Patent ID: 8266256

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of managing virtual devices operating in a virtual network, the method comprising: receiving, by a virtual device coordinator, a low-power device descriptor from a low-power device; determining, by the virtual device coordinator, a low-power device classification based on the received low-power device descriptor; determining, by the virtual device coordinator, functionality corresponding to an application executing on the low-powered device based on the low-power device classification, wherein the determined low-power device classification is indicative of one or more of multimedia control functionality, lighting control functionality, energy control functionality, and temperature control functionality; creating, by the virtual device coordinator, a virtual device based on the determined low-power device classification and the received low-power device descriptor; emulating, by the virtual device coordinator with at least one virtual application executing on the virtual device, at least a portion of the functionality corresponding to the application and the virtual device executing in an operating system running in a virtual machine; and storing, by the virtual device coordinator, an association record indicating that the configured virtual device is associated with the low-power device.