Pervasive home network appliance
First Claim
1. An apparatus for facilitating communication between a user interface and one or more external devices each capable of having a distinct communication protocol, the apparatus comprising:
- at least one control adapter for transforming a particular communication protocol established between said user interface and said at least one control adapter into a common message format;
one or more device adapters for transforming said distinct communication protocol established between one of said external devices and a respective one of said device adapters into said common message format; and
a routing engine for routing said common format messages between a designated one of said control adapters and an appropriate one of said device adapters.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
According to the present invention a Pervasive Home Network Appliance (appliance) is provided for controlling of home devices in a home network, whereby such appliance may also be accessed automatically or via an additional interface, such as by a cellular (mobile) phone or an Internet browser. The pervasive home network appliance may be implemented by a method and an appliance for facilitating communication between a user interface and one or more external devices. The appliance comprises at least one control adapter for transforming a particular communication protocol to be established between the user interface and at least one of the control adapters, one or more device adapters for transforming a particular communication protocol to be established between one of the external devices and the respective one of the device adapters and a routing engine for routing messages being produced by one of the control adapters to the appropriate one of the device adapters.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. An apparatus for facilitating communication between a user interface and one or more external devices each capable of having a distinct communication protocol, the apparatus comprising:
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at least one control adapter for transforming a particular communication protocol established between said user interface and said at least one control adapter into a common message format;
one or more device adapters for transforming said distinct communication protocol established between one of said external devices and a respective one of said device adapters into said common message format; and
a routing engine for routing said common format messages between a designated one of said control adapters and an appropriate one of said device adapters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the apparatus is being be configured to facilitate one of an additional device adapter and an additional control adapter which are retrieved from an external data source.
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6. A method for facilitating communication between at least one user interface and one or more external devices, said user interface having a communication link to a control adapter and said external device having a communication link to a device adapter, both said control adapter and said device adapter being in communication with a routing engine, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving from said user interface a device command for controlling said external device;
translating, by said control adapter, said device command into a message having a format interpretable by said routing engine;
said routing engine receiving said message, determining the appropriate device adapter and sending said message to said device adapter;
said device adapter translating said message into a device control string having a format that can be processed by said device; and
sending said device control string to said device. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer program product implemented by the execution of computer instructions stored on a computer readable media for facilitating communication between at least one user interface and one or more external devices, said user interface having a communication link to a control adapter and said external device having a communication link to a device adapter, both said control adapter and said device adapter being in communication with a routing engine, the computer program product including instructions comprising:
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program means for receiving from said user interface a device command for controlling said external device;
program means for translating, by said control adapter, said device command into a message having a format interpretable by said routing engine;
program means for receiving said message, by said routing engine and for determining the appropriate device adapter and sending said message to said device adapter;
program means for translating by said control adapter said message into a device control string having a format that can be processed by said device; and
program means for sending said device control string to said device.
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17. An apparatus for facilitating communication between at least one user interface and one or more home network devices for controlling environmental conditions, each said home network device being capable of having a distinct communication protocol, comprising:
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a control adapter that receives a device command from said user interface for controlling said home network device, and translates said device command into a common format message;
a device adapter for translating said common format message into a device control string having one of said distinct communication protocols that can be processed by said home network device;
a routing engine for receiving said common format message from said control adapter, and for sending said common format message to an appropriate device adapter;
wherein said device control string is sent to said home network device such that said environmental conditions are controlled by said home network devices in accordance with said device command from said user interface. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification