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Method and Apparatus for Monitoring Physical Network Topology Information

  • US 20080049627A1
  • Filed: 10/30/2007
  • Published: 02/28/2008
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2005
  • Status: Abandoned Application
First Claim
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1. A local device for monitoring a physical topology of a network comprising the local device and a remote device connectable to the local device through a data channel and an out-of-band channel of a network cable connection, the local device comprising:

  • the port having a local port identifier associated therewith;

    a storage device adapted to store physical topology information that describes at least one of a physical location of the local device, a local device identifier, or the local port identifier;

    a transmitter adapted to transmit, on the out-of-band channel, the local device identifier, the local port identifier, and the stored physical topology information;

    a receiver adapted to receive, on the out-of-band channel, a remote device identifier associated with the remote device, a remote port identifier associated with the remote device, and physical topology information stored by the remote device if the remote device and the remote device are connected through the out-of-band channel;

    a port controller adapted to couple the storage device to the transmitter and to the receiver, to determine a status of the network cable connection based upon the received remote device identifier and the received remote port identifier, and to generate a port status update upon determining that a change in the status of the network cable connection has occurred; and

    a device controller adapted to receive the port status update and to transmit a status update message to a network management system, the status update message including the local device identifier, the local port identifier, the transmitted physical topology information, the remote device identifier, the remote port identifier, the received physical topology information, and the status of the network cable connection.

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