Patent Document ID: 7870292
Application ID: 10584269
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A node device which newly joins a network formed by a first existing node and a second existing node, the node device comprising: a processor; a memory; a virtual connection establisher unit configured to establish a first virtual connection with the first existing node and configured to establish a second virtual connection with the second existing node; a total metric value calculator unit configured to calculate a first total metric value for the first virtual connection and configured to calculate a second total metric value for the second virtual connection; and a connection establisher unit configured to establish a connection with only the first existing node when the first total metric value is smaller than the second total metric value, and configured to establish a connection with only the second existing node when the second total metric value is smaller than the first total metric value, wherein when calculating the first total metric value, the total metric value calculator calculates a first weighted metric value as a product of a metric value of the first virtual connection to the first existing node and a first weighting coefficient representing a number of adjacent nodes to the first existing node, the total metric value calculator also calculates a second weighted metric value as a product of a metric value of a route to the second existing node via the first virtual connection and the first existing node and a second weighting coefficient representing a number of adjacent nodes to the second existing node, and the first total metric value is calculated as a sum of the first weighted metric value and the second weighted metric value divided by the sum of the first and second weighting coefficients, and when calculating the second total metric value, the total metric value calculator calculates a third weighted metric value as a product of a metric value of the second virtual connection to the second existing node and the second weighting coefficient, the total metric value calculator also calculates a fourth weighted metric value as a product of a metric value of a route to the first existing node via the second virtual connection and the second existing node and the first weighting coefficient, and the second total metric value is calculated as a sum of the third weighted metric value and the fourth weighted metric value divided by the sum of the first and second weighting coefficients.