System and method for estimating the geographical location and proximity of network devices and their directly connected neighbors

• US 7,543,045 B1
• Filed: 05/28/2008
• Issued: 06/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Duggan, Matthew E., Martin, Daniel J., Agrawal, Dakshi, Pappas, Vasileios
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee; Philip C
• Application Number:
  US12/128,209
• Time in Patent Office: 370 Days
• Field of Search: 709/220, 709/200, 709/224, 709/226, 370/338, 370/389, 455/456.1, 705/8
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• 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 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

A method for estimating locations of devices in a network, the method including: identifying each of the devices; inputting an approximate location of at least one of the devices; constructing a constrain for each of the devices, the constrain comprising at least one of a type of connectivity of the device and a technology characteristic related to the device; deriving an optimization criterion on a location for each of the devices, the criterion assigning a positive weight to each constrain that is satisfied by at least one of an estimated location and the approximate location and assigning a negative weight to each constrain that is not satisfied by at least one of the estimated location and the approximate location; calculating a best fit location for each of the devices that maximizes the optimization criterion; presenting the best fit location for each of the devices to a user, the user either accepting or rejecting each best fit location, the user providing additional information for constructing each constrain associated with a rejected best fit location; and iterating at least one of the identifying, the inputting, the constructing, the deriving, the calculating, and the presenting using the additional information until the user accepts each best fit location.

Claims

1. A method for estimating locations of devices in a network, the method comprising:

identifying each of the devices;

inputting an approximate location of at least one of the devices;

constructing a constrain for the each of the devices, the constrain comprising a type of connectivity of the device;

deriving an optimization criterion on a location for the each of the devices, the optimization criterion assigning a positive weight to each of the constrain for the each of the devices that is satisfied by at least one of an estimated location and the approximate location and assigning a negative weight to each of the constrain for the each of the devices that is not satisfied by at least one of the estimated location and the approximate location;

calculating by a processor a best fit location for the each of the devices that maximizes the optimization criterion;

presenting the best fit location for the each of the devices to a user, the user either accepting or rejecting each of the best fit location, the user providing additional information for constructing the each of the constrain for the each of the devices associated with the best fit location rejected; and

iterating the identifying, the inputting, the constructing, the deriving, the calculating, and the presenting using the additional information until the user accepts the each of the best fit location for the each of the devices.