Patent ID: 6735629
Filing Date: 2004-05-11
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method for monitoring and analyzing data flow at a point in a network to which a plurality of devices are connected, said method comprising the steps of:connecting a probe to a point in said network selected for monitoring, said probe including a control processor unit (CPU) responsive in Kernel Mode for receiving an interrupt each time a data packet is received by a network interface card (NIC) of said probe, said NIC generating said interrupt for terminating present processing of said CPU for transferring data packets to either a buffer memory for access for low detail processing by said CPU programmed to operate in the Kernel Mode, or to a frame capture memory for high detail processing by said CPU programmed via Expert Analyzer software to operate in a User Mode, said User Mode normally having lower priority than said Kernel Mode; and allocating CPU time via programming said CPU, responsive to said Expert Analyzer software being enabled, to increase the allocation of percentage of available CPU time to User Mode processing as the amount of unanalyzed data in said frame capture memory increases.