Algorithms for Variable Length Subnet Address Assignment

In a computer network that consists of many subnetworks, the binary address of a particular machine consists of two parts: A prefix that contains the address of the subnetwork to which the machine belongs, and a suffix containing the address of that particular machine within its subnetwork. In variable-length subnetwork addressing, the length of the prefix containing the subnetwork's address varies from one subnetwork to another. To avoid ambiguity when decoding addresses, there is a requirement that no subnetwork address be a suffix of another subnetwork address. We give an algorithm for finding a suitable set of subnetwork addresses so as to maximize the total number of addressable machines. We generalize the algorithm to the case where each subnetwork also has a priority associated with it. This is joint work with D.E. Comer.