Automatic compiling of address filter information

A computer program product for implementing, in a system having a cable modem that is hosted by customer premises equipment, the customer premises equipment including a media access controller representing a data link layer of a cable modem protocol stack, and the cable modem representing a physical layer of the cable modem protocol stack, wherein the cable modem is connected to at least one communication device and a cable network, and wherein the cable modem is configured to transmit outgoing data packets from the at least one communication device over the cable network and is further configured to transmit incoming data packets that are received from the cable network to the at least one communication device, a method for automatically registering a new communication device with the cable modem, and in such a manner as to enable delivery of incoming data packets only to the one or more communication devices when the incoming data packets have corresponding destination addresses that are determined to be associated with the one or more registered communication devices, the computer program product comprising:

• a computer-readable medium carrying executable instructions that, when executed, are capable of having the cable modem perform the acts of:
• preparing, by the media access controller, an outgoing data packet from the at least one communication device such that the outgoing data packet is compatible with a hardware abstraction interface layer between the data link layer and the physical layer of the cable modem protocol stack, the hardware abstraction interface layer comprising an application programming interface configured for separating hardware of the cable modem from software of the cable modem protocol stack;
• transmitting the outgoing data packet from the media access controller to an interface of the hardware abstraction interface layer;
• sending, by the interface, the outgoing data packet to the cable modem;
• receiving the outgoing data packet for transmission onto the cable network from the at least one communication device through the interface of the hardware abstraction interface layer, the outgoing data packet having an address that identifies the communication device;
• comparing the address with a list of addresses that identify any communication devices that have previously been registered with the cable modem;
• upon the cable modem determining that the address is not included in the list, adding the address to the list of addresses, such that the communication device is automatically registered with the cable modem;
• upon the cable modem receiving an incoming data packet from the cable network which includes a destination address, comparing the destination address of the incoming data packet to the list of addresses;
• transmitting, through the interface of the hardware abstraction interface layer, the incoming data packet to any of one or more communication devices that have been registered with the cable modem and that are associated with the destination address as determined by the list of addresses;
• and
• filtering the incoming data packet when the destination address is not associated with any of the one or more communication devices that have been registered with the cable modem, as determined by the list of addresses, and such that the cable modem effectively prevents the data from being delivered to any of the one or more communications devices through the cable modem.