Patent ID: 7987294

Claim:
A method for providing a multimedia system including a plurality of networked multimedia devices, the method including the steps of: discovering the plurality of devices on a computer network; defining at least two groups, each group being representative of a networked multimedia system including two or more devices; providing, for each group, a system control interface for receiving, from a control device, a system control signal indicative of an operational change to the group, wherein each group has a relative group leader configured to: (i) receive the system control signal; and (ii) in response to the system control signal, define respective corresponding device control signals, and provide those device control signals to the devices thereby to implement the operational change across the group; defining at least one zone, the zone being representative of a networked multimedia system including two or more groups; providing, for the zone, a system control interface for receiving, from a control device, a zone control signal indicative of an operational change to the zone, wherein the zone has a relative zone leader configured to: (i) receive the zone control signal; and (ii) in response to the zone control signal, define respective corresponding device control signals, and provide those device control signals to the devices thereby to implement the operational change across the zone.