Patent ID: 7536477

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for processing data on a specific one node in a network comprising a plurality of nodes configured in a topology in which data, to reach an intended destination node, are transmitted through a configured node-to-node sequence, each of the nodes having a different node identifier that distinguishes the node from other nodes in the network, the method comprising: receiving data packets at the specific one node, each received data packet being transmitted by a prior node in a first direction through the configured node-to-node sequence and comprising a destination node identifier and a transmission round identifier indicating a transmission round of a prior node in which the data packet was sent; for each received data packet, i) if the transmission round identifier for the packet does not match a transmission round identifier for an immediately preceding received data packet, changing a first transit buffer round indicator for a first transit buffer in the specific one node; ii) if the destination identifier for the data packet does not match the node identifier of the specific one node, storing the data packet in the first transit buffer for later transmission by the specific one node to another node in the first direction, the first data packet being stored with an assigned indicator of the current transit buffer round; and iii) if the destination identifier of the data packet matches the node identifier, processing the data packet on the specific one node; storing data packets originating at the specific one node in a first local buffer of the specific one node for later transmission by the specific one node to another node in the first direction; and transmitting data packets from the specific one node in the first direction in successive transmission rounds, wherein in each successive transmission round there is transmitted i) one or more data packets from the first transit buffer that each have the same assigned transit buffer round identifier, if any data packets are present in the first transit buffer, and ii) one or more data packets from the first local buffer, if any data packets are present in the first local buffer.