Naming convention for different types of device, and apparatus and methods using the naming convention

• US 6,754,321 B1
• Filed: 07/06/2000
• Issued: 06/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Innes, Brian, Wright, Steven P
• Primary Examiner(s): BUI, BING Q
• Application Number:
  US09/611,127
• Time in Patent Office: 1,447 Days
• Field of Search: 379/88.13, 379/100.15, 379/201.03, 704/275, 709/245, 709/229, 709/223, 709/230, 709/231, 709/232, 707/103.R
• US Class Current: 379/201.03
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/10 of different types
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/35 involving non-standard use of addresses for implementing network functionalities, e.g. coding subscription information within the address or functional addressing, i.e. assigning an address to a function
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/45 Network directories; Name-to-address mapping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/50 Address allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure

Abstract

Provided are methods, apparatus, and computer programs for self-generating device names for communications devices using processes running on the device. The device names are then used to enable the devices to be identified during network communications. This avoids the configuration overhead inherent in requiring unique device names to be allocated by a central naming authority. Uniqueness of device names is achieved by a class-based naming convention in which class names are associated with device types and unique device identifiers are allocated for devices within a class. The device identifiers of one class may have a very different format from device identifiers in other classes, and processes are provided for interpreting the different formats of device identifier to identify individual devices.

Claims

1. A method for routing communications to devices within a communications network, the method including the following steps for resolving a device name to identify a device within the network:

identifying a class name within a device name and resolving the class name to identify a device class, thereby to identify a process for interpreting device identifiers which have a particular format associated with the device class;

identifying a device identifier within the device name, which device identifier corresponds to the device identifier format of the identified device class, and interpreting the device identifier using the identified interpreter process to identify an individual device within the class.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of interpreting a device identifier includes initiating a communication process using the device identifier to send a communication to the identified individual device.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the device name resolution steps are performed at a network-connected data processing system in response to receipt by the network-connected data processing system of a communication addressed to a target device, and wherein the initiated communications process sends the communication from the network-connected data processing system to the identified device.

4. A method according to claim 2, wherein the step of initiating a communication process comprises transferring the communication to a queue at the network-connected data processing apparatus which queue is serviced by the identified device.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the device name resolution steps are performed by a name resolution service running on a network-connected data processing system, the name resolution service being initiated in response to requests from any of a plurality of network-connected data processing systems.

6. A program product, comprising program code recorded on a machine-readable recording medium, the program code controlling the operation of a data processing apparatus on which it is run to perform a method according to claim 1.

7. An apparatus for routing communications to devices within a communications network, wherein devices within the network are identifiable by a device name, the apparatus including:

means for receiving a communication including a target device name;

program code for analysing the device name to identify a class name within the device name and for resolving the class name to identify a device class, thereby to identify a process for interpreting device identifiers which have a particular format associated with the device class;

program code implementing the identified interpreter process for identifying a device identifier within the device name, which device identifier corresponds to the device identifier format of the identified class, and for interpreting the device identifier using the identified interpreter process to identify an individual target device; and

means for forwarding the communication to the target device.

8. A name server apparatus, for resolving a device name to identify a device, the apparatus including:

program code, responsive to input of a device name, for identifying a class name within the device name and for resolving the class name to identify a device class, thereby to identify a process for interpreting device identifiers which have a particular format associated with the device class; and

program code implementing the identified interpreter process for identifying a device identifier within the device name, which device identifier corresponds to the device identifier format of the identified device class, and for interpreting the device identifier to identify an individual device within the class.

9. A method of generating a device name for use in communications with other devices within a communications network, comprising:

determining the type of a communications device to determine a respective class name associated with the device type; and

reading device identifier information held on the communications device; and

generating a device name which combines the class name and device identifier information, the device name generation being performed by program code running on the device.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the program code performing device name generation is initiated to generate the device name as part of the device boot up process.

11. A method according to claim 9, wherein the program code performing device name generation is initiated to generate the device name when a hard disk on the device is configured.

12. A method according to claim 9, wherein the program code performing device name generation is initiated to generate the device name in response to a process on the device generating a communication for sending to another device.

13. A method according to claim 9, including the step of sending a communication to a network-connected communications apparatus within the communications network to request registration of the generated device name by said communications apparatus, thereby to enable routing of communications to the device via the communications apparatus.

14. A program product, comprising program code recorded on a machine-readable recording medium, the program code controlling the operation of a data processing apparatus on which it is run to perform a method according to claim 9.

15. A method of enabling a communications device to communicate with other devices within a communications network, comprising the steps of:

registering a class name with a class name allocation controller which controls unique allocation of class names to particular classes of device;

allocating device identifiers uniquely to individual devices within a device class; and

installing program code on the communications device for determining the type of a communications device to determine a respective pre-registered class name associated with the device type, program code for reading device identifier information held on the communications device, and program code for generating a device name which combines the class name and device identifier information, such that said generated device name is unique.

16. A communications device including means for generating a device name, for identifying the device when communicating with other devices within a communications network, the means for generating the device name including:

program code for determining the type of a communications device and for accessing device identifier information held on the communications device;

program code for analysing the device type to determine a respective class name associated with the device type, and for generating a device name which combines the class name and device identifier information.