Patent ID: 7181511

Claim:
A device management system for managing a plurality of devices connected to a network in a vehicle, said system comprising: a connectivity subsystem including a device management object, said connectivity subsystem connecting said device management object to said network and said device management object to said plurality of devices; a discovery subsystem including an identification of said plurality of devices, said discovery subsystem generating said identification from said connectivity subsystem; and a control subsystem, said control subsystem communicating between said plurality of devices and said network with said connectivity subsystem; wherein said device management object includes a plurality of surrogate device objects, said device management objects being configured to interact with said plurality of devices through said plurality of surrogate device objects, said plurality of surrogate device objects being associated with and implemented externally of said plurality of devices, and said plurality of surrogate device objects are distinct from respective device drivers of said plurality of devices, and wherein said network in a vehicle is an embedded network.