Method for determining a network topology in an apparatus for processing physical documents, such as postal items

摘要

A method for determining a topology of an apparatus for processing physical documents. The apparatus comprises processing modules and a central control unit. The central control unit and the processing modules are connected by central communication connections. A module communication connection connects the processing modules in series. The module communication connection has a data flow direction with a predetermined orientation with respect to the processing direction. A processing module upstream in the data flow direction sends first network configuration data. The first network configuration data represents the topology of an upstream part of the data communication network located upstream of the downstream processing module and contains the upstream processing module. A downstream processing module generates second network configuration data on the basis of the first configuration data, which represents the topology of the part of the data communication network that contains the downstream processing module and the part located upstream of the downstream processing module. The downstream processing module sends the second network configuration data to the central control unit. The central control unit determines the topology on the basis thereof.