A/V equipment control over a network

1. A method for monitoring or controlling a plurality of equipment modules in a general-purpose module rack, the equipment modules employing a common network agent running on a processor of the module rack, said network agent controlling a plurality of addressable module locations of the module rack, each location capable of having an equipment module installed therein, the method comprising, at the network agent:

interrogating each addressable module location to identify whether an equipment module is installed in the location;

for each equipment module identified, determining an equipment type, the plurality of equipment modules having at least two equipment types;

for each equipment type identified, determining a list of available control data objects associated with that equipment type, wherein control data objects represent values for use in monitoring or controlling equipment;

compiling a management information database using information about the list of available control data objects associated with each equipment type, the management information database being used by the network agent to interpret object identifiers sent from a network manager;

associating values with the control data objects of equipment modules to be controlled;

communicating said values across a network, wherein the values are identified by equipment type and by control data object;

periodically determining the types of the equipment identified at each module location in the module rack and lists of available control data objects for the identified equipment types; and

updating the management information database using updated information about the lists of available control data objects associated with the types of the equipment identified at each addressable module location;

wherein each of at least some of the control data objects is associated with a dot separated string of integers, and an integer in the dot separated string of integers specifies the location of the equipment module associated with the control data object within the module rack.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said list of available control data objects has a specified order, and wherein values are identified by position in the list of control data objects.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving an SNMP command; parsing said command to determine an equipment type and a control data object; and returning or updating the value in said database corresponding to that equipment type and control data object.

4. The method of claim 1 in which each control data object is associated with a dot separated string of integers, and an integer in the dot separated string of integers specifies the location of the equipment module associated with the control data object within the module rack.

5. A method for automatically creating or updating a MIB for an agent running on a processor of a general-purpose module rack, the agent controlling a plurality of equipment modules in the module rack, the method comprising:

periodically determining an equipment type and location within the module rack for each equipment module to be controlled by said agent;

determining one or more available control data objects associated with each equipment type identified, wherein control data objects represent values for use in monitoring or controlling equipment; and

updating a data array for storing values for each control data object for each equipment module to be controlled by said agent, the updating being based on changes in the equipment modules in the module rack, the data array comprising a respective column associated with each equipment module specifying the equipment type and location within the module rack of the respective equipment module and having one or more cells specifying control data object numbers associated with the respective equipment module;

wherein each of at least some of the control data objects is associated with a dot separated string of integers, and an integer in the dot separated string of integers specifies the location of the equipment module associated with the control data object within the module rack.

6. The method of claim 5 in which each control data object is associated with a dot separated string of integers, and an integer in the dot separated string of integers specifies the location of the equipment module associated with the control data object within the module rack.

7. A method for monitoring or controlling a plurality of equipment modules installed in slots of a general purpose module rack using control data objects representing values for use in monitoring or controlling said equipment modules, the method comprising

receiving information relating to at least one of said equipment modules;

associating a dot separated string of integers with a selected one of said control data objects related to said equipment module by making use of said received information, wherein said received information includes the slot location of said equipment module within the rack and wherein an integer in the dot separated string of integers specifies the slot location of said equipment module within the rack; and

utilizing said associated dot separated string of integers in a message for monitoring or controlling said equipment module.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the slot location of said equipment module is appended to the dot separated string of integers identifying a selected one of said control data objects related to said equipment module.

9. The method of claim 7 , comprising periodically determining the types of the equipment identified at each slot location in the module rack and lists of available control data objects for the identified equipment types, and

updating a management information database using updated information about the lists of available control data objects associated with the types of the equipment identified at each addressable module location, the management information database being used by a network agent running on a processor of the module rack to interpret object identifiers sent from a network manager.

10. The method of claim 7 , comprising periodically updating a management information database by a network agent running on a processor of the module rack as equipment is added to or removed from the slot locations.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having encoded thereon software constructed and adapted to operate as an SNMP agent for a plurality of equipment modules installed in slots of a general purpose module rack, the agent running on a processor of the general purpose module rack, wherein the SNMP agent communicates the values of control data objects describing or controlling the operation or status of an equipment module in the rack to or from an SNMP manager and uses module location information defining the slot location of the module within the rack, and module type information obtained from said equipment module, to interpret SNMP messages from said SNMP manager, each of at least some of the SNMP messages containing a dot separated string of integers having an integer representing a slot location within the general purpose module rack.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , in which said information is obtained from said module when the operation of the agent is initiated.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , in which said information is obtained from said module at regular intervals.