Patent ID: 8385323

Claim:
A method for determining routing information for a network of nodes, comprising: sending a first message from a concentrator to the nodes in the network, wherein each node records an identifier of the node or concentrator from which the node receives the first message and then forwards the first message to neighboring nodes, wherein the first message includes at least one characteristic of the concentrator, said at least one characteristic including an indicator denoting the amount of storage capacity available for storing identifiers; sending a second message identifying a first node to the concentrator, wherein the second message traverses any intermediate nodes traversed by the first message to reach the first node and has appended the identifier of each such intermediate node; determining a route for a third message from the concentrator to the first node according to the identifiers included in the second message; recording said at least one characteristic at the first node; determining whether the concentrator is constrained based on said at least one characteristic; and sending an additional message from the first node to the concentrator if said at least one characteristic indicates that the concentrator's storage capacity for identifiers is constrained.