A method and system whereby an initiator device discovers the
user-friendly name of another device in a wireless network of devices,
such as a Bluetooth network. Initially, the initiator device broadcasts
an inquiry message that is received by the other device (the responding
device). The responding device provides its address in response to the
inquiry. The initiator device then transmits a page, followed by a name
request, to the responding device. The responding device provides its
user-friendly name in response to the name request. The initiator device
stores (e.g., caches) the address and the associated user-friendly name
in a memory cache. When the initiator device subsequently sends an
inquiry message that is received by the responding device, the responding
device will provide its address to the initiator device. However, instead
of sending a name request, the initiator device can retrieve the
user-friendly name from the memory cache based on the address. Thus, the
number of messages needed for the name discovery process is reduced,
allowing the process to be performed more quickly and conserving the
battery resources of the initiator and responding devices. In addition,
potential errors associated with the name requests can be reduced or
eliminated.