Automated configuration of network device ports

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 8601143
  • Patent Number
    8,601,143
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, September 27, 2011
    13 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 3, 2013
    11 years ago
Abstract
Methods and devices are provided for identifying end devices and automatically configuring associated network settings. Preferred implementations of the invention do not require users to manually identify connection types (e.g., RFID, IPphone, manufacturing device, etc.) or to manually configure the network device. Accordingly, such implementations allow automatic switch configuration, even for devices that use inconsistent protocols and/or protocols that are not well known. Some methods of the invention employ DHCP options combined with traffic snooping to identify devices and automatically apply appropriate switch port configuration.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention


The present invention relates the configuration of devices in a network.


2. Description of the Related Art


It is becoming commonplace for devices, including but not limited to RFID readers, RFID printers, VoIP telephones and devices used in manufacturing, to be deployed in large numbers within some networks. These devices often have unique characteristics, such as traffic type, bandwidth requirements, security demands, etc. Accordingly, such devices require specific network configurations, e.g., quality of service (“QoS”), security settings, VLANs or VSANs, etc. to properly support their desired functionality.



FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of a network 100, in which network device 105 (in this example, a Catalyst™ switch provided by Cisco Systems, Inc.) is connected to a plurality of devices, including RFID reader 110. In this example, RFID reader 110 is connected to port 120 via a fast Ethernet connection. For each port of network device 105, a variety of attributes may be configured, such as QoS, security, port speed, description, etc.


Within network 100, a large number of devices and associated network devices may be deployed. In general, it is a tedious and time-consuming process for users to deploy devices and to manage the associated infrastructure components, such as switches and other network devices. For example, the process of configuring switch port settings is currently a manual process, in which each desired attribute must be individually selected and enabled for a port.


This manual configuration process is currently inhibiting the deployment of large-scale RFID networks, manufacturing device networks, etc. It would be desirable to provide improved methods and devices that overcome at least some limitations of the prior art.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods and devices are provided for identifying end devices and automatically configuring associated network settings. Preferred implementations of the invention do not require users to manually identify connection types (e.g., RFID, IPphone, manufacturing device, etc.) or to manually configure the network device. Accordingly, such implementations allow automatic switch configuration, even for devices that use inconsistent protocols and/or protocols that are not well known.


Some methods of the invention employ DHCP options combined with traffic snooping to identify devices and automatically apply appropriate switch port configuration. Some such implementations of the invention trigger Cisco Systems' SmartPorts™ software to configure ports of network devices. Some aspects of the SmartPorts software are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/896,410, filed Jul. 21, 2004, which has been incorporated herein by reference. However, the present invention is not limited to implementation via SmartPorts™; any convenient software for the automated configuring of network device ports may be used in accordance with the present invention.


Some implementations of the invention provide a method for establishing network device port settings. The method includes the steps of receiving a DHCPDISCOVER request from a device and of determining, based on information in the DHCPDISCOVER request, whether an appropriate macro is available to configure a port of a network device on which the DHCPDISCOVER request was first received.


The method may also include the step of applying the appropriate macro when it is determined to be available. The method preferably includes the step of determining whether the port has already been configured in a manner appropriate for the device.


The determining step may involve determining a device personality, identifying the device and/or examining at least one DHCP option or other component of the DHCPDISCOVER request. The “other component” could be, for example, one or more parts of the DHCP message header. The determining step may or may not be performed by the network device on which the DHCPDISCOVER request was first received. For example, the DHCPDISCOVER request may first be received by a switch port and the determining step may be performed by one of a DHCP server, an edge services management server, an authentication server and a device dedicated to port configuration.


Some embodiments of the invention provide at least one apparatus for establishing network device port settings. Such embodiments include a port for receiving a DHCPDISCOVER request from a device and at least one logic device configured for determining, based on information in the DHCPDISCOVER request, whether an appropriate macro is available to configure the port.


A logic device may examine one or more DHCP options of the DHCPDISCOVER request. The port and the logic device(s) may be included within a single device or may be disposed in separate devices. For example, the port and the logic device(s) may be included within a single switch or a DHCP server.


Alternative embodiments of the invention provide a network device that includes these elements: a plurality of ports; a storage device; and at least one logic device configured to receive a DHCPDISCOVER request from a device via a first port and configure the first port with appropriate configuration parameters for the device.


A logic device may be further configured to forward a copy of the DHCPDISCOVER request to a second device. A logic device may configure the first port according to instructions received from the second device. The second device may be, for example, a DHCP server, an edge services management server, an authentication server or a device dedicated to port configuration.


The methods of the present invention may be implemented, at least in part, by hardware and/or software. For example, some embodiments of the invention provide computer programs embodied in machine-readable media. The computer programs include instructions for controlling one or more devices to perform the methods described herein.





BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS


FIG. 1 is a network diagram illustrating a switch and attached RFID devices.



FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary SmartPorts™ macro.



FIG. 2B illustrates an exemplary set of commands to be used for configuring a port according to a SmartPorts™ macro.



FIG. 3A is a flow chart that provides an overview of a method of the present invention.



FIG. 3B is a network diagram that illustrates an implementation of the method outlined in FIG. 3A.



FIG. 4 is a flow chart that provides an overview of an alternative method of the present invention.



FIG. 5 is a block diagram that illustrates a network device for implementing some aspects of the invention.



FIG. 6 is a block diagram that illustrates another network device for implementing some aspects of the invention.





DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In this application, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be obvious, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process steps have not been described in detail in order not to obscure the present invention.


Although the present invention involves methods and devices for identifying and provisioning individual RFID devices in a network, many aspects of the present invention can be applied to identifying and provisioning other types of devices in a network. Similarly, although much of the discussion herein applies to implementations using the DHCP protocol, the present invention is not protocol-specific and may be used, for example, in implementations using UPnP, 802.1ab or similar discovery protocols. Likewise, while the implementations described herein refer to exemplary DHCP Options, other DHCP Options may advantageously be used to implement the present invention.


Similarly, while some exemplary implementations of the invention involve using the SmartPorts™ “macro” functionality for configuring ports of network devices, other such tools could be used. In other implementations of the invention, a command line interface (“CLI”) or another programmatic interface such as Simple Network Management Protocol (“SNMP”) or Netconf® is used for this purpose.


Prior implementations of SmartPorts™ macros required users to manually identify connection types (e.g., RFID, manufacturing, IPphone) and then to configure a network device according to the identified connection type. As used herein, the term “macro” will sometimes be used to mean both the commands used to configure, e.g., a port of a network device and a configuration resulting from the application of such a macro. The network device could be configured, for example, using a command line interface or a network management tool such as CMS on a per-port basis.


An exemplary Cisco SmartPorts™ macro for configuring a port for an RFID device will now be described with reference to FIG. 2A. Line 201 is used to establish the macro's name, which in this case is RFID_Macro1. It is helpful to use a name that is easy to recognize as one type of macro for RFID devices, to allow for the possibility of having macros for multiple device types and multiple macros for RFID devices.


Line 203 will cause an RFID VLAN to be assigned and line 205 puts a switch port in “access” mode. Line 207 assigns a generic description to the interface indicating its use, which is a connection to an RFID device in this example. Lines 209 enable port security and limit the port to a single media access control (“MAC”) address.


According to line 211, when the maximum number of MAC addresses is exceeded, traffic from additional source MAC addresses are dropped. In addition, an SNMP trap and a syslog message are generated. Lines 213 cause the secure MAC address to age out after 10 minutes of inactivity.


Lines 215 configure the port as an edge device port that does not need to behave according to a spanning tree protocol. Accordingly, bridge port data unit (“BPDU”) packets are not be allowed to enter the network from this port. “Spanning-tree portfast” allows the port to move into the forwarding state quickly.


Lines 217 set broadcast and multicast storm control limits to 20% of the interface bandwidth. As with other settings in this example, this limit should be based upon the anticipated requirements of the device to be in communication with the port. Line 219 applies a rate limiting of DHCP packets coming from the device to 100 packets per second.


Line 221 is one example of a QoS for the device. This QoS is applicable, for example, if the device is an RFID reader that sends packets marked with DSCP and if these values should be trusted.



FIG. 2B sets forth one example of how to apply the previously-described SmartPorts macro to a switch port. FIG. 2B is a screen capture of a CLI session for configuring a port. Line 251 identifies the switch to be configured (“DC_Switch1”). Line 255 is a prompt from switch DC_Switch1. Line 260 configures the interface as a Fast Ethernet interface.


Line 265 applies a selected macro, which is “RFID_Macro1” in this example, to the interface. The example assumes that VLAN 30 has previously been configured as the RFID VLAN. Line 270 is a command prompt from switch DC_Switch1.


Referring back to FIG. 1, for example, in order to configure port 120 using prior implementations of SmartPorts, a user (e.g., a network administrator) would need to manually go into every port, select a macro for each device (if one exists) and apply the appropriate macro to the port to which the device is connected. For example, the user would need to determine the appropriate port configuration for a connection with RFID reader 110, determine whether a macro exists for this configuration, and, if so, apply the appropriate macro to configure port 120. If no such macro existed, each attribute of the port configuration would need to be separately indicated.


Some exemplary implementations of the invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B. FIG. 3A is a flow chart that outlines method 300 according to the invention. FIG. 3B is a simplified network diagram of network 350 that provides one example of how method 300 may be implemented.


Those of skill in the art will appreciate that some steps of the methods discussed herein, including method 300, need not be performed (and in some implementations are not performed) in the order shown. Moreover, some implementations of the methods discussed herein may include more or fewer steps than those shown, e.g., in FIG. 3A.


Similarly, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the elements of FIG. 3B are both simplified and merely illustrative. FIG. 3B illustrates switches 365, 380 and 385, all of which have attached devices. In this example, switch 365 is a Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series switch and switches 380 and 385 are Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series switches. However, one of skill in the art will appreciate that other types of network devices could be used to implement the invention. Moreover, switches 365, 380 and 385 could be in the same location (e.g., in the same warehouse or factory) or could be in different locations. Switches 365, 380 and 385 can communicate with DHCP server 370, host device 390 and storage devices 395 via network 375. Accordingly, network 375 may include portions of one or more private networks and part of the Internet.


The devices attached to switches 365, 380 and 385 are not necessarily all of the same type. In this example, device 355 is an RFID reader and device 357 is an IP telephone. As discussed elsewhere herein, even devices that are of the same general type may have different capabilities and/or different desired functions.


A device that sends out an initiation for an IP address to a DHCP server does so by way of a packet that includes a “DHCPDISCOVER” request. This command includes, inter alia, the media access control (“MAC”) address of the device. RFC 2131 is hereby incorporated by reference.


Accordingly, in step 301 of method 300, device 355 of FIG. 3B initializes and then sends DHCPDISCOVER request 356 to port 360 of switch 365. Switch 365 is configured not only to forward DHCPDISCOVER request 356 to DHCP server 370 via network 375, but also to analyze the contents of DHCPDISCOVER request 356. The steps performed by switch 365 according to method 300 may be controlled by one or more logic devices 368, which is an ASIC in this example. However, logic device(s) 368 could be any convenient logic device(s).


In step 315, switch 365 attempts to identify device 355 according to information in DHCPDISCOVER request 356. In this example, switch 365 applies “snooping” techniques to analyze the contents of Options in DHCPDISCOVER request 356. Switch 365 may, for example, examine the contents of DHCP Option 60 to determine a device type or vendor identifier. RFC 2132 is hereby incorporated by reference. Switch 365 may examine the “Enterprise number” field of DHCP Option 125 to determine the EPCGlobal enterprise number of the device. RFC 3925 is hereby incorporated by reference.


Alternatively, or additionally, switch 365 may examine other DHCP options. For example, switch 365 may examine DHCP Option 150 to identify device 355; this Option is used, for example, by IPPhones provided by Cisco Systems, Inc. R. Johnson's draft “TFTP Server Address DHCP Option” (Network Working Group Feb. 6, 2005) describes relevant information and is hereby incorporated by reference. Switch 365 may examine a “PXE boot” option to determine an appropriate configuration for port 360. M. Johnston's draft “DHCP Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) Options” (Dynamic Host Configuration Working Group Jan. 21, 2005) describes relevant information and is hereby incorporated by reference. Switch 365 may examine Option 43 to obtain vendor-specific information regarding device 355. Switch 365 may examine Option 61 to determine an EPC identifier of device 355.


In some implementations, switch 365 also determines an appropriate personality for device 355 in step 315. In some such implementations, switch 365 examines the DHCP Option 77 to determine a device personality. In other implementations, switch 365 can determine an appropriate personality for device 355 indirectly, e.g., by cross-referencing a look-up table or a similar data structure based on other information in DHCPDISCOVER request 356. The look-up table could be stored locally (e.g., in memory 367), on an attached device or on another device that switch 365 can access via network 375, part of which is the Internet in this example.


If switch 365 cannot identify device 355, the process ends in this example (step 340 of FIG. 3A). Alternatively (or additionally), a network administrator could be alerted, e.g., by causing switch 365 to send a message to host device 390.


However, if switch 365 can identify the device, the method proceeds to step 320, wherein switch 365 determines port 360 is already configured. (In the flow chart of FIG. 3A it is presumed that a port configuration (if any) has resulted from the application of a macro, though this need not be the case.)


If port 360 has not yet been configured, it is determined whether there is a configuration macro available (e.g., locally available and stored in memory 367) that is appropriate for device 355. (Step 330.) Table 366 is one exemplary data structure that may be used for such a purpose. Table 366 includes macro field 372, for defining a plurality of configuration macros, each of which corresponds to a device of device ID field 374. Accordingly, a device ID determined as described above with reference to step 315 (or otherwise) can be used to determine whether there is a corresponding macro.


If port 360 is already configured, it is determined in step 325 whether the configuration is suitable for the device identified in step 315. If so, the process ends.


If the port does not have a desired configuration, it is determined in step 330 whether there is an appropriate macro available for the device. If there is an appropriate macro available for the device, the macro is applied (step 335) and then the process ends (step 340). If not, the process ends without a macro being applied. Preferably, a network administrator is notified, e.g., by sending a message from switch 365 to host device 390.


In the preceding example, switch 365 had the intelligence for determining how to automatically configure a port on which a DHCPDISCOVER request is received. The switch itself analyzed the DHCPDISCOVER request and configured the port with an appropriate combination of attributes. These combinations of attributes, along with the necessary software for applying them, were stored in the switch itself.


However, in other implementations of the invention, both the intelligence for determining how appropriately to configure the port and the instructions for so configuring the port may be owned by another device. For example, the intelligence may reside in DHCP server 370, an edge services management server, an authentication server and a device dedicated to port configuration. Some such implementations are illustrated by the flow chart of FIG. 4.


In steps 401 and 405, a device initializes and sends a DHCPDISCOVER request to a switch port. In this example, switch 365 forwards the DHCPDISCOVER request with an indication of the port on which the DHCPDISCOVER request was received. (Step 410.) The port ID could be provided, for example, in DHCP Option 82. Preferably, the switch also forwards information regarding the current port configuration to DHCP server 370.


According to some implementations, DHCP server 370 attempts to identify the device. (Step 412.) If DHCP server 370 can identify the device, DHCP server 370 performs steps 420, 425 and 430, which are analogous to steps 320 through 330 of method 300.


DHCP server 370 then instructs switch 365 to configure the port in an appropriate manner, e.g., by applying a macro. (Step 435.) Macros (or the like) for this purpose could be stored in switch 365, could be sent from DHCP server 370 to switch 365, or could be obtained by switch 365 from another device. For example, DHCP server 370 could send switch 365 a pointer to a memory space wherein such instructions are stored (e.g., in one of storage devices 395).


In other implementations, DHCP server 370 provides an IP address in response to the DHCPDISCOVER request and forwards the DHCPDISCOVER request to another device that performs steps similar to steps 310 through 330. The device could be, e.g., an authentication server or a server that is dedicated to automated port configuration. This device could instruct switch 365 to configure the port in an appropriate manner, e.g., as described above.


Alternatively, DHCP server 370 could perform at least the device and port identification steps. DHCP server 370 could then forward this information to another device that first performs a mapping of device type to desired configuration and then instructs switch 365 to configure port 360 accordingly.


In yet other implementations, a device local to switch 365 performs steps similar to those of steps 315 through 330 and then instructs switch 365 accordingly. For example, a DHCP relay agent in switch 365 is programmed to forward a copy of the DHCPDISCOVER request to another device (e.g., an edge services management server) that performs steps similar to steps 310 through 330, e.g., prior to forwarding the DHCPDISCOVER request to the DHCP server. In such implementations, the DHCP server could behave as a normal DHCP server and switch 365 could lack the intelligence to perform steps 310 through 330. The DHCPDISCOVER request could be forwarded to another device on the local network that performs steps similar to steps 310 through 330.


However, as illustrated in FIG. 5, some embodiments of the invention combine many of the components necessary to implement the invention within a single chassis. Here, chassis 500 is a router that includes switch module 505, with ports 510 that can be configured for appropriately communicating with devices 515. In this example, router 500 also includes DHCP server 520, which may be implemented in software and/or hardware (e.g., as a line card or “blade”). In alternative implementations, DHCP server 520 could be implemented in a separate device that is in communication with router 500.


Instead of being implemented in a router having a switch module, alternative embodiments of the invention provide a chassis 500 that is a switch that runs Layer 3, running IOS. As above, chassis 500 could also include DHCP server 520, implemented in software and/or hardware, or DHCP server 520 could be implemented in a separate device that is in communication with chassis 500.


It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that other types of devices, including but not limited to point-of-sale devices (e.g., “cash registers”) VoIP telephones and devices used in manufacturing, may be advantageously configured according to the methods of the present invention. For example, one or more defined fields could indicate the type of device, device personality, etc.


In one such example, DHCP Option 60 could indicate that the device is a cash register and DHCP Option 77 could indicate the “personality” of the cash register, e.g., that it is a cash register used by a particular type of restaurant. There could be predefined macros for configuring a switch port appropriately for each type of device, e.g., for a cash register.



FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a network device that may be configured to implement some methods of the present invention. Network device 660 includes a master central processing unit (CPU) 662, interfaces 668, and a bus 667 (e.g., a PCI bus). Generally, interfaces 668 include ports 669 appropriate for communication with the appropriate media.


The interfaces 668 are typically provided as interface cards (sometimes referred to as “line cards” or network interface cards (NICs)) 670. Generally, line cards 670 control the sending and receiving of data packets over the network and sometimes support other peripherals used with the network device 660. Among the interfaces that may be provided are Fibre Channel (“FC”) interfaces, Ethernet interfaces, frame relay interfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces, and the like. In addition, various very high-speed interfaces may be provided, such as fast Ethernet interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, ATM interfaces, HSSI interfaces, POS interfaces, FDDI interfaces, ASI interfaces, DHEI interfaces and the like.


In some embodiments, one or more of line cards 670 includes at least one independent processor 674 and, in some instances, volatile RAM. Independent processors 674 may be, for example ASICs or any other appropriate processors. According to some such embodiments, these independent processors 674 perform at least some of the functions of the logic described herein. In some embodiments, one or more of interfaces 668 control such communications-intensive tasks as media control and management. By providing separate processors for the communications-intensive tasks, line cards allow the master microprocessor 662 efficiently to perform other functions such as routing computations, network diagnostics, security functions, etc.


When acting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, in some implementations of the invention CPU 662 may be responsible for implementing specific functions associated with the functions of a desired network device. According to some embodiments, CPU 662 accomplishes all these functions under the control of software including an operating system (e.g. Linux, VxWorks, etc.), and any appropriate applications software.


CPU 662 may include one or more processors 663 such as a processor from the Motorola family of microprocessors or the MIPS family of microprocessors. In an alternative embodiment, processor 663 is specially designed hardware for controlling the operations of network device 660. In a specific embodiment, a memory 661 (such as non-volatile RAM and/or ROM) also forms part of CPU 662. However, there are many different ways in which memory could be coupled to the system. Memory block 661 may be used for a variety of purposes such as, for example, caching and/or storing data, programming instructions, etc.


Regardless of network device's configuration, it may employ one or more memories or memory modules (such as, for example, memory block 665) configured to store data, program instructions for the general-purpose network operations and/or other information relating to the functionality of the techniques described herein. The program instructions may control the operation of an operating system and/or one or more applications, for example.


Because such information and program instructions may be employed to implement the systems/methods described herein, the present invention relates to machine-readable media that include program instructions, state information, etc. for performing various operations described herein. Examples of machine-readable media include, but are not limited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). The invention may also be embodied in a carrier wave traveling over an appropriate medium such as airwaves, optical lines, electric lines, etc. Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter.


Although the system shown in FIG. 6 illustrates one specific network device of the present invention, it is by no means the only network device architecture on which the present invention can be implemented. For example, an architecture having a single processor that handles communications as well as routing computations, etc. is often used. Further, other types of interfaces and media could also be used with the network device. The communication path between interfaces/line cards may be bus based (as shown in FIG. 6) or switch fabric based (such as a cross-bar).


Other Embodiments

Although illustrative embodiments and applications of this invention are shown and described herein, many variations and modifications are possible which remain within the concept, scope, and spirit of the invention, and these variations would become clear to those of ordinary skill in the art after perusal of this application. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims
  • 1. A method, comprising: receiving a DHCPDISCOVER request from a device;examining at least one DHCP option of the DHCPDISCOVER request; anddetermining, based on information in the at least one DHCP option of the DHCPDISCOVER request, whether an appropriate macro is available to configure a port of a network device on which the DHCPDISCOVER request was received;if the appropriate macro is determined to be available, causing the port of the network device to be configured by the appropriate macro such that the port of the network device on which the DHCPDISCOVER request was received is automatically configured;wherein the macro includes a set of instructions.
  • 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of determining whether the port has already been configured in a manner appropriate for the device.
  • 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step comprises determining a device personality.
  • 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step comprises identifying the device.
  • 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step is performed by the network device on which the DHCPDISCOVER request was first received.
  • 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step is not performed by the network device on which the DHCPDISCOVER request was first received.
  • 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the DHCPDISCOVER request is received by a switch port and wherein the determining step is performed by one of a DHCP server, an edge services management server, an authentication server or a device dedicated to port configuration.
  • 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one option includes a PreBoot Execution Environment (PXE) DHCP option.
  • 9. An apparatus for establishing network device port settings, the apparatus comprising: a port for receiving a DHCPDISCOVER request from a device;a memory; andat least one logic device configured for determining, based on information in at least one DHCP option in the DHCPDISCOVER request, whether an appropriate macro is available to configure the port of the apparatus and, if the appropriate macro is determined to be available, causing the port of the apparatus to be configured by the appropriate macro such that the port of the apparatus on which the DHCPDISCOVER request was received is automatically configured, wherein the macro includes a set of instructions.
  • 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the at least one DHCP option comprises a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) DHCP option.
  • 11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the information comprises vendor specific information, a vendor identifier, a device type, and/or a connection type.
  • 12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the device is an RFID device, wherein the at least one logic device is further configured for determining, based, at least in part, on the information in the DHCPDISCOVER request, a personality of the device, and wherein determining, based on information in at least one DHCP option in the DHCPDISCOVER request, whether an appropriate macro is available to configure the port of the apparatus, comprises: determining whether an appropriate macro for an RFID device having the personality of the device is available to configure a port of the apparatus on which the DHCPDISCOVER request was received from the device.
  • 13. A method, comprising: receiving a DHCPDISCOVER request from a first device;examining at least one DHCP option of the DHCPDISCOVER request;determining, based on information in the DHCPDISCOVER request, a personality of the first device;determining whether an appropriate macro for a device having the personality of the first device is available to configure a port of a second device on which the DHCPDISCOVER request was received; andcausing the port of the second device to be configured by the appropriate macro such that the port of the second device on which the DHCPDISCOVER request was received is automatically configured.
  • 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first device is an RFID device.
  • 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the macro comprises a set of instructions.
  • 16. A network device, comprising: a plurality of ports;a storage device; anda logic device configured to receive a DHCPDISCOVER request from a first device via a first port of the plurality of ports of the network device,determine, based on information in the DHCPDISCOVER request, a personality of the first device,determine whether configuration parameters for a device having the personality of the first device are available to configure the first port of the network device on which the DHCPDISCOVER request was received andconfigure the first port of the network device with the configuration parameters such that the first port of the network device on which the DHCPDISCOVER request was received is automatically configured.
  • 17. The network device of claim 16, wherein the logic device is further configured to forward a copy of the DHCPDISCOVER request to a second device and wherein the logic device configures the first port according to instructions received from the second device.
  • 18. The network device of claim 16, wherein the network device is a switch or router.
  • 19. The network device of claim 16, wherein the configuration parameters comprise VLAN parameters.
  • 20. The network device of claim 16, wherein the first device is an RFID device.
  • 21. The network device of claim 17, wherein the second device is a device selected from the group consisting of a DHCP server, an edge services management server, an authentication server and a device dedicated to port configuration.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/104,140, entitled “Automatic Configuration of Network Device Ports,” by Gary Dennis Vogel Jr. et al, filed on Apr. 11, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. This application also claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/570,999, entitled “Methods and Devices for Uniquely Provisioning RFID Devices” and filed on May 13, 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/866,506, entitled “Methods and Devices for Uniquely Provisioning RFID Devices” and filed on Jun. 9, 2004, to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/866,507, entitled “Methods and Devices for Locating and Uniquely Provisioning RFID Devices” and filed on Jun. 9, 2004, to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/866,285, entitled “Methods and Devices for Assigning RFID Device Personality” and filed on Jun. 9, 2004, to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/896,410, filed Jul. 21, 2004 and to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,089, entitled “Methods and Devices for Providing Scalable RFID Networks” and filed on Dec. 9, 2004 (collectively, the “Cross-Referenced Applications”), all of which are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

US Referenced Citations (322)
Number Name Date Kind
4625081 Lotito et al. Nov 1986 A
4688026 Scribner et al. Aug 1987 A
5339073 Dodd et al. Aug 1994 A
5574722 Slykhouse et al. Nov 1996 A
5588009 Will Dec 1996 A
5646616 Komatsu Jul 1997 A
5790542 Kim et al. Aug 1998 A
5796743 Bunting et al. Aug 1998 A
5819042 Hansen Oct 1998 A
5832503 Malik et al. Nov 1998 A
5850187 Carrender et al. Dec 1998 A
5887176 Griffith et al. Mar 1999 A
6012090 Chung et al. Jan 2000 A
6021135 Ishihara et al. Feb 2000 A
6073178 Wong et al. Jun 2000 A
6111517 Atick et al. Aug 2000 A
6115079 McRae Sep 2000 A
6115378 Hendel et al. Sep 2000 A
6125391 Meltzer et al. Sep 2000 A
6145079 Mitty et al. Nov 2000 A
6212563 Beser Apr 2001 B1
6226675 Meltzer et al. May 2001 B1
6272113 McIntyre Aug 2001 B1
6300903 Richards et al. Oct 2001 B1
6321264 Fletcher et al. Nov 2001 B1
6330597 Collin et al. Dec 2001 B2
6337856 Schanhals et al. Jan 2002 B1
6341130 Lakshman et al. Jan 2002 B1
6356951 Gentry Mar 2002 B1
6363477 Fletcher et al. Mar 2002 B1
6381465 Chern et al. Apr 2002 B1
6393458 Gigliotti et al. May 2002 B1
6473858 Shimomura et al. Oct 2002 B1
6510434 Anderson et al. Jan 2003 B1
6510464 Grantges et al. Jan 2003 B1
6539281 Wan et al. Mar 2003 B2
6553489 Osler et al. Apr 2003 B1
6567408 Li et al. May 2003 B1
6587431 Almulhem et al. Jul 2003 B1
6587874 Golla et al. Jul 2003 B1
6597918 Kim Jul 2003 B1
6611526 Chinnaswamy et al. Aug 2003 B1
6665713 Hada et al. Dec 2003 B1
6677852 Landt et al. Jan 2004 B1
6678827 Rothermel et al. Jan 2004 B1
6683881 Mijares et al. Jan 2004 B1
6718326 Uga et al. Apr 2004 B2
6745041 Allison et al. Jun 2004 B2
6772204 Hansen et al. Aug 2004 B1
6772211 Lu et al. Aug 2004 B2
6772223 Corl, Jr. et al. Aug 2004 B1
6785732 Bates et al. Aug 2004 B1
6792002 Tezuka et al. Sep 2004 B2
6810040 Lee et al. Oct 2004 B1
6816455 Goldberg et al. Nov 2004 B2
6843121 DeBar et al. Jan 2005 B1
6862270 Ho Mar 2005 B1
6868426 Mankoff Mar 2005 B1
6912213 Kim Jun 2005 B2
6931574 Coupal et al. Aug 2005 B1
6963282 Yeates et al. Nov 2005 B1
6965599 Sakurai et al. Nov 2005 B1
6995655 Ertin et al. Feb 2006 B2
6996842 Strahm et al. Feb 2006 B2
7002907 Chen et al. Feb 2006 B1
7032031 Jungck et al. Apr 2006 B2
7038573 Bann May 2006 B2
7054924 Harvey et al. May 2006 B1
7057511 Shanks et al. Jun 2006 B2
7058973 Sultan Jun 2006 B1
7064660 Perkins et al. Jun 2006 B2
7075412 Reynolds et al. Jul 2006 B1
7081819 Martinez de Velasco Cortina et al. Jul 2006 B2
7089586 Kilgore Aug 2006 B2
7103040 Aalbers et al. Sep 2006 B2
7103886 Haller et al. Sep 2006 B2
7111076 Abjanic et al. Sep 2006 B2
7111163 Haney Sep 2006 B1
7114008 Jungck et al. Sep 2006 B2
7120139 Kung et al. Oct 2006 B1
7126907 Carpini et al. Oct 2006 B2
7129837 Shannon et al. Oct 2006 B2
7134075 Hind et al. Nov 2006 B2
7149222 Wiryaman et al. Dec 2006 B2
7165722 Shafer et al. Jan 2007 B2
7177915 Kopchik Feb 2007 B2
7178729 Shaffer et al. Feb 2007 B2
7185365 Tang et al. Feb 2007 B2
7205897 Lin Apr 2007 B2
7213768 Patel et al. May 2007 B2
7215637 Ferguson et al. May 2007 B1
7215641 Bechtolsheim et al. May 2007 B1
7221660 Simonson et al. May 2007 B1
7239634 Chakravorty Jul 2007 B1
7242303 Patel et al. Jul 2007 B2
7245620 Shankar Jul 2007 B2
7249170 Tindal et al. Jul 2007 B2
7260115 DeFord Aug 2007 B1
7296268 Darling et al. Nov 2007 B2
7299361 Kim et al. Nov 2007 B1
7321556 Parekh et al. Jan 2008 B1
7322523 Howarth et al. Jan 2008 B2
7323988 Krstulich Jan 2008 B2
7325734 Howarth et al. Feb 2008 B2
7330908 Jungck Feb 2008 B2
7333001 Lane et al. Feb 2008 B2
7333479 Jalkanen et al. Feb 2008 B2
7336175 Howarth et al. Feb 2008 B2
7345585 Singhal et al. Mar 2008 B2
7362763 Wybenga et al. Apr 2008 B2
7363353 Ganesan et al. Apr 2008 B2
7376755 Pandya May 2008 B2
7394381 Hanson et al. Jul 2008 B2
7411501 Austin Aug 2008 B2
7411915 Spain et al. Aug 2008 B1
7415512 Moon Aug 2008 B1
7421695 Murray et al. Sep 2008 B2
7422152 Howarth et al. Sep 2008 B2
7437451 Tang et al. Oct 2008 B2
7446657 Shaffer et al. Nov 2008 B2
7568015 Wang et al. Jul 2009 B2
7590715 Raanan Sep 2009 B1
7593427 Wongsonegoro et al. Sep 2009 B1
7648070 Droms et al. Jan 2010 B2
7949355 Brown et al. May 2011 B2
8060623 Vogel et al. Nov 2011 B2
8113418 Howarth et al. Feb 2012 B2
20010012292 Merrill et al. Aug 2001 A1
20010028308 De La Huerga Oct 2001 A1
20010047422 McTernan et al. Nov 2001 A1
20020001307 Nguyen et al. Jan 2002 A1
20020014964 Okamura Feb 2002 A1
20020015485 Bhusri Feb 2002 A1
20020016739 Ogasawara Feb 2002 A1
20020046263 Camerini et al. Apr 2002 A1
20020069279 Romero et al. Jun 2002 A1
20020075805 Gupta et al. Jun 2002 A1
20020075843 Lau Jun 2002 A1
20020105911 Pruthi et al. Aug 2002 A1
20020107951 Teague et al. Aug 2002 A1
20020126672 Chow et al. Sep 2002 A1
20020136403 Henson et al. Sep 2002 A1
20020143981 DeLima et al. Oct 2002 A1
20020161868 Paul et al. Oct 2002 A1
20020161907 Moon Oct 2002 A1
20020163933 Benveniste Nov 2002 A1
20020165957 Devoe et al. Nov 2002 A1
20020191622 Zdan Dec 2002 A1
20020194342 Lu et al. Dec 2002 A1
20020194345 Lu et al. Dec 2002 A1
20020194350 Lu et al. Dec 2002 A1
20030005117 Kang et al. Jan 2003 A1
20030009571 Bavadekar Jan 2003 A1
20030014662 Gupta Jan 2003 A1
20030018726 Low et al. Jan 2003 A1
20030026268 Navas Feb 2003 A1
20030028599 Kolsky Feb 2003 A1
20030028616 Aoki et al. Feb 2003 A1
20030036897 Flores et al. Feb 2003 A1
20030046339 Ip Mar 2003 A1
20030046429 Sonksen Mar 2003 A1
20030055818 Faybishenko et al. Mar 2003 A1
20030065784 Herrod Apr 2003 A1
20030069975 Abjanic et al. Apr 2003 A1
20030078031 Masuda Apr 2003 A1
20030084279 Campagna May 2003 A1
20030093530 Syed May 2003 A1
20030095032 Hoshino et al. May 2003 A1
20030095569 Wengrovitz et al. May 2003 A1
20030105903 Garnett et al. Jun 2003 A1
20030112802 Ono et al. Jun 2003 A1
20030112809 Bharali et al. Jun 2003 A1
20030115448 Bouchard Jun 2003 A1
20030120384 Haitin et al. Jun 2003 A1
20030126248 Chambers Jul 2003 A1
20030140140 Lahtinen Jul 2003 A1
20030163539 Piccinelli Aug 2003 A1
20030163603 Fry et al. Aug 2003 A1
20030174714 Manik et al. Sep 2003 A1
20030177183 Cabrera et al. Sep 2003 A1
20030177374 Yung et al. Sep 2003 A1
20030188192 Tang et al. Oct 2003 A1
20030189935 Warden et al. Oct 2003 A1
20030202535 Foster et al. Oct 2003 A1
20030204626 Wheeler Oct 2003 A1
20030204719 Ben-Itzhak Oct 2003 A1
20030217171 Von Stuermer et al. Nov 2003 A1
20030217176 Beunngs Nov 2003 A1
20030226887 Komine et al. Dec 2003 A1
20030236883 Takeshima et al. Dec 2003 A1
20040001444 Sadot et al. Jan 2004 A1
20040006613 Lemieus et al. Jan 2004 A1
20040010594 Boyd et al. Jan 2004 A1
20040021569 Lepkofker et al. Feb 2004 A1
20040022250 Chen et al. Feb 2004 A1
20040022255 Chen et al. Feb 2004 A1
20040024868 Drummond Feb 2004 A1
20040032881 Arai Feb 2004 A1
20040039940 Cox et al. Feb 2004 A1
20040054886 Dickinson et al. Mar 2004 A1
20040061646 Andrews et al. Apr 2004 A1
20040064577 Dahlin et al. Apr 2004 A1
20040069852 Seppinen et al. Apr 2004 A1
20040073600 Elo et al. Apr 2004 A1
20040088460 Poisner May 2004 A1
20040088585 Kaler et al. May 2004 A1
20040100383 Chen et al. May 2004 A1
20040108795 Meek et al. Jun 2004 A1
20040121789 Lindsey Jun 2004 A1
20040128389 Kopchik Jul 2004 A1
20040133775 Callas et al. Jul 2004 A1
20040136371 Muralidhar et al. Jul 2004 A1
20040145474 Schmidtberg et al. Jul 2004 A1
20040162871 Pabla et al. Aug 2004 A1
20040167986 Gilfix et al. Aug 2004 A1
20040170182 Higashida et al. Sep 2004 A1
20040205336 Kessler et al. Oct 2004 A1
20040205770 Zhang et al. Oct 2004 A1
20040221319 Zenoni Nov 2004 A1
20040257202 Coughlin et al. Dec 2004 A1
20040259557 Bey Dec 2004 A1
20040267920 Hydrie et al. Dec 2004 A1
20040267933 Przybylski et al. Dec 2004 A1
20050005031 Gordy et al. Jan 2005 A1
20050015619 Lee Jan 2005 A1
20050021626 Prajapat et al. Jan 2005 A1
20050021836 Reed et al. Jan 2005 A1
20050025091 Patel et al. Feb 2005 A1
20050027778 Dimitrelis et al. Feb 2005 A1
20050041670 Lin et al. Feb 2005 A1
20050050362 Peles Mar 2005 A1
20050054346 Windham et al. Mar 2005 A1
20050060208 Gianantoni Mar 2005 A1
20050063377 Bryant et al. Mar 2005 A1
20050071508 Brown et al. Mar 2005 A1
20050076332 Jawaharlal et al. Apr 2005 A1
20050080881 Voorhees et al. Apr 2005 A1
20050080914 Lerner et al. Apr 2005 A1
20050093679 Zai et al. May 2005 A1
20050094611 Cheong et al. May 2005 A1
20050099270 Diorio et al. May 2005 A1
20050102393 Murray et al. May 2005 A1
20050102406 Moon May 2005 A1
20050114394 Kaipa et al. May 2005 A1
20050117576 McDysan et al. Jun 2005 A1
20050165828 Lango et al. Jul 2005 A1
20050169171 Cheng et al. Aug 2005 A1
20050188103 Chen Aug 2005 A1
20050199716 Shafer et al. Sep 2005 A1
20050209947 Shafer Sep 2005 A1
20050213591 Nakazawa et al. Sep 2005 A1
20050216727 Chattopadhyay et al. Sep 2005 A1
20050228893 Devarapalli et al. Oct 2005 A1
20050229243 Svendsen et al. Oct 2005 A1
20050252957 Howarth et al. Nov 2005 A1
20050252970 Howarth et al. Nov 2005 A1
20050252971 Howarth et al. Nov 2005 A1
20050253717 Howarth et al. Nov 2005 A1
20050253718 Droms et al. Nov 2005 A1
20050253722 Droms et al. Nov 2005 A1
20050286461 Zhang et al. Dec 2005 A1
20060005035 Coughlin Jan 2006 A1
20060010086 Klein Jan 2006 A1
20060021010 Atkins et al. Jan 2006 A1
20060022801 Husak et al. Feb 2006 A1
20060031374 Lu et al. Feb 2006 A1
20060033606 Howarth et al. Feb 2006 A1
20060044111 Kollar et al. Mar 2006 A1
20060047464 Kumar et al. Mar 2006 A1
20060053234 Kumar et al. Mar 2006 A1
20060071790 Duron et al. Apr 2006 A1
20060091999 Howarth May 2006 A1
20060098662 Gupta et al. May 2006 A1
20060106941 Singhal et al. May 2006 A1
20060123226 Kumar et al. Jun 2006 A1
20060123425 Ramarao et al. Jun 2006 A1
20060123467 Kumar et al. Jun 2006 A1
20060123477 Raghavan et al. Jun 2006 A1
20060123479 Kumar et al. Jun 2006 A1
20060129650 Ho et al. Jun 2006 A1
20060129689 Ho et al. Jun 2006 A1
20060132304 Cabell Jun 2006 A1
20060143318 Prajapat et al. Jun 2006 A1
20060146879 Anthias et al. Jul 2006 A1
20060155862 Kathi et al. Jul 2006 A1
20060155969 Yoda et al. Jul 2006 A1
20060167975 Chan et al. Jul 2006 A1
20060168334 Potti et al. Jul 2006 A1
20060192001 Shaffer et al. Aug 2006 A1
20060208063 Patel et al. Sep 2006 A1
20060208885 Lin Sep 2006 A1
20060208888 Patel et al. Sep 2006 A1
20060208889 Shaffer et al. Sep 2006 A1
20060236062 Boss et al. Oct 2006 A1
20060248225 Batz et al. Nov 2006 A1
20060249010 John et al. Nov 2006 A1
20060253590 Nagy et al. Nov 2006 A1
20060256768 Chan Nov 2006 A1
20060259183 Hayes et al. Nov 2006 A1
20060262721 Radunovic et al. Nov 2006 A1
20060266832 Howarth et al. Nov 2006 A1
20060279412 Holland et al. Dec 2006 A1
20060280181 Brailas et al. Dec 2006 A1
20070013518 Howarth Jan 2007 A1
20070027966 Singhal et al. Feb 2007 A1
20070055864 Tock et al. Mar 2007 A1
20070058634 Gupta et al. Mar 2007 A1
20070080784 Kim et al. Apr 2007 A1
20070109100 Jett et al. May 2007 A1
20070112574 Greene May 2007 A1
20070229274 Patel et al. Oct 2007 A1
20070258048 Pitchers Nov 2007 A1
20070283001 Spiess et al. Dec 2007 A1
20080052757 Gulati et al. Feb 2008 A1
20080087730 Howarth et al. Apr 2008 A1
20080104209 Singhal et al. May 2008 A1
20080136599 Sugano et al. Jun 2008 A1
20080186136 Raphaeli et al. Aug 2008 A1
20080197980 Howarth et al. Aug 2008 A1
20090049191 Tolliver Feb 2009 A1
20100094945 Chan et al. Apr 2010 A1
20110004781 Howarth Jan 2011 A1
Foreign Referenced Citations (22)
Number Date Country
01217804 Jun 2002 EP
1355448 Oct 2003 EP
1376456 Jan 2004 EP
2365662 Feb 2002 GB
WO98-26530 Jun 1998 WO
WO02-27507 Apr 2002 WO
WO 03021465 Mar 2003 WO
WO2004-012424 Feb 2004 WO
WO2005-114604 May 2005 WO
WO2005-060208 Jun 2005 WO
WO2005-114545 Dec 2005 WO
WO2005-114602 Dec 2005 WO
WO2005-114603 Dec 2005 WO
WO2006-073804 Dec 2005 WO
WO2006-055406 May 2006 WO
WO2006-057852 Jun 2006 WO
WO2006-062814 Jun 2006 WO
WO2006-063002 Jun 2006 WO
WO2006-073740 Jul 2006 WO
WO2007-011591 Jul 2006 WO
WO2007-002334 Jan 2007 WO
WO2008-016488 Feb 2008 WO
Non-Patent Literature Citations (245)
Entry
R. Proms, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, http://www.ietf.org/rfc/.
Bucknell University, Mar. 1997 (RFC 2131), printed Mar. 24, 2005, 43 pages.
S. Alexander et al., DHCP Options and BOOTP Vendor Extensions, http://www.ietf.org/rfc/, Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mar. 1997 (RFC 2132), printed Mar. 24, 2005, 32 pages.
G. Stump et al., The User Class Option for DHCP, http://www.ietf.org/rfc/, IBM, Nov. 2000 (RFC 3004), printed Mar. 24, 2005, 6 pages.
M. Patrick, DHCP Relay Agent Information Option, http://www.ietf.org/rfc/, Motorola BCS, Jan. 2001 (RFC 3046), printed Mar. 24, 2005, 14 pages.
EPCgl, Frequently Asked Questions, http://www.epcglobalinc.com/about/faqs.html, printed Mar. 24, 2005, 9 pages.
M. Johnston, DHCP Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) Options draft-ietf-dhc-pxe-options-01.txt, Dynamic Host Configuration Working Group, Intel Corporation, Jan. 21, 2005, 7 pages.
R. Johnson, TFTP Server Address DHCP Option draft-raj-dhc-tftp-addr-option-00.txt, Network Working Group, Cisco Systems, Inc., Feb. 6, 2005, 7 pages.
J. Littlefield, Vendor-Identifying Vendor Options for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol version 4 (DPHCPv4), Network Working Group, Request for Comments: 3925, Category: Standards Track, Cisco Systems, Inc., Oct. 2004, 9 pages.
“EPCTM Tag Data Standards Version 1.1 Rev.1.24”, EPCglobal, Standard Specification, Apr. 1, 2004, 78 pages.
“The Global Language of Business”, Retrieved from the internet: http://www.ean-int.org/locations.html, [Retrieved Mar. 24, 2005], 5 pages.
“Cisco Application-Oriented Networking: A Network-Based Intelligent Message Routing System”, http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6438/products—data—sheet0900aecd802c1f9c.html Data Sheet, Cisco System, Inc., Jul. 13, 2005, pp. 1-7.
“Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Application-Oriented Networking Module”, http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6438/products—data—sheet0900aeed802c1fe9.html Data Sheet, Cisco Systems, Inc. Jul. 13, 2005, pp. 1-3.
“Cisco Application-Oriented Networking—A Network Embedded Intelligent Message Routing System”, http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6438/prod—bulletin0900aeed802c201b.html Product Bulletin No. 2886, Cisco Systems, Inc. Jul. 13, 2005, pp. 1-3.
“Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Application-Oriented Networking Module: Large Photo”, Photo, Retrieved from the internet: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6448/prod—view—selector.html [Retrieved Jul. 13, 2005], Cisco Systems, Inc. 1 page.
“The EPCglobal Architecture Framework” EPCglobal Final Version of Jul. 1, 2005, pp. 1-53.
Marc Girardot and Neel Sundaresan. “Millau: an encoding format for efficient representation and exchange of XML over the web” [Retrieved Jan. 31, 2005]. Retrieved from the internet: http://www9.org/w9cdrom/154/154.htm 25 pages.
Fujitsu Limited, et al., “Web Services Reliability (WS-Reliability) Ver1.0”, Jan. 8, 2003. pp. 1-45.
Ruslan Bilorusets et al., “Web Services Reliable Messaging Protocol (WS-ReliableMessaging)”, Mar. 2004, pp. 1-40.
International Search Report dated Feb. 17, 2006, from related International Application No. PCT/US05/15322, 5 pp. including Notification of Transmittal.
Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority dated Feb. 17, 2006, from related International Application No. PCT/US05/15322, 3 pp.
Lonvick, C., The BSD Syslog Protocol, RFC 3164, Aug. 2001, 28 pages.
Schulzrinne, H., Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCPv4 and DHCPv6) Option for Civic Addresses Configuration Information, draft-ietf-geopriv-dhcp-civil-05, Internet-Draft, Feb. 19, 2004.
Polk, J., et al., Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Option for Coordinate-based Location Configuration Information, RFC 3825, Jul. 2004, 15 pages.
AeroScout Visibility System: Bridging the Gap Between Wi-Fi, Active RFID and Telemetry, AeroScout Enterprise Visibility Solutions, http://www.aeroscout.com/content.asp?page=SystemOverview, printed Apr. 16, 2005, 3 pages.
WhereNet, Products, http://wherenet.com/products—main.html, printed Apr. 16, 2005, 2 pages.
Simple Network Management Protocol, Internetworking Technologies Handbook, Chapter-56, printed Jul. 14, 2005, 12 pages.
International Search Report dated Oct. 13, 2005, from (related) International Application No. PCT/US05/16484, 6 pp. including Notification of Transmittal.
Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority dated Oct. 13, 2005, from (related) International Application No. PCT/US05/16484, 5 pp.
Harrington, D., et al, An Architecture for DescribingSimple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Management Frameworks, RFC 3411, Dec. 2002, 64 pp.
Presuhn, R., Editor, Version 2 of the Protocol Operations for the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), RFC 3416, Dec. 2002, 31 pages.
Global Location Number (GLN) Implementation Guide, Uniform Code Council, Inc., May 2002, 13 pages.
Mockapetris, P., “Domain Names—Concepts and Facilities”, RFC 1034, Nov. 1987, 43 pages.
Mockapetris, P., “Domain Names—Implementation and Specification”, RFC 1035, 55 pages.
International Search Report dated Jul. 13, 2006, from (related) International Application No. PCT/US05/16319, 5 pp. including Notification of Transmittal.
Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority dated Jul. 13, 2006, from (related) International Application No. PCT/US05/16319, 5 pp.
US Office Action mailed Aug. 9, 2006 from (related) U.S. Appl. No. 10/866,507.
US Office Action mailed Oct. 6, 2006 from (related) U.S. Appl. No. 10/866,506.
US Office Action mailed Oct. 6, 2006 from (related) U.S. Appl. No. 10/866,285.
US Office Action mailed Nov. 13, 2006 from (related)U.S. Appl. No. 11/073,245, 12 pp.
US Office Action mailed Jan. 18, 2007 from (related) U.S. Appl. No. 10/866,507, 4 pp.
US Office Action mailed Mar. 22, 2007 from (related) U.S. Appl. No. 10/866,506.
US Office Action mailed Apr. 4, 2007 from (related) U.S. Appl. No. 10/866,285.
US Office Action mailed Jun. 18, 2007 from (related) U.S. Appl. No. 11/010,089.
International Searching Authority, “Notification of Transmittal of the International Search Report and the Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, or the Declaration,” PCT/US05/43599, dated Feb. 28, 2007, 8 pages.
Current Claims, PCT/US05/43599, 8 pages.
International Searching Authority, “Notification of Transmittal of the International Search Report and the Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, or the Declaration,” PCT/US05/41254, dated Mar. 28, 2007, 7 pages.
Current Claims, PCT/US05/41254, 12 pages.
International Searching Authority, “Notification of Transmittal of the International Search Report and the Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, or the Declaration,” PCT/US05/44171, dated Nov. 30, 2006, 7 pages.
Current Claims, PCT/US05/44171, 12 pages.
International Searching Authority, “Notification of Transmittal of the International Search Report and the Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, or the Declaration,” PCT/US2006/024375, dated Oct. 17, 2006, 10 pages.
Current Claims, PCT/US2006/024375, 5 pages.
OA U.S. Appl. No. 11/007,421, filed Dec. 7, 2004 Mailed on Oct. 16, 2006.
OA U.S. Appl. No. 10/991,792, filed Nov. 17, 2004 Mailed on Oct. 20, 2006.
International Searching Authority, “Notification of Transmittal of the International Search Report and the Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, or the Declaration,” PCT/US05/45625, dated Oct. 20, 2006, 7 pages.
Current Claims PCT/US05/45625, 8 pages.
International Searching Authority, “Notification of Transmittal of the International Search Report and the Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, or the Declaration,” PCT/US05/40861, dated Nov. 17, 2006, 7 pages.
Current Claims PCT/US05/40861, 5 pages.
Decasper, Dan et al., “Router Plugins: A Software Architecture for Next Generation Routers,” IEEE ACM Transactions on Networking, vol. 9, No. 1, Feb. 2000, XP011038838, 14 pages.
U.S. Office Action mailed Jun. 26, 2007 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/195,160.
Notice of Allowance and Notice of Allowability, mailed Sep. 10, 2007 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/866,506.
Notice of Allowance and Notice of Allowability, mailed Sep. 28, 2007 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/866,507.
Notice of Allowance and Notice of Allowability, mailed Sep. 10, 2007 from U.S. Appl. No. 10/866,285.
Notice of Allowance and Notice of Allowability, mailed Oct. 11, 2007 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/010,089.
Notice of Allowance and Notice of Allowability, mailed Sept 19, 2007 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/195,160.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/896,410, System and Method for Automatically Configuring Switch Ports With Appropriate Features, Spain et al., filed Jul. 21, 2004.
U.S. Appl. No. 11/965,693, Network Based Device for Providing RFID Middleware Functionality, Singhal et al., filed Dec. 27, 2007.
Office Action (Restriction Requirement) mailed Apr. 1, 2008 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/119,169.
Notice of Allowance mailed Mar. 26, 2008 for U.S. Appl. No. 11/129,709.
International Searching Authority, “Notification of Transmittal of the International Search Report and the Written Opinion ofthe International Searching Authority, or the Declaration,” PCT/US05/16958, dated Sep. 12, 2007.
Second Notice of Allowance and Notice of Allowability, mailed Jan. 11, 2008 for U.S. Appl. No. 10/010,089.
Supplemental Notice of Allowance and Notice of Allowability, mailed Oct. 22, 2007 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/195,160.
Notice of Allowance amd Notice of Allowability, mailed Mar. 12, 2007, from U.S. Appl. No. Nov. 11/073,245.
US Office Action mailed Mar. 3, 2008, for U.S. Appl. No. 11/809,139.
First Office Action from the Chinese Patent Application No. 200580015167.4 issued on Feb. 29, 2008.
First Office Action from the Chinese Patent Application No. 200580015169.3 issued on Feb. 29, 2008.
First Office Action from the Chinese Patent Application No. 200580015168.9 issued on Feb. 29, 2008.
Office Action from Canadian Patent Application No. 2,565,099 issued Feb. 4, 2008.
Office Action from Canadian Patent Application No. 2,565,456 issued on Feb. 1, 2008.
International Preliminary Report on Patentability mailed Nov. 23, 2006, Application No. PCT/US2005/016484.
International Preliminary Report on Patentability mailed Nov. 23, 2006, Application No. PCT/US2005/015322.
International Preliminary Report on Patentability mailed Nov. 23, 2006, Application No. PCT/US2005/016319.
International Preliminary Report on Patentability mailed Oct. 11, 2007, Application No. PCT/US2005/016958.
Notice of Allowance and Allowability, mailed Aug. 8, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/129,709.
US Office Action (Restriction Requirement) mailed Jul. 28, 2008, for U.S. Appl. No. 11/182,312.
International Searching Authority, “Notification of Transmittal of the International Search Report and the Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, or the Declaration,” PCT/US07/16321, dated May 19, 2008, 11 pages.
International Searching Authority, “Notification of Transmittal of the International Search Report and the Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, or the Declaration,” PCT/US06/, dated Mar. 6, 2008, 14 pages.
U.S. Appl. No. 12/082,635, Methods and Devices for Providing Scalable Rfid Networks, Howarth et al., filed Apr. 11, 2008.
International Searching Authority, Notification of Tranmittal of the International Search Report and the Written Opinion on the International Searching Authority, or the Declaration, International application No. PCT/US05/46149, dated Jul. 20, 2007, 9 pages.
Claims, International application No. PCT/US05/46149, 10 pages.
Office Action mailed Aug. 6, 2008 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/119,169.
Office Action mailed Aug. 13, 2008 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/954,721.
Second Office Action from the Chinese Patent Application No. 200580015168.9 issued Aug. 15, 2008.
Notice of Allowance and Allowability, mailed Nov. 10, 2008, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/129,709.
Second Office Action from the Chinese Patent Application No. 200580015167.4 issued Aug. 15, 2008.
Second Office Action from the Chinese Patent Application No. 200580015169.3 issued Aug. 15, 2008.
Office Action from the Canadian Patent Application No. 2,565,099 issued Nov. 17, 2008.
Office Action mailed Nov. 26, 2008 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/182,312.
1st Office Action mailed Aug. 25, 2008 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/089,794.
1st Office Action mailed Nov. 4, 2008 from U.S. Appl. No. 11/090,920.
P. Mockapetris, “Domain Names—Implementation and Specification”, RFC 1035, Nov. 1987, 55 pages.
Claims, International application No. PCT/US05/46149, filed Dec. 15, 2005, 10 pages.
Current Claims, PCT/US05/43599, filed Dec. 2, 2005, 8 pages.
Current Claims, PCT/US05/41254, filed Nov. 15, 2005, 12 pages.
Current Claims, PCT/US05/44171, filed Dec. 5, 2005, 12 pages.
Current Claims, PCT/US2006/024375, filed Jun. 21, 2006, 5 pages.
Current Claims PCT/US05/45625, filed Dec. 15, 2005, 9 pages.
Current Claims PCT/US05/40861, filed Nov. 10, 2005, 5 pages.
Burns, Michael, et al., “Implementing Address Assurance in the Intel IXP Router”, Western Network Processors Conference, Oct. 2002, 17 pages.
First Chinese Office Action, mailed Jun. 27, 2008 for CN Application No. 200580031604.01, 15 pages.
Claims, CN Application No. 200580031604.01, dated —, 6 pages.
Abbott, et al., “Alternatives for Providing Routing and Location Information to Support Emergency Calling from IP Enterprises”, NENA Technical Information Document; Oct. 3, 2003, XP002323684, 16 pgs.
Burns, et al., “Implementing Address Assurance in the Intel IxP Router”, Western Network Processors Conference, Oct. 2002, 17 pgs.
Chiu, et al., “Investigating the Limits of SOAP Performance for Scientific Computing,” Nov. 7, 2002, IEEE Computer Society, 8 pgs.
EPCglobal EPCTM Generation 1 Tag Data Standards Version 1.1 Rev. 1.27; http://www.epcglobalinc.org/standards/tds/tds—I—Irev—I—27-standard-2005051.pdf; 87 pgs (submitted in 3 parts).
Kanellos, “Newsmaker: Making sense of sensors,” CNET News.com: news.com.com/Making+sense+of+sensors/2008-1082—3-5829415.html, Published: Aug. 12, 2005.
Mohl, “IEEE 1588: Running Real-Time on Ethernet; Getting the Right web server-Time to consider Ethernet for I/O,” retrieved from Internet at <http://ethernet.industrial-networking.com/articles/i17 real-time.asp>; downloaded on Mar. 10, 2004.
Montague, (2003) “Ethernet Hits Real-Time . . . Really,” Control Engineering, Dec. 1, 2003, copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.; retrieved from Internet at <http://www.manufacturing.net/ctl/iindex.asp?dlayout=articlePrint&- articleID=CA339683>; downloaded on Mar. 1, 2004.
RFC-2236 Internet Group Management Protocol, v.1, Nov. 1997, retrieved from the Internet on Oct. 22, 2007 and Aug. 5, 2010 at http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2236.html, 19 pgs.
Schulzrinne, “Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCPv4 and DHCPv6) Option for Civic Addresses Configuration Information,” draft-ietf-geopriv-dhcp-civil-05, Internet-Draft, Feb. 19, 2004.
Australian Examination Report dated Apr. 17, 2009, from AU Appl. No. 2005246794.
Canadian Examination Report dated Oct. 14, 2010, from CA Appl. No. 2565099.
Chinese Office Action (second) dated Aug. 15, 2008, from Appl. No. CN200580015167.4.
Chinese Office Action (second) dated Aug. 15, 2008, from Appl. No. CN200580015169.3.
Chinese Office Action (second) dated Aug. 15, 2008, from Appl. No. CN200580015168.9.
Chinese Office Action dated Oct. 23, 2009, from Appl. No. CN200580015166.X.
EP Supplementary European Search Report dated Aug. 9, 2010, in Appl. No. EP05750091.0.
EP Office Action dated Oct. 8, 2010, in Appl. No. EP05750091.0.
EP Supplementary European Search Report dated Aug. 6, 2010, in Appl. No. EP05743006.8.
EP Office Action dated Oct. 18, 2010, in Appl. No. EP05743006.8.
EP Supplementary European Search Report dated Aug. 6, 2010, in Appl. No. EP05747434.8.
EP Office Action dated Oct. 26, 2010, in Appl. No. EP05747434.8.
EP Supplementary European Search Report dated Aug. 6, 2010, in Appl. No. EP05753531.2.
EP Office Action dated Oct. 8, 2010, in Appl. No. EP05753531.2.
PCT International Preliminary Examination Report mailed on Nov. 23, 2006, from PCT/US2005/016484.
PCT International Preliminary Report on Patentability mailed on Nov. 23, 2006, from PCT/US2005/015322.
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion mailed on Mar. 6, 2008, from PCT/US2006/026970.
US Office Action dated Aug. 13, 2008, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/954,721.
US Notice of Allowance dated Feb. 11, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/954,721.
US Notice of Allowance dated Jun. 1, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/954,721.
US Notice of Allowance dated Sep. 22, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/954,721.
US Office Action dated Jul. 31, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 10/891,238.
US Office Action Final dated Feb. 4, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 10/891,238.
US Office Action dated Jun. 10, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 10/891,238.
US Office Action dated Nov. 17, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 10/891,238.
US Office Action dated Mar. 31, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/304,944.
US Final Office Action dated Oct. 30, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/304,944.
US Office Action dated Apr. 14, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/304,944.
US Office Action dated Oct. 28, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/304,944.
US Non-Final Office Action dated Oct. 26, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 12/082,635.
US Office Action dated Aug. 4, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/496,779.
US Office Action Final dated Jan. 26, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/496,779.
US Non-Final Office Action dated Nov. 22, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/496,779.
US Notice of Allowance dated Feb. 11, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/119,169.
US Notice of Allowance dated Jun. 4, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/119,169.
US Notice of Allowance dated Dec. 15, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/119,169.
US Notice of Allowance dated Apr. 19, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/119,169.
US Notice of Allowance dated Nov. 10, 2008, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/129,709.
US Notice of Allowance dated Apr. 13, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/129,709.
US Notice of Allowance dated Aug. 31, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/129,709.
US Office Action dated Nov. 26, 2008, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/182,312.
US Office Action dated Jun. 10, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/182,312.
US Office Notice of Allowance dated May 11, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/182,312.
US Office Notice of Allowance dated Sep. 1, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/182,312.
US Examiners Amendment dated Nov. 7, 2007, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/195,160.
US Office Action dated Jun. 1, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/965,693.
US Office Final Action dated Nov. 2, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/965,693.
US Office Action dated Apr. 28, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/965,693.
US Office Action dated Nov. 16, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/965,693.
US Office Action dated Oct. 2, 2009, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/346,739.
US Office Action Final dated Apr. 14, 2010, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/346,739.
US Office Action dated May 24, 2010 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/005,978 [Palermo].
US Office Action Final dated Dec. 28, 2009 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/005,978 [Palermo].
US Office Action dated Jun. 15, 2009 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/005,978 [Palermo].
US Office Action Final dated Aug. 2, 2010 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/089,794 [Palermo].
US Office Action Final dated Jan. 5, 2010 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/089,794 [Palermo].
US Office Action dated Jun. 24, 2009 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/089,794 [Palermo].
US Office Action Final dated Feb. 3, 2009 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/089,794 [Palermo].
US Office Action dated Mar. 2, 2010 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/090,920 [Palermo].
US Office Action dated Aug. 14, 2009 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/090,920 [Palermo].
US Office Action Final dated Apr. 23, 2009 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/090,920 [Palermo].
US Office Action dated Nov. 4, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/090,920 [Palermo].
US Notice of Allowance and Examiner Amendment dated Mar. 27, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 10/896,410.
US Office Action dated Oct. 10, 2007 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 10/896,410.
US Office Action dated Aug. 27, 2010 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/090,920 [Palermo].
US Office Action dated Apr. 15, 2011, from U.S. Appl. No. 10/891,238.
US Office Action dated Feb. 7, 2011, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/304,944.
US Final Office Action dated Jul. 20, 2011, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/304,944.
US Office Action dated Jun. 18, 2007, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/010,089.
US Non-Final Office Action dated Apr. 4, 2011, from U.S. Appl. No. 12/082,635.
US Non-Final Office Action dated May 12, 2011, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/496,779.
Crocker et al., “MIME Object Security Services” 1995.
De, et al.,., “An Ubiquitous Achitectural Framework and Protocol for Object Tracking using RFID tTgs,” 2004.
Decasper, et al., “Router Plugins: A Software Architecture for Next Generation Routers,” IEEE ACM Tranactions on Networking, vol. 9, No. 1, Feb. 2000, xP011038838, 14 pages.
Gildea et al., “Embedded Systems in a Mobile Distribution IP Network” 2003, p. 92-99.
Gildea et al., Convergence Technologies for Sensor Systems in the Next Generation Networks (NGN), 2007.
Grand, et al., “MIME Overview” 1993.
O'Donnell et al., “On Achieving Software Diversity for Improved Network Security using Distributed Coloring Algorithms” 2004.
Salem et al., “An Interoperability Framework for Sensor and UMTs Networks,” Mar. 2007.
Sommer, “Bro: An Open Source Network Intrusion Detection System” 2003.
US Final Office Action dated Sep. 29, 2011, from U.S. Appl. No. 10/891,238.
US Non-Final Office Action dated Sep. 29, 2011, from U.S. Appl. No. 12/082,635.
US Final Office Action dated Mar. 14, 2012, from U.S. Appl. No. 12/082,635.
US Notice fo Allowance dated Oct. 11, 2011, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/496,779.
U.S. Notice of Allowance dated Apr. 13, 2012 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/874,773.
US Office Action dated May 23, 2012, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/965,693.
US Office Action dated Dec. 6, 2012, from U.S. Appl. No. 11/965,693.
US Office Action dated Oct. 16, 2006 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/007,421.
US Office Action dated Oct. 20, 2006 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 10/991,792.
US Office Action dated Aug. 7, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 10/991,792.
US Notice of Allowance dated Oct. 10, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 10/991,792.
US Office Action dated Jan. 23, 2009 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/031,184.
US Office action Final dated Aug. 7, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/031,184.
US Office Action dated Mar. 17, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/031,184.
US Notice of Allowance dated Feb. 2, 2009 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/031,106.
US Office Action Final dated Aug. 22, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/031,106.
US Office Action dated Apr. 30, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/031,106.
US Notice of Allowance dated Feb. 5, 2009 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/009,127.
US Office Action dated Apr. 18, 2008 issued on U.S. Appl. No. 11/009,127.
US Office Action dated Feb. 3, 2009 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/472,796.
US Office Action dated Feb. 12, 2009 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/472,807.
US Office Action dated Feb. 3, 2009 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/455,011.
US Office Action dated Nov. 13, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/007,152.
US Office Action Final dated Jul. 3, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/007,152.
US Office Action dated Feb. 5, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/007,152.
US Office Action dated Oct. 7, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/009,270.
US Office Action dated Dec. 5, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/007,421.
US Office Action dated Aug. 14, 2008 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/007,421.
US Office Action dated Aug. 2, 2007 issued in U.S. Appl. No. 11/007,421.
Chinese Office Action (first) dated Dec. 19, 2008 issued in CN20058005932.7, 8 pgs.
Chinese Office Action (first) dated Jul. 27, 2008 issued in CN200580031604.01, 15 pgs.
European Search Report dated Feb. 6, 2009 issued in EP05820894, 8 pgs.
European Office Action dated May 28, 2009 issued in EP05820894.
PCT International Search Report dated Jun. 13, 2007 issued in WO2006062814.
PCT International Preliminary Examination Report dated Jun. 13, 2006 issued in WO2006062814.
PCT Written Opinion dated Jun. 13, 2007 issued in WO2006062814.
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Jul. 20, 2007 issued in WO2006073804.
PCT International Search Report dated Nov. 8, 2005 issued in WO2005-114545.
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Mar. 28, 2007 issued in WO2006-057852.
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Nov. 30, 2006 issued in WO2006-063002.
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Oct. 17, 2006 issued in WO2007-002334.
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Oct. 20, 2006 issued in WO2006-073740.
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Nov. 17, 2006 issued in WO2006-055406.
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Feb. 28, 2007 issued in WO2006-062814.
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Jul. 20, 2007 issued in PCT/US2005/46149.
Related Publications (1)
Number Date Country
20120036243 A1 Feb 2012 US
Provisional Applications (1)
Number Date Country
60570999 May 2004 US
Continuations (1)
Number Date Country
Parent 11104140 Apr 2005 US
Child 13246642 US