Performance measurement of packet flow in a packet-switched communication network by a user communication device

A method for performing a performance measurement on a packet-switched communication network by a user communication device, said user communication device being provided with at least one user application suitable for exchanging at least one packet flow with said packet-switched communication network, said method comprising:

• receiving from an owner of said user communication device a request for performing a performance measurement on said packet flow;
• in response to said request, activating a marking functionality on said packet flow, said marking functionality comprising marking an upstream marking field of upstream packets of said packet flow transmitted from the user communication device to a network node of the packet-switched communication network, which is configured to originate downstream packets of said packet flow transmitted from the network node to the user communication device, said upstream packets including upstream user data and said upstream marking field, and inducing the network node of said packet-switched communication network configured to originate said downstream packets of said packet flow to mark a downstream marking field of said downstream packets transmitted from the network node to the user communication device, said downstream packets including downstream user data and said downstream marking field;
• providing at least one performance parameter relating to said upstream marking field of said marked upstream packets as transmitted by said user communication device or said downstream marking field of said marked downstream packets as received by said user communication device based on detection of marked packets at said user communication device and, based on said at least one performance parameter, providing a performance measurement on said packet flow;
• and
• sharing said performance measurement with a measurement management server.

A system for performing a performance measurement on a packet-switched communication network, said system comprising:

• a measurement management server;
• and
• at least one user communication device provided with at least one user application suitable for exchanging at least one packet flow with said packet-switched communication network, said user communication device being further configured to:
• receive from an owner of said user communication device a request for performing a performance measurement on said packet flow,
• in response to said request, activate a marking functionality on said packet flow, said marking functionality comprising marking an upstream marking field of upstream packets of said packet flow transmitted from the user communication device to a network node of the packet-switched communication network, which is configured to originate downstream packets transmitted from the network node to the user communication device, said upstream packets including upstream user data and said upstream marking field, and inducing the network node of said packet-switched communication network configured to originate said downstream packets of said packet flow to mark a downstream marking field of said downstream packets transmitted from the network node to the user communication device, said downstream packets including downstream user data and said downstream marking field,
• provide at least one performance parameter relating to said upstream marking field of said marked upstream packets as transmitted by said user communication device or said downstream marking field of said marked downstream packets as received by said user communication device based on detection of marked packets at said user communication device and, based on said at least one performance parameter, provide a performance measurement on said packet flow, and
• share said performance measurement with said measurement management server.