Method and system for discovering circuits in a network

A program on a computer readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for representing at least one low-order connection and at least one high-order connection as a single circuit at a network circuit manager in communication with a network comprising said low-order and high-order connections, said instructions comprising:

• creating at the network circuit manager a low-order listener object and a low/high listener object at each end point of said at least one low-order connection;
• creating a high-order listener object at each end point of said at least one high-order connection;
• and
• matching the low/high listener object with the high-order listener object to create a link and represent the connections as a single circuit within the network;
• wherein said at least one low-order connection comprises two low-order connections each comprising low-order listener objects and low/high listener objects at each end point, and said at least one high-order connection is in communication with the two low-order connections, and further comprising converting the high-order connection to the low-order link.

A system for representing at least one low-order connection and at least one high-order connection as a single circuit at a network circuit manager in communication with a network comprising said low-order and high-order connections, comprising:

• means for creating at the network circuit manager, a low-order listener object and a low/high listener object at each end point of said at least one low-order connection;
• means for creating a high-order listener object at each end point of said at least one high-order connection;
• and
• means for matching the low/high listener object with the high-order listener object to create a low-order link, wherein said link represents the connections as a single circuit within the network;
• wherein said at least one low-order connection comprises two low-order connections each comprising low-order listener objects and low/high listener objects at each end point, and said at least one high-order connection is in communication with the two low-order connections, and further comprising converting the high-order connection to the low-order link.

A network circuit manager for use in discovering a circuit comprising different connection types, the manager comprising:

• a processor operable to create a low-order listener object and a low/high listener object at each end point of low-order connections within the circuit, create a high-order listener object at each end point of high-order connections within the circuit, match the low/high listener objects with the high-order listener objects to create a low-order link, wherein said low-order link represents the connections as a single circuit, and compute circuit level properties of the circuit;
• and
• memory for at least temporarily storing network information obtained from network elements in communication with the network circuit manager;
• wherein said at least one low-order connection comprises two low-order connections each comprising low-order listener objects and low/high listener objects at each end point, and said at least one high-order connection is in communication with the two low-order connections, and further comprising converting the high-order connection to the low-order link.