Patent ID: 6959186

Claim:
A communication system comprising a first cluster ( 100 ) of interconnected devices, having at least a controlling device ( 102 ) and a controlled device ( 103 ), functionality of the controlled device ( 103 ) being associated with an abstract representation (AR), which provides an interface for controlling the controlled device, the AR ( 104 ) for the controlled device ( 103 ) being installed on the controlling device ( 102 ), the system further comprising a second cluster ( 105 ) of interconnected devices, the first and second clusters ( 100 , 105 ) being interconnected via respective gateway devices ( 107 , 108 ), wherein the system further comprises a near proxy ( 109 ) on a device in the first cluster ( 100 ) and a far proxy ( 110 ) on a device in the second cluster ( 105 ), the near proxy ( 109 ) being arranged to interact with the AR ( 104 ) in dependence on information received from the far proxy ( 110 ) and to transfer to the far proxy ( 110 ) the results of said interacting, the far proxy ( 110 ) being arranged to transfer to the near proxy ( 109 ) information received from an application device ( 111 ) in the second cluster ( 105 ) and to interact with the application device ( 111 ) in the second cluster ( 105 ) in dependence on information received from the near proxy ( 109 ).