GRAPHIC DISPLAY FOR MULTIMEDIA NETWORK MANAGEMENT

THE INNOVATION DESCRIBED IN THIS PROPOSAL IS THE DESIGN OF GRAPHICAL DISPLAYS FOR MULTIMEDIA NETWORK MANAGEMENT TAILORED TO NAVY REQUIREMENTS. THESE DISPLAYS ARE DESIGNED TO ANSWER QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE NETWORK'S STATUS THAT THE NAVY NETWORK OPERATOR FORMULATES IN THE PROCESS OF MANAGING THE NETWORK. INCORPORATING HUMAN FACTORS PRINCIPLES AND A GOOD USER INTERFACE ARE KEY TO THE DESIGN OF GOOD GRAPHICS DISPLAYS. THE NETWORK OPERATOR WILL BE ABLE TO SELECT GLOBAL VIEWS OF THE NETWORK AS WELL AS EXAMINE LOCAL PARTS OF THE NETWORK IN DETAIL. THE GRAPHICS DISPLAYS DESIGNED IN THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL SHOW NETWORK GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION, NETWORK CONNECTIVITY, NETWORK TRAFFIC PATTERNS, AND WILL HELP THE OPERATOR TO ISOLATE TROUBLE SPOTS WITHIN THE NETWORK, FOR EXAMPLE, NETWORK CONGESTION OR A FAILED COMMUNICATION LINK OR NETWORK COMPONENT. SPECIFIC NAVY REQUIREMENTS DISCUSSED IN DETAIL INCLUDE THE DISPLAY OF CONNECTIVITY AND GEORGRAPHIC LOCATION OF NETWORK COMPONENTS, TRAFFIC METRICS, AND RELIABILITY METRICS. ALSO INCLUDED IS A DISCUSSION OF HOW TO DISPLAY NETWORK HISTORY, WHICH GIVES THE OPERATOR A SENSE OF NETWORK PERFORMANCE OVER TIME. FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES, WE HAVE INCLUDED THE DESIGN OF NETWORK CONNECTIVITY AND GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION DISPLAY, AND A DISPLAY OF COMMUNICATION LINK THRUPUT.