Patent ID: 7673030

Claim:
A method for communicating control information in a control system, wherein the control system includes a control area network, a master controller and a plurality of devices, each of said plurality of devices having a number of channels, each channel having an identifying number and a plurality of channel states, said master controller and said plurality of devices being in communication with said control area network, the method comprising: at least initially directing one or more messages sent to and from each device to said master controller; sending a first type of control message from said master controller to respective devices, wherein a control message of said first type directs the respective device to place one of its channels in a specified channel state; sending a second type of control message and a third type of control message from said master controller to respective devices, wherein a control message of said second type directs the respective device to set the level of a specified parameter to a certain value, and a control message of said third type comprises a character string of variable length; sending a fourth type of control message comprising a command from said master controller to a controlling device, wherein at least one of said plurality of devices comprises said controlling device configured to regulate the operation of a controlled device; and temporarily assigning a device identification number to one of said plurality of devices, wherein said device identification number is assigned by said master controller to enable communication of information between said one of said plurality of devices and said master controller, said one of said plurality of devices does not have a permanently assigned identification number, and is transparent to operation of said control system when the device identification number is not temporarily assigned thereto.