Patent ID: 7509399

Claim:
A method for operating an industry standard serial communication interface comprising: programmably setting with a processor an override state for one of a plurality of signals of the industry standard serial communication interface for communication between network devices by: presenting an interface to a client; receiving a command from the client via the interface, wherein the command specifies a respective name associated with the overridden one of the signals and identifies, from a set of interface cards, an interface card of the router that includes the industry standard serial communication interface; and storing configuration data that defines the override state to a programmable register of the industry standard serial communication interface included within the identified interface card, wherein the industry standard serial communication interface comprises two or more electrical connectors, each of the electrical connectors associated with a different one of the plurality of signals, wherein each of the electrical connectors have an associated physical characteristic by which each of the electrical connectors conveys the associated one of the signals, and wherein the override state defines a logical characteristic for the overridden one of the signals to be used in place of the physical characteristic of the associated electrical connector when the electrical connectors conveys the signals; and communicating data with a controller of the industry standard serial communication interface via the electrical connectors in accordance with the programmed override state for the overridden one of the signals and actual states for the non-overridden signals such that the controller conveys: (i) the overridden one of the signals according to the programmatically set logical characteristic defined for the overridden signal, and (ii) the non-overridden signals according to the physical characteristic of the associated electrical connectors.