An apparatus comprising: device functional circuitry adapted to perform at least one service; network interface control circuitry adapted to control interaction between the apparatus and a network, wherein the network interface control circuitry includes a service discovery module adapted to: send a presence announcement message to be transmitted outside the apparatus to inform other apparatuses (D2, D3, D4) outside the apparatus regarding services the apparatus may perform, and receive presence announcement messages from the other apparatuses (D2, D3, D4) outside the apparatus to learn what services the other apparatuses (D2, D3, D4) may perform, wherein each of the sent and received presence announcement messages includes a globally unique service identifier for a service announced by the presence announcement message and an expiration time value for the announced service to indicate how long the announcement message is considered valid; a contact table maintained by the apparatus to indicate services that are currently available based on received presence announcement messages, wherein the apparatus is adapted to determine that a first service has left the network if a second presence announcement message for the first service has not arrived within a certain time period after arrival of a first presence announcement message for the first service, the time period being based on multiples of an expiration time value for the first service contained in the first presence announcement message; and wherein the network interface control circuitry further includes a dynamic connection management module adapted to perform dynamic connection management to manage connections with other apparatuses (D2, D3, D4) outside the apparatus, and wherein the dynamic connection management module is centralized within the apparatus, and adapted to utilize a single connection record for a service simultaneously communicating with several remote services. device functional circuitry adapted to perform at least one service; network interface control circuitry adapted to control interaction between the apparatus and a network, wherein the network interface control circuitry includes a service discovery module adapted to: send a presence announcement message to be transmitted outside the apparatus to inform other apparatuses (D2, D3, D4) outside the apparatus regarding services the apparatus may perform, and receive presence announcement messages from the other apparatuses (D2, D3, D4) outside the apparatus to learn what services the other apparatuses (D2, D3, D4) may perform, wherein each of the sent and received presence announcement messages includes a globally unique service identifier for a service announced by the presence announcement message and an expiration time value for the announced service to indicate how long the announcement message is considered valid; send a presence announcement message to be transmitted outside the apparatus to inform other apparatuses (D2, D3, D4) outside the apparatus regarding services the apparatus may perform, and receive presence announcement messages from the other apparatuses (D2, D3, D4) outside the apparatus to learn what services the other apparatuses (D2, D3, D4) may perform, wherein each of the sent and received presence announcement messages includes a globally unique service identifier for a service announced by the presence announcement message and an expiration time value for the announced service to indicate how long the announcement message is considered valid; a contact table maintained by the apparatus to indicate services that are currently available based on received presence announcement messages, wherein the apparatus is adapted to determine that a first service has left the network if a second presence announcement message for the first service has not arrived within a certain time period after arrival of a first presence announcement message for the first service, the time period being based on multiples of an expiration time value for the first service contained in the first presence announcement message; and wherein the network interface control circuitry further includes a dynamic connection management module adapted to perform dynamic connection management to manage connections with other apparatuses (D2, D3, D4) outside the apparatus, and wherein the dynamic connection management module is centralized within the apparatus, and adapted to utilize a single connection record for a service simultaneously communicating with several remote services.