This document specifies the characteristics of a device that manages connectivity to the Internet as an “edge” device between a residential Local Area Network and a Wide Area Network. The gateway can be physically implemented as a standalone device, or logically as a set of UPnP devices and services on a PC. This specified device is intended to be controlled from inside the home network. Control from outside the home network typically requires access control mechanisms that are outside the scope of this document. This specified device is also not intended for use with small business networks.

This document defines version 2 of the device named InternetGatewayDevice. It is a UPnP root device, and is identified by the UPnP device type InternetGatewayDevice:2. It is compliant with the UPnP Device Architecture, Versions 1.0 and 1.1 ([15] and [16], respectively). InternetGatewayDevice:2 encapsulates several sub-devices and services that collectively comprise the Internet Gateway Device Control Protocol (DCP).

Figure 1 is a conceptual illustration of a generic Internet Gateway device consisting of one or more physical WAN and LAN interfaces.