Method and apparatus for network device registration

A remote network device adapted to automatically register with a network control device to enable the network control device to direct communications to the remote network device via use of a network that the network control device is operating on, comprising:

• a transmitter for transmitting information;
• a receiver for receiving information;
• a processor coupled to the transmitter and the receiver;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor for storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to:
• receive a query from the network control device, the query comprising a house code that was pre-assigned to both the network control device and the remote network device and an instruction to the remote network device to provide identifying information of the remote network device stored in a memory of the remote network device to the network control device wherein the identifying information is usable by the network control device to direct communications to the remote network device via use of the network;
• in response to receiving the query, using by the remote network device at least the house code to determine whether the remote network device has previously registered with the network control device as a result of previously responding to a previous query;
• transmitting a response to the network control device after a time period has expired when it is determined that the remote network device has not previously registered with the network control device as a result of previously responding to a previous query, the response comprising the identifying information;
• determine whether an acknowledgement message has been received from the network control device;
• and
• when the remote network device determines that the acknowledgement message has been received from the network control device, set a flag within the remote network device indicating that the remote network device has successfully registered with the network control device otherwise re-send the response to the network control device after a second time period has elapsed.

A non-transitory processor-readable medium having processor-usable instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor of a remote network device to perform a method for automatically registering the remote network device with a network control device to enable the network control device to direct communications to the remote network device via use of a network that the network control device is operating on, the method comprising:

• receiving, by the remote network device, a query from the network control device, the query comprising a house code that was pre-assigned to both the network control device and the remote network device and an instruction to provide identifying information of the remote network device stored in a memory of the remote network device to the network control device wherein the identifying information is usable by the network control device to direct communications to the remote network device via use of the network;
• in response to receiving the query, using by the remote network device at least the network identification code that identifies the network that the network control device is operating on to determine whether the remote network device has previously registered with the network control device as a result of previously responding to a previous query;
• transmitting a response to the network control device after a time period has expired when it is determined that the remote network device has not previously registered with the network control device as a result of previously responding to a previous query, the response comprising the identifying information;
• determining by the remote network device whether an acknowledgement message has been received from the network control device;
• and
• when the remote network device determines that the acknowledgement message has been received from the network control device, setting a flag within the remote network device indicating that the remote network device has successfully registered with the network control device otherwise re-sending the response to the network control device after a second time period has elapsed.