BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Figure 1 illustrates a conventional network. The network 100 comprises a plurality of subnets 102. The communication between subnets are facilitated by routers 106-1 to 106-6. The routers 106-1 to 106-6 transmit packets of information between each other and to subnets which they service. These routers are connected together via a network back bone 104. One of the routers, for example router 106-6, functions as the configuration server of the network 100. The network 100 may be configured in many different ways to facilitate communication between subnets.

One conventional way to ensure that a packet from one router reaches the desired destination is for the router to send this packet to all other routers in the network 100.

However, this particular architecture may result in the unnecessary processing of packets by routers which do not serve the desired destination. This leads to a waste of valuable # network resources.

Traffic patterns of the network permitting, another conventional way to reduce this traffic is to use a hub architecture. In this architecture, one of the routers is designated as a"hub". All other routers in the network are non-hubs. In the hub architecture, all non-hub routers send packets to the hub only. The hub sends packets to

each non-hub router in the network 100. This considerably decreases the amount of traffic on the network 100. For example, the dotted arrows in Figure 1 illustrate the sending of packets when router 106-4 is designated as the hub. Router 106-1 would send a packet from one of its subnets only to the hub 106-4. The hub 106-4 would send a packet from one of its subnets to all of the non-hub routers 106-1,106-2,106-3, 106-5, and 106-6 in the network 100.

One important drawback with the hub architecture is the requirement that each router in the network be manually configured. A technician must visit each router and set its configuration parameters. This must be done each time a change in the architecture occurs, for example, when the hub is changed to another router. Typically, the routers are scattered in various locations. This manual method of configuration is cumbersome and costly in human labor.

Accordingly, there exists a need for a method and system for self-configuration by a network. The method and system should be easy to implement and reduce the cost of configuring the network. The present invention addresses such a need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method and system for self-configuration of a network. The method includes receiving a change in a hub parameter for at least one router of a plurality of routers in the network, and providing a send list to each of the plurality of routers based upon the change. In a preferred embodiment, a hub router is provided a first send list comprising addresses for each non-hub router in the network while each non-hub router is provided a second send list comprising the address for each

hub router. The method and system of the present invention allows a network to automatically configure and reconfigure its architecture whenever a hub parameter changes. Less time and human labor is required over conventional manual configuration methods, which in turn reduces the costs of maintaining the network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Figure 1 illustrates a conventional network.

Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating a preferred embodiment of a method for self- configuration in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating in more detail the preferred embodiment of a method for self-configuration in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention provides a method and system for self-configuration by a network. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. Various modifications to the preferred embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiment shown but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.

The method and system in accordance with the present invention reduces the cost of configuring a network by providing software on the configuration server such that the

network is capable of automatically configuring itself. To more particularly describe the features of the present invention, please refer to Figures 2 and 3 in conjunction with the discussion below.

Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating a preferred embodiment of a method for self- configuration in accordance with the present invention. First, the server 106-6 receives a change in a hub parameter for a router in the network, via step 210. Each time there is a change in a hub parameter of a router, the server 106-6 is notified of it. Then, the server 106-6 provides a send list to each router in the network based upon the change, via step 220. A send list is a list of addresses to which a router sends packets.

Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating in more detail the providing step 220 of Figure 2. Conventionally, the server 106-6 is aware of the address of each router in the network. When the server 106-6 receives the change in a hub parameter, via step 210, it first provides a send list comprising the addresses for each non-hub router in the network to the hub, via step 310. With this send list, the hub transmits a packet which it receives to each non-hub router in the network. The server 106-6 also provides a send list comprising the address of the hub to each of the non-hub routers in the network, via step 320. With this send list, each non-hub router sends packets only to the hub.

The steps illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 are performed each time the server 106-6 receives a change in a hub parameter for a router.

Although the present invention is disclosed with a hub architecture with one hub, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the network may have multiple hubs without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. With multiple hubs, the send list provided by the server to each non-hub router in the network comprises the

addresses for each of the hubs. With this list, each non-hub router sends packets to each of the hubs only.

A method and system for self-configuration by a computer network has been disclosed. The method and system of the present invention allows a network to automatically configure and reconfigure its architecture whenever a hub parameter changes. Less time and human labor is required over conventional manual configuration methods, which in turn reduces the costs of maintaining the network.

Although the present invention has been described in accordance with the embodiments shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that there could be variations to the embodiments and those variations would be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, many modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.