Patent US6108702A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6108702A
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Method and apparatus for determining accurate topology features of a network
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1998-12-02
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Granted: 2000-08-22
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Expires: 2018-12-02
Abstract
Abstract A monitoring system for determining accurate topology features of a network, and methods of operating the monitoring system, are disclosed . In the preferred embodiment, the system creates an accurate topology map of a given network by: obtaining a list of managed network devices; identifying trunk ports, link channel ports, and trunk channel ports; identifying link port and node ports; determining connections between the ports; storing the collected information; and displaying the network topology. Methods are disclosed for identifying link and node ports. In the preferred method, information regarding the devices, including VLAN/backplane information, router ARP table information, device interface information, and physical address information for machines and devices connected to the network is obtained. Also, the ports and/or devices are logically grouped in order to provide more accurate topology information. Source address table timing information is obtained for each device, and a historical database of source table information is kept. Filters may then be utilized on the source address tables in order to provide more accurate topology results. Connections between nodes are also resolved by utilizing sorting methods. Alternative methods are also disclosed for identifying link ports and determining connections between nodes.
Inventors
- 👤 Michael Wood
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 07:01
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L41/00; H04L41/12
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 46
Claim 1
Independent Claim
108 words
In a system for determining topology features of a network, a method for determining what ports in a computer network are link ports, comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining information regarding devices connected to the network; (b) obtaining source address table information for each device; (c) selecting a port on a device that has two or more source addresses; (d) if any other device has two or more ports that have at least one source address seen on the selected port, tagging the selected port as a link port; (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) for every port in each device that has two or more source addresses.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
108 words
In a system for determining topology features of a network, a method for determining what ports in a computer network are link ports, comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining information regarding devices connected to the network; (b) obtaining source address table information for each device; (c) selecting a port on a device that has two or more source addresses; (d) if any other device has two or more ports that have at least one source address seen on the selected port, tagging the selected port as a link port; (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) for every port in each device that has two or more source addresses.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 1, including the step of maintaining time information relating to the step of obtaining source address table information.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 2, wherein the step of maintaining information maintains information regarding what source addresses have been found on ports over a plurality of polling periods.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 1, including the step of filtering the source address table information based on the time information.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 4, wherein the step of filtering includes the step of filtering source addresses where the time that the source address was last seen minus the time the source address was first seen is less than the source address table aging time.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 4, wherein the step of filtering includes filtering source address tables that do not age.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the step of maintaining time information maintains data regarding the time that a source address was first found on a port, the time that the source address was last found on the port, and the time the source address table containing the port was last polled.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 1, further including the step of assigning logical port numbers to the ports of the devices, and assigning the source address tables obtained in step (b) to the logical port numbers prior to performing step (c).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1, further including the step of grouping related devices for polling before performing the step of obtaining source address table information for each device.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
121 words
In a system for determining topology features of a network, a method for determining what ports in a computer network are link ports, comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining information regarding devices connected to the network; (b) logically grouping the ports and/or devices on the network; (c) obtaining source address table information for each device; (d) selecting a port in a logical group that has two or more source addresses; (e) if any other logical group has two or more ports that have at least one source address seen on the selected port, tagging the selected port as a link port; (f) repeating steps (d) and (e) for every port in each logical group that has two or more source addresses.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
121 words
In a system for determining topology features of a network, a method for determining what ports in a computer network are link ports, comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining information regarding devices connected to the network; (b) logically grouping the ports and/or devices on the network; (c) obtaining source address table information for each device; (d) selecting a port in a logical group that has two or more source addresses; (e) if any other logical group has two or more ports that have at least one source address seen on the selected port, tagging the selected port as a link port; (f) repeating steps (d) and (e) for every port in each logical group that has two or more source addresses.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 10, wherein the step of logically grouping groups the ports on the devices into local domains.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 11, including the step of maintaining time information relating to the step of obtaining source address table information.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 12, wherein the step of maintaining information maintains information regarding what source addresses have been found on ports over a plurality of polling periods.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 11, including the step of filtering the source address table information based on the time information.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 14, wherein the step of filtering includes the step of filtering source addresses where the time that the source address was last seen minus the time the source address was first seen is less than the source address table aging time.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 14, wherein the step of filtering includes filtering source address tables that do not age.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 11, wherein the step of maintaining time information maintains data regarding the time that a source address was first found on a port, the time that the source address was last found on the port, and the time the source address table containing the port was last polled.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 11, further including the step of assigning logical port numbers to the ports of the devices, and assigning the source address tables obtained in step (c) to the logical port numbers prior to performing step (d).
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 11, further including the step of grouping related devices for polling before performing the step of obtaining source address table information for each device.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 11, wherein the step of logically grouping groups the devices into global domains.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 20, including the step of maintaining time information relating to the step of obtaining source address table information.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 21, wherein the step of maintaining information maintains information regarding what source addresses have been found on ports over a plurality of polling periods.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 20, including the step of filtering the source address table information based on the time information.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 23, wherein the step of filtering includes the step of filtering source addresses where the time that the source address was last seen minus the time the source address was first seen is less than the source address table aging time.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 23, wherein the step of filtering includes filtering source address tables that do not age.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 20, wherein the step of maintaining time information maintains data regarding the time that a source address was first found on a port, the time that the source address was last found on the port, and the time the source address table containing the port was last polled.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 20, further including the step of assigning logical port numbers to the ports of the devices, and assigning the source address tables obtained in step (d) to the logical port numbers prior to performing step (d).
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 20, further including the step of grouping related devices for polling before performing the step of obtaining source address table information for each device.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 11, wherein the step of logically grouping groups the devices into link domains.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 11, wherein the step of logically grouping groups the devices into circuits.
Claim 33
Independent Claim
44 words
A method for determining topology features of a computer network comprising: identifying devices on the network; identifying channel ports and trunk ports on the network; identifying node ports on the network; and determining connections between the channel, trunk and node ports on the network.
Claim 34
Independent Claim
44 words
A method for determining topology features of a computer network comprising: identifying devices on the network; identifying channel ports and trunk ports on the network; identifying node ports on the network; and determining connections between the channel, trunk and node ports on the network.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of claim 31, wherein the step of identifying node ports on the network includes the steps of: logically grouping ports and/or devices on the network; obtaining source address information on the devices; maintaining information relating to the step of obtaining source address information; and filtering the source address information.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 32, wherein the step of logically grouping includes the step of determining local domains so as to group ports on a single device where one port in the group can communicate to any other port in the group through the devices backplane.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 33, wherein the step of logically grouping includes the step of grouping local domains that are extended among two or more devices via trunk ports and/or trunk channels.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 33, wherein the step of logically grouping includes the step of grouping all local domains and group domains into circuits.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
109 words
The method of claim 35, wherein the step of identifying node ports on the network further includes the steps of: (a) selecting a circuit; (b) making a list of each link domain belonging to that circuit; (c) adding all unresolved circuit link domains to the list; (d) selecting a link domain from the list; (e) selecting a logical port on the selected link domain that has two or more source addresses; (f) if any link domain in the list has two or more ports that have source addresses seen on the logical port selected in step (e), tagging the logical port selected in step (e) as a link port.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 31, wherein the step of identifying node ports on the network further includes the step of: assigning link status to ports on the devices.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
89 words
In a system for determining topology features of a network, a method for determining what ports in a computer network are node ports, comprising the steps of: obtaining information regarding devices connected to the network; assigning logical port numbers to ports on the devices; obtaining source address table information from each device; maintaining time information relating to the step of obtaining source address table information; filtering the source address table information based on the time information; and assigning the filtered source address table information to the logical port numbers.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
89 words
In a system for determining topology features of a network, a method for determining what ports in a computer network are node ports, comprising the steps of: obtaining information regarding devices connected to the network; assigning logical port numbers to ports on the devices; obtaining source address table information from each device; maintaining time information relating to the step of obtaining source address table information; filtering the source address table information based on the time information; and assigning the filtered source address table information to the logical port numbers.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of claim 38, wherein the step of maintaining time information includes maintaining information relating to when a port of a device was first seen and last seen, and also information relating to when the port was last polled by the step of obtaining source address tables from each device.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 39, wherein the step of filtering includes the step of filtering source addresses where the time that the source address was last seen minus the time the source address was first seen is less than the source address aging time.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 38, wherein the step of filtering includes filtering source address tables that do not age.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 38, wherein the step of assigning logical port numbers includes the step of determining which ports are connected via channels.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2003-08-22 | 2004-02-21 | 2004-08-22 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-08-22 | 2008-02-21 | 2008-08-22 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-08-22 | 2012-02-21 | 2012-08-22 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |