Patent ID: 7818673

Claim:
A computing apparatus, comprising: a display unit that is capable of generating video images; an input device; a processing apparatus operatively coupled to said display unit and said input device, said processing apparatus comprising a processor and a memory operatively coupled to said processor; and a network interface connected to a network and to the processing apparatus; said processing apparatus being programmed to: retrieve current state and association information for a plurality of network devices using a plurality of discovery protocols; retrieve cached state and association information for a plurality of network devices; determine a difference between the current state and association information and the cached state and association information; and build a topology map based on the determined difference, wherein the topology map comprises: a representation of the computing apparatus and of each of the plurality of network devices with corresponding association information in a left, middle, and right column topology format, wherein terminal device representations are disposed in the left column, intermediate connection device representations are disposed in the middle column, and external network representations are disposed in the right column; and wherein the association information corresponds to at least one connection between two network devices, the two network devices comprising a parent device and a child device, the child device comprising the one of the two devices further connected from the computing apparatus, and wherein if the child device is a terminal device and a first terminal child, a straight horizontal connection is created between the parent and the child, if the child device is a terminal device and not a first terminal child, a three segment connection is created between the parent and child, if the child device is a non-terminal device and a first non-terminal child, a straight vertical connection is created between the parent and the child, and if the child device is a non-terminal device and the child device is not a first non-terminal child, a three segment connection is created between the parent and the child.