Patent ID: 9686091
Date: 2017-06-20
CPC Classifications: H04L,H04N

Claim:
1. A network manager configured to manage address resolution in a network communication system, the network manager comprising: a network interface in communication with a network; and a processor in communication with the network interface, the processor configured to: detect an electronic device connected in the network communication system, the electronic device comprising a first functional object that includes one or more of hardware and software that is operable to perform a function or service in the network communication system; responsive to detecting the electronic device connecting to the network: assign an instance identification (ID) uniquely identifying the first functional object within a class to which the first functional object belongs, each functional object belonging to the class being assigned a different instance identification from one another, and each class including one or more functional objects that perform the same function, and assign a network address for the first functional object; update a database to include the assigned instance ID mapped to the assigned network address for the first functional object; receive a request from a second functional object for identification information that identifies the first functional object for communication, the first functional object being a destination functional object and the second functional object being a source functional object for the communication; access the database to retrieve the instance ID mapped to the network address for the destination functional object; transmit the instance ID and the network address for the destination functional object to the source functional object; receive, via the network interface, a plurality of information requests, each of the plurality of information requests indicated one or more functional objects; and determine and assign an associated network address for each functional object indicated in each of the plurality of requests for information in an order determined by a priority of the plurality of requests.