Method And Apparatus For Network Node Discovery

1 . A method for node discovery, the method comprising:

receiving, by a network node from a sending node, a request indicating a criterion of interest to an originator node;

determining whether the network node meets the criterion;

if the network node meets the criterion, sending a response to the originator node indicating that the network node meets the criterion;

forwarding the request to any nodes that neighbor the network node other than the sending node.

2 . The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising

detecting, by the network node, a new neighboring node to which the request has not been forwarded;

forwarding the request to the new neighboring node.

3 . The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising

receiving the request again by the network node but from a different sending node;

determining that the request has already been forwarded to any nodes that neighbor the network node.

4 . The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising

receiving by the network node a response for the originator node from a node to which the network node forwarded the request;

forwarding the received response towards the originator node.

5 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein forwarding the request to any nodes that neighbor the network node comprises

forwarding the request to any nodes that are a single network hop from the network node.

6 . The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising

decrementing a hop count value included in the request prior to forwarding the request to any nodes that neighbor the network node.

7 . An article of manufacture comprising a processor-readable storage medium storing one or more software programs which when executed by one or more processors performs the steps of the method of claim 1 .

8 . A method for node discovery, the method comprising:

sending, by an originator node to each network node of a group of network nodes that neighbor the originator node, a request indicating a criterion of interest to the originator node;

establishing a period of time during which to receive responses to the request sent to each network node of the group;

collecting information to identify which network nodes meet the criterion.

9 . The method as recited in claim 8 , further comprising

including in the request a dissemination metric to limit the extent of node discovery.

10 . The method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the dissemination metric comprises a hop count value.

11 . An article of manufacture comprising a processor-readable storage medium storing one or more software programs which when executed by one or more processors performs the steps of the method of claim 8 .

12 . A network node of a communication system, the network node being configured to communicate with other devices in the system, wherein the network node is operative

to receive, from a sending node, a request indicating a criterion of interest to an originator node,

to determine whether the network node meets the criterion,

to send, if the network node meets the criterion, a response to the originator node indicating that the network node meets the criterion and

to forward the request to any nodes that neighbor the network node other than the sending node.

13 . The network node as recited in claim 12 , wherein the network node is further operative

to detect a new neighboring node to which the request has not been forwarded and

to forward the request to the new neighboring node.

14 . The network node as recited in claim 12 , wherein the network node is further operative

to receive the request again but from a different sending node and

to determine that the request has already been forwarded to any nodes that neighbor the network node.

15 . The network node as recited in claim 12 , wherein the network node is further operative

to receive a response for the originator node from a node to which the network node forwarded the request and

to forward the received response towards the originator node.

16 . The network node as recited in claim 12 , wherein being operative to forward the request to any nodes that neighbor the network node comprises being operative

to forward the request to any nodes that are a single network hop from the network node.

17 . The network node as recited in claim 12 , wherein the network node is further operative

to decrement a hop count value included in the request prior to forwarding the request to any nodes that neighbor the network node.