'Set the next hops and return the number of hops.  The next
hops may include ourself.'

def _get_next_hops(self):

    if (self.hop_count >= self.max_hop_count):
        return []
    if (self.direction == 'down'):
        return self.state_manager.get_child_cells()
    else:
        return self.state_manager.get_parent_cells()
