Patent ID: 8615604

Claim:
An information processing apparatus comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions to be executed by the processor; an IP address change detection unit configured to detect a change of a real IP address of the information processing apparatus; and a change notification packet generation section and transmission section configured to generate, when the IP address change detection unit detects the change of the real IP address of the information processing apparatus during communication with a communication partner, a change notification packet, and configured to transmit the generated change notification packet to the communication partner, wherein the change notification packet includes a first header portion and a first data portion, the first data portion including a second header portion and a second data portion, the change notification packet generation section is configured to determine a stored node type value of the information processing apparatus, and when the stored node type value indicates that the information processing apparatus is a server, the first header portion includes a real IP address before the change as a source IP address, and the second data portion includes a real IP address after the change, and when the stored node type value indicates that the information processing apparatus is a terminal, the first header portion includes the real IP address after the change as the source IP address, and the second data portion is empty, and the IP address change detection unit, the change notification packet generation section, and the transmission section are stored in the memory.