Dynamic name generation

• US 9,094,316 B2
• Filed: 01/28/2011
• Issued: 07/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Fonseca, Francisco Jose Rojas, Vargas, Jorge Arturo Sauma
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhu, Alvin
• Application Number:
  US13/015,896
• Publication Number:
  US 20120195231A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,642 Days
• Field of Search: 370254-258, 370/392, 370/393, 370/399, 370/395.3, 370/395.31, 370/395.54, 370/408, 370/409, 370/474, 370/475
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/30 Types of network names
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/69 using geographic information, e.g. room number
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

A dynamic name of a device within a network may be generated by accessing information related to the device; accessing information related to a remote, neighbor device; generating a dynamic name of the device based on the accessed information related to the device and the accessed information related to the remote, neighbor device; and storing the generated dynamic name of the device. Alternatively, a topology map of devices within a network may be generated where a central controller may access, from memory, a dynamic name of controlled devices, the dynamic name of the controlled devices including information related to remote, neighbor devices of the controlled devices. The topology map may include dynamic names of the controlled devices.

Claims

1. A method for generating a dynamic name of a device within a network, comprising:

accessing information related to the device;

accessing information related to a remote, neighbor device;

generating a dynamic name of the device based on the accessed information related to the device and the accessed information related to the remote, neighbor device, the dynamic name comprising at least a portion of the information related to the remote, neighbor device, wherein the information related to the remote, neighbor device of the device includes at least one of a name, a model, an IP address, and a port name of the remote, neighbor device of the device; and

storing the generated dynamic name of the device;

receiving a communication from a different remote, neighbor device;

extracting information related to the different remote, neighbor device;

storing the extracted information related to the different remote, neighbor device;

generating an updated dynamic name of the device based on the accessed information related to the device and information related to the different remote, neighbor device; and

storing the generated updated dynamic name of the device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the generated dynamic name to a central controller.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a communication from the remote, neighbor device, the communication including the information related to the remote, neighbor device;

extracting the information related to the remote, neighbor device; and

storing the extracted information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the received communication is transmitted utilizing a layer 2 discovery protocol.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the dynamic name of the device includes:

accessing a dynamic name definition, the dynamic name definition including a dynamic component and a static component; and

generating the dynamic name of the device by completing the dynamic component of the dynamic name definition with information related to the remote, neighbor device and with information related to the device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the updated dynamic name of the device to a central controller.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamic name is a user-configurable string of characters including identifying information of the device and identifying information of the remote, neighbor device.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory, and

a processor, to;

extract information related to a remote, neighbor device from a communication received from the remote, neighbor device;

store, in memory, the extracted information;

access a dynamic name definition, the dynamic name definition including a dynamic component and a static component;

generate a dynamic name of the apparatus by completing the dynamic component of the dynamic name definition with information related to the remote, neighbor device and with information related to the apparatus, the dynamic name comprising at least a portion of the information related to the remote, neighbor device, wherein the information related to the remote, neighbor device of the apparatus includes at least one of a name, a model, an IP address, and a port name of the remote, neighbor device of the apparatus;

store, in memory, the generated dynamic name of the apparatus; and

transmit the generated dynamic name of the apparatus to a controller device;

receive a communication from a different remote, neighbor device;

extract information related to the different remote, neighbor device;

store the extracted information related to the different remote, neighbor device;

generate an updated dynamic name of the apparatus based on the accessed information related to the apparatus and the accessed information related to the different remote, neighbor device; and

transmit the generated updated dynamic name of the device to the controller device.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, the processor further to:

access the dynamic name definition, the dynamic name definition including the dynamic component and the static component; and

generate the updated dynamic name of the apparatus by completing the dynamic component of the dynamic name definition with information related to the different remote, neighbor device and with the information related to the apparatus.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the communication is transmitted utilizing a layer 2 or a layer 3 protocol.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the dynamic name is a user-configurable string of characters including identifying information of the apparatus and identifying information of the remote, neighbor device.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory, and

a processor, to

access, from memory, a dynamic name of a first controlled device, the dynamic name of the first controlled device comprising at least a portion of information related to a remote, neighbor device of the first controlled device, wherein the information related to the remote, neighbor device of the first controlled device includes at least one of a name, a model, an IP address, and a port name of the remote, neighbor device of the first controlled device;

access a dynamic name of a second controlled device, the dynamic name of the second controlled device comprising at least a portion of information related to a remote, neighbor device of the second controlled device, wherein the information related to the remote, neighbor device of the second controlled device includes at least one of a name, a model, an IP address, and a port name of the remote, neighbor device of the second controlled device; and

generate a topology map of a network including the dynamic name of the first controlled device and the dynamic name of the second controlled device;

provide the generated topology map;

determine that communication has been lost to the first controlled device;

identify the remote, neighbor device of the first controlled device based on the dynamic name of the first controlled device; and

provide a message identifying the remote, neighbor device of the first controlled device as having failed.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, the processor further to:

receive a communication from the first controlled device, the communication including an updated dynamic name of the first controlled device; and

update, in memory, the dynamic name of the first controlled device with the updated dynamic name of the first controlled device.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the dynamic name of the first controlled device is a user-configurable string of characters including identifying information of the first controlled device and identifying information of the remote, neighbor device of the first controlled device.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, the processor further to:

receive a communication from a third controlled device, the third controlled device replacing the first controlled device, the communication including a dynamic name of the third controlled device;

storing the dynamic name of the third controlled device in memory; and

updating the topology map by replacing the dynamic name of the first controlled device with the dynamic name of the third controlled device.