Patent ID: 7546628

Claim:
In Set-Top Box configured with a modem and a Main Circuit Board, a method of enabling the Main Circuit Board to determine the IP address of the modem, comprising: establishing a predetermined relationship between a hardware address of the modem and a hardware address of the Main Circuit Board, wherein the hardware address of the modem is a fixed address assigned to the modem and wherein the hardware address of the Main Circuit Board is a fixed address assigned to the Main Circuit Board such that the hardware address of the modem is a function of the hardware address of the Main Circuit Board; the modem and the Main Circuit Board being situated within the Set-Top Box; at the Main Circuit Board: calculating the hardware address of the modem from the Main Circuit Board's hardware address by applying the predetermined relationship to the Main Circuit Board's hardware address; sending a query from the Main Circuit Board to the hardware address of the modem requesting the modem's IP address; and receiving a reply from the modem providing the modem's IP address to the Main Circuit Board.