Method and apparatus to coordinate groups of heterogeneous measurements

1. An apparatus comprising:

a platform determining a number of heterogeneous measurements to be taken on a network, configuring settings of devices on the network from which heterogeneous data will be provided to perform the heterogeneous measurements, locking the setting-configured devices to dedicate the devices to provide the heterogeneous data, running tests to take the determined heterogeneous measurements from the locked devices, and performing an operation of summarizing the results of the tests; and

a computer implemented data collector common to a plurality of the locked devices on the network, the data collector automatically collecting the heterogeneous measurements from the locked devices;

wherein the summarizing operation includes normalizing the determined heterogeneous measurements on a common scale using a transform function.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the heterogeneous measurements to be taken are measurements obtained by observing the network.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the heterogeneous measurements to be taken are measurements of a response to a stimulus generated as part of the measurement setup.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the defining comprises determining the devices to be implemented, to provide the heterogeneous data.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the platform comprises a GUI to guide a user to input configuration settings for each of the devices providing heterogeneous data.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an API to automatically input configuration settings for each of the devices providing heterogeneous data.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising locks to lock a particular device providing requested heterogeneous data.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a remote API to start running a test.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a platform determining a number of heterogeneous measurements to be taken from a plurality of devices on a network and performing an operation of summarizing the determined heterogeneous measurements; and

a computer implemented data collector common to the plurality of devices on the network, the data collector automatically gathering the determined heterogeneous measurements from the plurality of devices over the network,

wherein the summarizing operation includes normalizing the determined heterogeneous measurements on a common scale using a transform function.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the plurality of devices are network hosts providing data corresponding to a protocol implemented by the respective network host.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the network hosts are devices that provide measurement data.

12. The apparatus according to claim 9 , further comprising a test manager to manage orchestration of the measurements to be taken among the plurality of devices depending on the results desired from the measurements.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12 , further comprising an input unit to input configuration settings to control the measurements to be taken.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the input unit is a GUI receiving input from a user.

15. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the input unit is an API to automatically provide configuration settings.

16. An apparatus comprising:

a platform determining a number of heterogeneous measurements to be taken from a plurality of devices over a network and performing an operation of summarizing the determined heterogeneous measurements;

a data collector common to the plurality of devices on the network, the data collector automatically collecting the determined heterogeneous measurements taken from the plurality of devices over the network; and

a computer-implemented presentation device which correlates the determined heterogeneous measurements collected from the plurality of devices by the data collector, presents the correlated heterogeneous measurements on a display screen to an end user, and allows the end user to drill from a less detailed presentation to a more detailed presentation,

wherein the summarizing operation includes normalizing the determined heterogeneous measurements on a common scale using a transform function.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein the presentation device displays a summary of the normalized heterogeneous measurement results including a plurality of links to drill up or down to the desired level of detailed presentation of the measurement results.

18. A method of integrating heterogeneous measurements received from more than one data sources in a common network, comprising:

determining a number of heterogeneous measurements to be taken over the common network;

defining each of the determined heterogeneous measurements to be taken from the more than one data source;

configuring settings of the more than one data sources in which the defined heterogeneous measurements are to be taken;

locking the more than one data sources, having configured settings, in which the heterogeneous measurements are to be taken;

taking the heterogeneous measurements from the locked more than one locked data sources;

automatically collecting the taken heterogeneous measurements via a data collector common to the more than one data sources;

synchronizing the collected heterogeneous measurements;

performing an operation of summarizing the synchronized heterogeneous measurements including normalizing the synchronized heterogeneous measurements on a common scale using a transform function; and

presenting the summarized synchronized heterogeneous measurements.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the defining comprises manually selecting the heterogeneous measurements data to be taken through the GUI.

20. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the defining comprises automatically selecting the heterogeneous measurements to be taken through an API.

21. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the configuring of the settings comprises obtaining configuration settings for the heterogeneous measurements manually through a GUI.

22. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the configuring of the settings comprises obtaining configuration settings for the heterogeneous measurements automatically through an API.

23. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the locking of resources comprises locking the common network to the data sources providing the desired measurements.

24. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the synchronizing of the heterogeneous measurements comprises placing the different measurements on a common time scale.

25. The method according to claim 24 , wherein the placing of the different measurements on a common time scale comprises taking relative time differences of the measurements based on system time ticks.

26. The method according to claim 24 , wherein the placing of the different measurements on a common time scale comprises distributing a common clock signal through a coaxial cable.

27. The method according to claim 18 , further comprising providing a context launch for data requiring specialized presentation.

28. A method of coordinating groups of heterogeneous measurements in a common platform, comprising:

providing plural data sources, each data source containing a different type of data with respect to another data source;

measuring the different types of data from the plural data sources;

normalizing the measured results on a common scale, and

wherein the normalizing comprises using a transform function to map the measured results onto a homogeneous transform space.

29. The method according to claim 28 , wherein the measuring the different types of data comprises locking to a specific data source in which data is to be measured before measuring the data from that data source.

30. The method according to claim 29 , wherein the measuring the different types of data further comprises synchronizing the different types of data measured on a common time scale.

31. The method according to claim 30 , wherein the synchronizing the different types of data comprises taking relative time differences of the measurements based on system time ticks.

32. The method according to claim 30 , wherein the synchronizing the different types of data comprises distributing a common clock signal through a coaxial cable to the plurality of data sources.

33. The method according to claim 30 , wherein the synchronizing the different types of data comprises time stamping the data measured.

34. The method according to claim 28 , wherein the normalizing comprises applying the following formula to the data measured:

y=f ( x ) where

y= 3.0 where x>=C max

y= 2.0+( x−Try )/( C max− Tyr ) where C max>= Tyr

y= 1.0+( x−Tgy )/( Tyr−Tgy ) where Tyr>=Tgy

y=x /( Tgy−C min) where Tgy>x>=C min

y= 0.0 where x<C min

where: Cmin is a minimum constraint value;

Cmax is a maximum constraint value;

Tyr is the second threshold expressed in the same units as the x value; and

Tgy is the first threshold expressed in the same units as the x value.

35. The method according to claim 34 , wherein the formula is applied to negative data.

36. The method according to claim 28 , wherein the normalizing comprises using a mathematical transform function to transform at least two heterogeneous scalar measurement data each into a homogeneous mathematical transform space; and displaying at least one of the two transformed heterogeneous scalar measurement data.

37. The method according to claim 28 , wherein the mapping of the measured results onto a homogeneous transform space comprises using threshold values to place the measured results in a summary form.

38. An apparatus comprising:

a platform determining a number of measurements to be taken from a plurality of different devices on a network and performing an operation of summarizing the determined heterogeneous measurements;

a computer implemented data collector common to the plurality of different devices on the network, the computer implemented data collector automatically collecting measurements from the plurality of the different devices; and

a common framework to correlate the measurements collected by the data collector, at least two of the devices providing data of a different type by synchronizing the measurements obtained from the different devices,

wherein the summarizing operation includes normalizing the determined heterogeneous measurements on a common scale using a transform function.

39. The apparatus according to claim 38 , wherein the synchronizing the measurements obtained comprises a unit to take relative time differences based upon system time ticks to time stamp the measurements obtained.

40. A network troubleshooting system comprising:

at least two data sources, each data source providing data of a different type with respect to another data source to be measured;

a data source manager providing management of how the different types of data are to be measured via a platform determining a number of measurements to be taken from a plurality of devices on a network;

a data collector common to the plurality of devices on the network, providing information necessary for the network troubleshooting system to measure the different types of data provided by the at least two data sources;

a database to store the determined measurements taken;

a test manager to manage performance of the stored measurements on the different types of data provided by the at least two data sources; and

means for performing an operation of summarizing the stored measurements,

wherein the summarizing operation includes normalizing the stored measurements on a common scale using a transform function.

41. The network troubleshooting system according to claim 40 , wherein the different types of data measured are synchronized on a common time scale.

42. The network troubleshooting system according to claim 41 , wherein the different types of data are time synchronized by time stamping, providing timing based on system time ticks, having a common clock distributed to each of said at least two data sources, comparing that data to a system clock, or using a GPS receiver.

43. The network troubleshooting system according to claim 40 , wherein the at least two data sources comprise a router, a voice tester, a network analyzer or a network probe.

44. An apparatus comprising:

a platform determining a number of heterogeneous measurements to be taken from a plurality of devices on a network;

a data collector common to the plurality of devices on the network, the data collector automatically collecting the determined heterogeneous measurements from the plurality of the devices; and

a computer-implemented presentation device which correlates the determined heterogeneous measurements collected from the plurality of the devices on the network and aggregates the correlated measurements on a common scale using a transform function for a summarized presentation of the heterogeneous measurements.

45. The apparatus according to claim 44 , further comprising a drilling unit to allow an end user to drill from the summarized presentation of the heterogeneous measurements to a more detailed presentation of the heterogeneous measurements.

46. A method of coordinating groups of heterogeneous measurements in a common platform, comprising:

providing plural data sources, each data source containing a different type of data with respect to another data source;

measuring the different types of data from the plural data sources; and

normalizing the measured results on a common scale,

wherein the normalizing comprises applying the following formula to the data measured:

y=f ( x ) where

y= 3.0 where x>=C max

y= 2.0+( x−Try )/( C max− Tyr ) where C max>= Tyr

y= 1.0+( x−Tgy )/( Tyr−Tgy ) where Tyr>=Tgy

y=x /( Tgy−C min) where Tgy>x>=C min

y= 0.0 where x>C min

where: Cmin is a minimum constraint value;

Cmax is a maximum constraint value;

Tyr is the second threshold expressed in the same units as the x value; and

Tgy is the first threshold expressed in the same units as the x value.

47. The method according to claim 46 , wherein the formula is applied to negative data.