Patent ID: 7542412

Claim:
A self routing communication network, comprising: a plurality of nodes; a plurality of star couplers each having a plurality of inputs and a plurality of outputs; and communication paths coupled between the plurality of star couplers and the plurality of nodes for communication therebetween of frames of information, wherein the communication paths include at least one alternative communication path; the star couplers each include an input detector to sense which input of the plurality of inputs of the star coupler first receives a frame of information and for passing only the frame of information first received; and the frames of information each have a frame-start-sequence, and the star couplers each further include a frame-start-sequence changer to change the frame-start-sequence before outputting the frame such that an interconnection failure is diagnosable by analyzing the frame-start-sequence, the frame-start-sequence changer comprising a shortener to reduce the size of the frame-start-sequence by a predetermined amount.