On a data communication network (DCN), a network element (NE) is uniquely identified by an ID (NEID), not by an IP address. Each NE is assigned a default NEID manually or through the auto-provisioning process.
The assigned NEIDs on a specific DCN must be different from each other because they represent the unique identities of the NEs on that DCN. If the NEIDs of two NEs on a DCN are identical, route flapping occurs.
The NEID range is from 0x10001 to 0xFEFFFE and consists of a subnet ID and basic ID. The first 8 most significant bits represent the subnet ID, which ranges from 0x1 to 0xFE. The 16 least significant bits represent the basic ID, which ranges from 0x0001 to 0xFFFE.