US 2014/0236878 A1 · INFERRING CONNECTIVITY IN THE PRESENCE OF CONFLICTING NETWORK DATA

Abstract

The connectivity information provided by a variety of inference engines is integrated to provide a set of inferred links within a network. A consolidation is performed among inference engines that operate at a base level of connectivity detail to create a model of the network at this base level. The connectivity information provided by inference engines at each subsequent higher level of connectivity abstraction is then overlaid on the base level connectivity. By separately consolidating the connectivity information at each level of abstraction, the rules for dealing with conflicts can be simplified and/or better focused to resolve the conflict. By assuming that the more detailed lower level information is likely to be more accurate, rules can be developed to modify the connectivity models produced by the higher level techniques to conform to the lower level connectivity details while still maintaining the integrity of the higher level connectivity models.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A non-transitory computer-readable medium that includes a program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

obtain sets of configuration data of a plurality of devices in a network;
each set of configuration information being associated with a hierarchical level of connectivity information;
consolidate the sets of configuration data associated with a first hierarchical level to create a connectivity graph,
consolidate the sets of configuration data associated with a second hierarchical level to identify connections at the second hierarchical level,
for each identified connection at the second hierarchical level:
determine whether the identified connection is consistent with the first-level connectivity graph, and
if consistent, modify the connectivity graph to include the identified connection.

4 more elements

A system comprising:

a processor that obtains sets of configuration data of a plurality of devices in a network;
each set of configuration information being associated with a hierarchical level of connectivity information;
a first inference engine that consolidates the sets of configuration data associated with a first hierarchical level;
a first link merger that creates a connectivity graph in a computer-readable memory element,
a second inference engine that consolidates the sets of configuration data associated with a second hierarchical level to identify connections at the second hierarchical level,
a second link merger that, for each identified connection at the second hierarchical level:
determines whether the identified connection is consistent with the first-level connectivity graph, and
if consistent, modifies the connectivity graph in the computer-readable memory to include the identified connection.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Inferring connectivity in the presence of conflicting network data

Life of this patent

Inferring connectivity in the presence of conflicting network data

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20