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US5751933A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

System for determining the status of an entity in a computer network

Assignee: CA Inc
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Filing: 1996-09-12
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Granted: 1998-05-12
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Expires: 2016-09-12
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Abstract

Abstract A network management system includes a user interface, a virtual network and a device communication manager. The virtual network includes models which represent network entities and model relations which represent relations between network entities. Each model includes network data relating to a corresponding network entity and one or more inference handlers for processing the network data to provide user information. The system can poll or communicate with certain network entities and can infer the status of network connectors and other network entities for which polling is impossible or impractical. The system performs a fault isolation technique wherein the fault status of a network device is suppressed when it is determined that the device is not defective. User displays include hierarchical location views and topological views of the network configuration. Network devices are represented on the displays by multifunction icons which permit the user to select additional displays showing detailed information regarding different aspects of the corresponding network device.

Inventors

  • 👤 Roger H. Dev
  • 👤 Mark H. Nelson

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-29 07:03
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L41/00; H04L41/06; H04L41/069; G; G06; G06F; G06F11/00; G06F11/22; G06F11/2257; G06F11/30; G06F11/3003; G06F11/3006; G06F11/3041; G06F11/3055; H04L41/0604; H04L41/0677; H04L41/22; H04L43/00; H04L43/08; H04L43/0805; H04L43/0817; G06F11/32; G06F11/34; G06F11/3447; G06F2201/00; G06F2201/86; G06F2201/88; H04L41/0609; H04L41/40; H04L43/04; H04L43/045; H04L43/0811; H04L43/10; H04L43/103

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim 101 words
In a network comprising interrelated network entities including communicating network entities and at least one non-communicating network entity, a system for monitoring a status of the non-communicating network entity, comprising: means for providing an electronic network management system; means for said network management system communicating with said communicating network entities to obtain operational information as to the communicating network entities; and means for said network management system using the operational information as to the communicating network entities and information as to relations between said non-communicating network entity and said communicating network entities to infer the status of the non-communicating network entity.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 101 words
In a network comprising interrelated network entities including communicating network entities and at least one non-communicating network entity, a system for monitoring a status of the non-communicating network entity, comprising: means for providing an electronic network management system; means for said network management system communicating with said communicating network entities to obtain operational information as to the communicating network entities; and means for said network management system using the operational information as to the communicating network entities and information as to relations between said non-communicating network entity and said communicating network entities to infer the status of the non-communicating network entity.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 31 words
A system as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for communicating with said communicating network entities includes means for said network management system polling said network entities at predetermined intervals.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 85 words
A system as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for providing an electronic network management system includes means for maintaining in the network management system a representation of the network including models and relations between models, said models including models of said communicating network entities and inferred models of said non-communicating network entity, each model including one or more inference handlers, said inference handlers in said inferred models updating status information in response to information obtained from the models of said communicating network entities.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 22 words
A system as defined in claim 1 further including means for providing the status of the non-communicating network entity to a user.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 39 words
A system as defined in claim 1 wherein means for inferring the status of the non-communicating network entity includes inferring a lost contact status when all network entities connected to the non-communicating network entity have a lost contact status.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 44 words
A system as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for inferring the status of the non-communicating network entity includes means for inferring an established contact status when at least one network entity connected to the non-communicating network entity has an established contact status.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 41 words
A system as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for inferring the status of the non-communicating entity includes means for inferring an initial contact status when all network entities connected to the non-communicating network entity have an initial contact status.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 39 words
A system as defined in claim 1 further including means for updating the information as to relations between said non-communicating network entity and said communicating network entities when a network entity is added to or removed from said network.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 33 words
A system as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for obtaining operational information as to the communicating network entities includes means for periodically updating a contact status of said communicating network entities.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 34 words
A system as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for obtaining operational information as to the communicating network entities includes means for updating a contact status of ports in a ported network entity.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2001-05-11 2001-11-10 2002-05-12 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2005-05-11 2005-11-10 2006-05-12 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2009-05-11 2009-11-10 2010-05-12 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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