A user can access a common database from a remote communications port, at any qualified location, to generate a map or other positional information which locates selected items of interest, e.g., businesses, stores, architectural sites, and the like. The database contains information representing the items of interest, including, for each of the items of interest, positional coordinates, a geographic vicinity, and a selected category. The positional coordinates discretely locate the vicinity, while the vicinity specifies the exact locations of the items of interest in the selected category. For example, a user in New York can select the display of sporting shops in the area surrounding Chicago O'Hara International Airport selectively. A user can also access a port and display locations of items of interest within the same vicinity as the user and relative to the user's position. The database can be modified from qualified remote locations to change, or add to, the information therein. An advertisement can be tagged to the display or print out as an association with the selected items of interest.

System and methods for remotely accessing a selected group of items of interest from a database

A system and method for managing a telecommunications network. The system and method employs a network management architecture that provides an overlay in which network management functions are performed. The network management architecture includes a workstation function that provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for a user to interact with an object model of the physical telecommunications network, a telecommunications network management subsystem that provides an object model of the network including object models of network equipment and connectivity between the equipment, a database subsystem that stores "current" and "future" views of the network, and an object request broker that translates objects from a first object-oriented paradigm to a second object-oriented paradigm for use by the GUI. The network management architecture facilitates network design by determining network performance metrics. The network architecture can also be used to assess the performance of a given network configuration by virtue of simulation. The network architecture can also be used to initialize switchover logic for network restoration.

Network management system

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 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.

Network management system using model based intelligence

A networking system and automatic method in a networking system comprising at least one switching device and a plurality of at least one end-station interconnected with the at least one switching device, wherein the at least one switching device and at least one end-station are interconnected in a topology. A configuration device is included which has a configuration modification detection circuit for detecting the modification of the topology. A configuration policy maintenance circuit is provided for storing policies related to reconfiguring the at least one switching device upon the modification of the topology. A policy evaluation circuit is provided for determining which at least one end-station and ports should be grouped together upon the detection of the modification of the topology in a first manner. A reconfiguration circuit is provided for reconfiguring the at least one switching device in the first network to enable at least one end-station and ports to be grouped together in the first manner. Virtual local area networks may be created/extended/deleted during the reconfiguration to provide networking services to the at least one end-station.

Method and apparatus for automatically configuring a network device to support a virtual network

The invention can enable monitoring of the display of content by a computer system. Moreover, the invention can enable monitoring of the displayed content to produce monitoring information from which conclusions may be deduced regarding the observation of the displayed content by an observer. The invention can also enable monitoring of the display at a content display site of content that is provided by a content provider site over a network to the content display site. Additionally, the invention can enable the expeditious provision of updated and/or tailored content over a network from a content provider site to a content display site so that the content provider's current and appropriately tailored content is always displayed at the content display site. Aspects of the invention related to transfer of content over a network are generally applicable to any type of network. However, it is contemplated that the invention can be particularly useful with a computer network, including private computer networks (e.g., America Online™) and public computer networks (e.g., the Internet). In particular, the invention can be advantageously used with computer networks or portions of computer networks over which video and/or audio content are transferred from one network site to another network site for observation, such as the World Wide Web portion of the Internet.

Content display monitor

A system for automatically laying out and graphically displaying the topology of a computer network system. The layout system retrieves a list of the nodes within the network and their interconnections from a database which can be manually built by a network administrator or automatically constructed by other software. The system will provide any of three views that can be requested by the user. An internet view is the largest and shows the interconnection of different networks. A network view can be shown for any of the networks described in the internet view. A network is comprised of segments and the system will display a view of the nodes connected to any one of the segments. The system will automatically update the view as new nodes become available in the database. This aspect of the system and allows the system to dynamically update the graph when the list of nodes is being supplied by other software. The system also allows the user to dynamically alter the graph by using a graphical input device to move any of the objects displayed on the graph.

Graphic display of network topology

Disclosed is a system (602) for automatically laying out and graphically displaying the topology of a computer network system. The layout system retrieves (1002) a list of the nodes within the network and their interconnections from a database which can be manually built by a network administrator or automatically constructed by other software. The system will provide any of three views that can be requested by the user (604, 606, 608). An internet view (604) is the largest and shows the interconnection of different networks. A network view (606) can be shown for any of the networks described in the internet view. A network is comprised of segments (302, 304) and the system will display a view of the nodes (404) connected to any one of the segments. The system will automatically update the view as new nodes become available in the database. This aspect of the system and allows the system to dynamically update the graph when the list of nodes is being supplied by other software. The system also allows the user to dynamically alter the graph by using a graphical input device (106) to move any of the objects displayed on the graph.

Mark J. Kean

Papers

Graphic display of network topology

Automatic layout of network topology

Automatische Implementierung von Netztopologie