CIMAP has two components.  One is a Java Applet and the other is a stand-alone Java application:

♦ The application targets at expert users who wish to analyze customized data with a formulated problem.  For example, the routing scenario on a particular date/during a particular period.  In order to run the application, the user needs to downloaded the Java byte code(currently tested on Linux platform.  For Windows, perl script package is required). The user also needs to feed the CIMAP application with the bgp routing table to be analyzed. 

The major functionalities of the CIMAP application are:

• Infer AS(Autonomous System) relationship from one or multiple BGP tables in the format of

  sh ip bgp

  as the command used on Cisco routers.  The inferred results can be exported to a text file.

• Visualize AS level connectivity graph of the Internet, with the notation of AS relationship between ASes, including
  • Connectivity with direct neighboring ASes
  • AS level connectivity between any two ASes. (Inferred from BGP routing table)
• Infer information about a user-specified AS such as:
  • ISP Names
  • Degree
  • Neighbors
  • Originating Prefixes
• Various general statistics about the Internet, including
  • The total number and lists of all the ASes.
  • List all prefixes
  • Filter all ASes whose degree is in the user-specified range.
  • The average AS path length.
  • List all prefixes with multiple origins.
  • List all Tier-one/non Tier-one ASes
• Batch AS or IP Address to Commercial Name mapping.

All the analysis can be exported to separate text files.

♦ The CIMAP applet is a lighter version of CIMAP application.  The users can use some of the basic visualization and analysis functionalities of CIMAP with just a web browser.   The applet fits best for users that need to quickly and easy access some information in the Internet that is not time sensitive, and the users do not need to prepare the bulky BGP tables for the CIMAP.  The information used by the CIMAP applet are maintained at a database updated weekly by the Multimedia Networking & Internet Lab at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst.