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:
Oct. 09, 2007
Filed:
Mar. 24, 2000
Gang LU, Belmont, MA (US);
James O'toole, Cambridge, MA (US);
M. Frans Kaashoek, Lexington, MA (US);
Gang Lu, Belmont, MA (US);
James O'Toole, Cambridge, MA (US);
M. Frans Kaashoek, Lexington, MA (US);
Cisco Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention includes a method and apparatus for automatically assigning a network address to a network device in an electronic communications network carrying inter-device communication packets to and from electronic devices located at assigned network addresses. The network device, also referred to as an appliance, communicates with at least one other network device to collect information from inter-device communication packets, which contain network address assignment information. From the network address assignment information in the communication packets, the appliance determines an available network address. The appliance assumes the available network address. The appliance may access a remote network device to retrieve an available, permanent, network configuration, including IP address.