Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-22
2002-09-24
Hjerpe, Richard (Department: 2674)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S950000, C345S215000, C709S224000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06456306
ABSTRACT:
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Contained herein is material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction of the patent disclosure by any person as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all rights to the copyright whatsoever.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer networking, specifically to the field of network management systems for displaying information regarding network devices and objects of an enterprise-wide computer network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer networks are growing at a rapid pace. Businesses are continually adding new workgroups to their existing computer networks. Often these computer networks are spread across organizational and geographical boundaries forming enterprise-wide networks, or simply, enterprise networks.
FIG. 1
illustrates enterprise network
100
that may include Ethernet, token ring, and fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) local area networks (LANs) that consist of high-speed backbones, geographically dispersed networks, network devices such as switches (
102
), routers
104
(
a
) and
104
(
b
), bridges
106
(
a
) and
106
(
b
), hubs
108
(
a
) through
108
(
e
), servers and end-user workstations, and a variety of cabling media.
As computer networks expand and become more complex, forming enterprise networks, network management systems are employed to maximize the control, efficiency and performance of the enterprise network. Network management systems allow a network manager using a management station
110
to automate the management of diverse, multivendor enterprise networks. Network management systems such as Optivity™, a suite of graphical network management applications from Bay Networks, Incorporated, the assignee of the present invention, can manage activity on an enterprise network from a single management station. Optivity operates on a UNIX-based network management station and can be used with SunSoft SunNet Manager from Sun Microsystems, Incorporated, HP OpenView Network Node Manager (NMM) from Hewlett-Packard, Incorporated, and IBM AIX System View NetView/6000 from International Business Machines (IBM), Incorporated. Optivity displays information in the OSF/MOTIF™ or SunOS OPEN LOOK graphical user interfaces (MOTIF is a trademark of the Open Software Foundation). Optivity, for example, allows the network manager to monitor and manage an entire enterprise network as one system, from the enterprise level down to the network device level.
Network management systems typically provide a method for locating and identifying, i.e., discovering, network devices and objects (e.g., network segments) and producing a network topology map therefrom. Once the topology map is created, the map may be used to 1) provide a blueprint of the network, 2) obtain an inventory of network devices in the network, 3) locate a network device or object and obtain information about its physical location and status, 4) locate a network device in order to configure it, and 5) launch a network management application to perform configuration, performance, fault, and security management tasks on a selected network device or object.
However, given the size of today's enterprise networks, network maps can be so complicated that it is difficult to determine the physical and geographical relationships of the network devices and objects indicated by the map.
FIG. 2
depicts a topology map
200
graphically displaying an enterprise network including, for example, routers, IP subnets and LAN segments, according to Internet View, an Optivity topology viewing tool. Indeed, the network depicted in topology map
200
is visible in the window only by scrolling the window up or down, so that at any one time, the entire enterprise network cannot be viewed. What is needed is a method for presenting information regarding the physical and geographical relationships of network devices in such a way that, even for complex networks, the network manager can view the health status of the network at a glance.
An example of a tool that provides information regarding the physical and geographical relationships of network devices is the Enterprise Command Center module, an Optivity tool used to manage enterprise networks. With reference to
FIG. 1
, the Enterprise Command Center logically divides the network devices and objects of an enterprise network into a plurality of sites, for example, sites
101
(
a
),
101
(
b
) and
101
(
c
). As illustrated in
FIG. 3
, the network manager, using the Enterprise Command Center graphical user interface (GUI), obtains better visibility of the network from the site level down to the device level within a single window
300
. By selecting a site at site pane
310
, the network manager is then able to select a particular type of device or object folder, e.g., a hub folder, from resources pane
320
. Selecting a folder from resources pane
320
displays all network devices of the type indicated by that folder, e.g., of the type hub, at the contents pane
330
. This visibility into the network allows the network manager to quickly navigate to a particular network device or object according to device type to initiate configuration, performance, fault, and security management tasks. A cursor control device such as a mouse may be used to click and drag a network device icon from contents pane
330
and drop the icon on one of a number of tool icons available in the tools bar
340
to initiate, or launch, one of the aforesaid tasks represented by the tool icon.
Another difficulty that arises given a topology map of a large, complex enterprise network is the ability to quickly navigate to a particular network device or object to initiate configuration, performance, fault, and security management tasks. Commonly, tools for performing configuration, performance, fault, and security management tasks or simply obtaining further network device information are available to the network manager via the network management system. One well-known example of a tool that performs such functions is the RouterMan™ network management tool. RouterMan, operates either as a standalone application or together with the Optivity package of network management applications available from Bay Networks, Incorporated. Generally, Expanded View, a feature of RouterMan, allows the network manager to launch additional sessions that provide further options for monitoring individual routers. Each instance of a RouterMasn Expanded View session creates a window on the network management station display device. Importantly, this window allows the network manager to monitor and perform tasks for only one router. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/110,412, filed Aug. 20, 1993, entitled, “Method and Apparatus for Logically Viewing a Router or Similar Device in a Data Network”, which application is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is incorporated herein by reference, further describes certain aspects of monitoring, viewing and altering information regarding individual network devices.
RouterMan Expanded View uses multiple sessions operating concurrently, each creating a separate window to provide information for a like number of network devices. What is needed is a scalable tool that is able to provide health status information regarding multiple network devices from a single session. Moreover, heretofore such tools were device-centric, i.e., they provided health status information for multiple network devices, but only for the same type of devices, e.g., routers. For example, with reference to
FIG. 4
, System Monitor, a RouterMan tool, may be used to monitor the health status of an entire network or subset of routers from a single window
400
on the network management station display device.
As
FIG. 4
shows, the RouterMan System Monitor window
400
includes four health status panes: 1) critical status pane
410
, 2) warning status pane
420
, 3) acknowledge status pane
Chin Jeff
Leong Leon
Tran Hanh
Blakely , Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman LLP
Hjerpe Richard
Nguyen Francis
Nortel Networks Limited
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