Networks Based on Stack-Tree Topology and a 1394 Bus

A method of designing fault-tolerant networks of computers and other electronic circuits has been conceived with a view toward minimizing costs by utilizing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products and standards for all system and component interfaces. The method involves, more specifically, utilization of selected features of the 1394 bus architecture and of the stack tree-topology (see Figure 1), which is a special case of the general tree topology and which complies with the 1394 standard. Of particular significance in the method is a specific type of stack tree denoted as Complete Stack Tree (CST) of n stem nodes.