Method and system for determining dropped frame rates over a packet switched transport

A system for detecting dropped packets in a telecommunications network including a packet switched network, the system comprising:

• a transmission unit configured to send at least one set of N waveforms over the telecommunications network, each transmitted waveform including a waveform characteristic operative to assign a predetermined value relative to other waveforms in the at least one set, such that a predetermined sequence of values are assigned to packets carrying the N transmitted waveforms;
• and
• a receiver unit operative to receive a telephonic signal from the telecommunications network, the receiver also being configured to derive a received sequence of values from the telephonic signal, and compare the received sequence of values to the predetermined sequence of values to detect dropped packets, without having access to packet switched network transmission control data.

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method, the method comprising:

• establishing a telephonic connection between a first network location and a second network location;
• and
• transmitting at least one set of N waveforms from the first network location, each transmitted waveform including a waveform characteristic operative to assign a predetermined value relative to other waveforms in the at least one set, such that a predetermined sequence of values are assigned to packets carrying the N transmitted waveforms.