Patent ID: 8289971

Claim:
A method of transmitting a message between a plurality of inter-connected elements, the method comprising: receiving said message from a first element, said message comprising only a routing key; processing said routing key to identify an identified plurality of said plurality of inter-connected elements, the plurality of interconnected elements being configured to implement a plurality of neurons that form part of a neural network; and transmitting said message to said identified plurality of said plurality of inter-connected elements; wherein processing said routing key comprises attempting to locate a routing word by performing a look up operation using said routing key, and said look up operation comprises comparing said routing key with a plurality of keys associated with respective routing words, the routing key comprising a plurality of bits, and only a subset of said plurality of bits being used in at least some of said comparisons, said plurality of bits to be used for a comparison being determined for each key from said plurality of keys based upon a respective mask associated with that key, the identified plurality of said plurality of inter-connected elements being identified using said located routing word, wherein said routing word has a bit for each of the identified plurality of said plurality of inter-connected elements connected to a particular one of said plurality of inter-connected elements.