Patent ID: 8719847

Claim:
A computer-implemented process for managing a distributed system of home devices on a home network, comprising: maintaining a list of service exchange ports that export services, wherein each service exchange port comprises a list of named operations, each operation comprising a list of named, typed input parameters; named, typed return values; and a bit that defines if a driver module or an application module can subscribe to the service exchange port; running application modules, each application module interfacing with a corresponding service exchange port and providing some desired functionality in a home; running driver modules for home devices in the distributed home device system on the home network, each driver module interfacing with a corresponding service exchange port and being capable of operating one or more associated type of home device; communicating events on the home network, independent of network topology, between the application modules and the home devices using the driver modules and corresponding service exchange ports that are not equivalent to a conventional network port, each service exchange port interfacing with either an application module or a driver module and communicating with another service exchange port, to simultaneously control multiple home devices of the distributed home device system on the home network.