Orthogonal encoding of diagnostic information in a computer network

Abstract

In a computer network, network-connected devices generate and encode diagnostic information using an orthogonal code specific to each of the network-connected devices. In some implementations, the orthogonal code is a Walsh Code, a Walsh-Hadamard code, or a prime number. The encoded diagnostic information is transmitted to a router. The router aggregates and combines the encoded diagnostic information into a combined diagnostic value. Additional diagnostic information may be generated, encoded, and added to the combined diagnostic value by the router. The combined diagnostic value may be transmitted to additional upstream routers where additional diagnostic information is encoded and multiplexed into the combined diagnostic value. The combined diagnostic value may be collected by a network management console where the original diagnostic information associated with a particular network-connected device may be recovered by decoding the combined diagnostic value with the orthogonal code associated to the particular network-connected device.