Patent US6040834A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6040834A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Customizable user interface for network navigation and management
Assignee: Cisco Technology Inc
•
Filing: 1996-12-31
•
Granted: 2000-03-21
•
Expires: 2016-12-31
Abstract
Abstract A graphical user interface for network management permits a network manager to select a limited number of network components to be displayed, along with the information relative thereto, while removing the display of undesirable or unnecessary data. Information is provided to inform the network manager that connections to other components may exist. In addition, information regarding the relationship of other components connected to the selected components is displayed. The network manager is provided with the opportunity to navigate about the map which illustrates the network topology, to locate the source of a problem. If the relationship between components changes, the network manager can expand the information displayed on the screen, to view all of the components that are directly connected to an illustrated component associated with a problem. The network manage can continue to request the display of specific connections, until the component which is the source of the problem is itself displayed and identified. Once the problem has been corrected, the manager can collapse the view to the originally selected components.
Inventors
- 👤 Sunil Jain
- 👤 Robert Williams
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 18:48
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L41/00; H04L41/22; H04L41/06; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S715/00; Y10S715/961; Y10S715/965; Y10S715/969
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 37
Claim 1
Independent Claim
105 words
A graphical user interface for network management comprising: a repository of information pertaining to components which form a computer network and connections to those components; means for receiving a user selection of two or more of the components, which comprise less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository; and means responsive to a user selection for displaying a topological map of the computer network comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) logical connections between the selected components, and (c) an indicator which identifies a relationship between each selected component and non-displayed components which are logically connected to the selected components.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
105 words
A graphical user interface for network management comprising: a repository of information pertaining to components which form a computer network and connections to those components; means for receiving a user selection of two or more of the components, which comprise less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository; and means responsive to a user selection for displaying a topological map of the computer network comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) logical connections between the selected components, and (c) an indicator which identifies a relationship between each selected component and non-displayed components which are logically connected to the selected components.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
40 words
The user interface of claim 1 wherein said display further comprises a second indicator which is displayed when there are logical connections of the selected components to other components of the network that are not displayed in the topological map.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
29 words
The user interface of claim 2 wherein said second indicator includes a numerical value to indicate the number of non-displayed components to which a selected component is logically connected.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
46 words
The user interface of claim 1 further including means responsive to user designation of one of the displayed components for expanding the topological map by displaying previously non-selected components which are logically connected to the designated component and which are logical peers of the designated component.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
16 words
The user interface of claim 4 wherein the previously non-selected components are displayed with said indicator.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
48 words
The user interface of claim 1 further including means responsive to user designation of one of the displayed components for switching to a different topological map which consists of only the designated component and only the components in said repository which are directly connected to the designated component.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
121 words
A graphical user interface for network management comprising: a repository of information pertaining to components which form a computer network and connections to those components; means for receiving a user selection of a limited number of two or more of the components, which limited number is less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository; means responsive to a user selection for displaying a topological map consisting of only the selected components, connections between the selected components, and an indicator of connections to other, non-selected components; and means responsive to user designation of one of the displayed components for expanding the topological map by displaying all those previously non-selected components which are connected to the designated component.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
121 words
A graphical user interface for network management comprising: a repository of information pertaining to components which form a computer network and connections to those components; means for receiving a user selection of a limited number of two or more of the components, which limited number is less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository; means responsive to a user selection for displaying a topological map consisting of only the selected components, connections between the selected components, and an indicator of connections to other, non-selected components; and means responsive to user designation of one of the displayed components for expanding the topological map by displaying all those previously non-selected components which are connected to the designated component.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
22 words
The user interface of claim 7 wherein the previously non-selected components are only those which are directly connected to the designated component.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
153 words
A graphical user interface for network management comprising: a repository of information pertaining to components which form a computer network and connections to those components; means for receiving a user selection of a limited number of the components, which is two or more components but less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository; means for receiving a user selection of one protocol that the selected components use to communicate, selected from among a plurality of protocols that the selected components may potentially use to communicate; and means responsive to a user selection for displaying a topological map comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) only logical connections between the selected components that use the selected protocol, and (c) a marker that is displayed when there are logical connections of each of the selected components to other components of the network that are not displayed in the topological map.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
153 words
A graphical user interface for network management comprising: a repository of information pertaining to components which form a computer network and connections to those components; means for receiving a user selection of a limited number of the components, which is two or more components but less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository; means for receiving a user selection of one protocol that the selected components use to communicate, selected from among a plurality of protocols that the selected components may potentially use to communicate; and means responsive to a user selection for displaying a topological map comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) only logical connections between the selected components that use the selected protocol, and (c) a marker that is displayed when there are logical connections of each of the selected components to other components of the network that are not displayed in the topological map.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
30 words
The user interface of claim 9 further including a numerical value associated with the marker to indicate the number of non-displayed components to which a selected component is logically connected.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
46 words
The user interface of claim 9 further including means responsive to user designation of one of the displayed components for expanding the topological map by displaying previously non-selected components which are logically connected to the designated component and which are logical peers of the designated component.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
16 words
The user interface of claim 11 wherein the previously non-selected components are displayed with said indicator.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
110 words
A method for displaying a map of a limited portion of the topology of a computer network, comprising the steps of: creating a repository of information pertaining to components which form the computer network and connections to those components; receiving a selection of at least two individual components from among all the components, which comprise less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository; and displaying a topological map comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) logical connections between only the selected components, and (c) an indicator which identifies a relationship between each selected component and non-displayed components which are logically connected to the selected components.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
110 words
A method for displaying a map of a limited portion of the topology of a computer network, comprising the steps of: creating a repository of information pertaining to components which form the computer network and connections to those components; receiving a selection of at least two individual components from among all the components, which comprise less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository; and displaying a topological map comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) logical connections between only the selected components, and (c) an indicator which identifies a relationship between each selected component and non-displayed components which are logically connected to the selected components.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 13 further including the step of displaying a second indicator which is displayed when there are logical connections of the selected components to other components of the network that are not displayed in the topological map.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 14 wherein said second indicator includes a numerical value to indicate the number of non-displayed components to which a selected component is logically connected.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
90 words
The method of claim 13 further including the steps of: creating and storing one or more monitor objects that are associated with one of the components of the network, each of the monitor objects representing a performance metric of the components, each of the monitor objects having an associated stored limit value that represents the onset of an error condition for the associated performance metric; detecting whether a monitor object exceeds its limit value; and changing the indicator if any limit value of any of the monitor objects is exceeded.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of changing the indicator of a displayed component to a first indication when the error condition is associated with the displayed component, and changing the indicator to a second indication when the error condition is associated with a non-displayed component.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 13 further including the steps of receiving a designation of one of the displayed components, and expanding the topological map by displaying only those previously non-selected components which are directly logically connected to the designated component and which are logical peers of the designated component.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 18 further including the step of displaying the previously non-selected components with said indicator.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 13 further including the steps of receiving a designation of one of said displayed components, and switching to a different topological map which consists of only the designated component and only the components in said repository which are directly connected to the designated component.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
68 words
A graphical user interface as recited in claim 13, further comprising: means for receiving a user selection of one protocol that the selected components use to communicate, selected from among a plurality of protocols that the selected components may potentially use to communicate; and means responsive to a user selection for displaying, in the topological map, only logical connections between the selected components that use the selected protocol.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
157 words
A method for displaying a map of a limited portion of the topology of a computer network, comprising the steps of: creating a repository of information pertaining to components which form the computer network and connections to those components; receiving a selection of a limited number of the components, which is two or more of the components but less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository; receiving a user selection of one protocol that the selected components use to communicate, selected from among a plurality of protocols that the selected components may potentially use to communicate; and displaying a topological map comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) logical connections between only the selected components that use the selected protocol, and (c) a marker that is displayed when there are logical connections of each of the selected components to other components of the network that are not displayed in the topological map.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
157 words
A method for displaying a map of a limited portion of the topology of a computer network, comprising the steps of: creating a repository of information pertaining to components which form the computer network and connections to those components; receiving a selection of a limited number of the components, which is two or more of the components but less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository; receiving a user selection of one protocol that the selected components use to communicate, selected from among a plurality of protocols that the selected components may potentially use to communicate; and displaying a topological map comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) logical connections between only the selected components that use the selected protocol, and (c) a marker that is displayed when there are logical connections of each of the selected components to other components of the network that are not displayed in the topological map.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 22 further including a numerical value in association with the marker to indicate the number of non-displayed components to which a selected component is logically connected.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 22 further including the steps of receiving a designation of one of the displayed components, and expanding the topological map by displaying previously non-selected components which are logically connected to the designated component and which are logical peers of the designated component.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 24 further including the step of displaying the previously non-selected components with said indicator.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
88 words
The method of claim 22 further including the steps of creating and storing one or more monitor objects that are associated with one of the components of the network, each of the monitor objects representing a performance metric of the components, each of the monitor objects having an associated stored limit value that represents the onset of an error condition for the associated performance metric; detecting whether a monitor object exceeds its limit value, and changing the indicator if any limit value of any monitor object is exceeded.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 26, further comprising the step of changing the indicator of a displayed component to a first indication when the error condition is associated with the displayed component, and changing the indicator to a second indication when the error condition is associated with a non-displayed component.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 22 further including the steps of receiving a designation of one of said displayed components, and switching to a different topological map which consists of only the designated component and only the components in said repository which are directly connected to the designated component.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
66 words
A method as recited in claim 13, further comprising: receiving a user selection of one protocol that the selected components use to communicate, selected from among a plurality of protocols that the selected components may potentially use to communicate; and in response to such user selection of the protocol, displaying, in the topological map, only logical connections between the selected components that use the selected protocol.
Claim 35
Independent Claim
222 words
A method for displaying a map of the topology of a computer network, comprising the steps of: creating a repository of information pertaining to components which form the computer network and connections to those components; receiving a selection of a limited number of the components, which is less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository; establishing a first set of network performance criteria for monitoring the status of components which form the network and connections to those components; displaying a first topological map comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) logical connections between only the selected components, and (c) an indicator which identifies the relationship between each selected component and non-displayed components which are logically connected to the selected components, in accordance with said first set of criteria; designating one of the displayed components; displaying a second topological map consisting of only the one designated component and the components in said repository which are directly connected to the designated component; establishing a second set of network performance criteria for monitoring the status of components in said second topological map and connections to those components that is different from the first set of criteria; and displaying indicators which identify the operation status of the components in said second topological map, in accordance with said second set of criteria.
Claim 36
Independent Claim
222 words
A method for displaying a map of the topology of a computer network, comprising the steps of: creating a repository of information pertaining to components which form the computer network and connections to those components; receiving a selection of a limited number of the components, which is less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository; establishing a first set of network performance criteria for monitoring the status of components which form the network and connections to those components; displaying a first topological map comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) logical connections between only the selected components, and (c) an indicator which identifies the relationship between each selected component and non-displayed components which are logically connected to the selected components, in accordance with said first set of criteria; designating one of the displayed components; displaying a second topological map consisting of only the one designated component and the components in said repository which are directly connected to the designated component; establishing a second set of network performance criteria for monitoring the status of components in said second topological map and connections to those components that is different from the first set of criteria; and displaying indicators which identify the operation status of the components in said second topological map, in accordance with said second set of criteria.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
65 words
A method as recited in claim 30, further comprising: receiving a user selection of one protocol that the selected components use to communicate, selected from among a plurality of protocols that the selected components may potentially use to communicate; and responsive to such user selection of a protocol, displaying, in the topological map, only logical connections between the selected components that use the selected protocol.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US5483631A
Cited
US5276789A
Cited
US5559955A
Cited
US5471399A
Cited
US5452415A
Cited
US5515487A
Cited
US5751962A
Cited
US5751965A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2003-03-21 | 2003-09-20 | 2004-03-21 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-03-21 | 2007-09-20 | 2008-03-21 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-03-21 | 2011-09-20 | 2012-03-21 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |