Patent ID: 7552111
Filing Date: 2009-06-23
Classification: G06Q,H04L,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method for determining a normalized vendor name and a normalized model name of a monitored device in which information obtained from the monitored device varies in accordance with a communication protocol used, the method comprising: accessing, by a monitoring device, the monitored device using a first communication protocol, of a plurality of different communication protocols, to obtain information from the monitored device; determining, by the monitoring device, a vendor name and a model name of the monitored device from the information obtained from the monitored device to form a determined vendor name and a determined model name; accessing, by the monitoring device, a vendor database that maps a plurality of vendor names to a single normalized vendor name, wherein a key of the vendor database is one of the plurality of vendor names and the respective value of the key is the single normalized vendor name, wherein the plurality of vendor names are obtained from the plurality of different communication protocols and the single normalized vendor name is used by the plurality of different communication protocols to refer to the monitored device; determining, by the monitoring device using the determined vendor name, a normalized vendor name of the monitored device based on a mapping between the determined vendor name and normalized vendor names in the vendor database, wherein the determined vendor name is used as a key for mapping; accessing, by the monitoring device, a model database that maps a plurality of normalized vendor names and a plurality of model names to a single normalized model name, wherein a key of the model database is the pair of a single normalized vendor name and the one of the plurality of model names and the respective value of the key is the single normalized model name, wherein the plurality of model names are obtained from the plurality of different communication protocols, and the single normalized model name is used by the plurality of different communication protocols to refer to the monitored device; determining, by the monitoring device using the determined normalized vendor name and the determined model name, a normalized model name of the monitored device based on a mapping between the determined normalized vendor name and the determined model name with normalized model names in the model database, wherein the pair of the determined normalized vendor name and the determined model name is used as a key for mapping; and updating the monitoring device with the obtained information, wherein all the plurality of different communication protocols use the determined normalized model name of the monitored device as an identifier of the monitored device.