Methods and apparatus for controlling display in a networked device

Consumer premises equipment (CPE) for use in a content distribution network, said equipment comprising:

• at least display element operative to display status or other information relating to the operation of said CPE;
• an application programming interface (API) resident on said CPE and adapted to provide access to said at least one display element;
• and
• a trusted application capable of running at least in part on said CPE and having permission to utilize said API;
• wherein said trusted application controls said at least one display element via said API;
• wherein said API is adapted to interface with a plurality of different configurations of said display element.

A method of operating consumer premises equipment (CPE) in a network, said CPE comprising at least one display element, the method comprising:

• providing a software interface adapted to communicate with said at least one display element;
• providing a software application adapted to communicate with said at least one display element via said interface, and control at least a portion of the operation of said at least one display element;
• providing middleware in communication with said software application and said interface, said middleware being configured to determine whether said application is entitled to access said interface;
• and
• operating said CPE and said at least one display element using at least said software application when said application has been determined to be entitled;
• wherein said act of providing a software interface comprises providing an interface which is independent of the particular configuration of said at least one display element.

A method of controlling one or more display elements of an electronic device, said device comprising an application programming interface (API) and being operatively coupled to a remote node via a network, said device being adapted to run at least one application program, said method comprising:

• running an application program on said device;
• discovering, via said API, said one or more display elements;
• and
• operating said one or more display elements based at least in part on inputs from said application program.

Computer-readable storage apparatus comprising a storage medium adapted to store a computer program, said computer program comprising a Java-based programming interface adapted to:

• communicate with at least one display element of a parent device on which said program is configured to run, said parent device being in operative communication with a content delivery network;
• communicate with at least one software application also running on said parent device;
• and
• allow control of said at least one display element by said software application via said programming interface;
• and
• wherein said programming interface is independent of the particular configuration of said at least one display element and said parent device.

Consumer premises equipment (CPE) adapted for connection to a content delivery network, said CPE comprising:

• at least one display element;
• a processor;
• a privileged application able to run on said processor;
• and
• a display element manager adapted to:
• discover the presence of said at least one display element of said CPE using an interface;
• and
• provide for control of said at least one display element by an entity remote to said CPE via said privileged application.

A method of operating a content distribution network comprising a plurality of client devices, at least one of said client devices being in communication with a remote node of said network, said at least one client device having one or more display elements, said method comprising:

• running at least one privileged application program on said at least one client device;
• providing an application programming interface (API) on said at least one client device, said API providing an interface to said privileged application program by at least one privileged entity;
• discovering, via said API, said one or more display elements by said at least one privileged entity;
• and
• operating said one or more display elements based at least in part on inputs from said at least one privileged entity.

Consumer premises equipment (CPE) for use in a cable television network, said CPE comprising:

• a processor;
• at least one display element operative to display status or other information relating to the operation of said CPE;
• a substantially platform-agnostic application programming interface (API) rendered in Java programming language and adapted to provide access to said at least one display element;
• an OCAP-compliant monitor application capable of running at least in part on said CPE, said monitor application utilizing a Java-based permission scheme to access said API and control said at least one display element;
• and
• Java-based middleware operative to run on said processor.