Patent ID: 7987296

Claim:
A method for operating a network coupled at least to a first HDMI-CEC source device, a second HDMI-CEC display device, and a third HDMI-CEC display device, the method comprising: dividing, by the network including a manipulating switch, a plurality of devices partially overlapped into at least a first HDMI-CEC cluster tree coupled to the second HDMI-CEC display device, and a second HDMI-CEC cluster tree coupled to the third HDMI-CEC display device; receiving, by the network, a CEC block which was initiated by the first HDMI-CEC source device; passing, by the network, the received CEC block to the second HDMI-CEC display device; preventing, by the network, the third HDMI-CEC display device from receiving the CEC block, although the network is coupled to the third HDMI-CEC device; and further comprising receiving a second CEC block by the network, modifying the second CEC block on the fly to a network view of the second HDMI-CEC cluster tree, and passing the modified CEC block to a fourth HDMI-CEC device associated with the second HDMI-CEC cluster tree.