Patent ID: 8179787

Claim:
A method for use in a network node within an interconnected network of nodes, said method comprising: forwarding data frames received on a first bi-directional port of the network node to a second bi-directional port of the network node for outbound transmission on the second bi-directional port; forwarding data frames received on the second bi-directional port to the first bi-directional port for outbound transmission on the first bi-directional port, wherein the first and second ports comprise single-channel bi-directional ports; if a data frame received on a given bi-directional port includes a message addressed to the network node, then inserting a message status symbol into the next data frame transmitted outbound on the given bi-directional port; and assigning an address for the network node in response to a received data frame which includes an address discovery command, wherein assigning comprises: incrementing an address conveyed in the address discovery command data frame; storing the incremented address as the network node address; and forwarding the address discovery command with the incremented address in the next transmitted data frame.