Patent ID: 7961724

Claim:
A method for dynamically assigning Ethernet media access control (MAC) addresses for use in a point-to-point connection between two nodes, the method comprising: with a first node of the two nodes, in response to sensing that a second node of the two nodes is coupled to the first node via the point-to-point connection: dynamically selecting a first Ethernet MAC address for the first node, the first Ethernet MAC address comprising a first vendor identifier and a first device identifier, wherein at least one of the first vendor identifier or the first device identifier is dynamically selected; programming the first Ethernet MAC address into a first MAC address register; and communicating with the second node via the point-to-point connection using the first Ethernet MAC address from the first MAC address register and a second Ethernet MAC address associated with the second node, wherein the second Ethernet MAC address comprises a second vendor identifier and a second device identifier, wherein the second vendor identifier is different from the first vendor identifier, and wherein the second device identifier either comprises the first device identifier or an identifier that is dynamically selected from the first device identifier.