Method and appartus for monitor and notification in a network

• US 7,865,546 B1
• Filed: 01/26/1998
• Issued: 01/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: New York University
• Original Assignee: New York University
• Inventors: Tuzhilin, Alexander S., Arunkundram, Ravinarayan
• Primary Examiner(s): Winder, Patrice L
• Application Number:
  US09/013,490
• Time in Patent Office: 4,726 Days
• Field of Search: 705/10, 707/3, 707/513, 709/203, 709/213, 709/214, 709/223, 709/224, 345/334
• US Class Current: 709/202
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6418 Hybrid transport

Abstract

A user specifies one or more monitoring/probing rules on a client station. These rules specify user instructions for monitoring and probing conditions, events and data on monitored sites on the Internet. The client station transfers the monitor/probing rules to the monitoring site which also processes and interprets the monitoring/probing rules. When the monitoring site processes these rules, it results in (1) an allocation of space and (2) the creation or initialization of agent programs, such that these agent programs will affect periodic monitoring of Internet sites and send data therefrom back to monitoring site. If the retrieved information at the monitoring site satisfies the user specified conditions, the monitoring site will conduct further exploration to gather more information which may help determine the causes of these conditions. The results of such a probe may be obtained from the monitoring site or the Internet, and are communicated by the monitoring site to the client station for display on a display device.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer accessible medium including a plurality of executable instructions which, when executed on a first hardware processing arrangement, configure the first hardware processing arrangement to perform procedures comprising:

transmitting, over a network, first executable instructions from the first hardware processing arrangement to a second hardware processing arrangement, and second executable instructions from the first processing arrangement to a third hardware processing arrangement; and

causing an execution of the first executable instructions by the second hardware processing arrangement and the second executable instructions by the third hardware processing arrangement, wherein the execution of (i) the first executable instructions cause the second hardware processing arrangement to perform at least one first operation which is at least one of a first monitoring operation or a first search operation on or in the second hardware processing arrangement, and (ii) the second executable instructions cause the third processing arrangement to perform at least one second operation which is at least one of a second monitoring operation or a second search operation on or in the third hardware processing arrangement,

wherein the first and second executable instructions are retransmitted from the first hardware processing arrangement to the respective second and third hardware processing arrangements if the respective first and second operations terminate prior to a completion of tasks associated with the respective first and second operations.

2. The computer accessible medium according to claim 1, wherein the second and third hardware processing arrangements are provided within a network and receives the executable instructions from the first hardware processing arrangement via the network.

3. The computer accessible medium according to claim 1, wherein the second and third hardware processing arrangements provide at least one portion of results of the at least one operation from the second hardware processing arrangement to the first hardware processing arrangement via the network.

4. The computer accessible medium according to claim 1, wherein the second and third hardware processing arrangements each transmits at least a portion of respective results of the respective first or second monitoring operations over the network to at least one further hardware processing arrangement provided on the network.

5. The computer accessible medium according to claim 1, wherein the second and third hardware processing arrangements each transmits at least a portion of respective results of the respective first or second monitoring operations over the network to the first hardware processing arrangement provided on the network.

6. The computer accessible medium according to claim 1, wherein the network includes the Internet and a plurality of websites associated therewith.

7. The computer accessible medium according to claim 1, wherein the first, second and third hardware processing arrangements are external to a network.

8. The computer accessible medium according to claim 1, wherein the first and second operations are performed based on at least one predetermined criterion.

9. The computer accessible medium according to claim 8, wherein the first and second operation includes at least one temporal condition.

10. The computer accessible medium according to claim 9,

wherein the second hardware processing arrangement executes the first executable instructions to perform the first operation on the network to which the second and third hardware processing arrangements are connected, and

wherein the at least one predetermined criterion that includes the at least one temporal condition relates to a change in a content of information of at least one node residing on the network, the change in the content being between a plurality of points in time.

11. The computer accessible medium according to claim 10, wherein the change in the content is a change in the content of one or more web pages of at least one website provided on the network.

12. The computer accessible medium according to claim 9, wherein the at least one predetermined criterion that includes that the at least one temporal condition is associated with a collection and a storage of first information at a first point in time and a comparison of the first information with a second information obtained at one or more second points in time.

13. The computer accessible medium according to claim 8, wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes an indication of at least one relationship between content of a plurality of sites on a network to which the second and third hardware processing arrangements are connected.

14. The computer accessible medium according to claim 1, wherein each of the first and second executable instructions contain one or more executable modules which, when executed by the respective second and third hardware processing arrangements, configure the respective second and third hardware processing arrangements to perform the respective first or second operations.

15. The computer accessible medium according to claim 1, wherein the execution of the first and second executable instructions generates at least one agent running on each of the second hardware processing arrangement and the third hardware processing arrangements.

16. The computer accessible medium according to claim 1, wherein the execution of the first and second executable instructions performs a further operation which performs the at least one operation on at least one further hardware processing arrangement.

17. The computer accessible medium according to claim 1, wherein each of the first and second operations monitors for at least one of:

(a) appearance or disappearance of one or more links, or

(b) appearance or disappearance of one or more keywords on a page.

18. The computer accessible medium according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined criteria is included, at least in part, as data to be transmitted by the first hardware processing arrangement to the second and third hardware processing arrangements over the network.

19. A system for performing at least one of a monitoring operation or a search operation by performing procedures comprising:

a first hardware processing arrangement which is configured to (i) receive first executable instructions from a particular hardware processing arrangement via a network, and (ii) execute at least one of the first executable instructions to perform at least one first operation which is at least one of a first monitoring operation or a first search operation on or in the first processing arrangement; and

a second hardware processing arrangement which is associated with and separate from the first hardware processing arrangement, the second hardware processing arrangement being configured to (i) receive second executable instructions from the particular hardware processing arrangement via the network, and (ii) execute at least one of the second executable instructions to perform at least one second operation which is at least one of a second monitoring operation or a second search operation on or in the second hardware processing arrangement,

wherein the first and second executable instructions are retransmitted from the particular hardware processing arrangement to the respective second and third hardware processing arrangements if the respective first and second operations terminate prior to a completion of tasks associated with the respective first and second operations.

20. The system according to claim 19, wherein at least one of the first hardware processing arrangement or the second hardware processing arrangement is configured to provide at least a portion of results of at least one of the respective first or second operations to the particular hardware processing arrangement.

21. The system according to claim 20, wherein the particular hardware processing arrangement is provided within a network and transmits the executable instructions to the first and second hardware processing arrangements via the network.

22. The system according to claim 20, wherein the first and second hardware processing arrangements each transmits at least a portion of respective results of the respective first or second monitoring operations over the network to at least one further hardware processing arrangement provided on the network.

23. The system according to claim 20, wherein the first and second and third hardware processing arrangements each transmits at least a portion of respective results of the respective first or second monitoring operations over the network to the first hardware processing arrangement provided on the network.

24. The system according to claim 20, wherein the first, second and particular hardware processing arrangements are external to a network.

25. The system according to claim 20, wherein the first and second operations are performed based on at least one predetermined criterion.

26. The system according to claim 25, wherein the first and second operations include at least one temporal condition.

27. The system according to claim 26,

wherein the first processing arrangement executes the first executable instructions to perform the first operation on the network to which the first and second hardware processing arrangements are connected, and

wherein the at least one predetermined criterion that includes the at least one temporal condition relates to a change in a content of information of at least one node residing on the network, the change in the content being between a plurality of points in time.

28. The system according to claim 27, wherein the change in the content is a change in the content of one or more web pages of at least one website provided on the network.

29. The system according to claim 26, wherein the at least one predetermined criterion that includes that the at least one temporal condition is associated with a collection and a storage of first information at a first point in time and a comparison of the first information with a second information obtained at one or more second points in time.

30. The system according to claim 25, wherein the at least one predetermined criterion includes an indication of at least one relationship between content of a plurality of sites on a network to which the first and second hardware processing arrangements are connected.

31. The system according to claim 19, wherein each of the first and second executable instructions contain one or more executable modules which, when executed by the respective first and second hardware processing arrangements, configure the respective first and second hardware processing arrangements to perform the respective first or second operations.

32. The system according to claim 19, wherein the execution of the first and second executable instructions generates at least one agent running on each of the first hardware processing arrangement and the second hardware processing arrangement.

33. The system according to claim 19, wherein the execution of the first and second executable instructions performs a further operation which performs the at least one operation on at least one further hardware processing arrangement.

34. The system according to claim 19, wherein each of the first and second operations monitors for at least one of:

(a) appearance or disappearance of one or more links, or

(b) appearance or disappearance of one or more keywords on a page.

35. The system according to claim 25, wherein the predetermined criteria is included, at least in part, as data to be transmitted by the particular processing arrangement to the first and second hardware processing arrangements over the network.

36. A computer system to perform at least one of monitoring operations or search operations on network accessible information, comprising:

at least one computer accessible medium including thereon at least one module, wherein, when a hardware processing arrangement executes the at least one module, the hardware processing arrangement is configured to;

(i) transmit (i) first executable instructions from at least one first site provided on a network to at least one second site provided on the network, and (ii) second executable instructions from the at least one first site to at least one third site provided on the network,

(ii) cause an execution of at least one of the first executable instructions on the at least one second site to perform at least one first operation which is at least one of the monitoring operations or the search operations on or in the at least one second site on the network, and

(iii) cause an execution of at least one of the second executable instructions on the at least one third site to perform at least one second operation which is at least one of the monitoring operations or the search operations on or in the at least one third site on the network,

wherein the at least one of the first executable instructions or the second executable instructions are retransmitted from the at least one first site to the at least one of the at least one second site or the at least one third site if the respective at least one of the at least one first operation or the at least one second operation terminates prior to a completion of tasks associated therewith.

37. A non-transitory computer accessible medium including a plurality of executable instructions which, when executed on a first hardware processing arrangement, configure the first hardware processing arrangement to perform procedures comprising:

transmitting, over a network, executable instructions from the first hardware processing arrangement to a second hardware processing arrangement; and

causing an execution of the executable instructions by the second hardware processing arrangement, wherein the execution of the executable instructions cause the second hardware processing arrangement to perform at least one operation which is at least one of a first monitoring operation or a first search operation on or in the second hardware processing arrangement,

wherein the executable instructions are retransmitted from the first hardware processing arrangement to the second hardware processing arrangement if the operations terminate prior to a completion of tasks associated with the at least one operation.

38. A system for performing at least one of a monitoring operation or a search operation by performing procedures comprising:

a first hardware processing arrangement which is configured to (i) receive first executable instructions from a second hardware processing arrangement via a network, and (ii) execute at least one executable instruction to perform at least one operation which is at least one of the monitoring operation or the search operation on or in the first processing arrangement,

wherein the at least one executable instruction is retransmitted from the second hardware processing arrangement to the second hardware processing arrangement if the at least one operation terminates prior to a completion of tasks associated with the at least one operation.

39. A computer system to perform at least one of a monitoring operation or a search operation on network accessible information, comprising:

at least one computer accessible medium including thereon at least one module, wherein, when a hardware processing arrangement executes the at least one module, the hardware processing arrangement is configured to;

(i) transmit executable instructions from at least one first site provided on a network to at least one second site provided on the network, and

(ii) cause an execution of at least one of the executable instructions on the at least one second site to perform at least one operation which is at least one of the monitoring operation or the search operation on or in the at least one second site on the network,

wherein the executable instructions are retransmitted from the at least one first site to the at least one second site if the at least one operation terminates prior to a completion of tasks associated therewith.

40. A non-transitory computer accessible medium including a plurality of executable instructions which, when executed on a first hardware processing arrangement, configure the first hardware processing arrangement to perform procedures comprising:

transmitting, over a network, first executable instructions from the first hardware processing arrangement to a second hardware processing arrangement, and second executable instructions from the first processing arrangement to a third hardware processing arrangement; and

causing an execution of the first executable instructions by the second hardware processing arrangement and the second executable instructions by the third hardware processing arrangement, wherein the execution of (i) the first executable instructions cause the second hardware processing arrangement to perform at least one first monitoring operation on or in the second hardware processing arrangement, and (ii) the second executable instructions cause the third processing arrangement to perform at least one second monitoring operation on or in the third hardware processing arrangement.

41. The computer accessible medium according to claim 40, wherein at least one of the first executable instructions or the second executable instructions include at least one rule to cause the respective second hardware processing arrangement or the respective third hardware processing arrangement to perform the respective first monitoring operation or the respective second monitoring operation.

42. The computer accessible medium according to claim 41, wherein the at least one rule includes a WHEN portion and an IF portion which effectuate a performance of at least one of the first monitoring operation or the second monitoring operation.

43. The computer accessible medium according to claim 42, wherein the first monitoring operation or the second monitoring operation cause the respective second hardware processing arrangement or the respective third hardware processing arrangement to watch for at least one predetermined event.

44. The computer accessible medium according to claim 43, wherein the at least one rule includes a THEN portion which effectuates a performance of a probing operation.

45. The computer accessible medium according to claim 44, wherein the probing operation investigates at least one of the respective second hardware processing arrangement or the respective third hardware processing arrangement for at least one predetermined event or at least one predetermined information.

46. The computer accessible medium according to claim 42, wherein the IF portion comprises at least one atomic condition which is designed to effectuate a monitoring of at least one of a Web page, a Website, an Internet link, or a number of visits to the Website.

47. The computer accessible medium according to claim 45, wherein the at least one atomic condition includes at least one binary past temporal operator.

48. The computer accessible medium according to claim 45, wherein the at least one atomic condition includes at least one unary past temporal operator.

49. The computer-accessible medium according to claim 42, wherein the IF portion comprises at least one composite condition.

50. The computer accessible medium according to claim 41, wherein the at least one rule includes a period monitoring portion which effectuates a performance of the respective first monitoring operation or the respective second monitoring operation for a particular period.

51. A system for performing at least one of a monitoring operation by performing procedures comprising:

a first hardware processing arrangement which is configured to (i) receive first executable instructions from a particular hardware processing arrangement via a network, and (ii) execute at least one of the first executable instructions to perform at least one first monitoring operation on or in the first processing arrangement; and

a second hardware processing arrangement which is associated with and separate from the first hardware processing arrangement, the second hardware processing arrangement being configured to (i) receive second executable instructions from the particular hardware processing arrangement via the network, and (ii) execute at least one of the second executable instructions to perform at least one second monitoring operation on or in the second hardware processing arrangement.

52. A computer system to perform at least one monitoring operation on a network accessible information, comprising:

at least one computer accessible medium including thereon at least one module, wherein, when a hardware processing arrangement executes the at least one module, the hardware processing arrangement is configured to;

(i) transmit (i) first executable instructions from at least one first site provided on a network to at least one second site provided on the network, and (ii) second executable instructions from the at least one first site to at least one third site provided on the network,

(ii) cause an execution of at least one of the first executable instructions on the at least one second site to perform at least one first monitoring operation on or in the at least one second site on the network, and

(iii) cause an execution of at least one of the second executable instructions on the at least one third site to perform at least one second monitoring operation on or in the at least one third site on the network.