Apparatus for generating and transferring managed device description file
First Claim
1. In a networked computer system wherein a manager of a processing module exchanges data with a peripheral device managed by the manager through an interface between a network and the managed device, and wherein the interface includes a protocol independent interface coupled to the network and plural agents for providing the manager with data packet units via one of plural network communication protocols available to the peripheral device, the data packet units descriptive of the managed device, the interface comprising:
- receiving means, in the protocol independent interface, for receiving a network communication message having one of the plural network communication protocols, and for forwarding a request message contained therein from a processing module manager to one of the plural agents, the request message requesting data descriptive of the managed device and having a management protocol common to both the agent and the manager;
decomposing means, in the agent, for decomposing the request message into a command;
generating means, which is coupled to the agent and responsive to the command, for generating data corresponding to characteristics of the managed device based on attribute information for the managed device which is stored in the interface;
transferring means responsive to the generated data for transferring the data to the agent;
second generating means, at the agent, for generating data packet units corresponding to the data from the generating means, the data packet units having the common management protocol; and
sending means, in the protocol independent interface, for sending the data packet units received from the agent to the manager using one of the plural network communication protocols, wherein the network communication protocol in which the request is received and the data packet units are sent is transparent to the agent.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a computer network, processing modules exchange data with a peripheral device using managers at the processing module having different management protocols and one or more different management protocol agents in a network interface at the managed device. Data descriptive of the characteristics of the managed device is generated in the network interface in response to a request from a processing module manager. The generated descriptive data is sent to the requesting manager by the agent having the same management protocol as the requesting manager and a managed device description file is formed from the generated descriptive data by the processing module manager to control the managed device.
75 Citations
43 Claims
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1. In a networked computer system wherein a manager of a processing module exchanges data with a peripheral device managed by the manager through an interface between a network and the managed device, and wherein the interface includes a protocol independent interface coupled to the network and plural agents for providing the manager with data packet units via one of plural network communication protocols available to the peripheral device, the data packet units descriptive of the managed device, the interface comprising:
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receiving means, in the protocol independent interface, for receiving a network communication message having one of the plural network communication protocols, and for forwarding a request message contained therein from a processing module manager to one of the plural agents, the request message requesting data descriptive of the managed device and having a management protocol common to both the agent and the manager;
decomposing means, in the agent, for decomposing the request message into a command;
generating means, which is coupled to the agent and responsive to the command, for generating data corresponding to characteristics of the managed device based on attribute information for the managed device which is stored in the interface;
transferring means responsive to the generated data for transferring the data to the agent;
second generating means, at the agent, for generating data packet units corresponding to the data from the generating means, the data packet units having the common management protocol; and
sending means, in the protocol independent interface, for sending the data packet units received from the agent to the manager using one of the plural network communication protocols, wherein the network communication protocol in which the request is received and the data packet units are sent is transparent to the agent. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. In a networked computer system including a plurality of processing modules and at least one peripheral device, each processing module having at least one manager to manage a peripheral device, the peripheral device including network interface means for interfacing the network and the peripheral device, the network interface means including a protocol independent interface coupled to the network and plural agents for communicating with a manager of a processing module via one of plural network communication protocols available to the peripheral device, the data packet units, a method for supplying the manager with characteristics of the peripheral device, the method comprising the steps of:
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sending a request message for management information data in a network communication message using one of the plural network communication protocols, the request message is from the manager to one of the plural agents in the network interface means and having a management protocol common to both the agent and the manager;
receiving means, in the protocol independent interface, for receiving the network communication message, and for forwarding the request message contained therein to the agent;
decomposing, in the agent, the request message into a command;
generating a set of data corresponding to the characteristics of the managed device in the network interface means in response to the command, the generating step generating the set of data based on attributes for the managed device which are stored in the network interface means;
converting, in the agent, the set of data to a response message having the common management protocol and representing the set of managed device characteristic data; and
sending the response message by the protocol independent interface to the manager via the network using one of the plural network communication protocols, wherein the network communication protocol in which the request is received and the response is sent is transparent to the agent. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In a computer system including plural processing modules and peripheral devices coupled via a network, each processing module having at least one manager for managing one or more peripheral devices using a predetermined one of plural management protocols, and each peripheral device having plural agents associated therewith for exchanging management information with the processing module managers over the network, an apparatus, including a protocol independent interface coupled to the network and plural network communication protocols available to the apparatus, for interfacing one of the peripheral devices with one of the processing modules in order to manage the operations of the peripheral device, comprising:
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storing means for storing attribute information of a managed peripheral device;
receiving means, in the protocol independent interface, for receiving a network communication message having one or plural network communications protocols, and forwarding a request message contained therein from a requesting processing module manager to one of the plural agents of the managed peripheral device, the request message having a management protocol common to both the agent and the manager;
decomposing means for decomposing, in the agent, the request message into a command;
generating means coupled to the agent for generating data descriptive of the managed peripheral device based on the stored attribute information in response to the command;
sending means for sending the data generated by the generating means to the agent of the managed peripheral device;
producing means, in the agent, responsive to receipt of the data from the sending means, for producing a set of data packets corresponding to the data generated by the generating means, the data packets having the common management protocol; and
sending means for sending the set of data packets by the protocol independent interface to the requesting processing module manager via the network using one of the plural network communication protocols, wherein the network communication protocol in which the request is received and the data packets are sent is transparent to the agent. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. In a computer system including plural processing modules and peripheral devices coupled via a network, each processing module having (1) at least one manager for managing one or more of the peripheral devices using a predetermined one of plural management protocols, and (2) at least one peripheral device having plural agents associated therewith, each agent operating under a different one of the predetermined management protocols for exchanging management information with processing module managers over the network via a protocol independent interface and one of plural network communication protocols available to the peripheral device, an apparatus for interfacing a processing module with a managed peripheral device, comprising:
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receiving means, in the protocol independent interface, for receiving a network communication message having one of the plural network communication protocols, and for forwarding a request message contained therein from a requesting manager of the processing module to one of the plural agents, the request having a management protocol common to both the agent and the manager;
decomposing means, at the agent, for decomposing the request message into a command;
generating means, coupled to the agent, for generating data corresponding to characteristics of the managed peripheral device in response to the command from the decomposing means, the generating means generating the data based on attributes for the managed peripheral device which are stored in the apparatus;
converting means for converting, in the agent, the generated data into a response message having the common management protocol; and
sending means, in the protocol independent interface, for sending the data converted by the converting means to the requesting manager using one of the plural network communication protocols, wherein the network communication protocol in which the request message is received and the response message is sent is transparent to the agent. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. In a networked computer system wherein a manager of a processing module exchanges data with a peripheral device managed by the manager through an interface between a network and the managed device, and wherein the interface includes a protocol independent interface coupled to the network and plural agents, computer executable process steps to provide the manager with data packet units via one of plural network communication protocols available to the peripheral device, the data racket units descriptive of the managed device, said computer-executable process steps comprising:
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code to receive, in the protocol independent interface, a network communication message having one of the plural network communication protocols, and for forwarding a request message contained therein from a processing module manager to one of the plural agents, the request message requesting data descriptive of the managed device and having a management protocol common to both the agent and the manager;
code to decompose, in the agent, the request message into a command;
code to generate, in the interface and responsive to the command, data corresponding to characteristics of the managed device based on attribute information for the managed device which is stored in the interface;
code to transfer the data to the agent;
code to generate data packet units, at the agent, corresponding to the generated data, the data packet units having the common management protocol; and
code to send, in the protocol independent interface, the data packet units received from the agent to the manager using one of the plural network communication protocols, wherein the network communication protocol in which the request is received and the data packet units are sent is transparent to the agent. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. In a networked computer system wherein a manager of a processing module exchanges data with a peripheral device managed by the manager through an interface between a network and the managed device, and wherein the interface includes a protocol independent interface coupled to the network and plural agents, a computer-readable medium which stores computer-executable process steps, the computer-executable process steps to provide the manager with data packet units via one of plural network communication protocols available to the peripheral device, the data packet units descriptive of the managed device, the computer-executable process steps comprising:
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a receiving step to receive, in the protocol independent interface, a network communication message having one of the plural network communication protocols, and for forwarding a request message contained therein requesting data descriptive of the managed device to one of the plural agents, the agent and the manager;
a decomposing step to decompose, in the agent, the request message into a command;
a first generating step to generate, in the interface and responsive to the command, data corresponding to characteristics of the managed device based on attribute information for the managed device which is stored in the interface;
a transferring step to transfer the data to the agent;
a second generating step to generate, at the agent, data packet units corresponding to the data from the first generating step, the data packet units having the common management protocol; and
a sending step, in the protocol independent interface, to send the data packet units received from the agent to the manager using one of the plural network communication protocols, wherein the network communication protocol in which the request is received and the data packet units are sent is transparent to the agent. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. In a networked computer system including a plurality of processing modules and at least one peripheral device, each processing module having at least one manager to manage the peripheral device, the peripheral device including network interface means for interfacing the network and the peripheral device, the network interface means including a protocol independent interface coupled to the network and plural agents for communicating with a manager of a processing module via one of plural network communication protocols available to the peripheral device, the data packet units, computer executable process steps to supply the manager with characteristics of the peripheral device, said computer-executable process steps comprising:
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code to send a request message for management information data in a network communication message using one of the plural network communication protocols, the request message is from the manager to one of the plural agents in the network interface means and having a management protocol common to both the agent and the manager;
receiving means, in the protocol independent interface, for receiving the network communication message, and for forwarding the request message contained therein to the agent;
code to decompose, in the agent, the request message into a command;
code to generate a set of data corresponding to the characteristics of the managed device in the network interface means in response to the command, the code to generate generating the set of data based on attributes of the managed device stored in the network interface means;
code to convert, in the agent;
the set of data to a response message having the common management protocol and representing the set of managed device characteristic data; and
code to send the response message by the protocol independent interface to the manager via the network using one of the plural network communication protocols, wherein the network communication protocol in which the request is received and the response is sent is transparent to the agent. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
code to store the attributes of the managed device in the network interface means; and
code to form the set of data corresponding to the managed device characteristic data based on the stored attributes.
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35. Computer-executable process steps according to claim 32, wherein the agent and the manager have a common management protocol.
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36. Computer-executable process steps according to claim 32, wherein each of the plural agents operates under a different management protocol.
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37. Computer-executable process steps according to claim 32, wherein the set of data is available to each of the plural agents.
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38. In a networked computer system including a plurality of processing modules and at least one peripheral device, each processing module having at least one manager to manage the peripheral device, the peripheral device including network interface means for interfacing the network and the peripheral device, the network interface means including a protocol independent interface coupled to the network and plural agents for communicating with a manager of a processing module via one of plural network communication protocols available to the peripheral device, the data packet units, a computer-readable medium which stores computer-executable process steps, the computer-executable process steps to supply the manager with characteristics of the peripheral device, the computer-executable process steps comprising:
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a sending step to send a request message for management information data in a network communication message using one of the plural network communication protocols, the request message is from the manager to one of the plural agents in the network interface means and having a management protocol common to both the agent and the manager;
receiving means, in the protocol independent interface, for receiving the network communication message, and for forwarding the request message contained therein to the agent;
a decomposing step to decompose, in the agent, the request message into a command;
a generating step to generate a set of data corresponding to the characteristics of the managed device in the network interface means in response to the command, the generating step generating the set of data based on attributes of the managed device stored in the network interface means;
a converting step to convert, in the agent, the set of data to a response message having the common management protocol and representing the set of managed device characteristic data; and
a sending step to send the response message by the protocol independent interface to the manager via the network using one of the plural network communication protocols, wherein the network communication protocol in which the request is received and the response is sent is transparent to the agent. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
a storing step to store the attributes of the managed device in the network interface means; and
a forming step to form the set of data corresponding to the managed device characteristic data based on the stored attributes.
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41. A computer-readable medium according to claim 38, wherein the agent and the manager have a common management protocol.
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42. A computer-readable medium according to claim 38, wherein each of the plural agents operates under a different management protocol.
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43. A computer-readable medium according to claim 38, wherein the set of data is available to each of the plural agents.
Specification