A network element , comprising: a plurality of ports , including multiple child ports for coupling the network element to respective child network elements or network nodes and one or more parent ports for coupling the network element to respective parent network elements, the plurality of ports being configured to connect to a communication network ; forwarding circuitry , wherein at least two of the plurality of ports have local computational modules configured to be interconnected via the forwarding circuitry to collectively perform a data reduction operation in accordance with a data reduction protocol, wherein the forwarding circuitry is configurable to interconnect among the ports and the computational modules; and a central block , configured to: receive a request indicative of selected child ports, a selected parent port, and computational modules required for performing data reduction operations on data received from the child network elements or network nodes via the selected child ports, for producing reduced data destined to a parent network element via the selected parent port; derive, from the request, a topology that interconnects among the selected child ports, the selected parent port and the computational modules so as to perform the data reduction operations and to forward the respective reduced data for transmission to the selected parent port; and configure the forwarding circuitry to apply the topology. a plurality of ports , including multiple child ports for coupling the network element to respective child network elements or network nodes and one or more parent ports for coupling the network element to respective parent network elements, the plurality of ports being configured to connect to a communication network ; forwarding circuitry , wherein at least two of the plurality of ports have local computational modules configured to be interconnected via the forwarding circuitry to collectively perform a data reduction operation in accordance with a data reduction protocol, wherein the forwarding circuitry is configurable to interconnect among the ports and the computational modules; and a central block , configured to: receive a request indicative of selected child ports, a selected parent port, and computational modules required for performing data reduction operations on data received from the child network elements or network nodes via the selected child ports, for producing reduced data destined to a parent network element via the selected parent port; derive, from the request, a topology that interconnects among the selected child ports, the selected parent port and the computational modules so as to perform the data reduction operations and to forward the respective reduced data for transmission to the selected parent port; and configure the forwarding circuitry to apply the topology. receive a request indicative of selected child ports, a selected parent port, and computational modules required for performing data reduction operations on data received from the child network elements or network nodes via the selected child ports, for producing reduced data destined to a parent network element via the selected parent port; derive, from the request, a topology that interconnects among the selected child ports, the selected parent port and the computational modules so as to perform the data reduction operations and to forward the respective reduced data for transmission to the selected parent port; and configure the forwarding circuitry to apply the topology. <EOS>