METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ROUTING A MESSAGE OVER A HOME NETWORK

1 . A method for routing a message over a home network, the method comprising:

establishing a relationship between a home network appliance class and a home network service, wherein the home network appliance class identifies a class of home network appliances operable within a home network environment;

receiving over a home network from a sending home network appliance, a message identifying a home network appliance class for the sending home network appliance;

determining, based on the established relationship, a home network service related to the home network appliance class; and

routing the message to the determined home network service via the home network.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the message includes presentation information for display by the home network service.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the home network service is a client application on a home network appliance.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the home network appliance class is included in a uniform resource locator (URL) destination identifier for the message.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the home network appliance class is pre-associated with the sending home network appliance in connection with at least one of manufacturing, installation, and sale of the sending home network appliance.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the home network appliance class is identified by a token defined by a token authority.

7 . The method of claim 1 wherein the message received is sent using a presence protocol.

8 . The method of claim 1 wherein the message is routed to the home network service using a presence protocol.

9 . The method of claim 1 wherein establishing a relationship includes associating presence information with the sending home network appliance and with the home network service.

10 . The method of claim 9 wherein the presence information is stored in a tuple corresponding to at least one of the home network appliance class and the home network service.

11 . The method of claim 10 wherein the presence information stored in the corresponding tuple is at least one of published-to and subscribed-to by at least one agent associated with at least one of the home network appliance class and the home network service.

12 . A system for routing a message over a home network, the system comprising:

a relationship manager configured to establish a relationship between a home network appliance class and a home network service, wherein the home network appliance class identifies a class of home network appliances operable within a home network environment;

a message router configured to receive over a home network from a sending home network appliance, a message identifying a home network appliance class for the sending home network appliance;

a traversal engine configured to determine, based on the established relationship, a home network service related to the home network appliance class; and

the message router configured to route the received message to the determined home network service via the home network.

13 . The system of claim 12 wherein the message includes presentation information for display by the home network service.

14 . The system of claim 12 wherein the home network appliance class is included in a uniform resource locator (URL) destination identifier for the message.

15 . The system of claim 12 comprising a presence protocol layer configured to transfer a message using a presence protocol.

16 . The system of claim 15 wherein the message router is configured to receive a message from the presence protocol layer sent using a presence protocol.

17 . The system of claim 15 wherein the message router is configured to route the received message to the home network service using a presence protocol via the presence protocol layer.

18 . The system of claim 12 comprising a tuple storage medium configured to store a tuple corresponding to at least one of the home network appliance class and the home network service.

19 . The system of claim 18 comprising a publication handler configured to receive the message from the message router when the message includes a publish command, the publication handler also configured to update a tuple associated with the sending home network appliance in the tuple storage medium.

20 . The system of claim 18 wherein the relationship manager is configured to associate presence information for a principal associated with the sending home network appliance and a principal associated with the home network service and for storing the presence information associated with the sending home network appliance in the tuple storage medium.

21 . The system of claim 18 comprising a subscription handler configured to identify a subscriber to the tuple stored in the tuple storage medium.

22 . The system of claim 21 comprising a notification handler configured to create a notification according to the received message for transmission to the identified subscriber.

23 . A system for routing a message over a home network, the system comprising:

means for establishing a relationship between a home network appliance class and a home network service, wherein the home network appliance class identifies a class of home network appliances operable within a home network environment;

means for receiving over a home network from a sending home network appliance, a message identifying a home network appliance class for the sending home network appliance;

means for determining, based on the established relationship, a home network service related to the home network appliance class; and

means for routing the received message to the determined home network service via the home network.

24 . A computer readable medium containing a computer program for routing a message over a home network, the computer program comprising executable instructions for:

establishing a relationship between a home network appliance class and a home network service, wherein the home network appliance class identifies a class of home network appliances operable within a home network environment;

receiving over a home network from a sending home network appliance, a message identifying a home network appliance class for the sending home network appliance;

determining, based on the established relationship, a home network service related to the home network appliance class; and routing the message to the determined home network service via the home network.