Patent ID: 8339993

Claim:
A system comprising: a plurality of nodes that are communicatively coupled to one another; and a master comprising at least two of the plurality of nodes, the at least two nodes in the master communicatively coupled together in a fault-tolerant configuration; wherein each node is communicatively coupled to a first neighbor node included in the plurality of nodes via a respective direct link in a first direction and to a second neighbor node included in the plurality of nodes via a respective direct link in a second direction; wherein each node is communicatively coupled to a first neighbor's neighbor node included in the plurality of nodes via a respective skip link in the first direction and to a second neighbor's neighbor node included in the plurality of nodes via a respective skip link in the second direction; wherein each of the at least two nodes in the master transmits a message having a first field with an initial value over its respective direct and skip links in the first and second directions; wherein each of the nodes not included in the master: adjusts a value of the first field in each respective instance of the message received on its respective direct link in the first direction by a first adjustment amount and adjusts a value of the first field in each respective instance of the message received on its respective skip link in the first direction by a second adjustment amount; and if the adjusted value of the first field in the respective instance of the message received on its respective direct link in the first direction matches the adjusted value of the first field in the message received on its respective skip link in the first direction, uses the adjusted value of the first field in the respective instance of the message received on its respective direct and skip links in the first direction to determine its node identity for that node.