Patent ID: 9350622
Filing Date: 2016-05-24
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A method for network flow visualization, comprising: displaying a network topology in a graphical user interface on a display of a computer, the network topology including graphical representations of multiple network devices, of internal interfaces within the multiple network devices, and of network connections between the multiple network devices; acquiring a plurality of network flow records from each of the multiple network devices for a specified period of time, wherein each of the plurality of network flow records is generated by a corresponding one of the multiple network devices and is uniquely associated with the corresponding one of the multiple network devices and is stored by the corresponding one of the multiple network devices, wherein each of the plurality of network flow records includes information about a corresponding network flow through the corresponding one of the multiple network devices, and wherein each of the plurality of network flow records is generated and stored separate from data of the corresponding network flow, and wherein each of the plurality of network flow records includes data fields for correlating separate ones of the plurality of network flow records based on content of the data fields so as to create a common network data communication flow record as a combination of the correlated separate ones of the plurality of network flow records for the specified period of time, wherein each of the separate ones of the plurality of network flow records within the common network data communication flow record has repeating the correlating of separate ones of the plurality of network flow records based on content of the data fields so as to create a plurality of common network data communication flow records for the specified period of time; aggregating some of the plurality of common network data communication flow records based on identical content in one or more data fields of the plurality of common network data communication flow records to create an aggregated network communication flow record for the specified period of time; and rendering, on the display, an animation of a graphical representation of the aggregated network communication flow record for the specified period of time, wherein the animation of the graphical representation of the aggregated network communication flow record is rendered in lieu of rendering graphical representations of the plurality of common network data communication flow records represented by the aggregated network communication flow record, the animation of the graphical representation of the aggregated network communication flow record including one or more arrows to represent a data communication path traversed through the network topology by network flows represented by the aggregated network communication flow record, wherein the animation of the graphical representation of the aggregated network communication flow record includes at least one arrow depicting a segment of the data communication path traversed inside of at least one of the multiple network devices; and providing a control within the graphical user interface to control a temporal progression through the animation of the graphical representation of the aggregated network communication flow record, including pausing of the animation at a selected time within the specified period of time.