Patent ID: 6982953

Claim:
A method for determining a correct Internet Protocol (IP) address for network-connected devices, comprising: receiving from a target device on the network a request to be assigned an IP address, the request including a Media Access Control (MAC) address associated with the target device; issuing a query to one or more managed Ethernet switches on the network, each switch having a number of ports, where each query specifies the MAC address and requests that the queried managed Ethernet switch report the number of any port on which was received data sent by a device having the specified MAC address; receiving replies to one or more of the queries; in response to determining that one of the queried managed Ethernet switches and a port number reported by that switch corresponds to at least one known IP address, sending messages to each said target device indicated by said known IP address, so as to elicit a response for those devices currently in service; if identifying a single known IP address not in service by lack of response, assigning that single known IP address to the target device; and if identifying that there is more than a single known IP address not in service, not assigning any IP address to the target device.