Patent ID: 7292582

Claim:
A method for determining a network address for a media terminal adapter (MTA) associated with a given cable modem CM in a cable data network, said CM being embedded in said MTA, said method comprising the steps of: providing a network address for the CM; identifying a first management information base (MIB) table for the CM and MTA that includes information pertaining to interfaces of the CM and the MTA; locating a first entry in the first MIB table, said first entry denoting an MTA-type interface; based on the first entry, locating a second entry in the first MIB table associated with the MTA, said second entry uniquely identifying an interface of the MTA; identifying a second MIB table for the CM and MTA that includes addressing information pertaining to network addresses of the CM and MTA; locating a third entry in the second MIB table that is equal in value to the second entry in the first MIB table; and based on the third entry, locating a fourth entry in the second MIB table, said fourth entry being the network address of the MTA associated with the CM.