Methods and systems for queue and pipeline latency metrology in network devices and smart NICs

A method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of outbound packets on a transmit queue of a network appliance;
• using an egress pipeline of the network appliance to process the outbound packets after dequeuing the outbound packets from the transmit queue;
• transmitting the outbound packets from an egress port of the network appliance;
• determining a transmit queue latency metric based on a plurality of transmit queue residency times of the outbound packets on the transmit queue;
• determining a transmit pipeline latency metric based on a plurality of transmit pipeline residency times of the outbound packets in the egress pipeline;
• and
• reporting the transmit queue latency metric and the transmit pipeline latency metric to a data collector.

A system comprising:

• a means for determining a receive queue latency metric;
• a means for determining a receive pipeline latency metric;
• a means for determining a transmit queue latency metric;
• a means for determining a transmit pipeline latency metric;
• and
• a means for reporting the receive queue latency metric, the receive pipeline latency metric, the transmit queue latency metric, and the transmit pipeline latency metric to a data collector.