# File lib/eui.rb, line 93
    def EUI.create(eui)
        if (!eui.kind_of? String)
            raise ArgumentError, "Expected String, but #{eui.class} provided."
        end

        # validate
        NetAddr.validate_eui(eui)

        # remove formatting characters
        eui.gsub!(/[\.\:\-]/, '')

        if (eui.length == 12)
            eui = NetAddr::EUI48.new(eui)
        else
            eui = NetAddr::EUI64.new(eui)
        end

        return(eui)
    end