System and method for remotely generating, assigning and updating network adapter card in a computing system
US6363423B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 26, 1999 |
| Grant date | Mar 26, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 26, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2101/622
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method for retrieving and assigning a unique media access control (MAC) address to a network adapter card in a computer system that uses the network adapter card to connect to a data network. The computer system includes a communications application for invoking a network connection to a remote server. The remote server includes a MAC address list that stores MAC addresses that have been assigned to network adapter cards according to serial numbers. The remote server includes a web page that requests the user to enter a serial number. The remote server uses the serial number to search for a MAC address in the MAC address list. When the remote server finds the serial number, it stores the corresponding MAC address in a file and sends the file name to the user. The user then requests the remote server to download the file by file name, or by FTP URL. The computer system receives the file and an update program reads the MAC address from the file and sends the MAC address to the network adapter card. The network adapter card then stores the MAC address in non-volatile memory.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.