A network includes a plurality of wall plates, each of the wall plates
couples a network resource such as a computer or a network attached
device to the network and includes an RFID circuit to detect proximate
devices having an RFID tag. The proximate devices can be network attached
devices or non network attached devices such as desks, phones, and
artwork. Logic is included within each wall plate which includes wall
plate physical location information. The logic is designed to respond to
a broadcast signal. In so doing, the physical location of any resource
can be determined. The physical location of all known resources are
provided to an inventory application in the network, thereby allowing
network administrators and users to remotely determine the physical
location (room, floor, building, etc.) of any and all known resources
attached to the network. Likewise, local computer users are able to
identify the network resources located in their vicinity.