1. A method of communicating node status in a star network comprising a hub and a plurality of nodes, the method comprising: sending a first message to the hub from a first node included in the plurality of nodes; forwarding the first message from the hub to at least one second node included in the plurality of nodes; communicating status information to the hub from the at least one second node after receiving at least a portion of the first message at the at least one second node; compiling a status vector based on the status information received from each of the at least one second nodes; and sending the status vector from the hub to at least the first node.