SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EXTENDING A SERIAL PROTOCOL TO CREATE A NETWORK IN A WELL MONITORING ENVIRONMENT

1 . A method for extending a serial protocol to create a network in a well monitoring environment, comprising

determining at a receiver node whether a message subnet mask ID in a received message is different from the Node Subnet Mask ID; and

rejecting the received message if the subnet mask ID in the received message does not match the subnet mask ID for the receiver node.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

if a gateway destination value indicates that the received message should be relayed, a Relay Destination equals a Node ID for the receiver node, and a Relay Destination is not equal to a Final Destination;

then,

replacing the Relay Sender value with the Node ID for the receiver node;

replacing the Relay Destination value with the Node “To Gateway Relay” Node for the Gateway destination; and

resending the received Message with the updated header routing information.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

if a gateway destination value indicates that the received message is at a final destination, and the Relay Destination equals to the Node ID Relay Destination equal to the Final Destination, then

processing the received message and performing proper actions based on a received message type.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining if a gateway destination value indicates that the received message is to be transferred and a Relay Destination equals to the Global Message ID and a

From Relay Node ID is equal to the Node “To Gateway Relay” Node ID, and the Node destination is not equal to the Node ID for the receiver node;

then

replacing a Relay Sender value with the Node ID for the receiver node; and

resending the received Message with the updated header routing information.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

if a Gateway destination value indicates a final destination, a Final Destination equals a Node ID for the receiver node, a Relay Destination is equal to the Global Message ID, and a From Relay Node ID equals to a Node “To Gateway Relay” Node, then processing the received message and performing proper actions based on the message type.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

if a relay global message data value indicates a relay global message, a Relay Destination is equal to the Global Message ID, a Final Destination data value is equal to the Global Message ID data value, a From Relay Node ID data value equals to the Node “To Gateway Relay” ID and an Original ID data value is equal to the Gateway Node Destination, the Node has network children for the gateway sending the message, then replacing the Relay Sender value with the Node ID for the receiver node; and

resending the Message with the updated header routing information.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

if a global destination value indicates a global final destination,

a Relay Destination equals to the Global Message ID, Final Destination equals to the Global Message ID, a From Relay Node ID is equal to the Node “To Gateway Relay” Node and an Original Node equals to one of the Node Gateway Destinations, then processing the received message at the receiver node and performing proper action based on the message type.

8 . A system for extending a serial protocol to create a network in a well monitoring environment, the system comprising:

a processor in data communication with a computer readable medium;

a computer program embedded in the computer readable medium containing instructions for execution by the processor, the computer program further comprising instructions to determine at a receiver node whether a message subnet mask ID in a received message is different from the Node Subnet Mask ID; and

rejecting the received message if the subnet mask ID in the received message does not match the subnet mask ID for the receiver node.

9 . The system of claim 8 , the computer program further comprising:

instructions to determine if a gateway destination value indicates that the received message should be relayed, a Relay Destination equals a Node ID for the receiver node, and a Relay Destination is not equal to a Final Destination;

then,

instructions to replace the Relay Sender value with the Node ID for the receiver node, instructions to replace the Relay Destination value with the Node “To Gateway Relay” Node for the Gateway destination and instructions to resend the received Message with the updated header routing information.

10 . The system of claim 8 , the computer program further comprising:

instructions to determine if a gateway destination value indicates that the received message is at a final destination, and the Relay Destination equals to the Node ID Relay Destination equal to the Final Destination, then instructions to process the received message and performing proper actions based on a received message type.

11 . The method of claim 8 , the computer program further comprising:

instructions to determine if a gateway destination value indicates that the received message is to be transferred and a Relay Destination equals to the Global Message ID and a From Relay Node ID is equal to the Node “To Gateway Relay” Node ID, and the Node destination is not equal to the Node ID for the receiver node

then instructions to replace a Relay Sender value with the Node ID for the receiver node and instructions to resend the received Message with the updated header routing information.

12 . The method of claim 8 , the computer program further comprising:

instructions to determine if a Gateway destination value indicates a final destination, a Final Destination equals a Node ID for the receiver node, a Relay Destination is equal to the Global Message ID, and a From Relay Node ID equals to a Node “To Gateway Relay” Node, then instructions to process the received message and instructions to perform proper actions based on the message type.

13 . The system of claim 8 , the computer program further comprising:

instructions to determine if a relay global message data value indicates a relay global message, a Relay Destination is equal to the Global Message ID, a Final Destination data value is equal to the Global Message ID data value, a From Relay Node ID data value equals to the Node “To Gateway Relay” ID and an Original ID data value is equal to the Gateway Node Destination, the Node has network children for the gateway sending the message, then instructions to replace the Relay Sender value with the Node ID for the receiver node and instructions to resend the Message with the updated header routing information.

14 . The system of claim 8 , the computer program further comprising:

instructions to determine if a global destination value indicates a global final destination, a Relay Destination equals to the Global Message ID, Final Destination equals to the Global Message ID, a From Relay Node ID is equal to the Node “To Gateway Relay” Node and an Original Node equals to one of the Node Gateway Destinations, then instructions to process the received message at the receiver node and performing proper action based on the message type.