Patent ID: 7801078

Claim:
A method performed by a subscriber station for allocating Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for the subscriber station, the method comprising: starting an initialization procedure by searching downlink channels and obtaining synchronization with a base station; performing a ranging procedure with the base station to adjust uplink transmit parameters; receiving, from the base station, allocation of a basic management connection identifier and a first management connection identifier in order to negotiate basic functions with the base station; registering with the base station after authentication; receiving, from the base station, allocation of a network management connection identifier for identifying a network service provider, a secondary management connection identifier used for IP connectivity after registering with the base station, and a transport connection identifier used for a data transmission connection; transmitting, to the base station, an agent solicitation message using the transport connection identifier or the secondary management connection identifier; and receiving periodically, from the base station, an agent advertising message in a multicast or broadcast format through the transport connection identifier or the secondary management connection identifier, wherein the IP connectivity is achieved by: providing a set of parameters used for allocating the IP addresses to support four different types of addressing, the four different types of addressing comprising Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) addressing, IP version 4 (IPv4) addressing, DHCP version 6 (DHCPv6) addressing, and IP version 6 (IPv6) Stateless Address Autoconfiguration addressing, allocating one or more of the IP addresses for a secondary management connection by referring to the provided set of parameters, and establishing an IP connection on the secondary management connection using the one or more allocated IP addresses.