Patent ID: 7672228

Claim:
A method comprising: exchanging network communications by a first node in a plurality of nodes, the first node having a loop recovery service module for recovering from a network loop and a loop detection service module providing services to, and operating independent of, the loop recovery service module, the plurality of nodes having a master node maintaining a forwarding plane in an active state, and one or more slave nodes controlled by the master node, wherein the master node directs the one or more slave nodes to maintain another forwarding plane in an inactive state; with a memory device and a processor of the first node, operating the first node in a slave state wherein the first node is one of the one or more slave nodes of the plurality of nodes, wherein the first node is controlled by a second node operating as the master node of the plurality of nodes; during the first node operating in the slave state, the first node determining that a control packet has not been received from the second node; in response to the determining that the control packet has not been received, the first node transitioning from the slave state to a pre-master state; and during the first node operating in the pre-master state: sending a loop detection packet from the loop detection service of the first node over one or more communication channels; and if a control packet from the second node is received by the first node, then transitioning the first node from operating in the pre-master state to operating in the slave state; if the loop detection service module of the first node determines, based on whether the sent loop detection packet returns to the first node, that the network loop exists, then transitioning the first node from operating in the pre-master state to operating in the slave state; and if no control packet is received by the first node from the second node and no loop detection packet returns to the first node, then transitioning the first node from operating in the pre-master state to operating in a master state wherein the first node is the master node of the plurality of nodes.