Patent ID: 8583910

Claim:
A control network comprising: a controller and a controlled device capable of being controlled by application level messages received from said controller, said controller performing a method for providing device discovery and multi-mode security, the method comprising: transmitting a device discovery request message; receiving a device discovery response from said controlled device, said device discovery response comprising a first data field indicating one of a plurality of security modes of said controlled device, said plurality of security modes comprising an unsecured mode and one or more secured modes; wherein said device discovery response further comprises a second data field indicating a preferred device driver; loading a selected device driver based on said second data field, wherein said selected device driver is configured to process said application level messages for communication with said controlled device; associating said selected device driver with said controlled device; determining a current security mode of said controlled device based on said first data field; transmitting one or more encrypted application level messages to said controlled device, when said current security mode is one of said one or more secured modes; and transmitting one or more unencrypted application level messages to said controlled device, when said current security mode is said unsecured mode; wherein when said current security mode is one of said one or more secured modes, any unencrypted application level messages are dropped.