Patent ID: 6330005
Filing Date: 2001-12-11
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A computer-implemented method of designing a network, comprising:populating a network design sheet on a computer display with an intelligent device object that represents a device object having physical attributes and logical attributes, wherein the device object further includes at least one port for facilitating communication with the network;selecting a network communication protocol object, from a plurality of network communication protocol objects, each network communication protocol object representing a network protocol having logical attributes;determining if the network communication protocol object can be validly bound to one of the at least one ports in the intelligent device object by comparing the logical attributes of the port and the network protocol, wherein the determining step further comprises the steps of:entering protocol data into a plurality of data fields displayed in a Binding Editor; andvalidating the protocol data for syntax and a correct number of characters for a selected network protocol; andbinding the network communication protocol object to the port of the intelligent device object on the network design sheet only if the binding is valid.