Methods, systems and computer program products for finding network segment paths
First Claim
1. A method for finding a network segment path for a communication on a communication network supporting Internet protocol (IP) communications, the method comprising:
- obtaining link layer information from at least one connecting node on the communication network that does not use layer three Internet protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the at least one connecting node based on the Internet protocol; and
determining the network segment path for the communication on the communication network based on the obtained link layer information, the network segment path including an identification of connecting nodes in the network segment path that do not use layer three Internet protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the at least one connecting node based on the Internet protocol.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, systems and computer program products are provided which may provide network segment path information on a communication network connecting two devices which includes not only devices, such as routers, providing layer three information, but also devices within a subnet, such as a bridge or switch, that maintain layer two information instead of layer three information in their address tables. A link layer data base supporting identification of the bridge/switch devices may be generated and updated automatically by queries to the bridge/switch devices on supported networks and active traffic generation may be used to provide up to date information from the bridge/switch devices. The network segment path information in turn may be used to support root cause analysis of faults on the network.
33 Citations
55 Claims
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1. A method for finding a network segment path for a communication on a communication network supporting Internet protocol (IP) communications, the method comprising:
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obtaining link layer information from at least one connecting node on the communication network that does not use layer three Internet protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the at least one connecting node based on the Internet protocol; and
determining the network segment path for the communication on the communication network based on the obtained link layer information, the network segment path including an identification of connecting nodes in the network segment path that do not use layer three Internet protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the at least one connecting node based on the Internet protocol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for finding a network segment path for a communication on a communication network comprising:
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obtaining link layer information from a bridge/switch on the communication network that does not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the bridge/switch based on the Internet protocol, including;
obtaining a media access controller (MAC) address and an associated connecting port number of the bridge/switch for the plurality of devices to provide records;
time stamping the records;
storing the records in a link layer data base; and
aging out records in the link layer data base;
determining the network segment path for the communication on the communication network based on the obtained link layer information, the network segment path including an identification of connecting nodes in the network segment path that do not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the at least one connecting node; and
wherein aging out records comprises;
detecting duplicate records and deleting an older one of detected duplicate records;
detecting conflicts between records indicating movement of at least one of the bridge/switch and one of the plurality of devices; and
deleting records associated with a detected conflict. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. A method for finding a network segment path for a communication on a communication network comprising:
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obtaining link layer information from a bridge/switch on the communication network that does not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the bridge/switch, including obtaining a media access controller (MAC) address and an associated connecting port number of the bridge/switch for the plurality of devices; and
determining the network segment path for the communication on the communication network based on the obtained link layer information, the network segment path including an identification of connecting nodes in the network segment path that do not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the bridge/switch; and
wherein the plurality of devices and the bridge/switch are on a subnet and wherein obtaining a media access controller (MAC) address and an associated connecting port number of the bridge/switch for the plurality of devices is preceded by initiating communications traffic by the plurality of devices on the subnet. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A method for finding a network segment path for a communication on a communication network comprising:
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obtaining link layer information from at least one connecting node on the communication network that does not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the at least one connecting node; and
determining the network segment path for the communication on the communication network based on the obtained link layer information, the network segment path including an identification of connecting nodes in the network segment path that do not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the at least one connecting node; and
wherein the communication is between a first device and a second device and wherein determining the network segment path for a communication on the communication network comprises;
determining a network path between the first device and the second device;
identifying subnets in the network path; and
determining a subnet path for each of the identified subnets in the network path using a link layer data base. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for determining a path between a first endpoint and a second endpoint on a subnet comprising:
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finding a first path from the first endpoint to a root bridge/switch of the subnet using a link layer data base;
finding a second path from the second endpoint to the root bridge/switch of the subnet using the link layer data base;
removing non-utilized common nodes of the first path and the second path; and
connecting the first path and the second path at a common node. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system for finding a network segment path for a communication on a communication network supporting Internet protocol (IP) communications, the method comprising:
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means for obtaining link layer information from at least one connecting node on the communication network that does not use layer three Internet protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the at least one connecting node based on the Internet protocol; and
means for determining the network segment path for the communication on the communication network based on the obtained link layer information, the network segment path including an identification of connecting nodes in the network segment path that do not use layer three Internet protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the at least one connecting node based on the Internet protocol. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A system for finding a network segment path for a communication on a communication network, comprising:
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means for obtaining link layer information from a bridge/switch on the communication network that does not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the bridge/switch, the means for obtaining link layer information including means for obtaining an identification of the plurality of devices from the bridge/switch, the identification including a media access controller (MAC) address and an associated connecting port number of the bridge/switch for the plurality of devices; and
means for determining the network segment path for the communication on the communication network based on the obtained link layer information, the network segment path including an identification of connecting nodes in the network segment path that do not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the bridge/switch; and
wherein the means for obtaining an identification further comprises means for iteratively querying the bridge/switch for next entries in an address table of the bridge/switch using MIB commands until all entries in the address table have been obtained. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. A system for finding a network segment path for a communication on a communication network, comprising:
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means for obtaining link layer information from a bridge/switch on the communication network that does not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the bridge/switch; and
means for determining the network segment path for the communication on the communication network based on the obtained link layer information, the network segment path including an identification of connecting nodes in the network segment path that do not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the bridge/switch; and
wherein the communication is between a first device and a second device and wherein the means for determining the network segment path for a communication over the communication network comprises;
means for determining a network path between the first device and the second device;
means for identifying subnets in the network path; and
means for determining a subnet path for each of the identified subnets in the network path using a link layer data base. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38)
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39. A system for determining a path between a first endpoint and a second endpoint on a subnet comprising:
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means for finding a first path from the first endpoint to a root bridge/switch of the subnet using a link layer data base;
means for finding a second path from a second endpoint to the root bridge/switch using the link layer data base;
means for removing non-utilized common nodes of the first path and the second path; and
means for connecting the first path and the second path at a common node. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41)
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42. A computer program product for finding a network segment path for a communication on a communication network supporting Internet protocol (IP) communications, the method comprising:
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a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising;
computer-readable program code which obtains link layer information from at least one connecting node on the communication network that does not use layer Internet three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the at least one connecting node based on the Internet protocol; and
computer-readable program code which determines the network segment path for the communication on the communication network based on the obtained link layer information, the network segment path including an identification of connecting nodes in the network segment path that do not use layer three Internet protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the at least one connecting node based on the Internet protocol. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A computer program product for finding a network segment path for a communication on a communication network, comprising:
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a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising;
computer-readable program code which obtains link layer information from a bridge/switch on the communication network that does not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the bridge/switch, the computer-readable program code which obtains link layer information including computer-readable program code which obtains an identification of the plurality of devices from the bridge/switch, the identification including a media access controller (MAC) address and an associated connecting port number of the bridge/switch for the plurality of devices; and
computer-readable program code which determines the network segment path for the communication on the communication network based on the obtained link layer information, the network segment path including an identification of connecting nodes in the network segment path that do not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the bridge/switch; and
wherein the computer-readable program code which obtains an identification further comprises computer-readable program code which iteratively queries the bridge/switch for next entries in an address table of the bridge/switch using MIB commands until all entries in the address table have been obtained. - View Dependent Claims (48)
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49. A computer program product for finding a network segment path for a communication on a communication network, comprising:
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a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising;
computer-readable program code which obtains link layer information from a bridge/switch on the communication network that does not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the bridge/switch; and
computer-readable program code which determines the network segment path for the communication on the communication network based on the obtained link layer information, the network segment path including an identification of connecting nodes in the network segment path that do not use layer three protocol information to process communications from a plurality of devices passing through the bridge/switch; and
wherein the communication is between a first device and a second device and wherein the computer-readable program code which determines the network segment path for a communication over the communication network comprises;
computer-readable program code which determines a network path between the first device and the second device;
computer-readable program code which identifies subnets in the network path; and
computer-readable program code which determines a subnet path for each of the identified subnets in the network path using a link layer data base. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52)
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53. A computer program product for determining a path between a first endpoint and a second endpoint on a subnet comprising:
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a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising;
computer-readable program code which finds a first path from the first endpoint to a root bridge/switch of the subnet using a link layer data base;
computer-readable program code which finds a second path from a second endpoint to the root bridge/switch using the link layer data base;
computer-readable program code which removes non-utilized common nodes of the first path and the second path; and
computer-readable program code which connects the first path and the second path at a common node. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55)
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Specification