Pervasive home network portal
First Claim
1. A method for operating a home network by providing communication and control from a user to an appliance, via a distributed information system, by using a mediator, the method comprising the following steps performed by said mediator:
- receiving a message from said user containing a generic command to control at least one device included in said home network;
converting said generic command into an appliance specific command;
sending said appliance specific command to said appliance to be processed by converting said appliance specific command into a device specific command;
receiving a response message from said appliance;
converting said response message into a generic format;
retrieving a device presentation handler;
converting, by said device handler, said response message from said generic format into a generic markup language, and sending the response message in said generic markup language to said user.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
According to the present invention a method and a system is provided for organizing access and control from a user to an appliance via a distributed information system by employing a mediator. First a message is received from the user containing a generic command, which is then converted into an appliance specific command. Subsequently, the appliance specific command is sent to the appliance to be processed and a response message is received from the appliance. Finally, the response message is converted into a generic format and sent back to the user. The present invention provides an easy-to-use interface for users to all their pervasive home network devices.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method for operating a home network by providing communication and control from a user to an appliance, via a distributed information system, by using a mediator, the method comprising the following steps performed by said mediator:
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receiving a message from said user containing a generic command to control at least one device included in said home network;
converting said generic command into an appliance specific command;
sending said appliance specific command to said appliance to be processed by converting said appliance specific command into a device specific command;
receiving a response message from said appliance;
converting said response message into a generic format;
retrieving a device presentation handler;
converting, by said device handler, said response message from said generic format into a generic markup language, and sending the response message in said generic markup language to said user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus including a network portal that operates a home network by providing communication and control from a user to an appliance, via a distributed information system, comprising:
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means for receiving a message from said user containing a generic command to control at least one device included in said home network;
means for converting said generic command into an appliance specific command;
means for sending said appliance specific command to said appliance to be processed by converting said appliance specific command into a device specific command;
means for receiving a response message from said appliance;
means for converting said response message into a generic format;
means for retrieving a device presentation handler;
means for converting, by said device handler, said response message from said generic format into a generic markup language, and means for sending the response message in said generic markup language to said user. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A system that controls environmental conditions in a facility, comprising:
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a user interface, connected to a distributed information system, that provides a command included in a generic control message;
at least one device, for controlling elements in said facility, that communicates using a device specific command;
a network portal connected to said distributed information system for enabling said user interface to communicate with said at least one device, through said network appliance, by converting said generic control message into a network appliance specific command; and
a network appliance connected to said at least one device and said distributed information system that translates said network appliance specific command to said device specific command;
wherein said network portal provides communication and control between said user interface and said device to regulate the environmental conditions in said facility by presenting data associated with said at least one device to said user interface and providing control information from said user interface to said at least one device. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A computer program product stored on a computer readable media that includes executable program instructions for operating a home network by providing communication and control from a user to an appliance, via a distributed information system, by using a mediator, the method comprising the following steps performed by said mediator:
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instruction means for receiving a message from said user containing a generic command to control at least one device included in said home network;
instruction means for converting said generic command into an appliance specific command;
instruction means for sending said appliance specific command to said appliance to be processed by converting said appliance specific command into a device specific command;
instruction means for receiving a response message from said appliance;
instruction means for converting said response message into a generic format;
instruction means for retrieving a device presentation handler;
instruction means for converting, by said device handler, said response message from said generic format into a generic markup language, and instruction means for sending the response message in said generic markup language to said user. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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Specification