Patent ID: 8131849

Claim:
A system, comprising: a pair of peer sensors to control access to a network for a plurality of host devices, one of the peer sensors being designated a primary sensor and the other peer sensor being designated a secondary sensor, each peer sensor comprising a memory subsystem, an input/output subsystem that transmits and receives data over the network, and a processor in data communication with the memory subsystem and the input/output subsystem, wherein the processors of the primary sensor and secondary sensor are respectively programmed to cause the primary sensor and the secondary sensor to perform operations comprising: in response to a detection of a host device attempting to access the network, transmitting, from each of the primary sensor and the secondary sensor, a plurality of information probes to the host device, each of the information probes being prioritized according to their probe types by the primary sensor in a descending priority order; determining, at the primary sensor, a first probe type, the first probe type being the probe type of the highest priority information probe for which a reply from the host device was received at the primary sensor; determining, at the secondary sensor, a second probe type, the second probe type being the probe type of the highest priority information probe for which a reply from the host device was received at the secondary sensor; transmitting, from the secondary sensor, data indicating the second probe type to the primary sensor; determining, at the primary sensor, whether the second probe type is prioritized higher than the first probe type; in response to determining the second probe type is prioritized higher than the first probe type, transmitting, from the primary sensor, data indicating a probe handover to the secondary sensor and precluding further probing of the host device from the primary sensor; and transmitting subsequent information probes to the host device from the secondary sensor.