Control messaging for an entertainment and communications network
First Claim
1. A control message structure for controlling communication between nodes on a peer-to-peer network, said control message structure comprising:
- a preamble for bus arbitration;
a destination address indicating a network address of a node to which a control message is being sent;
a source address indicating a node as being a source of said message;
a payload containing said message; and
a checksum for checking whether the received message is valid.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A control messaging structure for a multi-zone entertainment and communications network and control method therefor. The network is a digital peer-to-peer network distributing data that is being streamed from multiple independent entertainment and communications media sources to multiple independent receivers and/or transceivers. The receivers and transceivers may be located in different zones from each other. The zones may be individual rooms of a building or house. The control messaging structure is a peer-to-peer communication protocol structure. Feature cards or remote devices are connected to peer nodes, which are controlled by control data passed between the nodes on the network over a control bus using the control messaging structure. Likewise, information is shared over the control bus between devices connected to network nodes using the control messaging structure of the present invention.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A control message structure for controlling communication between nodes on a peer-to-peer network, said control message structure comprising:
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a preamble for bus arbitration;
a destination address indicating a network address of a node to which a control message is being sent;
a source address indicating a node as being a source of said message;
a payload containing said message; and
a checksum for checking whether the received message is valid. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of controlling communication between nodes of a peer-to-peer network, said method comprising the steps of:
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monitoring activity on a control bus to determine when messages are being sent and to determine when said control bus is quiet;
parsing header information to determine to which node a control message is directed when said control bus is determined to be carrying control message information, the node to which said control message is directed being a receiving node; and
parsing said message from said control message, said control message being parsed byte said receiving node. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification