Mapping home-network appliances to TCP/IP sockets using a three-tiered home gateway architecture

A three-tier gateway architecture for internetworking between home automation networks and a TCP/IP based wide area network, such as the Internet, is described. The architecture abstracts the functionality of any home network into a driver layer (tier one), and provides a common access layer (tier two) from any TCP/IP network application (tier three) to a local home automation network. Clients and application programs may transparently access services and resources on the home network and appliances connected to the home network may access resources and services on the TCP/IP network.