Methods and apparatus for monitoring a 1394 home network
AssigneesSony Corporation, Sony Electronics Inc.
InventorScott David Smyers
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A 1394 home network monitor for gathering information on the state of nodes within a IEEE 1394 home network, and storing the generated information. The IEEE 1394 standard is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard for a high speed serial bus for connecting multiple electronics devices. An IEEE 1394 home network, for example, uses the 1394 IEEE standard to connect multiple devices, referred to as nodes, within a home. Some of these devices autonomously change state over time, and such state changes may involve controlling other devices in the home network. An example of such a home network may include a central controller which turns on a Set Top Box (STB) and a VCR at a pre-programmed time in order to record a program.
Claims18
A network monitor, comprising
- means for receiving instructions from a user regarding periodically obtaining information from one or more devices in an IEEE 1394 network including a specified rate for obtaining the information;
- means for periodically obtaining, in accordance with the user instructions, information from one or more devices in the IEEE 1394 network at the specified rate;
- and
- means for storing the obtained information.
A method for monitoring a network, comprising the steps of:
- receiving instructions from a user regarding periodically obtaining information from one or more devices in an IEEE 1394 network including a specified rate for obtaining the information;
- periodically obtaining information, in accordance with the user instructions, from one or more devices in the IEEE 1394 network at the specified rate;
- and
- storing the obtained information.
A network monitor operable on an IEEE 1394 network including a plurality of devices, comprising:
- a central processor that is capable of receiving information from a user interface regarding instructions from a user to obtain information from one or more devices in the IEEE 1394 network, wherein the obtained information includes a specified rate for obtaining the information;
- and wherein the central processor is capable of executing instructions in order to periodically obtain information from one or more devices in the IEEE 1394 network at the specified rate, in accordance with the user's instructions;
- a memory for storing the information from the one or more devices;
- an interface for connecting the network monitor to the IEEE 1394 network;
- and
- a bus for interconnecting the central processor, memory and interface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.