Patent ID: 8880957

Claim:
A method of facilitating processing in a communications network, said method comprising: receiving a signal by a network element in the communications network, the network element configured based on Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) technology and including a programmable logic block, the programmable logic block to receive the signal, the signal being a sideband signal that is not architected for the PCI technology, and the programmable logic block to handle the signal based on configuration of the programmable logic block; performing a logical operation on the signal to provide another signal; transmitting the another signal to one or more other network elements connected to the network element; and performing, by the programmable logic block of the network element, based on the received signal, an action, the action being a particular action based on the configuration of the programmable logic block, and wherein the action is part of a coordinated action to be performed by a plurality of programmable logic blocks of a plurality of network elements to provide a coordinated result, the coordinated result being a result based on the particular action to be performed by the plurality of programmable logic blocks, the plurality of programmable logic blocks including the programmable logic block and other programmable logic blocks to perform the particular action and to receive a particular signal, the particular signal comprising the signal, the another signal or a further signal associated with the signal, and the plurality of programmable logic blocks forming a logical network automatically created based on being configured to perform the particular action and receipt of the particular signal.