Patent Abstract:
The invention broadly comprises a computer-based method for presenting information regarding network performance and topology. The steps of the method include: displaying a first plurality of nodes in the network; displaying edges associated with the first plurality of nodes; and, displaying latency associated with the edges. The preceding steps, and those that follow, are performed by at least one general-purpose computer specially programmed to perform these steps. In some aspects, the method selects the first plurality of nodes. In some aspects, the network comprises a plurality of ISPs with respective pluralities of nodes and the respective pluralities of nodes comprises the first plurality of nodes. In some aspects, displaying a first plurality of nodes, edges, and latency is independent of cooperation from the plurality of ISPs. In some aspects, the method gathers information regarding the first plurality of nodes from vantage points outside the first plurality of nodes.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/626,635, filed Nov. 10, 2004. 
    
    
     REFERENCE TO COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX 
     This patent includes a computer program listing appendix on compact disc. Two duplicate compact discs are provided herewith. Each compact disc contains a computer program listing as follows: 
     
       
         
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Date Created 
                 Size 
                 File Name 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Dec. 23, 2004 
                 10:12 AM 
                 8917 
                 anim2html.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Mar. 23, 2004 
                 8:38 AM 
                 16725 
                 animate.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 5, 2005 
                 6:08 PM 
                 8661 
                 apwgrepos.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 7, 2003 
                 7:30 AM 
                 181 
                 arrdump.pl 
               
               
                   
                 May 3, 2004 
                 5:35 PM 
                 4174 
                 cgi.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 13, 2005 
                 4:24 PM 
                 12924 
                 checkdest.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 22, 2005 
                 3:17 PM 
                 6818 
                 checkscans.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 19, 2003 
                 11:04 AM 
                 195 
                 cleanup.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 27, 2004 
                 5:03 PM 
                 5397 
                 cropdata.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 10, 2005 
                 11:57 AM 
                 112 
                 d.bat 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 7, 2005 
                 8:13 AM 
                 5977 
                 data2dcset.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 7, 2003 
                 7:30 AM 
                 1683 
                 dateform.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 2, 2004 
                 10:00 AM 
                 4011 
                 db.mk 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 7, 2003 
                 7:30 AM 
                 208 
                 dbdump.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 7, 2003 
                 7:30 AM 
                 17 
                 dbtest.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 5, 2005 
                 11:37 AM 
                 16462 
                 dcgetspool.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 30, 2005 
                 7:44 PM 
                 1733 
                 dcgetspoolinit 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 30, 2005 
                 7:44 PM 
                 1717 
                 dcgetspoolinit.sh 
               
               
                   
                 May 19, 2004 
                 10:12 PM 
                 4910 
                 dcunspool.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jun. 16, 2004 
                 3:40 PM 
                 922 
                 deletescans.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 28, 2004 
                 3:44 PM 
                 3769 
                 deletestar.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 19, 2005 
                 10:36 PM 
                 4984 
                 dest.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 6, 2005 
                 9:54 AM 
                 15095 
                 destpast.pl 
               
               
                   
                 May 27, 2004 
                 7:31 PM 
                 311 
                 diffquery.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 10, 2005 
                 11:58 AM 
                 34 
                 dirlist.txt 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 22, 2005 
                 3:40 PM 
                 7009 
                 dnsfill.in 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 22, 2005 
                 4:27 PM 
                 7445 
                 dnsfill.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 25, 2004 
                 12:39 PM 
                 165 
                 dnsfill.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 26, 2005 
                 11:55 AM 
                 1116 
                 dnstest.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 25, 2005 
                 5:43 PM 
                 1192 
                 dohash.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 18, 2005 
                 7:13 PM 
                 14854 
                 doparse.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 17, 2005 
                 4:30 PM 
                 38005 
                 dot.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jul. 5, 2004 
                 2:47 PM 
                 1204 
                 dot2csv.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jul. 5, 2004 
                 8:15 PM 
                 10816 
                 dot2html.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 7, 2003 
                 7:30 AM 
                 1147 
                 dotprinted.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 25, 2005 
                 6:59 PM 
                 6702 
                 dotps2m.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Mar. 6, 2004 
                 2:39 PM 
                 6327 
                 dotrace.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Apr. 13, 2004 
                 10:59 AM 
                 873 
                 dotted.pl 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 8:38 PM 
                 23583 
                 dprofpp.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 28, 2005 
                 5:55 PM 
                 61131 
                 ers 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 3, 2005 
                 3:23 PM 
                 5794 
                 exidset.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Apr. 2, 2004 
                 8:19 PM 
                 1369 
                 gen_anim_query.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Apr. 2, 2004 
                 8:19 PM 
                 306 
                 gen_anim_query.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 25, 2005 
                 6:38 PM 
                 10108 
                 graphjs.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 9, 2004 
                 7:31 AM 
                 12426 
                 hilat.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 11, 2004 
                 10:47 PM 
                 8922 
                 hoptable.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 28, 2005 
                 8:31 PM 
                 41962 
                 html.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Mar. 3, 2004 
                 9:47 PM 
                 6230 
                 html2index.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 6, 2004 
                 8:40 AM 
                 215 
                 htmldir.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 1, 2003 
                 4:32 PM 
                 310 
                 iddataday.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 1, 2003 
                 7:28 PM 
                 271 
                 iddatadcds.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 17, 2004 
                 7:00 PM 
                 335 
                 in-addr2idset.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jun. 2, 2004 
                 11:01 AM 
                 338 
                 ip.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jun. 1, 2004 
                 4:18 PM 
                 845 
                 ipaddr.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 29, 2004 
                 3:48 PM 
                 2314 
                 local.mk 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 3, 2005 
                 7:58 PM 
                 2361 
                 local.mk.0.115 
               
               
                   
                 Apr. 30, 2004 
                 1:09 PM 
                 3185 
                 logtrack.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 23, 2005 
                 3:59 PM 
                 13861 
                 mainparam.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 3, 2005 
                 7:57 PM 
                 23860 
                 makefile 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2005 
                 1:38 PM 
                 62864 
                 makefile,v 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 28, 2005 
                 11:21 PM 
                 10490 
                 mergesets.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 25, 2005 
                 6:46 PM 
                 6938 
                 nodeinfo.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 7, 2003 
                 7:30 AM 
                 1310 
                 nullify.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 10, 2005 
                 10:47 AM 
                 2906 
                 omitip.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 10, 2005 
                 10:40 AM 
                 1126 
                 omitiptest.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 9, 2004 
                 7:31 AM 
                 3659 
                 ourlock.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 18, 2005 
                 2:53 PM 
                 60300 
                 perobj.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 3, 2005 
                 3:23 PM 
                 382 
                 phishdata.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Mar. 8, 2005 
                 12:46 PM 
                 527 
                 phishset.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jul. 24, 2004 
                 2:34 PM 
                 2666 
                 pid.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Feb. 27, 2004 
                 10:24 AM 
                 175 
                 prmainparam.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jun. 25, 2005 
                 1:41 PM 
                 219 
                 pscope.xinetd 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 12, 2005 
                 3:31 PM 
                 36625 
                 pscopeanim.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 26, 2005 
                 11:14 AM 
                 735 
                 pscopecreate.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 25, 2005 
                 6:47 PM 
                 31346 
                 pscopedaemon.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 15, 2003 
                 10:14 AM 
                 906 
                 pscopemodes.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 29, 2005 
                 7:58 PM 
                 6796 
                 pscopeproc.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 30, 2005 
                 10:11 PM 
                 21169 
                 pscopeprocd.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 30, 2005 
                 7:42 PM 
                 1865 
                 pscopeprocdinit 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 30, 2005 
                 7:41 PM 
                 1849 
                 pscopeprocdinit.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 23, 2005 
                 10:25 PM 
                 1721 
                 pscopeprocinit 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 23, 2005 
                 10:33 AM 
                 1706 
                 pscopeprocinit.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 12, 2005 
                 1:50 PM 
                 6894 
                 pscopeshowsql.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 25, 2005 
                 4:04 PM 
                 9056 
                 pscopesock.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 7, 2005 
                 8:13 AM 
                 33354 
                 pscopesql.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jul. 24, 2004 
                 10:07 PM 
                 2556 
                 pscopetrimsql.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 17, 2005 
                 11:25 AM 
                 13434 
                 pscopeversion.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 22, 2004 
                 8:50 AM 
                 4339 
                 psdestquery.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jul. 23, 2004 
                 5:40 PM 
                 253 
                 psdestquery.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 23, 2005 
                 6:21 PM 
                 17130 
                 psexample.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jul. 29, 2004 
                 1:35 PM 
                 2723 
                 psextract.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 20, 2005 
                 8:25 PM 
                 5075 
                 psproc 
               
               
                   
                 Jul. 25, 2004 
                 5:24 AM 
                 4712 
                 psunparse.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 30, 2005 
                 6:51 PM 
                 8242 
                 psunspool 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 21, 2005 
                 9:37 PM 
                 8242 
                 psunspool.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 18, 2005 
                 6:40 PM 
                 1691 
                 psunspoolinit 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 18, 2005 
                 6:40 PM 
                 1676 
                 psunspoolinit.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 1, 2005 
                 7:44 PM 
                 4813 
                 pushsets.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 6, 2005 
                 11:05 AM 
                 100572 
                 query.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 29, 2004 
                 2:34 PM 
                 1711 
                 readme 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 13, 2004 
                 11:01 AM 
                 1096 
                 relocalmk.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 4, 2005 
                 11:12 AM 
                 1325 
                 remoteaddr.cgi 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 31, 2005 
                 4:52 PM 
                 463 
                 remoteaddr.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 17, 2003 
                 10:36 AM 
                 96 
                 rename.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 7, 2003 
                 7:30 AM 
                 1362 
                 reordertraceroute.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 19, 2004 
                 10:47 AM 
                 2989 
                 reprobetable.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 25, 2005 
                 3:36 PM 
                 4608 
                 server.pm 
               
               
                   
                 May 3, 2004 
                 5:35 PM 
                 133 
                 serverdummy.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 23, 2005 
                 4:32 PM 
                 501 
                 services.lines 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 20, 2005 
                 9:12 PM 
                 501 
                 services.template 
               
               
                   
                 Jun. 26, 2005 
                 12:34 AM 
                 2248 
                 session.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 1, 2005 
                 8:26 PM 
                 6465 
                 setruid 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 1, 2005 
                 8:25 PM 
                 784 
                 setruid.c 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 23, 2005 
                 8:00 PM 
                 27048 
                 sets.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 22, 2005 
                 11:42 AM 
                 6605 
                 showdcds.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 24, 2005 
                 3:48 PM 
                 32849 
                 showsets.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 1, 2005 
                 7:10 PM 
                 242 
                 showsets.xinetd 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 30, 2005 
                 6:51 PM 
                 6465 
                 showsetsclient 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 1, 2005 
                 9:14 PM 
                 4878 
                 showsetsclient.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jun. 29, 2005 
                 6:00 AM 
                 1237 
                 showsetsd.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Mar. 15, 2005 
                 8:13 AM 
                 357 
                 showsetsver.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Mar. 4, 2004 
                 11:04 AM 
                 767 
                 test.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 31, 2005 
                 3:10 PM 
                 261 
                 testdb.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 13, 2005 
                 8:20 PM 
                 513 
                 testlist.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 7, 2003 
                 7:30 AM 
                 175 
                 testlog.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Jul. 31, 2004 
                 11:00 AM 
                 1707 
                 testlsinterval.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 21, 2005 
                 1:22 PM 
                 1554 
                 testpaths.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 7, 2003 
                 7:30 AM 
                 293 
                 testslider.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 2, 2003 
                 4:53 PM 
                 629 
                 testtabs.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 3, 2005 
                 2:53 PM 
                 3472 
                 batch.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 19, 2005 
                 2:15 PM 
                 56 
                 dcd 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 25, 2005 
                 2:22 PM 
                 1163 
                 dcd.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 24, 2005 
                 3:20 PM 
                 595 
                 dcd_contact.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 24, 2005 
                 1:06 PM 
                 589 
                 dcd_groups.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 24, 2005 
                 3:20 PM 
                 617 
                 dcd_groups_dcd.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 24, 2005 
                 3:20 PM 
                 593 
                 dcd_interface.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 9, 2005 
                 12:20 AM 
                 5970 
                 dns.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 21, 2005 
                 6:58 PM 
                 521 
                 dns_a.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 3, 2005 
                 2:57 PM 
                 551 
                 dns_cname.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 21, 2005 
                 6:58 PM 
                 586 
                 dns_ptr.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 3, 2005 
                 2:57 PM 
                 4842 
                 error_codes.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 15, 2005 
                 1:20 PM 
                 3519 
                 handle.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 3, 2005 
                 3:06 PM 
                 719 
                 idset.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 29, 2005 
                 11:14 AM 
                 1752 
                 idset_data.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 21, 2005 
                 6:44 PM 
                 6973 
                 idset_master.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 29, 2005 
                 10:57 AM 
                 5718 
                 idset_version.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 29, 2004 
                 3:48 PM 
                 2314 
                 local.mk 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 31, 2005 
                 3:09 PM 
                 31914 
                 meta.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 3, 2005 
                 2:53 PM 
                 479 
                 nodestats.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 3, 2005 
                 2:53 PM 
                 255 
                 pairs.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 3, 2005 
                 2:53 PM 
                 263 
                 pair_latency.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 3, 2005 
                 3:26 PM 
                 1502 
                 path_seg.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 3, 2005 
                 3:26 PM 
                 3117 
                 probe.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 26, 2005 
                 12:05 PM 
                 20878 
                 raw.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 24, 2005 
                 12:48 PM 
                 3069 
                 scan.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jun. 5, 2004 
                 2:51 PM 
                 435 
                 t.pl 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 15, 2004 
                 9:55 AM 
                 221 
                 todo 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 3, 2005 
                 3:26 PM 
                 1804 
                 trace.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Jul. 20, 2004 
                 1:21 PM 
                 3902 
                 graphbackground.jpg 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 4:00 PM 
                 363 
                 llcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 6, 2004 
                 11:02 PM 
                 685 
                 llcorner1.gif 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:01 PM 
                 281 
                 llcorner2.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 4:00 PM 
                 374 
                 lrcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 6, 2004 
                 11:02 PM 
                 421 
                 lrcorner1.gif 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:01 PM 
                 272 
                 lrcorner2.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 3, 2004 
                 1:54 PM 
                 51 
                 readme 
               
               
                   
                 Jul. 20, 2004 
                 1:21 PM 
                 3902 
                 tablebackground.jpg 
               
               
                   
                 May 6, 2004 
                 11:02 PM 
                 685 
                 tlcorner1.gif 
               
               
                   
                 May 6, 2004 
                 11:02 PM 
                 685 
                 trcorner1.gif 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 4:00 PM 
                 383 
                 ulcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:01 PM 
                 283 
                 ulcorner2.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 4:00 PM 
                 374 
                 urcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:01 PM 
                 296 
                 urcorner2.png 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 28, 2005 
                 3:28 PM 
                 15882 
                 about.inc 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 13, 2003 
                 12:35 PM 
                 55 
                 about.sh 
               
               
                   
                 Jan. 24, 2005 
                 4:37 PM 
                 14777 
                 about.tidy 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 4, 2003 
                 8:47 AM 
                 2147 
                 about0.inc 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 4, 2003 
                 8:47 AM 
                 2252 
                 aboutanimation.inc 
               
               
                   
                 Feb. 1, 2004 
                 11:19 PM 
                 214 
                 autolarrow.gif 
               
               
                   
                 Feb. 1, 2004 
                 11:19 PM 
                 176 
                 autorarrow.gif 
               
               
                   
                 Feb. 1, 2004 
                 11:17 PM 
                 607 
                 autorarrow.ps 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 15, 2003 
                 4:52 PM 
                 978 
                 benefits.inc 
               
               
                   
                 Sep. 15, 2003 
                 5:35 PM 
                 153 
                 benefitsanimation.inc 
               
               
                   
                 May 22, 2004 
                 7:59 PM 
                 468 
                 bottitle.inc 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 13, 2003 
                 12:50 PM 
                 316 
                 help.html 
               
               
                   
                 May 5, 2004 
                 9:10 PM 
                 407 
                 ownaddr.inc 
               
               
                   
                 May 3, 2004 
                 1:54 PM 
                 1016 
                 readme 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 23, 2004 
                 10:20 AM 
                 1090 
                 toptitle.inc 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:26 PM 
                 323 
                 corner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:26 PM 
                 323 
                 llcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:26 PM 
                 312 
                 lrcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:26 PM 
                 323 
                 ulcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:26 PM 
                 323 
                 urcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 Jul. 15, 2004 
                 11:17 PM 
                 106 
                 dummy.inc 
               
               
                   
                 Jul. 16, 2004 
                 9:14 AM 
                 1010 
                 index.php 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 29, 2004 
                 3:48 PM 
                 2314 
                 local.mk 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 3, 2005 
                 7:57 PM 
                 23860 
                 makefile 
               
               
                   
                 Aug. 28, 2005 
                 2:51 PM 
                 267 
                 perilscopemenu.inc 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 1, 2005 
                 3:59 PM 
                 2851 
                 perilsnap.php 
               
               
                   
                 Jul. 15, 2004 
                 11:29 PM 
                 621 
                 readme 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:36 PM 
                 425 
                 corner.png.0 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:36 PM 
                 259 
                 corner.png.1 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:36 PM 
                 259 
                 corner.png.2 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:36 PM 
                 259 
                 corner.png.3 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 8:51 PM 
                 910 
                 corner.ps 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:47 PM 
                 19 
                 endcorner.ps 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:48 PM 
                 3 
                 ll.ps 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:00 PM 
                 281 
                 llcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:00 PM 
                 1038 
                 llcorner.ppm 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:00 PM 
                 932 
                 llcorner.ps 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:48 PM 
                 3 
                 lr.ps 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:00 PM 
                 272 
                 lrcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:00 PM 
                 1038 
                 lrcorner.ppm 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:00 PM 
                 932 
                 lrcorner.ps 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:52 PM 
                 716 
                 makefile 
               
               
                   
                 May 3, 2004 
                 1:55 PM 
                 47 
                 readme 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:48 PM 
                 3 
                 ul.ps 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:00 PM 
                 283 
                 ulcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:00 PM 
                 1038 
                 ulcorner.ppm 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:00 PM 
                 932 
                 ulcorner.ps 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:48 PM 
                 3 
                 ur.ps 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:00 PM 
                 296 
                 urcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:00 PM 
                 1038 
                 urcorner.ppm 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:00 PM 
                 932 
                 urcorner.ps 
               
               
                   
                 May 13, 2004 
                 9:01 PM 
                 160 
                 z 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:51 PM 
                 0 
                 llcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:52 PM 
                 0 
                 lrcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:51 PM 
                 0 
                 ulcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 May 31, 2003 
                 3:51 PM 
                 0 
                 urcorner.png 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 16, 2005 
                 10:17 AM 
                 6628 
                 dcd.pm 
               
               
                   
                 May 12, 2004 
                 3:29 PM 
                 4227 
                 dcdata.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 21, 2005 
                 2:55 PM 
                 9331 
                 dcset.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 21, 2005 
                 9:07 PM 
                 7035 
                 dcspool.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Dec. 24, 2004 
                 7:55 PM 
                 4258 
                 iddata.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Oct. 13, 2005 
                 2:25 PM 
                 6762 
                 idset.pm 
               
               
                   
                 Nov. 29, 2004 
                 3:48 PM 
                 2314 
                 local.mk 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates generally to network topology and performance. In particular, the invention relates to visualizing network performance and graphically displaying of nodes, edges, and latency in a network. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     As commerce continues to embrace the Internet and to become dependent upon it, events happen that enterprises cannot control directly. For example, reputable researchers conservatively estimate a single worst-case worm could cause $50 billion dollars in economic damages in the United States alone. [Nicholas Weaver and Vern Paxson, “A Worst-Case Worm,” The Third Annual Workshop on Economics and Information Security (WEIS04), Digital Technology Center, University of Minnesota (May 13-14, 2004).] Worldwide, CEOs of major corporations fear a $100 billion dollar global risk event. [“Silently preparing for the $100 billion cyber-catastrophe risk,” News Alert, mi2g (16 Feb. 2004).] 
     Many smaller Internet events happen more frequently, for example: a slow link several hops out; redundant web servers that turn out to be on nonredundant paths; congestion affecting multiple enterprises simultaneously; cable cuts; or a worm that causes collateral damage through an ISP neighbor&#39;s unpatched servers. Unfortunately, such force majeure risks are invisible to the enterprises impacted by these risks. 
     Regarding Internet performance, methods for collecting data, detecting perils, characterizing perils, detecting anomalies, and characterizing anomalies are known. Unfortunately, at present this information cannot be adequately displayed graphically. In particular, graphical information regarding nodes, edges, and latency of interest in a network cannot be displayed in an on-going, interactive mode. 
     Thus, there is a long-felt need to provide a means to graphically display the above referenced risks, including context about extent and duration. Specifically, this display is needed by insurance brokers with respect to selling related insurance, by network engineers and financial officers to discuss network problems, by government agencies and other sources of reputation systems to alert industry and the public to specific problems, and by companies to explain problems to their customers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention broadly comprises a computer-based method for presenting information regarding network performance and topology. The steps of the method include: displaying a first plurality of nodes in the network; displaying edges associated with the first plurality of nodes; and displaying latency associated with the edges. The preceding steps, and those that follow, are performed by at least one general-purpose computer specially programmed to perform these steps. In some aspects, the method selects the first plurality of nodes. 
     In some aspects, the network comprises a plurality of ISPs with respective pluralities of nodes and the respective pluralities of nodes comprises the first plurality of nodes. In some aspects, displaying a first plurality of nodes, edges, and latency is independent of cooperation from the plurality of ISPs. 
     In some aspects, the method gathers information regarding the first plurality of nodes from vantage points outside the first plurality of nodes. In some aspects, the gathers gathering information from only one the vantage point. In some aspects, the first plurality of nodes comprises hardware and the vantage points are separate from the respective hardware. 
     In some aspects, the method periodically updates the information and updates the displaying of the first plurality of nodes, the edges, and the latency responsive to the updated information. In some aspects displaying the first plurality of nodes further comprises panning to a first node in the first plurality of nodes and zooming to show at least one second node in the first plurality of nodes. 
     In some aspects, the network comprises a second plurality of nodes and the first plurality of nodes includes the second plurality of nodes. In some aspects, the first plurality of nodes and the edges comprise a plurality of hops and the method displays the plurality of hops. In some aspects, the network comprises gradations of packet loss and the method displays the gradations. In some aspects, the network comprises a third plurality of nodes and the method: accepts data regarding the third plurality of nodes; identifies at least one node in the third plurality that does not have address or performance metrics recorded in the data; identifies at least one edge terminating at the at least one node in the third plurality; and displays the at least one node in the third plurality and the at least one edge. 
     In some aspects, the network comprises a fourth plurality of nodes and the method: accepts data regarding the fourth plurality of nodes; supersets at least one node in the fourth plurality that is not included in the data; and displays the at least one node in the fourth plurality. In some aspects, displaying the first plurality of nodes in the network, displaying the edges associated with the first plurality of nodes, and displaying the latency includes generating respective pluralities of the displays for the first plurality of nodes, the edges, and the latencies over a duration of time and displaying an animation of the respective pluralities of the displays for the first plurality of nodes, the edges, and the latencies. In some aspects, the method generates a composite topology of the displays for the first plurality of nodes, the edges, and the latencies over the duration of time. 
     The invention also broadly comprises a computer-based apparatus for presenting information regarding network performance and topology. 
     It is a general object of the present invention to provide a computer-based method and apparatus to display graphically, Internet topology and performance data. 
     These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciable from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention and from the accompanying drawings and claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a flow chart of a present invention method; 
         FIG. 2  depicts a network and a type of data collection that may be used to measure the network; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates an example peril, a nonredundant route; 
         FIGS. 4 through 14  are screen captures showing features of a present invention method and device; 
         FIGS. 15 through 48  are screen captures showing a present invention representation of the status of the Internet connection to the Cayman Islands during hurricane Ivan in 2004; 
         FIGS. 49 and 50  are screen captures showing zoomed images from  FIGS. 14 through 48 ; and, 
         FIGS. 51 through 54  are screen captures of the “Help” section of a present invention device, illustrating features of the device. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     At the outset, it should be appreciated that like drawing numbers on different drawing views identify identical, or functionally similar, structural elements of the invention. 
     While the present invention is described with respect to what is presently considered to be the preferred aspects, it is to be understood that the invention as claimed is not limited to the disclosed aspects. 
     Furthermore, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the particular methodology, materials and modifications described and as such may, of course, vary. It is also understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, which is limited only by the appended claims. 
     Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods, devices or materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the invention, the preferred methods, devices, and materials are now described. 
     In the descriptions and examples that follow, specific colors, shapes, and configurations are used. However, it should be understood that other colors, shapes, and configurations can be used and such colors, shapes, and configurations are within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. 
     The following is an overview of the present invention method. The invention uses information about the Internet that is collected and processed by other means to detect and categorize certain features. The invention can also be applied to similar information about other networks. In some aspects, the types of information described below are used in the present invention. However, it should be understood that other types of network information can be used with the invention and that the use of such information is included in the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. 
     Data Collection: Appropriate data collection must gather Internet performance data using techniques that simultaneously record topology (including routes, paths, and changes over time) and performance (including loss and latency). The techniques used must be able to measure a significant proportion of the critical infrastructure of the entire Internet. 
     Peril Detection: Appropriate peril detection must be able to detect perils that are significant both across large parts of the Internet and in smaller parts, whether geography, topology, or by industry. 
     Peril Characterization: Appropriate peril characterization should assign characteristics such as type, severity, duration, and effects to each detected peril. Types of perils may include nonredundant links or nodes, or congestion, or chronic congestion. 
     Anomaly Detection: Appropriate anomaly detection must be able to detect anomalies that are significant both across large parts of the Internet and in smaller parts specific to a particular domain, such as geography, topology, or by industry. 
     Anomaly Characterization: Appropriate anomaly characterization should assign characteristics such as type, severity, duration, and effects to each detected anomaly. Types of anomaly may include denial of service (DoS) attacks, worms, congestion, routing flaps, and other degradation, denial, or disconnection of Internet connectivity. 
     The invention can produce topological graphs and time-series line graphs and provides both interactive and automated methods for selecting graphs. A topological graph produced by the invention shows nodes and edges near a selected focus node. Nodes and edges of different types may be distinguished by different colors, shapes, and styles. All this information may be rendered using one or more different underlying graph drawing mechanisms that are not part of the invention. The invention may provide to a given user any of a number of interactive features for panning to a focus node, zooming to show nodes and edges within a certain number of edges from the focus node, choosing a set of destinations and a set of cameras, moving in time, automation, and animation, among others. 
     For topological graphs, nodes and edges are shown in different color spaces, typically nodes in blues and cyans, with edges in traffic light colors: red, yellow, and green. There may be specific color space exceptions for certain types of nodes, such as the selected node and destinations. 
     Each node displayed is shown as a box or other shape with an address or name written on it. Different types of nodes are distinguished visually. The selected focus node is shown in pink with multiple peripheries. Destinations used in collecting the data are shown as green ellipses if reached, or as red octagons if not reached. Most other nodes are shown in colors representing operational groupings of nodes, such as netblocks, Autonomous Systems, or ISPs. These colors are selected from a color space with hues from green through cyan to blue. 
     Grey data nodes are data nodes that do not have addresses or performance metrics recorded in the data. The invention depicts unrecorded data nodes as grey display nodes with distinctive graphical features, such as having a grey background color. In some cases the invention may condense a consecutive series of unrecorded data nodes into single grey display node. Such condensed grey nodes are typically shown as black outlines. Hubs are distinguished by size: the more edges connected to a node, the bigger it is. 
     Edges between nodes are shown in colors to indicate latency. For example: red for slow, green for fast, several hues of chartreuse, yellow, and orange in between, plus blue for negative latency, and grey for edges for which there is no data. 
     Graphs may be determined by use of parameters including, but not limited to, the following: 
     Zoom—sets a limit on which nodes will be displayed, according to distance in number of edges from the selected focus node. 
     Pan—selects the focus node, either through text entry, pulldown menu, or clicking on a node displayed on the graph. 
     Abstract—displays only nodes that have certain characteristics such as a minimum number of edges connected to them. 
     Time—determines the data collection time or times to display 
     Subject—determines a set of destinations in order limit the paths (sequences of nodes and hops) displayed. 
     Camera—determines the combination of data sources to use. 
     Density—determines which of one or more Zoom algorithms to use. 
     Map Type—determines which topological graph, table, time-series graph, or other display format to use. 
     Map Size—determines the display dimensions to use for the graph. 
     3D—determines which of several dimensions to depict as the third dimension in a three dimensional display. 
     Automation—steps through a series of one or more of the above interactive capabilities. 
     Animation—produces an external animated representation of one or more of the above interactive capabilities. Animation over time involves first compiling a composite topology of all the nodes and edges for all the scans during the time interval, and then making nodes and edges corresponding to each scan visible frame by frame. 
     Seek—may produce a new graph for the next anomaly or peril in sequence. 
     Delivery—determines which delivery mechanism and format to use. 
     Reports—may include time-series graphs, tables, or text. The invention may annotate the graph or interactively display related data such as address, name, or performance statistics. 
     Enhance—may annotate nodes or edges with name or other information. 
     Annotate—may add arbitrary graphical or textual annotations to the graph. 
       FIG. 1  is a flow chart of a present invention method. In Step  1 , data collection, and peril and anomaly detection and characterization, as well as collection of information from other sources such as carriers or news media, are performed by various external means and used by the invention as incoming information. In Step  2 , the invention fuses the data from Step  1 . In Step  3 , the invention applies algorithms to decide which scans, nodes, edges, perils, anomalies, and other information to record, and with what detail. In Step  4 , the invention records scans, nodes, edges, perils, and anomalies, and other information. In Step  5 , the user may interactively choose dataset, selection, motion, delivery, or editing parameters. However, such interaction is not required. In Step  6 , the invention takes into account the parameters to deliver output. The output may include topological graphs, line graphs, tables, or text, and may be delivered as reports or movies, or as a navigable three dimensional space. The parameters can be manually selected by a user, can result from queries generated by the invention, or can be a combination of the two. 
       FIG. 2  depicts a network and a type of data collection that may be used to measure the network. The network to be estimated is depicted as several ISPs, depicted as clouds. Each ISP includes several routers, depicted as black boxes, with links between them, depicted as lines with alternating dashes and dots (dash-dotted). ISPs may have peering points between them, depicted as black boxes that have edges connecting to more than one ISP. ISPs may have servers, depicted as black boxes at their borders that do not have edges connecting to another ISP. 
     Data collection may be determined partly by destinations, which are indicated on the figure by ellipses. Data collection may record paths to destinations, including some routers and links on those paths, recorded as nodes and edges; paths are depicted on the figure as grey lines. Data collection may be accomplished by cameras that send probes to destinations; two cameras are depicted as grey circles. Data collection from different cameras may overlap, depicted as edges with more than one grey line. Each camera may collect some data not seen by other cameras, depicted as edges with only one grey line. Some parts of the network may be unseen by any camera, depicted as dash-dotted lines with no corresponding grey lines. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an example peril, a nonredundant route. 
     The following is a more detailed discussion of the present invention method. The invention uses data from ongoing comprehensive measurement of Internet or other network topology for nonredundancy or overload (perils), as well as of actual variations in accessibility or performance (anomalies). The invention then aggregates, condenses, and supersets that data, along with information from other sources, and displays it in graphical and other forms. 
     For incoming topology data the invention records certain information per scan, node, edge, and anomaly. The invention may also record other information relevant to the particular type of incoming data, or to the particular type of display requested. 
     Regarding data fusion, in some aspects, the invention obtains destinations as either domain names or IP addresses. For a destination as a domain name, a DNS server is used. For an address, a DNS server is used to look up the name. In some aspects, for intermediate hops leading to destinations, data collection provides IP addresses for the nodes that respond. A DNS is used to look up domain names for those addresses. When a geographical location of a node is of interest, a domain name registry is used to look up physical locations used in domain registrations, and information encoded in domain names of nodes, especially in intermediate nodes, is used. For example, many ISPs use three letter airport codes to encode location, e.g., sjc usually indicates San Jose, Calif. In some aspects, ISP maps published by the ISPs themselves are consulted. However, such map information is used carefully, since these maps may be out of date, may not show the entire ISP, and do not show much beyond a single ISP. In some aspects, the invention also uses maps of physical infrastructure such as undersea cables. 
     In some aspects, the invention uses latency, especially latency along multiple hops to a node, as a distance indicator. The lower the latency, the closer the two nodes on each side of a hop are presumed to be. In some aspects, the invention aggregates latency over many probes per hop. In some aspects, the invention calibrates latency over time by comparing among multiple frequent regular scans. In some aspects, especially related to anomalies, the invention uses other external information such as reports in news media and communications from professionals in the field. The invention enables the selection of data to display, the selection of focus nodes, the determination of how closely to zoom on focus nodes, the choice of various formats to display the results, and additional data collection. 
     The incoming data is assumed to be collected at least once and preferably periodically. For each scan in the incoming data the invention records information including but not limited to the following: 
     scan ID: a unique identifier 
     starttime: the time data collection started for this scan 
     camera: identifier of the computer that collected the data 
     subject: a set of destinations the camera probed 
     protocol: data collection protocol 
     interval: interval between scans 
     rate: data collection rate (probes/sec) 
     For each node in the incoming data the invention records information including but not limited to the following: 
     scan ID 
     node ID: a unique identifier 
     node address: for the Internet, the IP address 
     indegree: number of incoming edges 
     outdegree: number of outgoing edges 
     firstinpath: how many times the node was first in a data collection path 
     lastinpath: how many times the node was last in a data collection path 
     traversed: how many times the node was traversed by the data collection 
     probessent: how many probes were sent to this node 
     probesreceived: how many probe responses were received from this node 
     mlatency: median latency over all probe responses from this node. In the case of the Internet, latency is round trip time from when a probe was sent to when its response was received, typically measured in milliseconds. For other networks, latency may be some other similar metric. In particular, the present invention advantageously correlates indegree, outdegree, firstinpath, lastinpath, and traversed with other topological data recording format. 
     For each edge in the incoming data the invention records information including but not limited to the following: 
     scan ID 
     edge ID: a unique identifier 
     first node ID 
     second node ID 
     count: times this edge was seen in the data 
     latency: median latency 
     loss: percentage of responses not seen per probes sent 
     Edges are ordered; the same two nodes in opposite order define a different pair. Latency for an edge is the difference in latency to the second node minus latency to the first node. 
     Perils and Anomalies are both recorded in the same format, with information including but not limited to the following: Anomaly ID, name, start, duration, type, severity, nodes affected, and edges affected. 
     The invention may choose to select some incoming perils or anomalies to record and to ignore others. The invention may recharacterize a peril or anomaly, including deciding that an incoming peril is actually an anomaly or an incoming anomaly is actually a peril. The invention may also itself detect or characterize and record perils or anomalies that were not already detected or characterized in the incoming sources of information. 
     The invention may store other information in formats and with detail appropriate to calibrating, selecting, annotating, enhancing, or otherwise modifying its output. The invention uses the values of a number of parameters to determine which graph to display and how to display it. The dataset parameters determine what part of the incoming data to use: 
     Time—determines the data collection time or times to display. The invention finds the scan nearest the requested time. 
     Subject—determines a set of destinations in order to limit the paths (sequences of nodes and hops) displayed. The number of destinations in the set can range from one to as many or more than the number of destinations recorded by the cameras in the scan. 
     Camera—determines the combination of one or more data sources to use. The invention uses these parameters to select a scan, which it refers to by its scan ID. 
     The selection parameters determine what portion of a dataset to display, and in what form: 
     Pan—selects the focus node, by name or address. In addition to a specific focus node, Pan can be set to a special name, “mostedges,” which causes the invention to select from the dataset the node that has the most edges. 
     Zoom—sets a limit on which nodes will be displayed, according to distance in number of edges from the selected focus node. 
     Abstract—displays only nodes that have certain characteristics such as a minimum number of edges connected to them. Abstract typically shows a subset of the nodes that would be shown by zoom, and some abstracted edges between abstract nodes. 
     Density—determines which of one or more Zoom algorithms to use. For example, density zero means look outward Zoom edges from the focus node, while density one means also look backwards from each node as the algorithm looks outward, thus producing a denser graph. 
     Map Type—determines which topological graph, table, time-series graph, or other display format to use. 
     Map Size—determines the display dimensions use for the graph. 
     3D—determines which of several dimensions to depict as the third graphical dimension in a three dimensional display. 
     In addition to static displays, the invention supports iterating through multiple graphs in several different ways, according to the motion parameters, which may include but are not limited to the following: 
     Automation—steps through a series of one or more of the above interactive capabilities. 
     Animation—produces an animated representation of one or more of the above interactive capabilities. Animation over time involves first compiling a composite topology of all the nodes and edges for all the scans during the time interval, and then making nodes and edges corresponding to each scan visible frame by frame. 
     Seek—may produce a new graph for the next anomaly or peril in sequence. 
     In addition to the motion parameters listed, there are others to select start times, time intervals, direction, what to do at end of interval, etc. 
     The invention supports multiple delivery methods and formats for most output types. Delivery methods may include but are not limited to URL and file. Delivery formats may include but are not limited to HTML, GIF, PNG, PostScript, and PDF. For animations, delivery formats may include animated GIF, Java, Flash, MPEG, or other formats. 
     The invention supports automatically and interactively packaging, enhancing, and annotating its output to produce reports. Editing functions may include, but are not limited to: 
     Reports—may include time-series graphs, tables, or text. The invention may annotate the graph or display automatically with related addresses or names. 
     Enhance—may annotate nodes or edges with name or other information 
     Annotate—may add arbitrary graphical or textual annotations to the graph. 
     Supersetting Algorithm: Destinations which are not reached are added to the node and edge tables if they are not present in the incoming data, and are distinguished graphically when displayed, for example as red octagons. Destinations which are reached typically do appear in the data, and are also distinguished graphically, for example as green ellipses. Cameras, which are the computers that send probes, often do not have network addresses recorded in the incoming data. They are each given a name (taken from the incoming data or added by the invention) and that name is used as a node name. 
     Grey Node Algorithm: The invention can display nodes that have partial or no data in the incoming data. Other nodes which have partial or no data in the incoming data are called unrecorded data nodes. As the incoming data is parsed by the invention, each sequence of consecutive unrecorded data nodes is condensed into a single grey node with a name derived from the name of the last recorded node before the grey sequence (or if there was none, the name of the camera) and a number indicating the number of unrecorded data nodes in the sequence. 
     Unrecorded data nodes may occur for several reasons: 
     Nonresponding node: A particular node did not respond at the time it was probed, indicating packet loss. Supersetted destinations are usually nonresponding nodes. 
     Opaque node: The physical network node never responds to the probe type. 
     Not probed: No probe was sent to that node. 
     Not recorded: A probe may have been sent, but the result was not recorded, perhaps due to some technical error. Cameras are often not probed and sometimes opaque. 
     Aggregation Algorithm: As incoming data is parsed, counts, latencies and other parameters for nodes and edges are compiled across data for all cameras and destinations selected for each scan. For aggregation, supersetted cameras and destinations and grey nodes are treated the same as responding nodes. That is, supersetting and grey node determination is done first, and then the resulting nodes are aggregated across cameras or times. 
     Performance information for a recorded edge is summarized during aggregation, typically by taking the median of latency values seen for all instances of an edge seen in the data. Packet loss is computed as the percentage of responses received to probes sent. The present invention enables the visualization of gradations of packet loss, rather than being restricted to showing packet loss only if all packets are lost. 
     Grey Edge Algorithm: A grey edge is an edge terminating in a grey node. Since grey edges indicate edges that do not have corresponding performance information, a grey edge is depicted without the color, width, texture, or textual information that would apply to a non-grey edge. Since a supersetted destination is normally a nonresponding node, it will usually be connected by a grey edge. 
     Zoom Algorithm: The Zoom algorithm consists of recursive calls on subroutines indicated by the following pseudo-code: 
     # Start with $node set to the selected focus node 
     # and $sepdegrees set to the Zoom level. 
     dosepdegrees(1, −1, $node, $sepdegrees); 
     +1-512-272-8506-13 of 18-per ils@internetper ils.com 
     PPA, InternetPer ils, Inc. Displaying Network Topology and Performance Data 
     # Decide whether to record this node, and whether to recurse. 
     sub dosepdegrees { 
     my ($inout, $direction, $node, $sepd)=@_; 
     $dosepnodes{$node}++; # remember this node for display 
     if($direction==−1) { 
     &amp;itsepdegrees(1, 0, $node, prevhop, $sepd); 
     &amp;itsepdegrees( 1 ,  1 , $node, nexthop, $sepd); 
     return; 
     } 
     --$sepd; 
     if ($sepd&lt;=0) {return; } 
     # Go on further in the same direction. 
     my $h=prevhop; if ($flag) {$h=nexthop; } 
     my $six=$inout. “:”. $node; 
     my $wassepd=$limitsepdegrees {$six}; 
     if ($wassepd&lt;$sepd) { 
     $limitsepdegrees{$six}=$sepd; 
     itsepdegrees($inout, $flag, $node, $h, $sepd); 
     } 
     if (!$bothways) {return; } # Low Density. 
     # High density. 
     # Go backwards. 
     if ($flag) {$flag=0; } else {$flag=1; } 
     if ($inout) {$inout=0; } else {$inout=1; } 
     # We can go through the same node from different directions with diff$sepd. 
     $six=$inout. “:”. $node; 
     $wassepd=$limitsepdegrees{$six}; 
     if ($wassepd&lt;$sepd) {$limitsepdegrees{$six}=$sepd; } 
     else {return; } 
     $h=prevhop; if ($flag) {$h=nexthop; } 
     itsepdegrees($inout, $flag, $node, $h, $sepd); 
     } 
     # Edge index. 
     sub pair2ix { 
     my $from =shift; 
     my $to =shift; 
     return(“$from $to”); 
     } 
     +1-512-272-8506-14 of 18-per ils@internetper ils.com 
     PPA, InternetPer ils, Inc. Displaying Network Topology and Performance Data 
     # Call dosepdegrees for each hop one degree farther in the same direction. 
     sub itsepdegrees { 
     local($inout, $flag, $node, $h, $sepd)=@_; 
     local($t, $ix, $m, $node, @intags); 
     @intags=0; 
     foreach $t (split(/ /, ${$h} {$node})) { 
     next unless $t; 
     push(@intags, $t); 
     if ($flag) {$ix=&amp;pair2ix($tag, $t); } 
     else {$ix=&amp;pair2ix($t, $tag); } 
     if (!$pairseen{$ix}++) {# Record edges for display. 
     $tag2pairseen{++$tag2pairseen}=$ix; 
     } 
     } 
     foreach $node (intags) { 
     dosepdegrees($inout, $flag, $node, $sepd); 
     } 
     } 
     The Abstract algorithm is a modification to the Zoom algorithm that records for display only nodes that have at least as many edges as the Abstract level, and only edges that connect such nodes. For any pair of nodes selected by the Abstract algorithm for display that are not directly connected by a single edge, yet are connected by a path of multiple edges that does not traverse any other such node, the Abstract algorithm records for display a condensed edge representing the longer path. 
     Composite Animation Algorithm: Individual topological graphs produced interactively may be rendered with nodes and edges in different places on the graphs, even if the graphs use identical parameters except for time. Animation over time requires keeping the locations of nodes fixed from frame to frame so the viewer can see more significant changes between frames. To accomplish this purpose, animation over time involves first compiling a composite topology of all the nodes and edges for all the scans during the time interval. Each frame for a time in the animation period is produced by making the nodes and edges corresponding to the scan for that time visible, and making the display attributes of the nodes (color, size, shape, style, label, etc.) and edges (color, style, label, etc.) correspond to the attributes for the scan. 
       FIGS. 4 through 14  are screen captures showing features of a present invention device.  FIG. 4  shows large view of the root DNS servers, showing the most recent scan. In some aspects, this is the usual starting point for the device. To pan, the user can pull down the Point menu  10 , select a destination, and press Submit  12  or the user can mouse over a node on the graph and click on it. The user has selected A root  14  to pan in  FIG. 4 . In  FIG. 5  the screen has panned to A root  14 . As a result, the color of the A root changes to pink. To zoom, the user pulls down zoom menu  16  and presses submit  12 . In  FIG. 5 , the user has selected zoom level ‘15,’ which will show the large area network neighborhood for the A root.  FIG. 6  shows the large area network neighborhood. In  FIG. 6 , the user has selected zoom level ‘7’ and pressed submit  12  to generate the next screen.  FIG. 7  shows a closer network neighborhood for the A root. 
     To generate the next screen, in  FIG. 7 , the user has selected zoom level ‘4’ and pressed submit  12 . In  FIG. 8  the old J root  18  is visible nearby. Roots  2  and  18  are connected via a nonredundant path. This nonredundancy, clearly shown in  FIG. 8 , is likely responsible for the relocation of J root  16 . To generate the next figure, the user selected Camera  19 , selected ‘icmp4’ instead of ‘ustx01,’ and pressed select  12 .  FIG. 9  shows A root  14  from multiple cameras to show multiple paths. The user can pan in time also. Returning to  FIG. 8 , the user can click on a time  20  among those displayed to the right or can pull down and select from one or more of the year, month, day, hour, or minute menus  22 , and then press submit  12 . In  FIG. 8 , the user has selected “13:45”  24  to generate  FIG. 10 , which is the screen of  FIG. 8  shown one hour earlier. 
       FIG. 11  is a time-series animation over one hour, from 13:45 to 14:45 GMT 7 Nov. 2005. To generate  FIG. 11  from  FIG. 10 , the user pulled down Dir  26  and selects “−&gt;,” pulled down Anim  28  and selects “Comp,” and then pressed Submit  12 . The device will default For  30  to “Time” and Int  32  to “1 h.” Any of these parameters can be set manually or by a program. To change the speed of animation, set Delay  34 . The animation is by default an animated GIF. To get an MPEG instead, click on MPG  36 , or a program can change this setting.  FIG. 12  displays information from the second time used in the animation. To generate this figure, in  FIG. 11 , the user clicked Stop  38 , pulled down Hour  40  and selected ‘14’ pulled down Minute  42  and select ‘0,’ and pressed Submit  12 . 
     The present invention can be used to monitor a variety of activities on the Internet. For example,  FIG. 13  is a display of nodes that were used in phishing messages.  FIG. 14  shows seven of the nodes from  FIG. 13  that are connected through the same ISP. This type of information is very useful for addressing problems associated with phishing. 
       FIGS. 15 through 49  are screen captures showing a present invention representation of the status of the Internet connection to the Cayman Islands during hurricane Ivan in 2004. These screen captures can be generated by the same device generating  FIG. 4-14 . That is, the same toolbars, menus, and operational options shown for  FIGS. 4-14  are applicable to  FIGS. 15-49 . The present invention can provide valuable information regarding the status and performance of the Internet. In particular, the present invention can provide information regarding the status and performance of the Internet in response to stresses, such a weather phenomena. This information can be used to analyze how such stresses impact all or portions of the Internet, to identify the nuances and particulars of the impacts, and to device means to better protect or modify vulnerable portions of the Internet.  FIGS. 15 through 50  are based on scans taken every 15 minutes during the period of interest. That is, every 15 minutes, the information and screens associated with this particular application of the present invention were updated. In the interest of brevity, only selected updates are shown. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to any particular time intervals as discussed infra. Also, it should be understood that the data can be updated at a particular scan rate without updating visualization screens. 
       FIG. 15  shows normal connectivity.  FIG. 16  shows the Cayman Islands  40  labeled.  FIG. 17  shows that there is only one path  42  to the Cayman Islands through Miami  44 . In  FIG. 18 , NYC  46  is labeled. Several paths  48  via NYC to Miami are shown.  FIG. 19  shows the network to the Cayman Islands just prior to impacts from Ivan. In  FIG. 20 , disconnection starts. The disconnection continues in  FIGS. 21-23 .  FIG. 24  is the last frame shown for Sunday 12 Sep. 2004.  FIG. 25  is the first screen shown for Tuesday 14 Sep. 2004. Two days have elapsed and the Cayman Islands remain disconnected.  FIG. 26  shows the disconnection continued.  FIG. 27  shows a slight routing change. In  FIG. 28 , another slight routing change. In  FIG. 29 , Reconnection Begins in portion  50 .  FIGS. 30 through 47  show the on-going reconnection. In  FIG. 48 , the reconnection is completed. 
       FIGS. 15 through 48  enabled the user to see the nonredundant path through Miami to get to the Cayman Islands, exactly when that path failed, when the disconnect occurred, when the reconnect started, how long the reconnect took, and the fact that Jamaica wasn&#39;t disconnected. The regular frequent data collection of the appropriate kinds provide the present invention the data necessary to present such information. The display algorithms described supra enable graphs to show all the items noted above, such as: panning to destinations and paths that show the relevant content; zooming to a level to show appropriate detail; selecting sufficient cameras to show branching paths; visibly presenting latency as color of lines and as numeric labels; and color coding nodes by netblock and labeling nodes with addresses (and with domain names visible via mouse over in the device). Topology is directly visible as nodes and edges (boxes and lines), geography is deducible from latency plus netblock, domain name, and other displayed information, appropriate time intervals are selectable, animation is possible over the intervals. Thus the present invention tells a story with pictures. 
     In  FIGS. 15 through 48 , the time interval between new screen displays was 15 minutes. However, it should be understood that this interval can be varied. In general, the time interval between screen updates is related to the time interval between data scans producing the information used to update the screens. That is, the screens cannot be updated until the information used to generate the screens is updated. The minimal time between data scans is related to network parameters such as time out response, the number of nodes involved, and round trip delays. The actual speed of the displays per se is primarily a function of available processing power. 
     Returning to  FIG. 10 , graphical features described supra can be shown. Node  60  is purple, nodes  62 ,  64 , and  66  are green, and node  68  is blue. All the edges, for example, edge  70 , are green, with the exception of edge  72 , which is yellow. The nodes are displayed as a box or other shape and shown an address or name. Different types of nodes are distinguished visually. The selected focus node,  14  in this case, is shown in pink with multiple peripheries. Destinations used in collecting the data, such as  16  in this case, are shown as green ellipses if reached. The colors of nodes  60 ,  62 ,  64 ,  66 , and  68  representing operational groupings of nodes, such as netblocks, Autonomous Systems, or ISPs. In  FIG. 6 , node  74  is a grey data node. Hubs are distinguished by size: the more edges connected to a node, the bigger it is. In  FIG. 6 , hub  76  is larger than hub  78 . 
       FIGS. 49 and 50  are screen captures showing zoomed images from  FIGS. 14 through 48 . To generate  FIG. 49 , the user can zoom in on  40 ,  42 , and  44  in  FIG. 17 . In  FIG. 49 , the single, nonredundant path between Miami and the Cayman Islands is clearly seen.  FIG. 50  shows multiple paths from Tampa  52  to Jamaica  54 . Thus connectivity to Jamaica looks less perilous than to the Cayman Islands, where only one path was found. Such topological features are clearly visible in the screens. The figure also note the significant latencies  56  from Tampa to Jamaica, visible as yellow and orange lines with labels of ‘5.27 ms’ and up. Sustained over time, such latency usually means significant geographical distance, in this case probably of hundreds of miles. Thus, the present invention can be used to gauge geographical relationships. The green lines  58  between the Tampa nodes, on the other hand, have very low latencies consistent with nodes within the same metropolitan area. Note that in the animation, the node labeled www is the same node shown in Tampa.gif, and it never gets disconnected during the period of the animation, even though news reports claimed Jamaica was also disconnected. Thus, the present invention provided more accurate information than was available from traditional, non-aggregated information sources. 
       FIGS. 51 through 54  are screen captures of the “Help” section of a present invention device, illustrating features of the device. 
     The present invention is not limited to showing topology or performance for specific ISPs or networks. That is, the present invention can show topology for one or all ISPs in the Internet. Alternately stated, if the Internet consists of a particular number of nodes, the invention can include all of these nodes in the visual presentations generated by the invention. The present invention does not require that hardware recording devices be physically installed at various parts of a network. For example, the invention does not require the installation of hardware at ISP sites. The present invention visualizes hops in a network as well as paths. 
     Thus, it is seen that the objects of the invention are efficiently obtained, although changes and modifications to the invention should be readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as claimed. Although the invention is described by reference to a specific preferred embodiment, it is clear that variations can be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as claimed.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7