The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 19, 2001
Filed:
Sep. 22, 1997
David S. Shaffer, Houston, TX (US);
Richard A. Stupek, Jr., Houston, TX (US);
William D. Justice, Jr., Houston, TX (US);
Compaq Computer Corporation, Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for identifying devices on a network. A management device is configured to multicast a query message to request identification of network devices. Each of the network devices is configured to respond to the management device multicast message by transmitting a reply message containing identification information of the responding device. The management device includes a directory containing the identification information of the network devices. The network protocol can include the TCP/IP protocol, and the packets have a format complying with a bootstrap protocol.