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Method and apparatus for providing universal web access functionality

Method and apparatus for providing universal web access functionality description/claims

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/678,605 filed Oct. 3, 2003, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/416,101 filed on Oct. 4, 2002, the specification of which is incorporated by reference herein.

This invention relates to the field of electronic system management. More specifically the invention relates to web based management and control of electronic equipments.

Electronic appliances have become ubiquitous in the home and workplace, to the point where very few tasks exist without some form of electronic component. Most electronic appliances are initially designed for a particular purpose, with little foresight into secondary issues such as monitoring and control. However, as an electronic appliance evolves, such secondary issues are frequently addressed with new designs that improve efficiency and convenience through enhanced monitoring and control capabilities. For example, televisions initially were controlled by manual operation of control knobs on the set box, but evolution of the television design has brought about the IR remote control, allowing a viewer to change channels without leaving his seat.

Unfortunately, those new control designs are frequently proprietary in nature, targeted solely at the subject appliance with no consideration for other possible electronic appliances in the same environment. Also, unlike the common television viewer scenario, it is often desired to monitor and control electronic appliances from a more remote vantage point. For example, as business enterprises expand their use of electronic appliances, the need arises for the capability to monitor and control multiple appliances from a centralized location within the corporate environment, which may span the world.

Systems of the prior art that attempt to overcome some of these obstacles generally focus narrowly on a specific electronic appliance and design a proprietary monitoring and control system that allows a person using a dedicated electronic controller to communicate with a single piece of electronic equipment. Where no communication path exists, this solution often entails installing a dedicated wiring system to accomplish monitoring and control. Where a network exists, some systems of the prior art use the network to pass proprietary communication packets between the controller and the electronic appliance. To control multiple appliances, additional communication packets must be transmitted across the network. This leads to undesired levels of control traffic on corporate networks as the number of appliances in an enterprise increases.

Another drawback to prior art systems is that they frequently use a computer workstation or other stationary device as the dedicated controller. This detracts from use of the workstation for other purposes, as well as making it difficult to have monitoring and control capabilities from any other location, absent the inefficient use of redundant, dedicated controllers.

For the foregoing reasons, it is desirable to have a monitoring and control system that permits a person to monitor and control multiple electronic appliances of multiple types, where such monitoring and control capability is available from more than one location, where computing resources are not limited by the dedicated use of those resources for proprietary systems, and where impact on network traffic can be minimized by centralizing control of multiple appliances.

FIG. 1 is an example layout of a web-enabled access and control architecture for multiple electronic devices, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top level block diagram of the web-serving device 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a graphical user interface for configuring the serial port transceiver.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a browser interface for configuring flexible I/O ports.

FIG. 5 is a circuit schematic illustrating the configurability of the Flex I/O ports in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example Generalized Graphical User Interface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an example web page that may be created for control of a Samsung™ LCD monitor.

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• Utility Patent

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