US 12,321,533 B1
Handsets for controlling inflight entertainment systems
Kevin Judd, Irvine, CA (US); Bipin Bopaliya, Irvine, CA (US); Raghunath Gunti, Irvine, CA (US); and Ton Do, Corona, CA (US)
Assigned to Thales Avionics, Inc., Irvine, CA (US)
Filed by Thales Avionics, Inc., Irvine, CA (US)
Filed on Nov. 30, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/525,780.
Int. Cl. G06F 3/023 (2006.01); G06F 3/01 (2006.01); H05B 47/175 (2020.01)
CPC G06F 3/023 (2013.01) [G06F 3/012 (2013.01); G06F 3/013 (2013.01); H05B 47/196 (2024.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A handset device for controlling an entertainment system within a vehicle, the handset device comprising:
an interface configured to communicate control signaling to the entertainment system;
a plurality of user selectable interface elements;
a plurality of light devices arranged to form light zones providing backlighting to corresponding groups of one or more of the user selectable interface elements; and
controller circuitry configured to:
respond to user selections among the user selectable interface elements by triggering corresponding control signaling to be communicated through the interface to control the entertainment system;
determine a lighting setting to select one of the light zones to activate to backlight the corresponding group of the one or more of the user selectable interface elements; and
control power flow to at least one light device in the selected one of the light zones based on the light setting to backlight the corresponding group of the one or more of the user selectable interface elements,
wherein the controller circuitry configured to activate individual ones of the light zones in a defined sequence to visually guide a passenger to a corresponding sequence of the user selectable interface elements defined to be most likely of interest to the passenger for selection to transition the entertainment system through a sequence of operational steps.