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BACKGROUND

Many large Systems today are composed of or include a collection of" Smart” devices with a common communica tion infrastructure Such as a network. The devices may implement Sensing or control functions and are “Smart” in the Sense that they contain a microcontroller that regulates their processing and communication activities. Such devices normally must be programmed with certain application Specific configuration information before they can operate correctly. This configuration proceSS can be costly and time consuming.

Often, a physical process that the devices are monitoring or controlling imposes an implicit ordering on the devices. For example, a collection of controllers for conveyor Seg ments that pass boxes or trays to one another on a manu facturing line is ordered by the arrangement of the conveyor Segments. Another example is a collection of Sensors arranged in a regular array …