Patent ID: 8837477

Claim:
A method of broadcasting a message, comprising: assigning one or more reference nodes from a set of network nodes to each node in the set based at least in part upon an arrangement of key values of nodes in the set, wherein the nodes in the set are ordered with sequential key values; determining a target key value; and sending, from a sending node, a first copy of a message to one or more reference nodes associated with the sending node, the one or more reference nodes each having a key value less than or equal to the target key value, wherein each reference node receiving the first copy is configured to send a second copy of the message based at least in part upon an updated target key value to the one or more reference nodes associated with the respective reference node receiving the first copy, wherein the updated target key value is a key value for a second reference node associated with the sending node, the second reference node key value being adjacent to a key value of the first reference node according to the node order.