Patent ID: 8112498

Claim:
A gateway apparatus comprising: a memory portion; a first object, stored in the memory portion, representing a first component of a first system in an original model, and including first supplemental information characterizing the first component, the first supplemental information being independent of a type of the first system, wherein the first system represents a real entity; a second object, stored in the memory portion, representing a second component of a second system in the original model, and including second supplemental information characterizing the second component, the second supplemental information being independent of a type of the second system, wherein the second system represents a real entity; and an intermediate model including a first intermediate object and a second intermediate object, wherein the intermediate model is a virtual model; wherein the first intermediate object includes a property that corresponds to a property of the first component; wherein the second intermediate object includes a property that corresponds to a property of the second component; wherein the gateway apparatus performs mapping between the first intermediate object and the second intermediate object if the property of the first intermediate object and the property of the second intermediate object match by more than a predetermined percentage, and performs mapping between the first object and the second object if the first intermediate object and the second intermediate object are mapped and if the first supplemental information and the second supplemental information match; wherein data of the property of the first component is transferred to the property of the first intermediate object and the property of the second intermediate object when the first object and the second object are mapped; and wherein the transferred data is stored in the first intermediate object and the second intermediate object; and wherein the second system, including the component having the property corresponding to the property of the second intermediate object, retrieves the stored data when the data is needed for the second component.