Patent ID: 7765323

Claim:
A machine-readable storage medium storing computer executable instructions, which, when executed by a machine causes the machine to: determine which ports on a source device indicate a plug event has occurred; determine which of the ports on the source device that indicated a plug event has occurred are connected to a branch device; for each port that is connected to a branch device request topology data from the branch device connected to the port, receive the topology data from the branch device, wherein the topology data includes partial sink addresses for sink devices associated with the branch device, and wherein the partial sink addresses for the sink devices are based on port numbers of the branch devices that the sink devices are connected to, and prepend port number of the port of the source device associated therewith to the topology data received from the branch device to create source sink addresses for the associated sink devices; for each port that indicated a plug event occurred that is not connected to a branch device, assign port number of the port of the source device associated therewith as source sink address for a sink device connected thereto; and store the source sink addresses for the sink devices associated with the source device.