Patent ID: 6963288

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a programmable controller operative to determine a present state of a system based on event signals received from the system, the programmable controller providing a signal representative of the system state; a driver operative to generate a control signal in response to the signal provided by the programmable controller; and a display device operative to provide a visual representation of the state of the system in response to the control signal, wherein said display device comprises an array of light emitting diodes, arranged in a matrix; wherein the system has a plurality of ports, with at least one port of the plurality of ports providing at least one of the event signals, where the at least one event signal carries information on a status of the at least one port with respect to transmission and receipt of data by the at least one port; and wherein said programmable controller further comprises a register for storing programming information, a port for receiving event information, and a processor operative to generate the signal responsive of the system state in response to the event information and the programming information stored in the register.