Indicator processor

• US 7,808,380 B1
• Filed: 08/29/2003
• Issued: 10/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Marvell Israel MISL Limited (Marvell Technology Group Limited)
• Original Assignee: Marvell Israel MISL Limited (Marvell Technology Group Limited)
• Inventors: Harel, Ziv, Carmeli, Tomer
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham; Toan N
• Application Number:
  US10/650,778
• Time in Patent Office: 2,594 Days
• Field of Search: 340/540, 340/500, 340/506, 340/517, 340/521, 340/525, 340/286.02, 340/815.4, 340/815.45, 340/679
• US Class Current: 340/540
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning

Abstract

A system for customizing indicator information for displaying status information to a user includes a receiver for receiving status information from each of a plurality of devices, and assigning the status information to one of a plurality of classes to generate class information. Each of the plurality of classes is associated with a different characteristic of the plurality of devices. The system includes a plurality of manipulators for altering attributes of the class information for at least one of the plurality of classes. The system includes a logical combiner for combining class information into a plurality of combinational groups to customize the content of indicator information in each of the plurality of combinational groups, each combinational group formed according to a predetermined function. The system can include an information sequencer for modifying the order of indicator information from the plurality of combinational groups to generate a stream of indicator information.

Claims

1. A system for customizing indicator information for displaying status information to a user, comprising:

a receiver for receiving status information from each of a plurality of devices,

wherein the receiver assigns the status information received from each of the plurality of devices to one of a plurality of classes to generate class information for each of the plurality of classes,

wherein each of the plurality of classes is associated with a different characteristic of the plurality of devices;

an information stretcher for stretching the status information received from at least one of the plurality of devices by a predetermined amount;

a plurality of manipulators for altering at least one attribute of the class information for at least one of the plurality of classes;

a logical combiner for combining class information from the plurality of classes into a plurality of combinational groups to customize a content of indicator information in each of the plurality of combinational groups,

wherein each of the plurality of combinational groups is formed according to a predetermined function;

an information sequencer for modifying an order of indicator information from the plurality of combinational groups to generate a stream of indicator information,

wherein the order of information in the stream of indicator information is modified to customize a display of the stream of indicator information,

wherein the stream of indicator information comprises a serial stream of bits of indicator information;

a serial-to-parallel converter for converting the serial stream of bits of indicator information to parallel streams of indicator information,

wherein the parallel streams of indicator information are used for displaying the status information of the plurality of devices; and

a display for displaying the status information of the plurality of devices to the user using the parallel streams of indicator information.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein an attribute of the class information includes at least one of forced, inversion and blinking.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the attribute of the class information substitutes information specified by the user for the class information.

4. The system of claim 2, comprising:

a plurality of blinking mechanisms configured to cause blinking of the indicator information, each of the plurality of blinking mechanisms associated with a duty cycle and a rate,

wherein at least one class of the plurality of classes is associated with one of the plurality of blinking mechanisms, and

wherein all classes associated with a blinking mechanism blink at the duty cycle and rate specified for the blinking mechanism.

5. The system of claim 1, comprising:

a synchronizer for synchronizing different serial streams of bits of indicator information to synchronize a blinking rate of information included in different serial streams of bits of indicator information.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the information sequencer orders the serial stream of bits of indicator information according to one of class, combinational group and device.

7. The system of claim 1, comprising:

a selector for controlling a length of the serial stream of bits of indicator information by altering a start and an end of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to generate a frame of bits of indicator information,

wherein the frame of bits of indicator information selects a portion of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to display a subset of the status information to the user, and

wherein the frame of bits of indicator information comprises a portion of indicator information included in the serial stream of bits of indicator information.

8. A system for customizing indicator information for displaying status information to a user, comprising:

means for receiving status information from each of a plurality of devices;

means for stretching the status information received from at least one of the plurality of devices by a predetermined amount;

means for assigning the status information received from each of the plurality of devices to one of a plurality of classes to generate class information for each of the plurality of classes,

wherein each of the plurality of classes is associated with a different characteristic of the plurality of devices;

means for altering at least one attribute of the class information for at least one of the plurality of classes;

means for combining class information from the plurality of classes into a plurality of combinational groups to customize a content of indicator information in each of the plurality of combinational groups,

wherein each of the plurality of combinational groups is formed according to a predetermined function;

means for modifying an order of indicator information from the plurality of combinational groups to generate a stream of indicator information,

wherein the order of information in the stream of indicator information is modified to customize a display of the stream of indicator information,

wherein the stream of indicator information comprises a serial stream of bits of indicator information;

means for converting the serial stream of bits of indicator information to parallel streams of indicator information,

wherein the parallel streams of indicator information are used for displaying the status information of the plurality of devices; and

means for displaying the status information of the plurality of devices to the user using the parallel streams of indicator information.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein an attribute of the class information includes at least one of forced, inversion and blinking.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the attribute of the class information substitutes information specified by the user for the class information.

11. The system of claim 9, comprising:

plurality of means for blinking configured to cause blinking of the indicator information, each of the plurality of means for blinking associated with a duty cycle and a rate; and

means for associating at least one class of the plurality of classes with one of the plurality of means for blinking, wherein all classes associated with means for blinking blink at the duty cycle and rate specified for the means for blinking.

12. The system of claim 8, comprising:

means for synchronizing different serial streams of bits of indicator information to synchronize a blinking rate of information included in different serial streams of bits of indicator information.

13. The system of claim 8, comprising:

means for ordering the serial stream of bits of indicator information according to one of class, combinational group and device.

14. The system of claim 8, comprising:

means for controlling a length of the serial stream of bits of indicator information by altering a start and an end of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to generate a frame of bits of indicator information,

wherein the frame of bits of indicator information selects a portion of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to display a subset of the status information to the user, and

wherein the frame of bits of indicator information comprises a portion of indicator information included in the serial stream of bits of indicator information.

15. A system for customizing indicator information for displaying status information to a user, comprising:

a receiver for receiving status information from each of a plurality of devices,

wherein the receiver assigns the status information received from each of the plurality of devices to one of a plurality of classes to generate class information for each of the plurality of classes,

wherein each of the plurality of classes is associated with a different characteristic of the plurality of devices;

a plurality of manipulators for altering at least one attribute of the class information for at least one of the plurality of classes; and

a logical combiner for combining class information from the plurality of classes into a plurality of combinational groups to customize a content of indicator information in each of the plurality of combinational groups,

wherein each of the plurality of combinational groups is formed according to a predetermined function.

16. The system of claim 15, comprising:

an information sequencer for modifying an order of indicator information from the plurality of combinational groups to generate a stream of indicator information,

wherein the order of information in the stream of indicator information is modified to customize a display of the stream of indicator information.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the information sequencer orders the stream of indicator information according to one of class, combinational group and device.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the information sequencer comprises:

a serializer for generating a serial stream of bits of indicator information from the stream of indicator information.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the serializer comprises:

a synchronizer for synchronizing different serial streams of bits of indicator information to synchronize a blinking rate of information included in different serial streams of bits of indicator information.

20. The system of claim 18, comprising:

a serial-to-parallel converter for converting the serial stream of bits of indicator information to parallel streams of indicator information,

wherein the parallel streams of indicator information are used for displaying the status information of the plurality of devices.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein the information sequencer comprises:

a selector for selecting a portion of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to display a subset of the status information to the user.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the selector controls a length of the serial stream of bits of indicator information by altering a start and an end of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to generate a frame of indicator information, and

wherein the frame of indicator information comprises a portion of indicator information included in the serial stream of bits of indicator information.

23. The system of claim 15, comprising:

a display for displaying the status information of the plurality of devices to the user using a stream of indicator information.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the display comprises a multiple element display.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the multiple element display comprises a plurality of individual light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

26. The system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of devices include ports of a communication device.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the communication device includes a network switch.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein a characteristic of the plurality of devices includes at least one of a port speed, one of full duplex and half duplex, one of communications link up and down, port activity, port disabled, packet collision, and erroneous frame receiving.

29. The system of claim 15, comprising:

an information stretcher for stretching the status information received from at least one of the plurality of devices by a predetermined amount.

30. The system of claim 15, wherein the receiver disables use of at least one of the plurality of classes upon occurrence of an event.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the event comprises a communications link being down.

32. The system of claim 15, wherein an attribute of the class information includes at least one of forced, inversion and blinking.

33. The system of claim 32, comprising:

a plurality of blinking mechanisms configured to cause blinking of the indicator information, each of the plurality of blinking mechanism associated with a duty cycle and a rate,

wherein at least one class of the plurality of classes is associated with one of the plurality of blinking mechanisms, and

wherein all classes associated with a blinking mechanism blink at the duty cycle and rate specified for the blinking mechanism.

34. The system of claim 15, wherein the attribute of the class information substitutes information specified by the user for the class information.

35. The system of claim 15, wherein the predetermined function comprises:

a logical AND of a first value with a second value to generate a first result,

a logical AND of a third value with a fourth value to generate a second result, and

a logical OR of the first result with the second result to generate a combinational group.

36. A system for customizing indicator information for displaying status information to a user, comprising:

a receiver means for receiving status information from each of a plurality of devices,

wherein the receiver assigns the status information received from each of the plurality of devices to one of a plurality of classes to generate class information for each of the plurality of classes,

wherein each of the plurality of classes is associated with a different characteristic of the plurality of devices;

a plurality of manipulator means for altering at least one attribute of the class information for at least one of the plurality of classes; and

a logical combiner means for combining class information from the plurality of classes into a plurality of combinational groups to customize a content of indicator information in each of the plurality of combinational groups,

wherein each of the plurality of combinational groups is formed according to a predetermined function.

37. The system of claim 36, comprising:

information sequencer means for modifying an order of indicator information from the plurality of combinational groups to generate a stream of indicator information,

wherein the order of information in the stream of indicator information is modified to customize a display of the stream of indicator information.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the information sequencer means orders the stream of indicator information according to one of class, combinational group and device.

39. The system of claim 37, wherein the information sequencer means comprises:

serializer means for generating a serial stream of bits of indicator information from the stream of indicator information.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the serializer means comprises:

synchronizer means for synchronizing different serial streams of bits of indicator information to synchronize a blinking rate of information included in different serial streams of bits of indicator information.

41. The system of claim 39, comprising:

serial-to-parallel converter means for converting the serial stream of bits of indicator information to parallel streams of indicator information,

wherein the parallel streams of indicator information are used for displaying the status information of the plurality of devices.

42. The system of claim 39, wherein the information sequencer means comprises:

selector means for selecting a portion of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to display a subset of the status information to the user.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein the selector means controls a length of the serial stream of bits of indicator information by altering a start and an end of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to generate a frame of indicator information, and

wherein the frame of indicator information comprises a portion of indicator information included in the serial stream of bits of indicator information.

44. The system of claim 36, comprising:

display means for displaying the status information of the plurality of devices to the user using a stream of indicator information.

45. The system of claim 36, wherein the plurality of devices include ports of a communication device.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the communication device includes a network switch.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein a characteristic of the plurality of devices includes at least one of a port speed, one of full duplex and half duplex, one of communications link up and down, port activity, port disabled, packet collision, and erroneous frame receiving.

48. The system of claim 36, comprising:

information stretcher means for stretching the status information received from at least one of the plurality of devices by a predetermined amount.

49. The system of claim 36, wherein the receiver means disables use of at least one of the plurality of classes upon occurrence of an event.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein the event comprises a communications link being down.

51. The system of claim 36, wherein an attribute of the class information includes at least one of forced, inversion and blinking.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the attribute of the class information substitutes information specified by the user for the class information.

53. The system of claim 36, comprising:

plurality of blinking means configured to cause blinking of the indicator information, each of the plurality of blinking means associated with a duty cycle and a rate,

wherein at least one class of the plurality of classes is associated with one of the plurality of blinking means, and

wherein all classes associated with blinking means blink at the duty cycle and rate specified for the blinking means.

54. The system of claim 36, wherein the predetermined function comprises:

a logical AND of a first value with a second value to generate a first result,

a logical AND of a third value with a fourth value to generate a second result, and

a logical OR of the first result with the second result to generate a combinational group.

55. A method of customizing indicator information for displaying status information to a user, comprising the steps of:

receiving status information from each of a plurality of devices;

assigning the status information received from each of the plurality of devices to one of a plurality of classes to generate class information for each of the plurality of classes,

wherein each of the plurality of classes is associated with a different characteristic of the plurality of devices;

altering at least one attribute of the class information for at least one of the plurality of classes; and

combining class information from the plurality of classes into a plurality of combinational groups to customize a content of indicator information in each of the plurality of combinational groups,

wherein each of the plurality of combinational groups is formed according to a predetermined function.

56. The method according to claim 55, comprising the step of:

modifying an order of indicator information from the plurality of combinational groups to generate a stream of indicator information,

wherein the order of information in the stream of indicator information is modified to customize a display of the stream of indicator information.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the step of modifying comprises the step of:

synchronizing different streams of indicator information to synchronize a blinking rate of information included in different streams of indicator information.

58. The method of claim 56, wherein the step of modifying comprises the step of:

ordering the stream of indicator information according to one of class, combinational group and device.

59. The method of claim 56, comprising the step of:

generating a serial stream of bits of indicator information from the stream of indicator information.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the step of generating comprises the step of:

converting the serial stream of bits of indicator information to parallel streams of indicator information,

wherein the parallel streams of indicator information are used for displaying the status information of the plurality of devices.

61. The method of claim 59, wherein the step of generating comprises the step of:

selecting a portion of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to display a subset of the status information to the user.

62. The method of claim 61, wherein step of selecting comprises the step of:

controlling a length of the serial stream of bits of indicator information by altering a start and an end of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to generate a frame of indicator information,

wherein the frame of indicator information comprises a portion of indicator information included in the stream of indicator information.

63. The method of claim 55, comprising the step of:

displaying the status information of the plurality of devices to the user using a stream of indicator information.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein the stream of indicator information is displayed to the user on a multiple element display to display the status of the plurality of devices to the user.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein the multiple element display includes a plurality of individual light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

66. The method of claim 55, wherein the plurality of devices include ports of a communication device.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein the communication device includes a network switch.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein a characteristic of the plurality of devices includes at least one of a port speed, one of full duplex and half duplex, one of communications link up and down, port activity, port disabled, packet collision, and erroneous frame receiving.

69. The method of claim 55, comprising the step of:

stretching the status information received from at least one of the plurality of devices by a predetermined amount.

70. The method of claim 55, comprising the step of:

disabling use of at least one of the plurality of classes upon occurrence of an event.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein the event comprises a communications link being down.

72. The method of claim 55, wherein an attribute of the class information includes at least one of forced, inversion and blinking.

73. The method of claim 72, wherein the attribute of the class information substitutes information specified by the user for the class information.

74. The method of claim 72, comprising the step of:

associating at least one class of the plurality of classes with one of a plurality of blinking mechanisms configured to cause blinking of the indicator information, each of the plurality of blinking mechanism associated with a duty cycle and a rate, and wherein all classes associated with a blinking mechanism blink at the duty cycle and rate specified for the blinking mechanism.

75. The method of claim 55, wherein the predetermined function comprises:

a logical AND of a first value with a second value to generate a first result,

a logical AND of a third value with a fourth value to generate a second result, and

a logical OR of the first result with the second result to generate a combinational group.

76. A system for customizing indicator information for displaying status information to a user, comprising:

a memory that stores the steps of a computer program to;

receive status information from each of a plurality of devices;

assign the status information received from each of the plurality of devices to one of a plurality of classes to generate class information for each of the plurality of classes,

wherein each of the plurality of classes is associated with a different characteristic of the plurality of devices;

alter at least one attribute of the class information for at least one of the plurality of classes; and

combine class information from the plurality of classes into a plurality of combinational groups to customize a content of indicator information in each of the plurality of combinational groups,

wherein each of the plurality of combinational groups is formed according to a predetermined function; and

a processor for accessing the memory to execute the computer program.

77. The system of claim 76, wherein the memory stores steps of a computer program:

to modify an order of indicator information from the plurality of combinational groups to generate a stream of indicator information,

wherein the order of information in the stream of indicator information is modified to customize a display of the stream of indicator information.

78. The system of claim 77, wherein the memory stores steps of a computer program:

to synchronize different streams of indicator information to synchronize a blinking rate of information included in different streams of indicator information.

79. The system of claim 77, wherein the memory stores steps of a computer program:

to order the stream of indicator information according to one of class, combinational group and device.

80. The system of claim 77, wherein the memory stores steps of a computer program:

to generate a serial stream of bits of indicator information from the stream of indicator information.

81. The system of claim 80, wherein the memory stores steps of a computer program:

to convert the serial stream of bits of indicator information to parallel streams of indicator information,

wherein the parallel streams of indicator information are used for displaying the status information of the plurality of devices.

82. The system of claim 80, wherein the memory stores the steps of a computer program:

to select a portion of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to display a subset of the status information to the user.

83. The system of claim 82, wherein the memory stores steps of a computer program:

to control a length of the serial stream of bits of indicator information by altering a start and an end of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to generate a frame of indicator information,

wherein the frame of indicator information comprises a portion of indicator information included in the stream of indicator information.

84. The system of claim 76, wherein the memory stores steps of a computer program:

to display the status information of the plurality of devices to the user using a stream of indicator information.

85. The system of claim 84, wherein the stream of indicator information is displayed to the user on a multiple element display to display the status of the plurality of devices to the user.

86. The system of claim 85, wherein the multiple element display includes a plurality of individual light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

87. The system of claim 76, wherein the plurality of devices include ports of a communication device.

88. The system of claim 87, wherein the communication device includes a network switch.

89. The system of claim 88, wherein a characteristic of the plurality of devices includes at least one of a port speed, one of full duplex and half duplex, one of communications link up and down, port activity, port disabled, packet collision, and erroneous frame receiving.

90. The system of claim 76, wherein the memory stores steps of a computer program:

to stretch the status information received from at least one of the plurality of devices by a predetermined amount.

91. The system of claim 76, wherein the memory stores steps of a computer program:

to disable use of at least one of the plurality of classes upon occurrence of an event.

92. The system of claim 91, wherein the event comprises a communications link being down.

93. The system of claim 76, wherein an attribute of the class information includes at least one of forced, inversion and blinking.

94. The system of claim 93, wherein the attribute of the class information substitutes information specified by the user for the class information.

95. The system of claim 93, wherein the memory stores steps of a computer program:

to associate at least one class of the plurality of classes with one of a plurality of blinking mechanisms configured to cause blinking of the indicator information, each of the plurality of blinking mechanism associated with a duty cycle and a rate, and wherein all classes associated with a blinking mechanism blink at the duty cycle and rate specified for the blinking mechanism.

96. The system of claim 76, wherein the predetermined function comprises:

a logical AND of a first value with a second value to generate a first result,

a logical AND of a third value with a fourth value to generate a second result, and

a logical OR of the first result with the second result to generate a combinational group.

97. A system for customizing indicator information for displaying status information to a user, comprising:

a memory means for storing the steps of a computer program to;

receive status information from each of a plurality of devices;

assign the status information received from each of the plurality of devices to one of a plurality of classes to generate class information for each of the plurality of classes,

wherein each of the plurality of classes is associated with a different characteristic of the plurality of devices;

alter at least one attribute of the class information for at least one of the plurality of classes; and

combine class information from the plurality of classes into a plurality of combinational groups to customize a content of indicator information in each of the plurality of combinational groups,

wherein each of the plurality of combinational groups is formed according to a predetermined function; and

a processor means for accessing the memory to execute the computer program.

98. The system of claim 97, wherein the memory means stores steps of a computer program to:

to modify an order of indicator information from the plurality of combinational groups to generate a stream of indicator information,

wherein the order of information in the stream of indicator information is modified to customize a display of the stream of indicator information.

99. The system of claim 98, wherein the memory means stores steps of a computer program:

to synchronize different streams of indicator information to synchronize a blinking rate of information included in different streams of indicator information.

100. The system of claim 98, wherein the memory means stores steps of a computer program:

to order the stream of indicator information according to one of class, combinational group and device.

101. The system of claim 98, wherein the memory means stores steps of a computer program:

to generate a serial stream of bits of indicator information from the stream of indicator information.

102. The system of claim 101, wherein the memory means stores steps of a computer program:

to convert the serial stream of bits of indicator information to parallel streams of indicator information,

wherein the parallel streams of indicator information are used for displaying the status information of the plurality of devices.

103. The system of claim 101, wherein the memory means stores the steps of a computer program:

to select a portion of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to display a subset of the status information to the user.

104. The system of claim 103, wherein the memory means stores steps of a computer program to:

to control a length of the serial stream of bits of indicator information by altering a start and an end of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to generate a frame of indicator information,

wherein the frame of indicator information comprises a portion of indicator information included in the stream of indicator information.

105. The system of claim 97, wherein the memory means stores steps of a computer program:

to display the status information of the plurality of devices to the user using a stream of indicator information.

106. The system of claim 105, wherein the stream of indicator information is displayed to the user on a multiple element display to display the status of the plurality of devices to the user.

107. The system of claim 106, wherein the multiple element display includes a plurality of individual light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

108. The system of claim 97, wherein the plurality of devices include ports of a communication device.

109. The system of claim 108, wherein the communication device includes a network switch.

110. The system of claim 109, wherein a characteristic of the plurality of devices includes at least one of a port speed, one of full duplex and half duplex, one of communications link up and down, port activity, port disabled, packet collision, and erroneous frame receiving.

111. The system of claim 97, wherein the memory means stores steps of a computer program:

to stretch the status information received from at least one of the plurality of devices by a predetermined amount.

112. The system of claim 97, wherein the memory means stores steps of a computer program:

to disable use of at least one of the plurality of classes upon occurrence of an event.

113. The system of claim 112, wherein the event comprises a communications link being down.

114. The system of claim 97, wherein an attribute of the class information includes at least one of forced, inversion and blinking.

115. The system of claim 114, wherein the attribute of the class information substitutes information specified by the user for the class information.

116. The system of claim 114, wherein the memory means stores steps of a computer program:

to associate at least one class of the plurality of classes with one of a plurality of blinking mechanisms configured to cause blinking of the indicator information, each of the plurality of blinking mechanism associated with a duty cycle and a rate, and wherein all classes associated with a blinking mechanism blink at the duty cycle and rate specified for the blinking mechanism.

117. The system of claim 97, wherein the predetermined function comprises:

a logical AND of a first value with a second value to generate a first result,

a logical AND of a third value with a fourth value to generate a second result, and

a logical OR of the first result with the second result to generate a combinational group.

118. A computer program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and executed by a processor, the computer program for customizing indicator information for displaying status information to a user by performing the steps of:

assigning the status information from each of a plurality of devices to one of a plurality of classes to generate class information for each of the plurality of classes,

wherein each of the plurality of classes is associated with a different characteristic of the plurality of devices;

altering at least one attribute of the class information for at least one of the plurality of classes; and

combining class information from the plurality of classes into a plurality of combinational groups to customize a content of indicator information in each of the plurality of combinational groups,

wherein each of the plurality of combinational groups is formed according to a predetermined function.

119. The computer program of claim 118, wherein the computer program performs the step of:

modifying an order of indicator information from the plurality of combinational groups to generate a stream of indicator information,

wherein the order of information in the stream of indicator information is modified to customize a display of the stream of indicator information.

120. The computer program of claim 119, wherein the computer program performs the step of:

synchronizing different streams of indicator information to synchronize a blinking rate of information included in different streams of indicator information.

121. The computer program of claim 119, wherein the computer program performs the step of:

ordering the stream of indicator information according to one of class, combinational group and device.

122. The computer program of claim 119, wherein the computer program performs the step of:

generating a serial stream of bits of indicator information from the stream of indicator information.

123. The computer program of claim 122, wherein the computer program performs the step of:

converting the serial stream of bits of indicator information to parallel streams of indicator information,

wherein the parallel streams of indicator information are used for displaying the status information of the plurality of devices.

124. The computer program of claim 122, wherein the computer program performs the step of:

selecting a portion of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to display a subset of the status information to the user.

125. The computer program of claim 124, wherein the computer program performs the step of:

controlling a length of the serial stream of bits of indicator information by altering a start and an end of the serial stream of bits of indicator information to generate a frame of indicator information,

wherein the frame of indicator information comprises a portion of indicator information included in the stream of indicator information.

126. The computer program of claim 118, wherein the computer program performs the step of:

displaying the status information of the plurality of devices to the user using a stream of indicator information.

127. The computer program of claim 118, wherein the plurality of devices include ports of a communication device.

128. The computer program of claim 127, wherein the communication device includes a network switch.

129. The computer program of claim 128, wherein a characteristic of the plurality of devices includes at least one of a port speed, one of full duplex and half duplex, one of communications link up and down, port activity, port disabled, packet collision, and erroneous frame receiving.

130. The computer program of claim 118, wherein the computer program performs the step of:

stretching the status information received from at least one of the plurality of devices by a predetermined amount.

131. The computer program of claim 118, wherein the computer program performs the step of:

disabling use of at least one of the plurality of classes upon occurrence of an event.

132. The computer program of claim 131, wherein the event comprises a communications link being down.

133. The computer program of claim 118, wherein an attribute of the class information includes at least one of forced, inversion and blinking.

134. The computer program of claim 133, wherein the attribute of the class information substitutes information specified by the user for the class information.

135. The computer program of claim 133, wherein the computer program performs the step of:

associating at least one class of the plurality of classes with one of a plurality of blinking mechanisms configured to cause blinking of the indicator information, each of the plurality of blinking mechanism associated with a duty cycle and a rate, and wherein all classes associated with a blinking mechanism blink at the duty cycle and rate specified for the blinking mechanism.

136. The computer program of claim 118, wherein the predetermined function comprises:

a logical AND of a first value with a second value to generate a first result,

a logical AND of a third value with a fourth value to generate a second result, and

a logical OR of the first result with the second result to generate a combinational group.