Method and apparatus for identifying an order in a network
First Claim
1. In an automation network comprising a plurality of nodes, each node comprising one or more connections to connect each node to one or more devices and one or more other nodes, a method for reconstruction of the network on a decentralized basis when replacing a device, the method comprising:
- (a) identifying, by each device in the network in a distributed manner, an order of devices in the network defining a relationship between the devices based on predefined hierarchies of connections for each node specifying a direction defining an order for all available connections, comprising, correspondingly for each device in the network;
(i) identifying a corresponding device'"'"'s associated node;
(ii) determining the order of devices by ascertaining, for the corresponding device'"'"'s associated node, a number of available connections and the predefined hierarchy for the available connections, which of the number of connections is connected to the corresponding device and a hierarchy for the connection to the corresponding device, and which of the number of connections are still occupied and connected to other nodes and other devices and the hierarchies for the connections still occupied and connected to other nodes and other devices, such that the direction defining the order for all available connections also defines a corresponding upstream or downstream direction for the other connected nodes and devices thereby establishing each device'"'"'s upstream and downstream neighboring devices; and
(iii) distributively storing the order of devices in the corresponding device, wherein the order of devices stored in each device in the network in accordance with (i)-(iii) comprises the order of all of the devices including direct relationships for the devices connected to the corresponding device'"'"'s associated node and indirect relationships for the devices connected to other connected nodes;
(b) upon replacing a first device with a replacement device by connecting the replacement device to a first node in place of the first device, identifying, by the replacement device, the replacement device'"'"'s associated node and which of the other devices is a neighbor of the replacement device; and
(c) receiving, by the replacement device, locally from the neighbor of the replacement device, the stored order of all of the devices; and
(d) reconstructing the network on a decentralized basis using the stored order of all of the devices received from the neighbor.
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Abstract
The invention relates to a method for identifying an order of users of a network, whereby the network contains a multitude of nodes and each of the nodes has a number of connections by which the nodes and the users can be interconnected. Disclosed embodiments of the method include: a) identifying the node connected to one of the users; b) determining the number of connections of this node and a predetermined hierarchy of the connections; c) determining, for these nodes, the connection with which the user is connected to this node and; d) determining, for the nodes, other connections that are connected to other nodes or to other users; e) establishing a relationship between users of the network based on the hierarchy of the connections that is predefined for node and on the determined connections that are connected to users or to other nodes.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. In an automation network comprising a plurality of nodes, each node comprising one or more connections to connect each node to one or more devices and one or more other nodes, a method for reconstruction of the network on a decentralized basis when replacing a device, the method comprising:
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(a) identifying, by each device in the network in a distributed manner, an order of devices in the network defining a relationship between the devices based on predefined hierarchies of connections for each node specifying a direction defining an order for all available connections, comprising, correspondingly for each device in the network; (i) identifying a corresponding device'"'"'s associated node; (ii) determining the order of devices by ascertaining, for the corresponding device'"'"'s associated node, a number of available connections and the predefined hierarchy for the available connections, which of the number of connections is connected to the corresponding device and a hierarchy for the connection to the corresponding device, and which of the number of connections are still occupied and connected to other nodes and other devices and the hierarchies for the connections still occupied and connected to other nodes and other devices, such that the direction defining the order for all available connections also defines a corresponding upstream or downstream direction for the other connected nodes and devices thereby establishing each device'"'"'s upstream and downstream neighboring devices; and (iii) distributively storing the order of devices in the corresponding device, wherein the order of devices stored in each device in the network in accordance with (i)-(iii) comprises the order of all of the devices including direct relationships for the devices connected to the corresponding device'"'"'s associated node and indirect relationships for the devices connected to other connected nodes; (b) upon replacing a first device with a replacement device by connecting the replacement device to a first node in place of the first device, identifying, by the replacement device, the replacement device'"'"'s associated node and which of the other devices is a neighbor of the replacement device; and (c) receiving, by the replacement device, locally from the neighbor of the replacement device, the stored order of all of the devices; and (d) reconstructing the network on a decentralized basis using the stored order of all of the devices received from the neighbor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. In a reconfigurable network comprising a plurality of devices physically interconnected in a sequence, a method for identifying an order of devices in the network indicating relative spatial arrangements among the devices including directional information, wherein the network contains a number of nodes interconnected in a sequence corresponding to the interconnection of the devices, and wherein each of the nodes has a number of connections for interconnecting the nodes and the devices, the method comprising:
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configuring the network according to a first hierarchical arrangement of the connections which includes relationships among the nodes indicating the relative spatial arrangements among the devices including directional information by; identifying, by each device in the network in a distributed manner, an order of devices in the network indicating a relationship between the devices based on predefined hierarchies of connections for each node specifying a direction defining an order for all available connections, comprising, correspondingly for each device in the network; (i) identifying a corresponding device'"'"'s associated node and type of device; (ii) determining the order of devices by ascertaining, for the corresponding device'"'"'s associated node, a number of available connections and the predefined hierarchy for the available connections, which of the number of connections is connected to the corresponding device and a hierarchy for the connection to the corresponding device, and which of the number of connections are still occupied and connected to other nodes and other devices and the hierarchies for the connections still occupied and connected to other nodes and other devices, such that the direction defining the order for all available connections also defines a corresponding upstream or downstream direction for the other connected nodes and devices thereby establishing each device'"'"'s upstream and downstream neighboring devices; and (iii) distributively storing the order of devices in the corresponding device wherein the order of devices stored in each device in the network in accordance with (i)-(iii) comprises the order of all of the devices including direct relationships for the devices connected to the corresponding device'"'"'s associated node and indirect relationships for the devices connected to other connected nodes indicating the relative spatial arrangements among all of the devices; providing by each device in the network the directional information and the type of device for the other devices in the network. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification