US Patent 8700730 Aggregated audio/video crossbar connections

Disparate devices in an audio/video ecosystem may be connected and managed by having multiple crossbar connections at nodes in a node and leaf network. The leaves of the network may be various audio and video devices, with receivers, personal computers, and other devices comprising the nodes, which have at least some crossbar switching ability. When the nodes are connected, some or all of the devices attached to all of the nodes may be made available at each interface for control and display. Each node may act as a crossbar, allowing a user at each interface to enjoy the services of any device, regardless of the node to which the device is attached.