Patent ID: 8605608

Claim:
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executable instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising: receiving a network data model comprising a set of network elements and respective costs associated with respective network elements, where the network elements comprise nodes and links between nodes; generating a network buffer by: selecting a center network element around which to generate the network buffer; selecting an offset cost to define a boundary of the network buffer; identifying a subset of network elements as buffer network elements that are located within the offset cost with respect to the center network element; determining a buffer coverage as the set of buffer network elements located within the offset cost with respect to the center network element; and for each buffer network element, determining a respective cost associated with travelling a path with minimum cost from the center network element to a respective buffer network element; and storing, for subsequent analysis, the buffer coverage and the respective costs associated with the respective buffer network elements in the buffer coverage.