Methods and systems for collection, tracking, and display of near real time multicast data
First Claim
1. A computer-based method for depicting the participating devices of a multicast group based on the transmit and the receive activities of the devices in a computer network, said method comprising:
- extracting, from a database, by a computer a single instance of each unique packet header associated with a plurality of multicast packets, the multicast packets having been transmitted across the computer network over a predefined period of time;
calculating by the computer a number of bytes transferred for each source internet protocol (IP) to destination IP multicast tuple from the extracted multicast packet headers;
determining by the computer a sending site location of a source device associated with a source IP address and a first bandwidth associated with the source IP address from the extracted multicast packet headers, wherein the sending site location of the source device is determined by utilizing one of a lookup function or a table for a first source IP address;
storing an indicator for the determined sending site location, the first source IP address, and the first bandwidth to at least one of a database or a computer file;
determining by the computer a receiving site location of a plurality of subscribing devices that subscribe to the multicast packets and a second bandwidth associated with each of a plurality of destination IP addresses, wherein the plurality of subscribing devices are associated with the plurality of destination IP addresses; and
providing a detailed map display of multicast traffic based on a combination of the indicator for the determined sending site location, the determined receiving site location, the first source IP address, the plurality of multicast destination IP addresses, and the first bandwidth, wherein the detailed map display shows communication of the multicast packets between the source device and the plurality of subscribing devices, wherein the source device is associated with a selection from a user selectable list.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer-based method for depicting the participating devices of a multicast group based on the transmit and the receive activities of the devices in a computer network is described. The method includes extracting, from a database, a single instance of each unique packet header associated with a plurality of multicast packets, the multicast packets having been transmitted across the computer network over a predefined period of time, calculating a number of bytes transferred for each source internet protocol (IP) to destination IP multicast tuple from the extracted packets, determining a location of the source IP address and a bandwidth associated with the source IP address from the extracted packets, determining a location of the devices subscribing to the packets and a bandwidth associated with each of the destination sites, and providing a display of all multicast traffic, wherein the multicast traffic is summarized in a user selectable list.
67 Citations
15 Claims
-
1. A computer-based method for depicting the participating devices of a multicast group based on the transmit and the receive activities of the devices in a computer network, said method comprising:
-
extracting, from a database, by a computer a single instance of each unique packet header associated with a plurality of multicast packets, the multicast packets having been transmitted across the computer network over a predefined period of time; calculating by the computer a number of bytes transferred for each source internet protocol (IP) to destination IP multicast tuple from the extracted multicast packet headers; determining by the computer a sending site location of a source device associated with a source IP address and a first bandwidth associated with the source IP address from the extracted multicast packet headers, wherein the sending site location of the source device is determined by utilizing one of a lookup function or a table for a first source IP address; storing an indicator for the determined sending site location, the first source IP address, and the first bandwidth to at least one of a database or a computer file; determining by the computer a receiving site location of a plurality of subscribing devices that subscribe to the multicast packets and a second bandwidth associated with each of a plurality of destination IP addresses, wherein the plurality of subscribing devices are associated with the plurality of destination IP addresses; and providing a detailed map display of multicast traffic based on a combination of the indicator for the determined sending site location, the determined receiving site location, the first source IP address, the plurality of multicast destination IP addresses, and the first bandwidth, wherein the detailed map display shows communication of the multicast packets between the source device and the plurality of subscribing devices, wherein the source device is associated with a selection from a user selectable list. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A computer system comprising:
-
a plurality of communicatively coupled computers configured to communicate via an interne protocol (IP); and a database containing a single instance of each unique packet header associated with a plurality of multicast packets, the multicast packets having been transmitted across a computer network over a predefined period of time, one of said computers programmed to; calculate a number of bytes transferred for each source IP to destination IP multicast tuple from the multicast packet headers; determine a sending site location of a source device associated with a source IP address and a first bandwidth associated with the source IP address from the extracted multicast packet headers, wherein the sending site location of the source device is determined by utilizing one of a lookup function or a table for a first source IP address; store an indicator for the determined sending site location, the first source IP address, the multicast destination IP address, and the first bandwidth to at least one of a database and a computer file; determine a receiving site location of each of a plurality of subscribing devices that subscribe to the multicast packets and a second bandwidth associated with each of a plurality of destination IP addresses, wherein the plurality of subscribing devices are associated with the plurality of destination IP addresses; and provide a detailed map display of multicast traffic based on a combination of the indicator for the determined sending site location, the determined receiving site location, the first source IP address, the plurality multicast destination IP addresses, and the first bandwidth, wherein the detailed map display shows communication of the multicast packets between the source device and the associated detecting devices, wherein the source device corresponds to a selection from a user selectable list. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer executable instructions embodied thereon for passively monitoring the multicast packets passing through an IP based network, wherein, when executed by at least one processor, the computer executable instructions cause the at least one processor to:
-
recognize and store a single instance of each unique packet header associated with a plurality of multicast packets; determine which devices in the IP network are sending multicast packets and which sites in the IP network are receiving packets in a multicast group; utilize one of a lookup function or a table to determine a sending site location for a given source IP address and determine a receiving site location for a given sensor detecting the packets; utilize the source IP address and the sensor detecting the packets in the multicast packet header to associate the sending site location with at least one receiving site location; determine a first bandwidth associated with the source IP address from the extracted multicast packet headers; store the sending site location, the receiving site location, the source IP address, the multicast destination IP address, and the first bandwidth in at least one of a database or a computer file; and generate and present to a user a detailed map based on a combination of the indicator for the determined sending site location, the determined receiving site location, the first source IP address, the plurality of multicast destination IP addresses, and the first bandwidth, wherein the detailed map display illustrates the communication between the sending devices and the receiving sites corresponding to a selection from a user selectable list.
-
Specification