Patent ID: 7782800

Claim:
A method of auto-discovery and auto-enumeration, the method comprising: identifying each port of each device in a daisy-chain system of serially inter-connected devices, wherein identifying each port of each device further comprises: detecting a link status change on one of the ports on one of the devices in the daisy-chain system; if a packet is received on the port having the link status change during a predetermined interval of time, defining the port as a first boundary port; discovering each device in the daisy-chain system; if a packet is not received on the port during the predetermined interval of time, further comprising: sending an auto-negotiation message to a neighboring device in the system; if the same message is received in return from the neighboring device, defining the port as an internal port; and if the same message is not received in return from the neighboring device, defining the port as a first boundary port; and enumerating each device in the daisy-chain system.