Relative addressing for network elements
First Claim
1. An address protocol for forwarding a message packet from a source node to a destination node along a sequence of communicatively coupled nodes functioning as a linear chain network, the address protocol comprising:
- a relative source address field programmed with an initial value at the source node corresponding to a destination node that is a preselected number of nodes away from the source node along the linear chain network;
a relative destination address field containing a counter and a directional code corresponding to a port of the source node from which the message packet is to be sent along the linear chain network;
wherein the counter is incremented by a preselected step in value at each node the message packet is forwarded to along the chain network until the counter reaches the initial value, thereby indicating that the destination node has been reached;
an identifier field containing an identifier, wherein the identifier indicates whether the message packet contains relative address protocol information;
wherein the destination node does not require address information in addition to the counter reaching the initial value to accept the message packet; and
wherein, when in the sequence of communicatively coupled nodes functioning as a linear chain network, each message packet encounters a branching node having two or more output ports before reaching the destination node, the branching node has programming configured to return a message indicating that the branching node was reached and reporting the number of hops the branching node is away from the source node.
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Abstract
A relative address protocol for communicating message packets along a linear chain network or quasi-linear chain network is disclosed. The protocol includes a relative destination address field that includes a counter having a preselected initial value at a source node. The initial value is a function of the desired number of node hops that the message packet should travel from the source node. The counter is adjusted in value at each subsequent node by a preselected step in value. When the counter value reaches a trigger value the message packet is accepted by a destination node. In a preferred embodiment, a relative source address field stores the initial value so that the destination node may return a status message to the source node.
107 Citations
15 Claims
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1. An address protocol for forwarding a message packet from a source node to a destination node along a sequence of communicatively coupled nodes functioning as a linear chain network, the address protocol comprising:
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a relative source address field programmed with an initial value at the source node corresponding to a destination node that is a preselected number of nodes away from the source node along the linear chain network; a relative destination address field containing a counter and a directional code corresponding to a port of the source node from which the message packet is to be sent along the linear chain network; wherein the counter is incremented by a preselected step in value at each node the message packet is forwarded to along the chain network until the counter reaches the initial value, thereby indicating that the destination node has been reached; an identifier field containing an identifier, wherein the identifier indicates whether the message packet contains relative address protocol information; wherein the destination node does not require address information in addition to the counter reaching the initial value to accept the message packet; and wherein, when in the sequence of communicatively coupled nodes functioning as a linear chain network, each message packet encounters a branching node having two or more output ports before reaching the destination node, the branching node has programming configured to return a message indicating that the branching node was reached and reporting the number of hops the branching node is away from the source node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of sending a message packet along a portion of a network functioning as a linear chain network from a source node to a destination node using an address protocol having an identifier field containing an identifier, wherein the identifier indicates whether the message packet contains relative address protocol information, a relative source address field for storing an initial value, and a relative destination address field containing a counter and a directional code corresponding to a port of the source node from which the message packet is to be sent along the linear chain network, the method comprising the steps of:
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selecting the initial value to be a function of a desired number of node hops along the linear chain network from the source node; programming the relative source address field to have the initial value; incrementing the counter by a preselected step in value at each node that the message packet is forwarded to; accepting the message packet at a destination node when the counter value reaches the initial value, without requiring address information in addition to the counter reaching the initial value to accept the message packet, wherein the preselected step in value is chosen so that the counter reaches the initial value when the packet has completed the desired number of node hops; and wherein, when in the sequence of communicatively coupled nodes functioning as a linear chain network, each message packet encounters a branching node having two or more output ports before reaching the destination node, the branching node has programming configured to return a message indicating that the branching node was reached and reporting the number of hops the branching node is away from the source node. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of sending a message packet along a chain network having regenerator nodes from a source node to a destination node using an address protocol having an identifier field containing an identifier, wherein the identifier indicates whether the message packet contains relative address protocol information, a relative source address field for storing an initial value, and a relative destination address field containing a counter and a directional code corresponding to a port of the source node from which the message packet is to be sent along the linear chain network, the method comprising the steps of:
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selecting the initial value to be a function of a desired number of node hops along the linear chain from the source node; incrementing the counter by a preselected step in value at each node that the message packet is forwarded to; accepting the message packet at a destination node when the counter value reaches the initial value, without requiring address information in addition to the counter reaching the initial value to accept the message packet, wherein the preselected step in value is chosen so that the counter reaches the initial value when the packet has completed the desired number of node hops; and wherein, when in the sequence of communicatively coupled nodes functioning as a linear chain network, each message packet encounters a branching node having two or more output ports before reaching the destination node, the branching node has programming configured to return a message indicating that the branching node was reached and reporting the number of hops the branching node is away from the source node. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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Specification