초록 ▼

A method and system for providing a user interface for a networked target device within a home audio/visual network. The DDI allows any DDI target to describe its physical appearance including controls and displays, etc., to a DDI controller. The controller can be a remote physical device or can be

A method and system for providing a user interface for a networked target device within a home audio/visual network. The DDI allows any DDI target to describe its physical appearance including controls and displays, etc., to a DDI controller. The controller can be a remote physical device or can be a software program resident on the same or separate device as the target. The controller interfaces with the target to obtain the DDI data and generates a user interface for the target including: 1) interactive controls; and 2) user display information pertinent to the target. The DDI allows the controller to trigger actions on the target as if a user had physically manipulated the controls of the target. The controller and the target are connected to the same communication network. A particular embodiment operates within the HAVi architecture. The controller communicates with the user by using the input and output devices of (typically) the device upon which the controller is executing. This communication can be done in a controller-implementation-dependent manner. The target can be a DCM that controls its device in a implementation-dependent manner. The controller may be written in a generic manner that does not need to be implemented with knowledge of a particular target in mind; all target-dependencies are represented in the DDI data provided by the target to the controller.

대표청구항 ▼

1. In a network of electronic devices including a target and a plurality of controllers, a method of controlling said target comprising the steps of:a) a controller requesting information from said target regarding controlling said target; b) said target sending elements of a user interface to said

1. In a network of electronic devices including a target and a plurality of controllers, a method of controlling said target comprising the steps of:a) a controller requesting information from said target regarding controlling said target; b) said target sending elements of a user interface to said controller, said target maintaining in memory a structured description of said user interface including organizational and non-organizational elements; c) said controller generating said user interface based on said control elements and based on the display capabilities of said controller, said controller also allowing a user to interact with said user interface and sending user event messages to said target in response thereto; d) said target interpreting said user event messages, and in response, altering an operational state of said target and generating a state change message for said plurality of controllers; and e) said plurality of controllers updating their respective user interface based on said state change message from said target, said target thereby maintaining consistency among all of said plurality of controllers.