Patent ID: 7051116

Claim:
A method for a host system to communicate with and to identify at least one client device that communicates with the host system through a network address translator device, the method comprising: enabling communications from a first client device through the network address translator device; receiving a data packet that includes a payload portion and an attribute portion, wherein the attribute portion includes a destination address that indicates a destination for the data packet and a nearest source address; examining a portion of the received data packet other than the nearest source address for a host-assigned identifier that identifies a client device that communicated the received data packet; processing the received data packet in accordance with predetermined host system controls accessible to the host system for the first client device if the host-assigned identifier identifies the first client device; enabling communications from a second client device that communicates through the network address translator device; processing the received data packet in accordance with predetermined host system controls accessible to the host system for the second client device if the host-assigned identifier identifies the second client device; assigning to the second client device a second identifier to be included in payload portions of data packets that are communicated between the second client device and the host system, wherein the host-assigned identifier includes the second identifier; and assigning to the first client device a first identifier to be included in payload portions of data packets that are communicated between the first client device and the host system, wherein the host-assigned identifier includes the first identifier, and wherein: assigning the first identifier includes assigning the first identifier such that the host system may uniquely identify the first client device through use of the first identifier, and assigning the second identifier includes assigning the second identifier such that the host system may uniquely identify the second client device through use of the second identifier.