Patent Document ID: 7889680
Application ID: 11850151
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method, comprising: estimating, by an apparatus, coordinates of a plurality of anonymous routers of a network in a multi-dimensional space, the network having a number of hosts and routers, known or anonymous, using path information collected between the hosts, wherein respective ones of the plurality of anonymous routers have at least internet protocol (IP) address unknown to the apparatus; inferring, by the apparatus, a topology of the network, using at least the estimated coordinates of the plurality of anonymous routers; and simplifying the topology of the network, by the apparatus, by merging selected ones of the anonymous routers with other anonymous routers or known routers into one or more groups, treating each of the groups as one router, anonymous or known, wherein said selected ones of the anonymous routers are based on distances between the anonymous routers, between the anonymous routers and the known routers, or between the anonymous routers and the hosts.