Patent ID: 7929542

Claim:
A communication network comprising: a host device on which a plurality of different data input/output modes are supported; an application capable of executing on the host device at a plurality of capability levels requiring use of at least some of the different data input/output modes; an application control module of the host device configured to determine data transfer requirements for the application at a current capability level acceptable for the application; a device control module of the host device configured to negotiate with the application control module for allocation of one or more data streams by the host device to the application, the negotiating including negotiation as to types of data input/output modes for the one or more data streams; at least one gateway node configured to support the application capability levels by controlling location of and access to a plurality of data sources provided in the network for satisfying data transfer requirements for the application capability levels; and a module of the at least one gateway node configured to negotiate with the device control module for location by the at least one gateway node of one or more of the data sources in the network and for allocation of one or more data streams of the one or more located data sources to the host device for the application, the negotiating including negotiation as to types of data input/output modes for the one or more data streams; all of the modules configured to collectively perform the negotiating until, based on one or more probabilities of effectiveness of the application at one or more of the capability levels, the application is provided with one or more data streams of the data sources to satisfy data transfer requirements of the application at the current capability level or at another acceptable capability level for which one of the one or more data sources located in the network by the at least one gateway node provides a data stream alternative to a data stream associated with the current capability level, the host device being provided access to the alternative data stream using a data input/output mode different from a data input/output mode associated with the current capability level.