Patent ID: 6504847
Filing Date: 2003-01-07
Classification: G11B,H04L,H04N

Abstract:
A first device comprising:(a) means for communicating with at least one second device interconnected to the first device by a network bus, thereby creating a relationship between the first device and said second device, said means for communicating being capable of receiving query data from at least one third device; (b) first means for storing information pertaining to the presistence of a relationship between the first device and the at least one second device; (c) second means for storing information pertaining to a condition for terminating said relationship between the first device and the at least one second device; (d) means for controlling operating modes of said first device in response to control data from said at lease one second device, said means for controlling being capable of processing said persistence information and said query data, and terminating the relationship between the first device and the at least one second device in response to one of said terminating condition and said query data, wherein information pertaining to the persistence of the relationship between the first electronic device and the second electronic device comprises one of at least two different persistence levels.