An interface device enabling communication between devices irrespective of the communication protocol of each device. The interface device consists of a plurality of software engines (L1-L3) operating at successive levels of abstraction. The lowest level (L1) deals with device and interfacing whilst the highest level (L3) deals with the business application layer. The interface to each device thus requires only data regarding the interface to a single device rather than specific interface information for any two given devices.
