Patent ID: 7925772

Claim:
A communication apparatus comprising: a network interface unit that transmits image data to an external device via a network; and a control unit that (a) determines whether or not the communication apparatus receives a BYEBYE message via the network, (b) controls the communication apparatus to transmit a lease update request for updating a lease period of a internet protocol (IP) address assigned by a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server to the DHCP server if it is determined that the communication apparatus receives the BYEBYE message via the network, (c) determines whether or not the communication apparatus receives an acknowledgement of the lease update request within a predetermined period if it is determined that the communication apparatus receives the BYEBYE message via the network and the communication apparatus transmits the lease update request to the DHCP server, (d) determines whether or not the transmission of the image data is ended if it is determined that the communication apparatus does not receive the acknowledgement of the lease update request within the predetermined period, (e) changes the IP address assigned by the DHCP server to a new IP address generated in the communication apparatus if it is determined that the transmission of the image data is ended, and (f) maintains the IP address assigned by the DHCP server until the transmission of the image data is ended if it is determined that the transmission of the image data is not ended.