Method and apparatus for setting master node of ring network

A node apparatus in a ring network that has adjacently connected node apparatuses situated on rightward and leftward lines of a bidirectional transmission channel, the node apparatus comprising:

• a line interface part corresponding to respective lines of the bidirectional transmission channel and having an input part for inputting packets from the lines of the bidirectional transmission channel and an output part for outputting packets to the lines of the bidirectional transmission channel;
• a control packet transmitting unit for transmitting control packets according to the packets received from the line interface part;
• a counting unit for counting the number of node apparatuses interposed between the node apparatus and a designated node apparatus on the rightward and leftward lines of the bidirectional transmission channel according to the control packets received from the line interface part;
• and
• a master node setting unit for setting the node apparatus as the master node apparatus;
• wherein the master node apparatus satisfies a relation of,
• NHC_L =NHC_R or NHC_L =NHC_R-1,
• wherein NHC_L is the number of interposed node apparatuses counted from the leftward line, and NHC_R is the number of interposed node apparatuses counted from the rightward line;
• wherein the designated node apparatus is one of the node apparatuses at which reception traffic is concentrated.