Patent ID: 7949786

Claim:
A home network system for assigning a unique address to an electric device in a local network, the system comprising: one or more new devices, each new device: including a node address having an initial logical address when accessing the home network system through a network based on a predetermined protocol, transmitting a configuration request message having the node address to a master device through the network, receiving a temporary address setting request message having a predetermined temporary logical address range, wherein the temporary address setting request message includes an upper address limit and a lower address limit based on a device type associated with each of the one or more new devices, wherein the lower address limit is based on a maximum value for pre-assigned logical addresses associated with those devices among the one or more new devices which are the same device type, selecting one value within the predetermined temporary logical address range and setting the selected value as a temporary logical address, generating a temporary address setting response message having the selected temporary logical address, transmitting the temporary address setting response message to the master device, receiving an address change request message having a logical address from the master device, and setting the received logical address as the unique address; and at least one master device connected to the one or more new devices through the network, wherein for each new device the master device: receives a configuration request message from the new device, sets the temporary logical address range for the new device, transmits the temporary address setting request message having the set temporary logical address range to the new device, receives a temporary address setting response messages from the new device, sets the logical address of the new device, and transmits the address change request message having the set logical address to the new device of the selected temporary address.