Patent ID: 8572179

Claim:
A method for managing communications, the method comprising: receiving, at a local-networking gateway, a request from a requesting device located in a local network for performance of a particular function; accessing, at the local-networking gateway, a stored indication of a function capable of being performed by another device located in the local network; determining, based on having accessed the indication of the function capable of being performed by the device, that the particular function cannot be completed by the device; retrieving, in response to determining that the particular function cannot be completed by the device, device capability information stored by the home networking gateway, the device capability information including a device identifier a device identifier associated with each of a plurality of external devices and associating a capability and a priority level for performing the capability with each device identifier; selecting a first external device from among the plurality of external devices, the first external device identified by the device capability information as being capable of performing the particular function, having a highest priority for performing the particular function, and available to perform the particular function, wherein the first external device is distinct from the local-networking gateway, external to the local network, and accessible to the local-networking gateway; forwarding, from the local-networking gateway, the request for performance of the particular function to the first external device; receiving, at the local-networking gateway, an indication that the first external device has performed the particular function requested by the requesting device located in the local network; and sending to the requesting device, form the local-networking gateway to the requesting device, an indication that the particular function requested has been performed.