Methods for addressing equipment in tree networks

A method for supporting communications in a network that includes a host, a hub, and a device, comprising:

• with an uplink data interface in the hub, receiving a downlink interface address that is associated with a downlink data interface in the host;
• and
• at the hub, setting an uplink interface address that is associated with the uplink data interface to the received downlink interface address.

A method of assigning addresses in a network that includes a host, a hub, and a device, comprising:

• with an uplink data interface in the device, receiving a downlink interface address that is associated with a downlink data interface in the hub;
• and
• at the device, setting an uplink interface address that is associated with the uplink data interface to the received downlink interface address.

Equipment, comprising:

• an uplink data interface that receives broadcast data over an upstream communications path, wherein the broadcast data includes a first downlink interface address that is associated with an upstream downlink data interface;
• and
• at least one downlink data interface that has a second downlink interface address that is different than the first downlink interface address, wherein the downlink data interface is configured to retransmit a version of the broadcast data in which the first downlink interface address is replaced with the second downlink interface address.

A method of conveying button press information from a first piece of equipment that has a button that generates the button press data to a second piece of equipment, wherein the first piece of equipment includes a first connector, wherein the second piece of equipment includes a second connector, and wherein the first and second connectors are connected by a communications path, the method comprising:

• with a first data interface in the first piece of equipment, sending a message to a second data interface in the second piece of equipment that includes a source address associated with the first piece of equipment, a destination address associated with the second piece of equipment, and the button press data.