Agilent Technologies, Inc.

Graham S Pollock

Patrick Goldsack

Simon Love

Evan Randy Kirshenbaum

Dean R Thompson

Joseph S Sventek

A system and method for automatically monitoring communications networks and for determining network configuration use data stream characterizations. The system comprises a plurality of measurement probes that passively probe the network and collect data packets carried by data streams in the network. The system further comprises characterization computational units that process the collected data packets and produce data stream characterizations from the collected data packets. The data stream characterizations represent individual data streams in an arbitrarily unique manner. The system still further comprises a configuration processing unit that compares data stream characterizations taken at different points in the network and determines data stream paths through the network based on data stream characterization matching. The method for automatically monitoring communications networks comprises the steps of passively probing the data streams to produce sets of collected data packets from the data streams, determining data stream characterizations from the collected data packets, and comparing the data stream characterizations to one another to identify matching characterizations.

System and method for monitoring communication networks using data stream characterization

A method of synchronizing the operation of a plurality of measurement probes enables multi-point measurements of a communications network. The method comprises the step of collecting data packets from a data stream of the communications network using the plurality of probes. The data packets are collected after a predetermined start time. The method further comprises the steps of determining a hash value array from an invariant portion of the sampled data packets, and comparing the hash value array to a start hash mask. Collection by a probe of a data packet that produces a hash value array that matches the start hash mask is used as a synchronization event. The method of the present invention allows multiple measurement probes observing the same data stream at different physical locations to be synchronized such that all of the probes observe the same set of packets being carried by the data stream. The method also allows statistical control over the frequency of packet matches within a data stream to the start hash mask. Moreover, the method of the present invention depends only on passive access to the physical links of the network. As such it will not degrade the performance or availability of the network.

Synchronization method for multi-probe communications network monitoring

A configuration system for an application having a plurality of application components is described. The configuration system includes a configuration oracle/initiator that repeatedly asserts a desired state to the application components to operate in that desired state. The desired state is a predetermined state. The configuration oracle only asserts the desired state to the application components and does not control the manner in which each of the application components moves to the desired state. The configuration system also includes a configuration engine in each of the application components that causes the corresponding application components to move to the desired state upon receiving the state assertion of the desired state unless the configuration engine determines that the corresponding application component is already in the desired state. A method of configuring an application having a large number of application components is also described.

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION FOR MULTIPLE COMPONENT APPLICATION BY ASSERTING REPEATEDLY PREDETERMINED STATE FROM INITIATOR WITHOUT ANY CONTROL, AND CONFIGURATION ENGINE CAUSES COMPONENT TO MOVE TO PREDETERMINED STATE

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Cupertino, CA, United States of America

Graham S Pollock