Patent ID: 7106716

Claim:
A method for transmitting data from a source network device to a destination network device, the method comprising the steps of: assigning the data, via the source network device, a fictitious hardware address as destination address, the fictitious hardware address being a hardware address information item which the source network device uses, based on a transfer protocol used, to identify a transmission destination without matching a manufacturer-prescribed hardware address of the transmission destination; transmitting the fictitious hardware address from the source network device to an address conversion apparatus; checking, via the address conversion apparatus, whether the transmitted fictitious hardware address matches a stored fictitious hardware address stored in a memory of the address conversion apparatus; assigning the data an address information item, if a result of the check is positive, which is associated with the transmitted fictitious hardware address in the address conversion apparatus; identifying, via the address information item, the destination network device; and using the address information item to forward the data to the destination network device.