Patent ID: 9294574
Filing Date: 2016-03-22
CPC Classification: H04L,H04N

Claim Text:
1. A computer-implemented method for determining an IP address of a network device on an electronic network using broadcast technology, comprising: providing a first network device on an electronic network, said first network device having a unique identifier; providing a second network device on said electronic network; communicably connecting, at an initial handshake, said first network device and said second network device via a proprietary or open interface, wherein said proprietary or open interface is not an IP network interface; during the initial handshake, said first network device transmitting once the unique identifier to the second network device through said proprietary or open interface; subsequent to said transmission, said second network device broadcasting a query request across said electronic network to any network device available on said electronic network and configured to respond to the broadcast query request, said query request requesting unique identifiers thereof; responsive to receiving said unique identifiers over said electronic network, matching said unique identifier received via said proprietary or open interface against said unique identifiers received over said electronic network to determine a matching unique identifier; and responsive to determining the matching identifier, obtaining an IP address of the network device having the matching identifier, which is the first network device; and responsive to obtaining the IP address of the first network device, the second network device establishing a connection with the first network device over the electronic network, using the IP address; wherein at least one of the steps is performed by a processor.