instructs it-via an authenticated API-to fetch and install the needed software automatically, avoiding user interaction with the controlled device's interface. SUMMARY Described hereinafter is a system and method for configuring input elements of a controlling device. Generally, the configurable input element is configured by using a data representative of an over-the-top (OTT) media app determined to be installed on an OTT device and a data representative of the OTT device to identify at least one command that is required to be transmitted to cause the OTT device to launch the OTT media app. The at least one command is provisioned to the controlling device and assigned to the configurable input element. When the input element is subsequently activated, the controlling device will transmit the at least one command to cause the OTT device to launch the OTT media app. A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, properties and relationships of the hereinafter described systems/methods will be obtained from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth illustrative embodiments and which are indicative of the various ways