Patent ID: 8054846

Claim:
A method for operating an Internet protocol (IP) address, comprising: (a) in an IP address comprising a subnet prefix area and an Interface ID area, allocating certain bits of the Interface ID area as an index area of a lowest subnet gateway, wherein the subnet prefix area comprises 64 bits; (b) allocating a first portion and a second portion of the certain bits for choosing a lower subnet gateway and next lower subnet gateway hierarchically; (c) recreating an Interface ID using the certain bits, and allocating the Interface ID to terminating equipment having access to an IP network based on a format of the IP address in the lowest subnet gateway; (d) at a first subnet gateway, allocating the first portion of the certain bits as an index area of the lower subnet gateway; and (e) at the lower subnet gateway, allocating the first portion and the second portion of the certain bits as an index area of the next lower subnet gateway wherein the step (c) comprises: selecting, from a portion of the interface ID area that is not included in the certain bits, a value that is not identical to a value allocated to other terminating equipment as a termination identifier; extracting the certain bits from the subnet ID area; and allocating a combination comprising the certain bits and the termination identifier as the Interface ID for the terminating equipment.