Patent ID: 7835365

Claim:
A method of establishing communications in a centralized wired network, the method comprising: providing a centralized wired network characterized by having a single, common physical wired connection interconnecting all devices currently attached to the network, so that all communications among the attached network devices travel directly over the wired connection without traversing a router or switch, or a wireless link; attaching a device to the centralized wired network so that the device is electrically coupled to the common wired connection; providing at least one service access point (SAP) in the attached device, each service access point arranged for interfacing with a corresponding specific type of application data; installing a software application in the attached device, the software application arranged to produce a particular type of application data; and in the attached device, selecting a service access point of the attached device that is specific to the particular type of application data produced by the installed software application and associating the selected service access point (SAP) with the installed software application; determining that a connection needs to be established in response to receiving a request for a connection from the installed software application in the attached device; generating a connection type and a connection specification; providing a single central coordinator in the centralized wired network to manage connections over the network; sending a request to the central coordinator for a connection, the request including the connection type and the connection specification; in the central coordinator, granting the request for a connection, and assigning a connection identifier (CID) that is unique over the centralized wired network; and associating the assigned unique connection identifier with the selected service access point.