Patent ID: 8626921

Claim:
A method, comprising: processing a registration request from a client device to be registered with a central authority associated with a wireless home network, wherein the client device is assigned a device name, is identified by a transport address and an internet protocol (IP) address, and implements one or more services, each service being assigned a service name; storing within a database a client device record corresponding to the client device that includes the client device name, the transport address, the IP address, and the service name assigned to each of the one or more services implemented by the client device; receiving a service query from the client device requesting an identity of a server machine for a first service required by the client device; determining that a first server machine included in a set of possible server machines best matches the service query based on the transport address and the IP address of the client device and at least an IP address associated with the first server machine as well as services previously associated with the first sever machine within the database; transmitting a response message to the client device identifying the first server machine.