
US
7,213,061
B1
3
ment.
The
underlying
network
connectivity
34
may
be
Wired,
Wireless,
power
line
carriers,
or
any
suitable
trans
mission
medium.
Coupled
to
control
area
netWorks 30
and
31
are
a
plurality
of
devices,
appliances
and/or
equipment,
including
control
area
netWork
user
interfaces
(CAN
UI/F)
35,
master
controllers
36,
and
Internet
appliance
37*39.
Some
devices
may
be
coupled
to
control
area
netWorks
30
and
31
via
additional
intermediate
communications
devices,
such
as
an
RS
232
controller (not
shoWn).
Control
area
netWork
user
interface
device
35
is
any
device
that
is
capable
of
receiving
user
input
and
displaying
or
indicating
control
netWork
status.
For
example,
a
touch
panel,
a
computer
terminal
With
a
monitor,
keyboard
and
pointing
device,
and
any
device
With
similar
functionalities
may
serve
as
control
area
netWork
user
interface 35.
As
described
in
detail
beloW,
With
the
use
of
control
area
netWork
portal
12 of
the
present
invention,
Internet
appli
cations
are
also
capable
of
functioning
as
control
area
netWork
user
interface
devices
Without
the
use
of
custom
and
dedicated
applications
on
the
user’s
end.
Master
controller
36
is
generally
a
CPU-based
controller
that
controls
the
communications
among
user
interface
35
and
Internet
appliances
37*39.
It
is
operable
to
receive
user
inputs
received
by
user
interface
devices,
such
as
commands,
and
instruct
the
appropriate
Internet
appliance
to
act
according
to
the
command.
Master
controller
36
may
also
poll
each
device
in
control
area
netWork
30
periodically
to
monitor
its
status.
The
system
status
and/or
the
status
of
each
device
may
be
sent
to
control
area
netWork
user
interface
devices
for
display.
Internet
appliances
37*39
are
devices
that
can
receive
commands
from
master
controller
36
and
operate
or
act
according
to
the
command.
Internet
appliances
37*39
may
include
equipment
that
affect
or
monitor
the
various
param
eters
of
the
premises.
For
example,
Internet
appliances
37*39
may
include heating
and
air
conditioning,
lighting,
video
equipment,
audio
equipment,
sprinklers,
security
cameras,
infrared
sensors,
smoke
detectors,
etc.
in
a
resi
dential
or
commercial
control
area
netWork.
Household
appliances,
such
as
a
hot
tub,
?replace,
microWave
oven,
coffee
maker,
etc.
may
also
be
Internet
appliances
coupled
to
the
netWork.
Internet
appliances
37*39
may
also
be
capable
of
providing
a
current
status
of
its
operational
state
to
master
controller
36,
such
as
on/off,
temperature
settings,
current
ambient
temperature,
light
intensity
settings,
volume
settings,
threshold
settings,
and
predetermined
alphanumeric
strings
re?ective
of
operational
states.
Master
controller
36
is
also
operable
to
receive
user
input
from
nodes of
the
Internet
22
via
control
netWork
portal
12.
Connected
to
Internet
22
are
content
providers
25
and
26,
Which
may
also
function
as
control
area
netWork
user
interface
devices.
Content
providers
25
and
26
are
typically
Web
servers
that
generate
and
provide
static
and/or
dynamic
information
and
content
in
the
form
of
Web
pages.
Content
provider
applications
executing
on
the
Web
server
are
able
to
mine
data
stored
in
databases
(not
shoWn).
The
Web
pages
are
typically
developed
With
hypertext
markup
language
(HTML),
and
various
other
scripting
languages
and
pro
gramming
environments such
as
Microsoft®
Active
Server
Pages
(ASP),
Common
GateWay
Interface
(CGI),
Internet
Server
Application
Programming
Interface
(ISAPI),
JAVA,
ActiveX,
Cold
Fusion,
etc.
that
make
the
Web
pages
more
dynamic and
interactive.
Also
connected
to
the
Internet
22
are
Web
broWsers
23
and
24
that
may
also
serve
as
control
area
netWork
user
inter
faces.
Web
broWsers
23
and
24
are
application
programs
that
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
4
can
be
used
to
request
Web
pages
from
content
providers
25
and
25
are
decode
the
Web
pages.
Web
broWser
applications
include
NETSCAPE
NAVIGATOR®
and
MICROSOFT
INTERNET
EXPLORER®,
for
example.
Typically,
a
user
executes
a
Web
broWser
application
on
her
personal
com
puter
and
accesses
the
World
Wide
Web
via a
dial-up
connection
to
an
Internet
service
provider.
The
Internet
or
World
Wide
Web
may
also
be
accessed
via
other
means
such
as
cable
modems
and
digital
subscriber
lines
(DSL).
The
user
makes
a
request
for
a
particular
Web
page
or
particular
Web
site
by
entering
or
specifying
a
uniform
resource
locator
(URL).
The
URL
is
associated
With
an
Internet
protocol
(IP)
address
of
the
speci?ed
Web
site.
Every
computer
connected
to
the
World
Wide
Web
and
Internet
has
a
unique
IP
address.
This
address
is
used
to
route
message
packets
to
speci?c
computers
and
users.
Internet
protocol
or
IP
is
the
message
transport
and
communications
protocol
of
the
Internet
and
World
Wide
Web.
When
the
Web
broWser
requests
a
certain
URL,
a
con
nection
is
?rst
established
With
a
Web
server
of
a
content
provider
that
is
addressed
by
the
URL.
A
hypertext
transport
protocol
(HTTP)
request
is
then
issued
to
the
Web
server
to
doWnload
an
HTML
?le.
The
Web
server
receives
the
request
and
sends
a
Web
page
?le
to
the
Web
broWser,
Which
decodes
the
?le
to
display
information
in
speci?ed format
on
the
screen.
Web
pages
With
dynamic
content
provided
by
gateWay
interfaces
such
as
CGI
and
ISAPI
are
executable
applications
that
are
run
by
the
Web
server
upon
user
request.
The
executing
gateWay
application
is
able
to
read
parameter
information
associated
With
the
request
and gen
erate
an
output
in
the
form
of
an
HTML
?le
in
response
to
the
parameter
values.
Another
Way
to
add
dynamic
and
interactive
content
to
Web
pages
uses
ASP.
ASP
scripts
are
server-side
executable
scripts
that
are
directly
incorporated
in
the
HTML
Web
pages.
Upon
request
for
the
page,
the
Web
server
executes
the
ASP
script
in
response
to
input
parameter
values
and
generates
the
Web
page
With
dynamic
content.
Using
control
netWork
portal
12,
users
may
access
control
area
netWorks
30
and
31
via
Web
broWsers
23
and
24
accessing
Web
pages
provided
by
control
netWork
portal
12
or
value-added
Web
pages
provided
by
content
providers
25
and
26.
For
example,
a
user
Who
has
a
control
area
netWork
deployed
in
her
luxury
residence
to
control
various
aspects
of
the
home
environment
may
use
a
Web
broWser
application
to
remotely
monitor
her
home.
She
may
change
the
tem
perature
setting
to
decrease
energy
use,
for
example,
because
she
Will
be
leaving
on
a
business
trip
straight
from
Work.
She
may
also
use
the
surveillance
cameras
to
visually
ensure
security
has
not
been
breached.
She
may
even be
able
to
remotely
program
her
VCR
to
record
certain
favorite
programs
that
Will
be
broadcast
While
she
is
aWay.
An
example
of
value-added
Web
pages
provided
by
content
providers
is
the
provision
of an
interactive
version
of
the
television
programming
Web
page,
WWW.tvguide.com.
A
user
may
request
this
Web
page,
determine
available
pro
gram
choices,
and
click
on
a
certain
program.
Options
may
be
provided
to
enable
the
user
to
turn
on
the
television
and
tune
to
a
particular
channel
scheduled
to
broadcast
the
selected
program
or
to
program
the
VCR
to
record
the
selected
program.
Another
example
of
value-added
Web
pages
provided
by
content
providers
is
the
provision
of
a
secured
Web
page
that
an
electric
company
may
access
to
slightly
raise
the
tem
perature
settings
of
the
air
conditioning
systems
of
its
participating
customers
in
anticipation
of
high
demand
broWn
out
conditions.
Yet
another
example
is
a
Web
page
that
a
security
company
may
use
to
access,
monitor
and
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