Patent ID: 7864773

Claim:
A method for a customer premises equipment (CPE) device to automatically configure itself, the CPE device being coupled to a data communications network, the network having a preexisting virtual circuit (VC) to which the CPE device is to automatically configure itself, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of cells from an access device; checking the plurality of cells for a particular cell, the particular cell being identified by the CPE device by a particular type of header; identifying the particular cell as having a Link Control Protocol (LCP) header; in response to identifying the particular cell of the plurality of cells as having a Link Control Protocol (LCP) header, extracting a virtual path identifier (VPI) and a virtual circuit identifier (VCI) from the particular cell of the plurality of cells, allowing the VC to be directly auto-configured; when the particular cell of the plurality of cells is absent the LCP header identifying the particular cell as having a Bridge Protocol Data Unit (BPDU) header; in response to identifying the particular cell of the plurality of cells as having a Bridge Protocol Data Unit (BPDU) header, extracting the VPI and the VCI from the particular cell of the plurality of cells, allowing the VC to be directly auto-configured; and replying to the particular cell in a suitable manner.