Systems and Methods Implementing an Autonomous Network Architecture and Protocol

Abstract

A network having a nodal architecture consisting of a child/parent familial structure formed by a parenting process which creates a structure relative to each node, with descendants below, siblings beside, and a parent above. In this network, a one-to-many relationship exists from the perspective of an entity that is an ancestor to multiple descendants. Thus, a parent may have many children, who each may have multiple children themselves, but each node will only have one parent. Data packets are routed to destination nodes by propagating from one node to the next via the tree structure.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A node configured to participate in a network, said node comprising:
 a hardware device;   a communication interface, enabling said hardware device to communicate with other hardware devices;   a networking interface, executed by said hardware device, for performing the functions of:
 discovering, via said communication interface, networked nodes with which said hardware device can communicate; 
 sending a message, via said communication interface, to said networked nodes requesting to join the network; 
 receiving, from one of more of said networked nodes, a reply; 
 selecting one of said networked nodes from which a reply has been received as a parent and 
 sending said selected parent node a request to register as part of said network; and 
   wherein said networking interface keeps a database comprising:
 a parent node; 
 a list of child nodes; 
 a list of sibling nodes; and 
 a routing table to descendant nodes. 
   
     
     
         2 . The node of  claim 1  wherein said networking interface further performs the function of:
 accepting, via said communication interface, requests from other nodes to become a parent of said other nodes; and 
 wherein said networking interface updates said list of child nodes ion said database to include said other nodes that have selected said node as their parent. 
 
     
     
         3 . The node of  claim 1  wherein said networking interface further performs the function of:
 adding said networked nodes that were not selected as the parent of said node to said list of siblings in said database. 
 
     
     
         4 . The node of  claim 1  wherein said networking interface further performs the function of routing data packets, comprising:
 receiving a data packet for routing via said communication interface, said data packet specifying a destination node; 
 querying said list of siblings in said database to determine if said destination node is a sibling of said node, and if so, routing said data packet directly to said sibling node via said commination interface; 
 querying said list of child nodes in said database to determine if said destination node is a child of said node, and if so, routing said data packet directly to said child node via said commination interface; 
 querying said routing table in said database to determine if said destination node is a descendant of said node, and if so, routing said data packet to a child node specified in said routing table; and 
 routing said data packet to said parent node via said communication interface if said data packet was not previously routed to a sibling or child node. 
 
     
     
         5 . The node of  claim 1  wherein said node has a unique identifier associated therewith. 
     
     
         6 . The node of  claim 5  wherein said unique identifier includes prefix and a device identifier. 
     
     
         7 . The node of  claim 6  wherein said device identifier is permanently associated with said hardware device. 
     
     
         8 . The node of  claim 6  wherein said node has a network address associated therewith, said network address containing at least said device identifier. 
     
     
         9 . The node of  claim 7  further comprising a permanent certificate tied with said device identifier, said permanent certificate being used exclusively for verifying identity of said node. 
     
     
         0 . The node of  claim 9  further comprising a trust bundle stored within said node, said trust bundle comprising one or more cross-signed bundles of certificate authority certificates, said signing being based on a private key, created by said node and signed by an authority within said trust bundle. 
     
     
         11 . The node of claim  10  further comprising a mechanism for the exchange of public keys with another node, thereby establishing a state of trust between said node and said other node, and further allowing traffic to flow between said node and said other node without requiring communication to a third party to establish said state of trust. 
     
     
         12 . The node of  claim 11  wherein said network address comprises said unique identifier of said node and a unique identifier associated with the parent node of said node. 
     
     
         13 . The node of  claim 12  wherein said request to register causes a message to be sent to an account holder node to verify said unique identifier of said node. 
     
     
         14 . The node of  claim 12  wherein said network address is assigned after said node has selected a parent node. 
     
     
         15 . The node of  claim 12  wherein said node has a name associated with said unique identifier and further wherein said request to register causes a message to be sent to an account holder node to verify said name. 
     
     
         16 . The node of  claim 6  wherein said prefix is used to group said node into a subnet of nodes. 
     
     
         17 . The node of  claim 1  wherein said network has a root node. 
     
     
         18 . The node of  claim 1  wherein said network contains other nodes not associated with a hardware device. 
     
     
         19 . The node of  claim 18  wherein said network contains nodes comprising a process running a hardware device. 
     
     
         20 . The node of  claim 4  wherein said data packets include a data payload and further wherein said data payload is encrypted. 
     
     
         21 . A communications network having a tree structure, said network comprising a plurality of nodes, wherein at least a subset of said nodes in said network comprise:
 a hardware device;   a communication interface, enabling said hardware device to communicate with other hardware devices;   a networking interface, executed by said hardware device, said networking interface maintaining a database comprising:
 a parent node; 
 a list of child nodes; 
 a list of sibling nodes; and 
 a routing table to descendant nodes. 
   
     
     
         22 . The communications network of  claim 21  further comprising one or more account holder nodes, said account holder nodes receiving queries regarding the verification of names of individual nodes wishing to join said network. 
     
     
         23 . The communications network of  claim 21  further comprising a root node. 
     
     
         24 . The communications network of  claim 21  wherein said network may contain virtual nodes. 
     
     
         25 . The communications network of  claim 21  wherein individual nodes or sub-networks join said network by selecting a node already in said network as a parent node. 
     
     
         26 . The communications network of  claim 21  wherein data packets are routed to destination nodes in said network by propagating from one node to another. 
     
     
         27 . The communications network of  claim 26  where each node in the network, upon receiving data packet for routing, routes the packet to another node by:
 querying said list of siblings in said database to determine if said destination node is a sibling of said node, and if so, routing said data packet directly to said sibling node via said commination interface; 
 querying said list of child nodes in said database to determine if said destination node is a child of said node, and if so, routing said data packet directly to said child node via said commination interface; 
 querying said routing table in said database to determine if said destination node is a descendant of said node, and if so, routing said data packet to a child node specified in said routing table; and 
 routing said data packet to said parent node via said communication interface if said data packet was not previously routed to a sibling or child node.