Patent ID: 7181748

Claim:
A computer system for analyzing a computer network, the computer system comprising: means for capturing data units from a network communication channel between two or more additional computer systems; means for creating a protocol flow object to represent each protocol layer used by the communications channel, each protocol flow object having a circuit element associated with each transmission direction in the channel; means for arranging the protocol flow object in a logical tree structure that mirrors a hierarchy for the protocol layers; means for creating circuit flow objects for each protocol layer to represent the protocol data units for the protocol layer immediately higher in the hierarchy, wherein the means for creating circuit flow objects further comprises: means for creating circuit flow objects for the protocol flow objects at the bottom of the logical tree structure by extracting data from protocol data units for the protocol layer lowest in the hierarchy for the protocol layers; and means for creating circuit flow objects for protocol flow objects in the logical tree structure by extracting data from the circuit flow objects linked to the protocol flow object immediately lower in the tree structure; means for associating a transmission direction with each circuit flow object; means for linking each circuit flow object for a protocol layer to the circuit element of the representative protocol flow object that matches the transmission direction associated with the circuit flow object; means for sequencing the circuit flow objects linked to a particular protocol flow object when specified by the protocol layer represented by the particular protocol flow object; and means for reassembling the messages from the circuit flow objects linked to the protocol flow object at the top of the tree structure.