System for communicating between a group of apparatuses

Abstract

The system allows a group of end apparatuses (101, 102, 103, . . .), such as a game computer or a PDA, to communicate wirelessly, for instance via infra-red. In order to increase the reliability of the communication, the end apparatuses communicate via a central apparatus 100. This makes it easier to maintain contact. Furthermore, conventional acknowledgement schemes can be used to increase the reliability of the communication between an end apparatus and the central apparatus 100. Each end apparatus comprises execution means 240 for executing a group application. During the execution, the group application communicates to a corresponding group application in at least one end apparatus. The communication takes place by exchanging application messages. To this end, an end apparatus uses message sending means 200 to send the application message to the central apparatus 100. Message receiving means 210 of the central apparatus 100 receive the message. Group resolution means 250 of the central apparatus determine for which group of end apparatuses the received application message is destined. The group resolution means 250 use message sending means 200 to transmit the received application message to end apparatuses of the group. Message receiving means 210 in the end apparatuses receive the message.