Patent ID: 7181547

Claim:
A method for detecting nodes in a ring computer network, comprising: determining whether an arbitration token having an embedded node identifier has arrived at a first node of a plurality of nodes associated with the ring computer network within a preselected network timeout period; if the arbitration token has not arrived within the preselected network timeout period, regenerating the arbitration token; receiving the arbitration token at a second node; determining at the second node whether the arbitration token was modified by a higher priority node of the plurality of nodes by comparing the embedded node identifier with a node identifier associated with the second node; if the embedded node identifier represents a lower priority than the node identifier associated with the second node, then replacing the embedded node identifier with the node identifier associated with the second node; if the embedded node identifier represents a priority equal to that of the node identifier associated with the second node, then, transmitting a packet containing a first discovery marker periodically from the second node; receiving the packet at a third node; for each discovery marker in the packet, saving topology information associated with said each discovery marker; adding a third node discovery marker to the packet when the packet does not contain the third node discovery marker, wherein the third node discovery marker comprises topology information associated with the third node; and sending the packet to a next node of the plurality of nodes.