Patent ID: 7752309

Claim:
A cluster communications module, comprising: a core module, comprising a central processing unit; at least one data bus coupled to the central processing unit; a read-only memory (ROM) in communication with the at least one data bus; a random access memory (RAM) in communication with the at least one data bus; an oscillator coupled to the central processing unit; and a power regulator coupled to the central processing unit; a local area network (LAN) communication device coupled to the core module; a wide area network (WAN) communication device coupled to the core module; wherein the core module is configured to communicate data and instructions through the LAN communication device using a first communication mode, and is configured to communicate data and instructions through the WAN communications device using a second communication mode and wherein the cluster communications module at least receives messages from at least one server and retransmits the messages to at least one appliance or receives message from at least one appliance and retransmits the message to at least one server.