Importance

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Abstract

A system of domestic audio-visual apparatuses (10-18) are connected on a one-to-one basis (20-26) for the exchange of video and audio signals. The apparatuses are also connected to a serial data bus (28,D2B) which allows distributed control messages to be sent and received by the apparatuses (addressable as `devices`) and elements of the apparatuses (subdevices). No apparatus has knowledge of the complete system of connections (20-26). An autonomous process (100, 102, 104, 110') can be initiated whereby a signal path from a source subdevice (64) to a destination subdevice (62) is identified step by step using the local knowledge of each apparatus. The speed of this process can be improved by initiating (101) a concurrent second autonomous process (106') whereby a signal path is identified from a third subdevice (42) to the destination subdevice. If the first autonomous process arrives at the third subdevice (42), the first process can be terminated (at *) and its identified signal path appended to that identified by the second autonomous process.

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First Claim