Network Traffic Visualization via Hierarchical Node Merging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Generating visualizations of network traffic flow across multiple web pages is challenging due to the complexity and variability of traffic paths, making it difficult for website owners and advertisers to gain insights into user interactions and optimize their strategies effectively.
Innovation Solution
A method is introduced that uses nodes and connectors to represent network traffic, where each node represents web pages and the connectors indicate the number of visits between them, allowing users to select and highlight specific traffic paths for deeper analysis, enabling interactive visualization of traffic flow and aggregation of data for better understanding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If detailed network traffic data is collected for each URL and user path, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases due to the need to process and visualize hundreds or thousands of web pages and traffic paths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple web pages into parent category nodes based on common path prefixes. For example, pages like '/product/123', '/product/456' are merged into a parent node '/product'. This consolidation reduces the number of individual nodes from hundreds or thousands to a manageable number of category nodes, thereby reducing visualization complexity while preserving traffic measurement precision at the category level.
Solution Approach 2:
The visualization system implements multi-functionality by enabling users to view traffic data at multiple levels of abstraction simultaneously - from detailed individual URL levels to aggregated parent category levels. The system can dynamically switch between showing specific page traffic and aggregated category traffic, providing universal insight across different granularities without requiring separate analysis tools.
2Measurement precision
If all traffic paths and user journeys are tracked individually, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates as users struggle to navigate and understand the complex visualization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex traffic data into hierarchical parent category nodes and child page nodes. By organizing traffic paths into parent-child relationships where parent nodes represent category levels and child nodes represent specific pages, the system breaks down the overwhelming complexity into manageable segments. Users can navigate from high-level category views to detailed page views systematically, improving ease of operation while maintaining precise user path tracking capability.
3Measurement precision
If comprehensive traffic data for hundreds or thousands of web pages is processed, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time increases due to the difficulty of generating and interpreting visualizations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent automatically merges traffic data from multiple child pages into parent category nodes, performing aggregation computations in advance. This pre-aggregation approach reduces the time required for generating visualizations by eliminating the need to process and display every individual page's traffic separately. The system generates consolidated category-level views quickly, reducing visualization generation time while maintaining precise traffic flow measurement through the aggregation process.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for generating visualization data representing network traffic flow in or out of one or more nodes, each node representing the network traffic for one or more web pages. The method includes visualizing data configured to connect the one or more nodes with one or more connectors, each connector configured to connect two nodes, the one or more connectors configured to have a dimension that indicates a number of visits between two nodes. The network traffic capable of being highlighted when a user selects the one or more nodes or connectors.