Method and system for discovery via tribal knowledge

• US 20060200571A1
• Filed: 03/07/2005
• Published: 09/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Backman, Terje K.
• Granted Patent: US 8,219,665 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0883 Semiautomatic configuration, e.g. proposals from system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/18 Protocol analysers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities

Abstract

The invention provides one or more modules that may be used to automatically configure a computing device to communicate over a network. When a polling computer is connected to a network, it monitors network traffic to determine the protocols being used on the network. These protocols are then installed and loaded onto the polling computer. The polling computer may find voting computers on the network and send queries to the voting computers to discover network information such as network settings and network resources. The polling computer stores the results in a data structure, which may be sorted and is searchable to find the most popular network settings and resources used on the network. Network settings and resources may be automatically applied to the polling computer or the user may be provided with a user interface allowing the user to select particular settings and/or resources.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing steps comprising:

monitoring a transmission on a network;

determining a protocol used in the transmission; and

automatically enabling a computing device to communicate using the protocol once the protocol has been determined.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the enabling the computing device comprises installing a driver for the protocol

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the enabling the computing device comprises loading a driver for the protocol.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1 further comprising querying a second computing device on the network to discover a network configuration setting used by the second computing device.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1 further comprising querying a second computing device on the network to discover a network resource used by the second computing device.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1 further comprising presenting a user interface to the user, wherein the user interface comprises a name of the protocol.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the computer executable instructions are automatically initiated when the computing device is connected to the network.

8. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing steps comprising:

querying a first computing device for at least one of a network setting and a network resource used by the first computing device;

receiving a response to the request; and

automatically configuring a second computing device to use the at least one of a network setting and a network resource.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8 further comprising storing information contained in the response on the second computing.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the information is stored in a data structure.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 10 wherein the second computer is automatically configured to use the at least one of a network setting and a network resource by selecting an entry in the data structure that appears most frequently.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 10 further comprising weighting entries in the data structure based on proximity within the network between the first computing device and the second computing device.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 10 further comprising weighting entries in the data structure based on similarity between the first computing device and the second computing device.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 8 further comprising presenting a user interface to the user displaying information contained in the response.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 8 wherein the automatically configuring the second computing device is by applying a network setting on the second computing device.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 8 wherein the automatically configuring the second computing device is by selecting a resource as a default resource.

17. In a computer system having a graphical user interface including a display and a user interface selection device, a method for discovering at least one of a network setting and a network resource used by a first computing device on a network comprising:

connecting a second computing device to the network;

querying the first computing device for the at least one of a network setting and a network resource used by the first computing device;

receiving a response to the request; and

presenting a user interface element on the display, the user interface element comprising the at least one of a network setting and a network resource; and

selecting the at least one of a network setting and a network resource with the user interface selection device to utilize the at least one of a network setting and a network resource on the second computing device.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising storing information in the response in a data structure on the second computing device.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the at least one of a network setting and a network resource displayed on the user interface is retrieved from the data structure.

20. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

monitoring a transmission on a network;

determining a protocol used in the transmission; and

automatically enabling the second computing device to communicate using the protocol once the protocol has been determined.