Patent ID: 7801150
Filing Date: 2010-09-21
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for providing multiple media access control (MAC) addresses for a device of a master/slave system, the method comprising: providing a first MAC address in a MAC address storage of the device, the first MAC address identifying the device to the master/slave system; providing a second MAC address in a multicast table entry, of a multicast hash filter of the device, where the second MAC address identifies the device to the master/slave system and permits the device to act as a master device of the master/slave system, and where the multicast hash filter is different than the MAC address storage; using the first MAC address to continue to access administrative services of the master/slave system during a time interval when the device acts as the master device; and using the second MAC address to route messages during the time interval when the device acts as the master device.