Abstract: A method of preventing ARP broadcast flooding of subscriber access links where an ARP packet is received at a subscriber network edge device and the source and destination information contained within the ARP packet is compared to address lease information for subscribers of a subscriber network. If the destination information obtained from the ARP packet is not associated with an address lease assigned to one of the subscribers, the network device only broadcasts the ARP packet to network uplinks. The method further includes preventing subscribers of a subscriber network from spoofing ARP responses by responding to an ARP request packet with an ARP response packet containing false information. The ARP response packet information is compared to address lease information for the transmitting subscriber. If the source information obtained from the ARP response packet corresponds to address lease information of the transmitting subscriber the ARP response packet is accordingly forwarded.

Abstract: A method of preventing ARP broadcast flooding of subscriber access links where an ARP packet is received at a subscriber network edge device and the source and destination information contained within the ARP packet is compared to address lease information for subscribers of a subscriber network. If the destination information obtained from the ARP packet is not associated with an address lease assigned to one of the subscribers, the network device only broadcasts the ARP packet to network uplinks. The method further includes preventing subscribers of a subscriber network from spoofing ARP responses by responding to an ARP request packet with an ARP response packet containing false information. The ARP response packet information is compared to address lease information for the transmitting subscriber. If the source information obtained from the ARP response packet corresponds to address lease information of the transmitting subscriber the ARP response packet is accordingly forwarded.

Abstract: A method of storing address lease information including a Media Access Control (MAC) address, an IP address, and a port for a subscriber in a database coupled to a network edge device when an address lease is associated with the subscriber, receiving subscriber packets on at least one port of the network edge device, comparing source address information from packets purportedly transmitted by the subscriber with address lease information associated with the subscriber, and forwarding those of the packets if source address information from the packets, including source MAC and IP addresses, corresponds to address lease information associated with the subscriber.

Abstract: System and method to uniformly access devices. The method may include receiving at least one high-level request regarding at least one designated device of a plurality of devices from an application program, translating the high-level request to one or more low-level requests, and communicating the low-level request(s) to a device driver associated with one or more devices. The method may further include receiving a low-level message from a device, translating the low-level message to a high-level message, and forwarding the high-level message to the application program that sent the high-level request. The system may include a processor and a memory coupled to a bus, an application program, and a multiplexor to forward requests from the application program to a plurality of device drivers for corresponding devices, and to forward information received from the device drivers regarding the devices to the application program.

Abstract: System and method for distributed device control. The method may be implemented in the kernel of an operating system and may include receiving at least one request regarding at least one designated device of a plurality of devices from at least one application program. The request is then communicated to the designated device(s) via a well-known communication protocol. Information is then received from the designated device and forwarded to the application program that sent the request. The system may include a processor and a memory coupled to a bus, at least one application program, and a communications server integrated with an operating system. The communication server passes information between the application program and devices using a communication protocol. The communication protocol in the method and system may be the User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol (UDP/IP).

Abstract: System and method to uniformly access devices. The method may include receiving at least one high-level request regarding at least one designated device of a plurality of devices from an application program, translating the high-level request to one or more low-level requests, and communicating the low-level request(s) to a device driver associated with one or more devices. The method may further include receiving a low-level message from a device, translating the low-level message to a high-level message, and forwarding the high-level message to the application program that sent the high-level request. The system may include a processor and a memory coupled to a bus, an application program, and a multiplexor to forward requests from the application program to a plurality of device drivers for corresponding devices, and to forward information received from the device drivers regarding the devices to the application program.