Patent · US Expired

Identifying nodes in a ring network

US7181547B1 · kind B1 · utility

56Cited by
4References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJun 28, 2001
Grant dateFeb 20, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 24, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L47/286
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A master node in a packet ring network periodically sends a packet containing a discovery marker into the packet ring network. As each node in turn receives the packet, each adds its own discovery marker, which contains its topology information, to the packet, saves the topology information of others, and resends the packet to the next node in the ring. Eventually, the master node receives the packet containing a chain of discovery markers for all active nodes terminated by the master's own discovery marker, so the master node then removes its own discovery marker and resends the packet in to the ring network. Each node in turn then removes its own discovery marker. In this way, all nodes in the ring see topology information for every other active node.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.