Configuration discovery and mapping of a home network

A home network comprising many heterogeneous devices requires a scaleable interconnect capable of satisfying the often vastly different network resource demands of the devices. In addition, it is likely that over time the configuration of the network will change as new devices are added to the network and older ones removed or replaced. While it is acceptable for enterprise networks to be managed by a trained network administrator it is unreasonable to expect a home owner to have such expertise. Consequently, a free topology network coupled with a capacity for plug and play that allows nodes to be added anywhere, and at any time without interruption to the operation of the networked system are essential requirements. IEEE 1355 standard technology has the potential to satisfy these criteria. The demand for a free topology and a capacity for plug and play require that the configuration of the network is re-discovered and mapped automatically, and at regular intervals. Such a configuration mapping process is described.