Patent ID: 7181195

Claim:
A method for determining a position of an electronic device within a wide area network including the electronic device and additionally including first and second network elements, said method comprising: distributing a tracing tool to the first network element within said wide area network; detecting a physical separation of said electronic device and an associated user; determining identifying indicia of said electronic device, wherein said identifying indicia are automatically transmifted by said electronic device during communication on the wide area network between said electronic device and the second network element; the first network element monitoring traffic on said wide area network utilizing said tracing tool, wherein said monitoring includes: in response to detecting said physical separation, the first network element intercepting data of said communication on the wide area network between said electronic device and said second network element, said data including said identifying indicia; and determining a physical position of said electronic device within said wide area network in response to an interception of said identifying indicia.