Patent ID: 8819746

Claim:
A network device for a communication network comprising: circuitry to: provide Ethernet network communication capability and consumer electronics control (CEC) communication capability; generate a device database including information about which of a plurality of network devices, including the network device, are members of a home entertainment network and an operation history database containing information about network device operations tasked by a user of one of the plurality of network devices, each of the plurality of network devices being connected to the communication network, wherein at least one of the device database and the operation history database includes first information indicating an operation of a specified network device of the plurality of network devices, second information indicating a network address of said specified network device, and third information indicating a time and date of the operation, and the network address comprises an address according to the HDMI specification and a sub-network identifier identifying a sub-network within the network to which the at least one of the plurality of network devices belongs.