Patent ID: 6839766

Claim:
A method of communicating a policy to a non-COPS enabled network device, comprising: receiving a first set of device data about the non-COPS enabled network device, wherein the first set of device data includes data that identifies one or more appropriate protocols supported by the non-COPS enabled network device; communicating a second set device data to a policy server, wherein the second set of device data is based on the first set of device data; receiving a set of policy data, wherein the set of policy data is configured using the COPS protocol; generating the policy by using the set of policy data and a set of role data, wherein the set of role data describes one or more roles of the non-COPS enabled network device; detecting and resolving any conflicts arising from generating the policy using the set of policy data and the set of role data and further using a role assigned to the non-COPS enabled network device; and communicating the policy to the non-COPS enabled network device using one of the one or more appropriate protocols.