Patent ID: 8269899

Claim:
An electronic device comprising: a connection terminal to make a connection to an external device via an interface including a first transmission path capable of unidirectional transmission of uncompressed digital video signals and digital audio signals and a second transmission path capable of bidirectional transmission of a predetermined message; detecting means for detecting whether the unidirectional transmission to the external device through the first transmission path is possible or impossible, and for detecting whether the received message is a unicasted message or a broadcasted message; obtaining means for obtaining an address of the electronic device from the external device through the second transmission path if the unidirectional transmission is detected to be possible; storage means for storing the obtained address; receiving means for receiving the predetermined message from the external device through the second transmission path; determining means for determining whether a destination of the received message includes the stored address of the electronic device; responding means for responding to the received message if the destination is determined to include the address of the electronic device; and control means for controlling the responding means not to respond to the received message if the unidirectional transmission is detected to be impossible, and to respond to the message regardless of whether the unidirectional transmission is possible or impossible if the message is determined to be the broadcasted message.