search frame

When a data terminal establishes a connection via a data packet network, it is initially unknown in a larger meshed wide- area network where the destination is located and which route there is the fastest, even taking into account the traffic volume. For this reason, search frames are sent across the network, picking up the identifiers of the nodes as they traverse them and returning to the source after reaching the destination.

If several search frames return to the source, the path of the first returned search frame is nevertheless binding, because whoever has traveled the path to the destination and back the fastest has obviously found the optimal path. Search frames that did not find their way are discarded after a predetermined time and disappear from the network again. It cannot be overlooked that the network is quite extraordinarily loaded for a short time by the large number of search frames, which are multiplied in the individual nodes with the number of output lines.