Patent ID: 8122147

Claim:
A method of communicating node status in a star network comprising a hub and a plurality of nodes, the method comprising: sending a first message to the hub from a first node included in the plurality of nodes; forwarding the first message from the hub to at least one second node included in the plurality of nodes; communicating status information to the hub from the at least one second node after receiving at least a portion of the first message at the at least one second node; compiling a status vector at the hub based on the status information received from each of the at least one second nodes; and sending the status vector from the hub to at least the first node; wherein compiling the status vector at the hub comprises one of: combining the status information received from each of the at least one second nodes into the status vector; or analyzing the status information received from each of the at least one second nodes and combining results of the analysis into the status vector; and wherein sending the status vector from the hub to at least the first node includes one of: inserting the status vector into a second message being forwarded by the hub; or originating in the hub a second message containing the status vector.