NETWORK TOPOLOGY DISCOVERY
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of assigning device identifications in a switched network, said method comprising:
- designing a network having a designed topology made up of network devices, each of said network devices having an assigned identification;
constructing a network from the designed network;
discovering the actual topology of the constructed network; and
comparing the discovered topology with the designed topology and assigning identifications to network devices of the constructed network at least as a function of said comparing.
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Abstract
A method of assigning device identification in a switched network, and the resulting switched network, includes designing a network having a design topology made up of network devices, constructing a network from the designed network and discovering the actual topology of the constructed network. The discovered topology is compared with the design topology to assign identifications to network devices of the constructed network.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A method of assigning device identifications in a switched network, said method comprising:
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designing a network having a designed topology made up of network devices, each of said network devices having an assigned identification;
constructing a network from the designed network;
discovering the actual topology of the constructed network; and
comparing the discovered topology with the designed topology and assigning identifications to network devices of the constructed network at least as a function of said comparing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21)
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11. A method of discovering the topology of a switched network, said method comprising:
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a) disabling ports of network devices from forwarding messages;
b) discovering a high level network device by sending an identify command and receiving a response to identify any device responding to the identify command;
c) enabling the forwarding of messages from one port of the discovered device;
d) discovering another network device by sending an identify command and receiving a response to identify any device responding to the identify command sent from the one port of the identified device;
e) discovering additional network devices by repeating elements (c) and (d) for additional ports of discovered network devices. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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17. The method of claim 111 wherein said disabling ports comprise disabling devices from forwarding multicast or broadcast messages.
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22. A switched network, comprising:
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a plurality of network devices configured in a particular topology;
a detection device connected with one of said network devices;
said detection device discovering said particular topology of said network; and
a comparison function comparing the discovered topology with an electronic file representing a designed topology of the network, said comparison function assigning identifications to network devices of the constructed network at least as a function of said comparing. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A switched network, comprising:
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a plurality of network devices configured in a particular topology; and
a detection device connected with one of said network devices;
said detection device discovering said particular topology of said network by;
a) disabling ports of network devices from forwarding messages;
b) sending an identify command and receiving a response to identify a high level network device;
c) enabling the forwarding of messages from one port of the identified network device;
d) sending an identify command and receiving a response to identify any network device responding to the identify command sent from the one port of the identified device;
e) repeating elements (c) and (d) for additional ports of discovered additional network devices in order to discover additional network devices. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification