Patent ID: RE41030

Claim:
A device coupleable to a communications network supporting self-adaptive initial configuration to the parameters of said communications network to enable remote configuration control of said device exclusively via said communications network, said device comprising: a) a host computer system including a network interface for coupling to the communications network; b) an operating system, executable by said host computer system, that is configurable by a defined set of network values for transmitting and receiving messages through said network interface controller without network configuration conflicts and that supports broadcast transmissions of messages through said network interface controller; and c) a control program, executable by said host computer system in conjunction with said operating system, that responds to receipt over the communications network of a first broadcast message by determining therefrom, specifically with respect to said communications network, and applying an initial set of network values to configure said operating system for the communications network, and by using the initial set of network values to transmit a second message over the communications network conveying an identifier of the device, said control program being subsequently responsive to receipt over the communications network of a third broadcast message directed to the device by means of the identifier and containing network configuration parameters for said device by using said network configuration parameters to determine and apply network values of the defined set of network values to configure said operating system for the communications network.