Patent ID: 6865596

Claim:
A control area network comprising: a master controller provided with a dispatch component for sending commands; first and second devices respectively coupled to said master controller, said first device having a first state representing a plurality of data values associated with said first device, and said second device having a second state representing a plurality of data values associated with said second device; a device manager disposed to receive a command from said dispatch component of said master controller, and to control operation of said first and second devices in response to said command by constructing a virtual device and coupling said virtual device to said first and second devices to provide control information thereto, said device manager comprising a component of said master controller; and said device manager is further disposed to generate first and second data state change requests by replicating a data state change request received by said virtual device such that said first and second data state change requests are substantially similar to said received data state change request, said first and second data state change requests being sent to said first and second devices, respectively.