Device communication and control in a home network connected to an external network
First Claim
1. A method for providing user interfaces in a first network including first devices interconnected via a communication medium and at least one interface device connecting said first network to at least a second network providing services, comprising the steps of:
- in one or more devices in the first network;
(a) obtaining information from one or more of said first devices currently connected to the first network, said information including device information comprising graphical user interface information for user interaction with that device; and
(b) generating a graphical user interface description based on the graphical user interface information, the graphical user interface description including;
(1) at least one reference associated with the device information of each of said one or more first devices, and(2) at least one reference associated with the services provided by the second network;
wherein the graphical user interface description allows displaying a graphical user interface to a user for controlling the devices that are currently connected to the first network and furnishing services of the second network, via the graphical user interface.
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Abstract
A method for providing user interfaces in a first network including first devices interconnected via a communication medium and an interface device connecting the first network to a second network having interconnected second devices providing services. The user interfaces are for controlling the devices that are currently connected to the first network and communication with devices that are currently connected to the second network. The method includes: (a) obtaining information from first devices currently connected to the first network, the information including device information; (b) obtaining information from second devices via the interface device, about the services of second devices connected to the second network; (c) generating a user interface description in one or more of the first devices based on the obtained information. The user interface description in each first device includes: (1) a reference associated with the device information of each of the first devices, and (2) a reference associated with the service information of each of the second devices. A user interface is displayed based on each user interface description on a device connected to the first network capable of displaying a user interface, for user control of the first devices and communication with the second devices. Displaying each user interface is based on using each reference in the corresponding user interface description to access the associated information in each device; generating the user interface including device and service corresponding to each device using the accessed information in each device; and displaying the user interface.
194 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A method for providing user interfaces in a first network including first devices interconnected via a communication medium and at least one interface device connecting said first network to at least a second network providing services, comprising the steps of:
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in one or more devices in the first network; (a) obtaining information from one or more of said first devices currently connected to the first network, said information including device information comprising graphical user interface information for user interaction with that device; and (b) generating a graphical user interface description based on the graphical user interface information, the graphical user interface description including; (1) at least one reference associated with the device information of each of said one or more first devices, and (2) at least one reference associated with the services provided by the second network; wherein the graphical user interface description allows displaying a graphical user interface to a user for controlling the devices that are currently connected to the first network and furnishing services of the second network, via the graphical user interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A network system for performing services, comprising:
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a local network of first devices interconnected via a communication medium; an interface device connecting the local network to an external network providing services, a user interface description generation agent in at least one of said first devices configured for; (a) obtaining information from one or more of said first devices currently connected to the local network, said information including device information comprising graphical user interface information for user interaction with that device; and (b) generating a graphical user interface description based on the graphical user interface information, the graphical user interface description including; (1) at least one reference associated with the device information of each of said one or more first devices, and (2) at least one reference associated with the services provided by the external network. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A control device for providing a user device communication and control in a local network of interconnected first devices, the local network connected via an interface device to an external network providing services, the control device comprising:
a user interface description generation agent configured for; (a) obtaining information from one or more of said first devices currently connected to the local network, said information including device information comprising graphical user interface information for user interaction with that device; and (b) generating a graphical user interface description based on the graphical user interface information, the graphical user interface description including; (1) at least one reference associated with the device information of each of said one or more first devices, and (2) at least one reference associated with the services provided by the external network. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
Specification