A node identification system is described for use in a computer system in which the various components of the system are interconnected via nodes on a communications bus. Once the topology of the nodes has been resolved into an acyclic directed graph, each node may be assigned a non-predetermined unique...http://www.google.de/patents/US5394556?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US5394556 - Method and apparatus for unique address assignment, node self-identification and topology mapping for a directed acyclic graph
