Patent ID: 7610428

Claim:
A system comprising: a. an embedded device, the embedded device comprising: i. a microprocessor, the microprocessor comprising a first Ethernet controller; ii. a first Physical layer (PHY), wherein the first PHY is coupled to the first Ethernet controller through a physical transmission medium; iii. a second Ethernet controller, the second Ethernet controller comprising a second PHY, wherein the second PHY is coupled to the first PHY through a physical transmission medium on the embedded device, wherein the first Ethernet controller, the first PHY the second PHY and the second Ethernet controller form a network on the embedded device; iv. an electrical isolation medium; and v. an interface operable to be physically coupled to a communication bus; and vi. Power supply module, the power supply module providing a power supply to the embedded device. b. a host, the host comprising the communication bus, wherein the interface of the embedded device is physically coupled to the communication bus, the host and the embedded device are electrically isolated from one another by the electrical isolation medium, the communication bus is coupled to the second Ethernet controller and the host is configured to communicate with the embedded device through the second Ethernet controller using only device drivers included with an operating system running on the host.