Patent ID: 11924088
Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 2:
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
sending, by the first and second network devices, a second request packet;
receiving, by the first communicatively coupled downstream device or network, only the request packet sent by the second network device based on the first data cable connecting the second network interface to the first communicatively coupled downstream device or network;
receiving, by the first and second network devices, a second reply packet from the first communicatively coupled downstream device or network, wherein the second reply packet is generated based on the request packet sent by the second network device;
based on data contained in the second reply packet, determining, by the first and second network devices, that the second network device is an active network device; and
based on its status as the active network device, forwarding, by the second network device to the first communicatively coupled downstream device or network, tunneled data packets received from the first network device.