Patent ID: 7729354

Claim:
A node arranged on a ring network, for transmitting a frame from upstream to downstream, the ring network having a plurality of nodes connecting a network apparatus, respectively, the node comprising: a detector detecting the frame on the ring network; and a frame controller controlling the frame, the controller determining whether the frame reaches a final destination based on a comparison of a time-to-live value stored in the frame with a destination hop count stored in a table in the node, the destination hop count indicating a number of hops from the node to a final destination node on the ring network, wherein the time-to-live value indicates the maximum number of times the frame is able to hop on the ring network and is decremented by one each time the frame passes through a node on the ring network, wherein the frame controller stops the transmitting for the frame when the time-to-live value stored in the frame is less than the destination hop count.