Patent ID: 7444409

Claim:
A system for determining a designated connection between a first component residing on a first computing device and a second component residing on a second computing device, each component capable of initiating the establishment of connections that facilitate data communication to the other, wherein the system comprises a first application and a second application associated with the first and second components respectively, and wherein the first and second applications are programmed to co-operate to perform the steps of: a) generating a component identifier for each of the first and second components in accordance with an identifier generating algorithm; b) identifying a current connection between the first and second components; c) transmitting and receiving component identifiers between each of the first and second components to and from the other; d) comparing a relative order position of the component identifiers for the first and second components to identify one of the first and second components as a controller and the other as a responder; and e) determining a designated connection between the first and second components, said step initiated by the component identified as the controller and comprising the substeps of i) determining whether at least one connection other than the current connection exists between the first and second components that neither the first component nor the second component knows to be broken, ii) if said at least one connection other than the current connection does not exist, identifying the current connection as the designated connection, and iii) if said at least one connection other than the current connection exists, identifying a connection as the designated connection from a group that includes the current connection and the at least one connection other than the current connection; wherein the identifier generating algorithm is adapted to ensure that component identifiers generated by the algorithm are orderable and substantially unique.