Abstract: Implementations of the present disclosure involve a system and/or method for modeling a networking device policy or set of rules and/or transforming a networking device policy model into a set of comprehensible rules for presentation to a manager of the device. In one embodiment, the system and/or method includes converting one or more rules of the firewall device into a string of representative bits, creating a binary decision diagram from the converted rules of the firewall policy, transforming the binary decision diagram into a ternary tree diagram and analyzing the ternary tree diagram to condense the firewall policy into one or more rules comprehensible by a user of the firewall.

Abstract: Implementations of the present disclosure involve a system and/or method for modeling a firewall function and operation such that software based analysis and other formal analysis methods may be used with the model. In one embodiment, the system and/or method includes modeling the function of a firewall as a set of links, ingress/egress interfaces, interface switches and behaviors chained together into a spanning graph. The spanning graph may then be used in conjunction with data structures, such as a Firewall Policy Diagram, to illustrate pathways through a network for a communication packet. This system and/or method allows for the understanding of a firewall policy such that the policy can be replicated among various firewalls in the network at issue.

Abstract: Implementations of the present disclosure involve a system and/or method for modeling a networking device policy or set of rules and/or transforming a networking device policy model into a set of comprehensible rules for presentation to a manager of the device. In one embodiment, the system and/or method includes converting one or more rules of the firewall device into a string of representative bits, creating a binary decision diagram from the converted rules of the firewall policy, transforming the binary decision diagram into a ternary tree diagram and analyzing the ternary tree diagram to condense the firewall policy into one or more rules comprehensible by a user of the firewall.

Abstract: Implementations of the present disclosure involve a system and/or method for modeling a firewall function and operation such that software based analysis and other formal analysis methods may be used with the model. In one embodiment, the system and/or method includes modeling the function of a firewall as a set of links, ingress/egress interfaces, interface switches and behaviors chained together into a spanning graph. The spanning graph may then be used in conjunction with data structures, such as a Firewall Policy Diagram, to illustrate pathways through a network for a communication packet. This system and/or method allows for the understanding of a firewall policy such that the policy can be replicated among various firewalls in the network at issue.