A network is monitored for reports indicative of a connection state among ports of a communications network. Certain ports are designated as being in a transition, and a transition table is created for each transition. The transition table includes locations that directly relate the connectivity...http://www.google.com/patents/US5793362?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US5793362 - Configurations tracking system using transition manager to evaluate votes to determine possible connections between ports in a communications network in accordance with transition tables 
