Patent ID: 7949737

Claim:
A computer implemented method of correlating different results of role grouping, comprises: receiving in a computer system two sets of groupings of nodes on a network, each grouping of the nodes being according to connection characteristics of the nodes in the groups, with each of the sets having associated identifications; correlating associated identifications of one set of groupings with those of the other set of groupings by: determining a degree of similarity between a first node in the one set of groupings and a second node in the other set of groupings based on a number of connections that the first and second node have with a node one hop away over a plurality of time-periods, wherein similarity between host members in the groups is related to a sum of similarity values that the members in one group have with their similar neighbors in the other group; computing a set of nodes that existed at time t−1 but have been removed at time t, and a set of nodes that only appear at time t, to provide two sets of nodes that represent difference sets so that changes in the connection set of each host are as a result of changing connection patterns between the host and its neighbors that existed at time t; and identifying the set of nodes that have not changed their neighbors between different executions of the role grouping; and producing a result which indicates a structured view of the network based on the groupings.