Patent ID: 7940758

Claim:
A system comprising: a set of information that represents a telecommunications system via a plurality of data packets that are distributed within the telecommunications system, wherein each data packet in the plurality of data packets comprises a payload field that encapsulates some information from the set of information; a first node that: (A) forms a first data packet in the plurality of data packets, wherein the first data packet comprises (i) a self-identifier field, (ii) the payload field, and (iii) a references field, and (B) populates the self-identifier field with a first identifier that is time-dependent and unique within the telecommunications system and that identifies the first data packet, and (C) populates the references field with a first reference to a second identifier that is unique within the telecommunications system and that identifies a second data packet in the plurality of data packets, and (D) comprises an association between (i) the set of information and (ii) the first identifier; and a second node that retrieves, based on the association in the first node, at least part of the set of information from at least some of the plurality of data packets that are distributed within the telecommunications system.