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KNOCK! KNOCK! "WHOýS THERE?"

Using UPnP to Respond to Inquiries
by Edward F. Steinfeld

Start ý UPnP Overview ý Functions ý Device Addressing, Discovery, and Description ý Control, Event Messaging, and Presentation ý UPnP Forum ý Software Tools ý Hardware ý Easier Deployment ý Sources and PDF

EASIER DEPLOYMENT

As more devices are UPnP-enabled and more workstation operating systems become UPnP control points, it will be easier to deploy smart devices on the network. The workstationýs browser becomes the operator interface for all the smart networked devices. Actions in the devices can be started by the operator or programmatically, and the results will be obtained the same way. The best part of UPnP is the ability to find out what is on the network and how to communicate with it.

Note that there has been no testing to determine the number of UPnP devices a network can support. You can imagine that after a power failure, every active UPnP device will send multicast event notifications and every control point will send inquiries of discovery. For a network with a large number of UPnP-enabled devices, such traffic could bring the network to its knees.

UPnP implementation is not rocket science, and there are excellent tools to make the design of UPnP-enabled devices even easier. User interface design can be as simple as an HTML page, because no additional hardware is required. After vendors and users see the power of UPnP, every network-enabled device will also be UPnP-enabled.

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