Patent ID: 7206853

Claim:
A network architecture comprising: a device layer including, at least one electronic device programmed to communicate using a device native communication protocol, at least one network backbone, each electronic device connected to one of the at least one network backbone; and a device abstraction layer connected to the device layer, the device abstraction layer enabling communication between the at least one device and the device abstraction layer using the device native communication protocol of the at least one electronic device, the device abstraction layer further enabling communication between the device abstraction layer and a content abstraction program interface in a manner independent of device native communication protocols, wherein the content abstraction program interface includes a content change notification system that notifies client applications of changes in content and content related information and the device abstraction layer includes a set of proxies, each proxy enabling communication between the at least one device and the device abstraction layer using a device native communication protocol, and a unified communication interface for communicating between the device abstraction layer and a higher network layer in a manner independent of device native communication protocols.