Patent ID: 8229468

Claim:
A method, comprising: transmitting, by an originating communication component, a prototype ping signal to a plurality of communication components in a communication network, the prototype ping signal comprising an origin identification portion, a target identification portion, a travel history portion, and a signal characteristics portion, wherein the signal characteristics portion describes a protocol, signal type, and signal class of the prototype ping signal, wherein the protocol indicates a current protocol state of the prototype ping signal, the signal type indicates a current signal type of the prototype ping signal, and the signal class indicates a current signal class of the prototype ping signal; receiving the prototype ping signal at a first communication component in the plurality of communication components, the first communication component comprising an intelligent agent; analyzing, by the intelligent agent, the travel history portion of the prototype ping signal to determine whether the first communication component is in the travel history portion of the prototype ping signal; analyzing, by the intelligent agent, the protocol of the prototype ping signal to determine whether the first communication component is capable of at least one of forwarding the prototype ping signal in the current protocol state and transforming the current protocol state to a different protocol state; analyzing, by the intelligent agent, the signal class and signal type of the prototype ping signal to determine whether the first communication component is capable of forwarding the prototype ping signal in the current signal class and current signal type; determining, by the intelligent agent of the first communication component and based on the analysis performed by the intelligent agent, whether the first communication component is allowed to accept and forward the prototype ping signal; and the intelligent agent accepting or refusing the prototype ping signal on behalf of the first communication component based on the determination made by the intelligent agent.