Patent ID: 8213319

Claim:
A method of operating a telecommunications network wherein a plurality of nodes are connected to a network control center through a branched hierarchical network having a plurality of levels, and also have the capability to form a second, ad hoc, network by making direct connections with other nodes, said method comprising: on receipt of an attempt to establish communication over the ad hoc network, causing each node to respond by identifying its position in the branched hierarchical network, if a first node detects a failure of its network connection through the branched hierarchical network, it attempts communication over the ad hoc network to reach a second node whose connection to the network control center through the branched hierarchical network has not failed, wherein the first node initially attempts to establish communication over the ad hoc network with a node connected to the same point in the next level of the branched hierarchical network towards the network control center, and then at levels in the hierarchical network progressively closer to the network control center, until a second node is identified which has not experienced a network failure, and wherein the first node generates a report for transmission to the network control center indicative of the level in the branched hierarchical network at which the first and second nodes have a common point of connection, and transmitting the report from the first node to the network control center by way of the ad hoc network.