Patent ID: 7414984

Claim:
A method for adding an additional network resource to a data network having a pre-existing network resource, said method comprising: defining an additional network resource as one of a loop-through network resource or last network resource, such that at least one of the network resources is a loop-through network resource and at least one of the network resources is a last network resource; coupling said additional network resource to one of a transmitter or a receiver of the pre-existing network resource; transmitting a media access control address advertisement Ethernet frame to a media access control multicast address if said additional resource is a loop-though resource; and receiving at least one said frame from a loop-through resource if said additional resource is a last network resource; said last resource extracting a source media access control address from each said frame; said last network resource blocking all upstream traffic frames unless said upstream traffic frames contain a source media access control address matching at least one of said extracted source addresses.