Patent ID: 7590621

Claim:
A computing device comprising: one or more computer-readable storage media; one or more processors; computer-readable instructions on the one or more computer-readable storage media which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to execute a method comprising: building a protocol-independent query translatable across multiple port monitors each of which being associated with a different connectivity type, wherein the query is configured to discover a communicatively linked device's properties or capabilities, wherein said act of building is performed by a device driver, and wherein the query is structured using a schema that comprises multiple nodes arranged in a hierarchical structure, wherein individual nodes are associated with the communicatively linked device's properties or data values, wherein one property node comprises a device information node that pertains to data that is associated with the device, and wherein the device information node comprises a child manufacturer node associated with a device manufacturer; translating the query into a protocol-appropriate format for communication to the communicatively linked device, wherein translating is performed remotely from the communicatively linked device by one or more of the port monitors; and communicating the query to the communicatively linked device.