Patent ID: 8295204

Claim:
A method for automatically assigning dynamic Internet Protocol (IP) addresses without user interaction, comprising: maintaining at least one pool of unused IP addresses; transmitting an advertisement message from a first network element to a plurality of additional network elements in a transport ring using a link state routing protocol, the advertisement message identifying the first network element as providing IP address assignment services; transmitting a hello message from a second network element that received the advertisement message to an end system outside the transport ring that did not receive the advertisement message, the hello message identifying the first network element as providing IP address assignment services; receiving an IP address request from the end system at the second network element and transmitting the IP address request from the second network element to the first network element; receiving, at the first network element, the IP address request message from the second network element in the transport ring transmitted using Connectionless Network Protocol (CLNP), the IP address request message sent in response to the advertisement message; and in response to the IP address request message, dynamically assigning an IP address from the at least one pool of unused IP addresses to the end system; and transmitting the dynamically assigned IP address from the first network element to the second network element.