Patent Document ID: 20060004858
Application ID: 10709415
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A method for prefix encoding node identifiers in a logical tree comprising steps of: a. choosing an initial base length with which to encode local identifiers, b. assigning a value of zero as a node identifier to a root node in a logical tree, c. sequentially assigning to descendants of a root node a local identifier having an even value and a length equal to said base length chosen in said choosing step, wherein said local identifiers are assigned in increasing value from leftmost children to rightmost children, d. assigning to all subsequent nodes, node identifiers generated by a concatenation of local identifiers of all nodes along a path from a root node to a node to which a node identifier is currently being assigned, and e. extending said initial base length if local identifier encoding combinations are exhausted before all descendants are assigned local identifiers.