METHOD AND SYSTEM RELATED TO A USER INTERFACE

摘要

A method and system (5) for providing a user interface (105, 106, 107) for a networked target device (10, 11, 12, 14, 20) within a home audio/visual network (5). The DDI allows any DDI target (10, 11, 12, 14, 20) to describe its physical appearance including controls and displays (105, 106, 107), etc., to a DDI controller (13). The controller (13) can be a remote physical device or can be a software program resident on the same or separate device (10, 11, 12, 14, 20) as the target. The controller (13) interfaces with the target to obtain the DDI data and generates a user interface (105, 106, 107) for the target including: 1) interactive controls; and 2) user display information pertinent to the target (10, 11, 12, 14, 20). The DDI allows the controller (13) to trigger actions on the target (10, 11, 12, 14, 20) as if a user had physically manipulated the controls of the target (10, 11, 12, 14, 20). The controller (13) and the target (10, 11, 12, 14, 20) are connected to the same communication network (5).