Patent ID: 7539154

Claim:
A method for handling a communication in a network of nodes, each node having an associated identification that is unique from other identifications in the network of nodes, the method comprising: receiving, at a first node, a communication from a second node, wherein the communication includes an identification; determining, at the first node, whether the identification included in the communication is closer to, equidistant from, or further from a predetermined identification value than an identification associated with the first node; if the identification included in the communication is closer to the predetermined identification value than the identification associated with the first node, sending, from the first node to a third node, a communication including the identification that was included in the communication received from the second node; if the identification included in the communication is further from the predetermined identification value than the identification associated with the first node, sending, from the first node to a third node, a communication including the identification associated with the first node; and if the identification included in the communication is equidistant from the predetermined identification value as the identification associated with the first node, concluding that a loop exists in the network and appointing a node as a master loop breaker.