Extensible Attribute Summarization

• US 20120226790A1
• Filed: 03/03/2011
• Published: 09/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Singh, Sumeet, Ganesan, Ashok, Banerjee, Subrata, Spiegel, Ethan M., Kapur, Sukhdev S., Ludvigson, Erik David
• Granted Patent: US 9,235,447 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/50 Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/50 Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements

Abstract

In one embodiment a method includes at first a network device, identifying an attribute of the first network device, selecting a function that defines how the attribute is to be summarized together with a same attribute of a second network device, generating a message that comprises a set of information comprising an identification of the attribute and the function, and sending the message to, e.g., a next higher node in a network hierarchy of which the network device is a part. Multiple such messages may be received at an aggregation node that then summarizes the attributes according to respective functions, and sends or publishes a summarized version of the attributes to a still next higher node in the network hierarchy.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

at first a network device, identifying an attribute of the first network device;

selecting a function that defines how the attribute is to be summarized together with a same attribute of a second network device;

generating a message that comprises a set of information comprising an identification of the attribute and the function; and

sending the message to a node in a network of which the network device is a part.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising including in the message a value associated with the attribute.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the function comprises an equation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the function is at least one of SUM, MULTIPLY, DIFFERENCE, AVERAGE, STANDARD DEVIATION, CONCATENATION, LENGTH, LESSER_OF, GREATER_OF, MAX, MIN, UNION, or INTERSECTION.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the message comprises sending the message using a presence protocol.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the presence protocol is the eXtensible Markup Presence Protocol (XMPP).

7. The method of claim 5, wherein sending the message comprises publishing the message within a publish-subscribe system.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

a memory in communication with the processor; and

a network interface unit in communication with the processor and memory,

wherein the processor is configured, along with logic instructions stored in the memory, to;

identify an attribute of the apparatus;

select a function that defines how the attribute is to be summarized together with a same attribute of another apparatus;

generate a message that comprises a set of information comprising an identification of the attribute and the function; and

send the message, via the network interface, to a node in a network of which the apparatus is a part.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to select, as the function, at least one of SUM, MULTIPLY, DIFFERENCE, AVERAGE, STANDARD DEVIATION, CONCATENATION, LENGTH, LESSER_OF, GREATER_OF, MAX, MIN, UNION, or INTERSECTION.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to send the message using a presence protocol.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the presence protocol is the eXtensible Markup Presence Protocol (XMPP).

12. A method comprising:

at an aggregation node of a data center comprising a plurality of network devices, receiving a first publish message from a first network device, the first publish message from the first network device including a first set of information having a form (attribute₁, metadata), wherein a given attribute describes a capability of the first network device;

at the aggregation node of the data center, receiving a second publish message from a second network device, the second publish message from the second server including a second set of information having the form (attribute₂, metadata);

generating a third set of information by combining information in the first set of information and the second set of information consistent with functions defined by the metadata; and

sending a third publish message to a next higher aggregation node in a hierarchical structure of which the aggregation node is a member, the third publish message comprising the third set of information.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the functions defined by the metadata comprises at least one of count, sum, multiply, divide, difference, average, standard deviation or concatenate.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the first publish message and the second publish message each comprises a plurality of attributes and respective metadata, and the method further comprises generating a plurality of groupings that summarize and combine the attributes in different ways.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising using respective values associated with the attributes as inputs to at least one of the functions.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving the first and second publish messages comprises receiving via a presence protocol.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the presence protocol is the eXtensible Markup Presence Protocol (XMPP).

18. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

a memory in communication with the processor; and

a network interface unit in communication with the processor and memory,

wherein the processor is configured, along with logic instructions stored in the memory, to;

receive a first publish message from a first network device, the first publish message from the first network device including a first set of information having a form (attribute₁, metadata₁), wherein a given attribute describes a capability of the first network device;

receive a second publish message from a second network device, the second publish message from the second server including a second set of information having the form (attribute₂, metadata₂);

generate a third set of information by combining information in the first set of information and the second set of information consistent with functions defined by the metadata; and

send a third publish message to a next higher aggregation node in a hierarchical structure of which the aggregation node is a member, the third publish message comprising the third set of information.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the functions defined by the metadata comprise at least one of SUM, MULTIPLY, DIFFERENCE, AVERAGE, STANDARD DEVIATION, CONCATENATION, LENGTH, LESSER_OF, GREATER_OF, MAX, MIN, UNION, or INTERSECTION.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first publish message and the second publish message each comprises a plurality of attributes and respective metadata, and the processor is further configured to generate a plurality of groupings that summarize and combine the attributes in different ways.