--- /dev/null
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2003-2005 The BISON Project
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License version 2 as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
+ *
+ */
+
+package peersim.core;
+
+/**
+ * Class that represents one node with a network address. An {@link Network} is
+ * made of a set of nodes. The functionality of this class is thin: it must be
+ * able to represent failure states and store a list of protocols. It is the
+ * protocols that do the interesting job.
+ */
+public interface Node extends Fallible, Cloneable
+{
+
+/**
+ * Prefix of the parameters that defines protocols.
+ * @config
+ */
+public static final String PAR_PROT = "protocol";
+
+/**
+ * Returns the <code>i</code>-th protocol in this node. If <code>i</code>
+ * is not a valid protocol id
+ * (negative or larger than or equal to the number of protocols), then it throws
+ * IndexOutOfBoundsException.
+ */
+public Protocol getProtocol(int i);
+
+/**
+ * Returns the number of protocols included in this node.
+ */
+public int protocolSize();
+
+/**
+ * Sets the index of this node in the internal representation of the node list.
+ * Applications should not use this method. It is defined as public simply
+ * because it is not possible to define it otherwise.
+ * Using this method will result in
+ * undefined behavior. It is provided for the core system.
+ */
+public void setIndex(int index);
+
+/**
+ * Returns the index of this node. It is such that
+ * <code>Network.get(n.getIndex())</code> returns n. This index can
+ * change during a simulation, it is not a fixed id. If you need that, use
+ * {@link #getID}.
+ * @see Network#get
+ */
+public int getIndex();
+
+/**
+* Returns the unique ID of the node. It is guaranteed that the ID is unique
+* during the entire simulation, that is, there will be no different Node
+* objects with the same ID in the system during one invocation of the JVM.
+* Preferably nodes
+* should implement <code>hashCode()</code> based on this ID.
+*/
+public long getID();
+
+/**
+ * Clones the node. It is defined as part of the interface
+ * to change the access right to public and to get rid of the
+ * <code>throws</code> clause.
+ */
+public Object clone();
+
+}
