Assisting use of control devices with different electronic devices

摘要

A remote determines an acknowledgement is not received for a command transmitted to a first device, broadcasts a discovery message, receives a response from a second device that received the discovery message and a proximity signal from the remote, and configures itself to control the second device. The remote may also transmit an acknowledgement to the second device. The second device may notify the first device. In various implementations, configuration information in the response may include pairing information and the remote may unpair itself from the first device and pair with the second device. In some implementations, the remote may include a table for controlling devices and the remote may utilize an entry in the table for the second device instead of the first device. In various implementations, the remote may receive responses to the discovery message from multiple devices and may select one to configure itself to control.

主权项

1. A method for assisting use of control devices with different electronic devices, the method comprising:
determining, utilizing a control device, that an acknowledgement is not received in response to at least one command transmitted by the control device to a first electronic device which the control device is configured to control; broadcasting at least one discovery message, utilizing the control device, to all electronic devices that are within range of at least one signal utilized to transmit the at least one discovery message and are operable to be controlled by the control device; receiving, utilizing the control device, at least one response to the at least one discovery message from a second electronic device that received the at least one discovery message and at least one proximity signal transmitted by the control device; configuring the control device to control the second electronic device utilizing information included in the at least one response; wherein at least one signal utilized to transmit the at least one discovery message comprises at least one radio frequency signal and the at least one proximity signal comprises at least one infrared signal.