1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network to which a plurality of apparatuses are connected, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for managing transmission and reception of data over the network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional network including a plurality of apparatuses connected via cables, there has frequently been employed a technique for transferring control data from a first apparatus to a second apparatus in order to operate the second apparatus on the basis of the transferred control data. In such a case, since each of the first and second apparatuses has a plurality of functional modules, managing each set of control data to be transferred requires determination of a functional module of the first apparatus which serves as a source and a functional module of the second apparatus which serves as a destination. For attaining such management, conventionally, virtual terminals (hereinafter referred to as logical plugs) are assumed for a plurality of functional modules of each apparatus; information representing the connection relationship between each logical plug of the first apparatus and a corresponding logical plug of the second apparatus (e.g., information representing plug pairs connected between the apparatuses) is stored in both apparatuses; and through use of this information, control data are transferred from a certain functional module of the first apparatus to a corresponding functional module of the second apparatus.
With recent progress in networking realized through use of high speed communication cables (e.g., “IEEE1394,” “USB,” etc.), an increased number of apparatuses are connected within a network, and each apparatus becomes complex or realizes a large number of functions of different kinds. Therefore, the number of logical plugs increases considerably, raising the problem of a huge increase in the amount of information representing the above-described connection relationship. Further, when an apparatus connected to the network is replaced with another apparatus, time-consuming operation must be performed in order to update the information.