Generating globally unique device identification
First Claim
1. A method for maintaining device identity for a particular device in a network comprising one or more devices, comprising:
- gathering identification data comprising hardware component data from one of said particular device;
comparing said gathered identification data to data stored in a repository, the repository having at least one record therein, each record being associated with one of said devices, and each record comprising a unique device identification for said associated device and stored identification data from said associated device, the comparison being performed to determine if a record from among said at least one record matching said particular device is found; and
if a matching record is found, updating said stored identification data in said matching record using said gathered identification data.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A globally unique device identification is created. Initially, for a device, polling is performed for information regarding certain hardware components, such as hard disks, network cards, sound cards, video cards, etc. A device identifier is assigned to the device, which in one embodiment, is based on the hardware component information. The device identifier and the current information regarding the hardware components of the system are stored in a repository. Periodically, a new poll is performed of the hardware components of the system, and the current hardware component information in the repository is updated. A device is identified by the identity or similarity of the hardware component information read from the device with the stored current hardware component information.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for maintaining device identity for a particular device in a network comprising one or more devices, comprising:
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gathering identification data comprising hardware component data from one of said particular device;
comparing said gathered identification data to data stored in a repository, the repository having at least one record therein, each record being associated with one of said devices, and each record comprising a unique device identification for said associated device and stored identification data from said associated device, the comparison being performed to determine if a record from among said at least one record matching said particular device is found; and
if a matching record is found, updating said stored identification data in said matching record using said gathered identification data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for determining an identity of a particular device, where a repository comprises at least one record, where each record comprises a unique device identification for an associated device and stored identification data from said associated device, said method comprising:
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gathering identification data comprising hardware component data from one of said particular device;
comparing said gathered identification data to data stored in a repository, to determine if a record from among said at least one record matching said particular device is found; and
if a matching record from among said at least one record is found, associating said unique device identification from said matching record with said particular device. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for maintaining device identities for at least one device, comprising:
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a repository for storing at least one record, where each record is associated with one of said at least one devices, and where each record comprises a unique device identification for said associated device and stored identification data from said associated device;
a gatherer for gathering identification data comprising hardware component data from a particular device from among said devices;
a comparator for comparing said gathered identification data to data stored in said repository to determine if a record from among said at least one record matching said particular device is found; and
an updater, for, if a matching record from among said at least one record is found, updating said stored identification data in said matching record using said gathered identification data. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A system for determining the identity of a specific device with a record stored in a repository, comprising
a repository for storing at least one record, where each record is associated with a device from among a network comprising at least one devices, and where each record comprises a unique device identification for said associated device and stored identification data from said associated device; -
a gatherer for gathering identification data comprising hardware component data from a particular device from among said devices;
a comparator for comparing said gathered identification data to data stored in said repository to determine if a matching record from among said at least one record is found; and
an identity responder, for returning said unique device identification from said matching record as the identity of said device if a matching record from among at least one record has been found. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification