Patent · US Expired

Network management apparatus and method for determining the topology of a network

US7385939B2 · kind B2 · utility

4Cited by
6References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 2, 2001
Grant dateJun 10, 2008
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 15, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L49/351
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A network management apparatus and method for determining the topology of a network in which a Spanning-Tree protocol is implemented, is disclosed in which address table data is obtained from the ports of the core network devices on the network, and the identity of the ports of the core network devices are determined. Spanning-Tree protocol information is obtained from the core network devices and used to process the address table data to remove data relating to ports having links which are inactive. The topology of the network is then determined using the processed data by first selecting one of the core network devices as a root network device, and then using the processed address table data to build a network tree from the selected root device.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.