Method and system for upgrading a universal remote control

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is an object of the invention to provide a system and method, wherein the source remote control need not be present.
To achieve that object, the method according to the invention is characterized by the steps of: receiving command codes for controlling said electronic appliance from a data source and storing said command codes in a data processing device, and transmitting said command codes from said data processing device to said universal remote control through an IR transmitter coupled to said data processing device.
The data processing device may be a personal computer (PC) or a set-top box (STB), which comprises or is coupled to an IR transmitter.
Such IR transmitters are currently available (so called 'dongles') and may, for example, be connected to the serial port of a PC.
Alternatively, a transmitter may be integrated into the data processing device.
The command code can be received by the data processing device in various ways, e.
g.
on a data carrier such as a CD-ROM or via a communication network from a remote database.
Alternatively, the data processing device further comprises an IR receiver for learning the command code from the remote control of the electronic appliance, enabling a user to dispense with the remote control, the command code remaining stored in the data processing device for later use, for example on an internal hard-disk.
Having stored the command code in the data processing device, the universal remote control can learn the command code by receiving IR codes from the data processing device, the latter thus acting as a remote control replacing the source remote control.
The universal remote control may have prestored command codes in a read-only memory (ROM) for controlling one or more predetermined electronic appliances, the learned command codes being additionally stored in a read-write random access memory (RAM).
Alternatively, the universal remote control is initially 'empty', i.
e.
has no prestored command codes, thus requiring all command codes to be learned through the IR receiver