US 6,058,102 A · Method and apparatus for performing service level analysis of communications network performance metrics

Abstract

A data transmission system includes probes connected between end user sites and a data switching network. Each probe is connected to the switching network via an access channel wherein transmission circuits establish paths between the sites through the access channel and switching network. The probes capture and retransmit data traveling between the sites over respective transmission circuits, and can thereby insert service level analysis (SLA) messages into the data traffic in order to actively communicate network performance information to other probes. For each transmission circuit, the probes periodically collect measurements related to one or more network performance metrics, including: round-trip delay (RTD), data delivery ratio (DDR) and network availability. During each SLA measurement cycle, a sequence of SLA messages is exchanged over each transmission circuit, which messages contain data used to determine RTD and DDR. Optionally, the SLA message contents and protocol are designed to allow the SLA messages to be encapsulated in a single, standard data unit of any conventional data transmission protocol, such as an ATM cell. Consequently, the messaging system can be used with any data transmission protocol and in interworked networks without modification of the message data payload. The SLA measurements collected by the probes can be transmitted to a console in communication with the probes for processing, display, and archiving.

Claims91

Dependent claims

An apparatus for acquiring data used to perform service level analysis of network performance metrics in a data transmission system comprising at least a first site and a second site and at least a first data transmission circuit establishing a communication path through a switching network between the first and second sites, the apparatus comprising:

at least a first data acquisition device and a second data acquisition device respectively associated with said first and second sites;
said first data acquisition device inserting a first inter-device message into data traffic bound for the second site that is offered by the first site to the switching network over the first data transmission circuit, the first inter-device message delimiting a set of the data traffic bound for the second site from subsequent data traffic;
said second data acquisition device receiving the first inter-device message with data traffic originating from the first site and delivered by the switching network to the second site over the first data transmission circuit;
said first data acquisition device determining a count OFF.sub.A indicating an amount of data traffic offered by the first site in the set delimited by the first inter-device message;
said second data acquisition device determining a count DEL.sub.B indicating an amount of data traffic, in the set delimited by the first inter-device message, that is delivered by the switching network to the second site over the first data transmission circuit.

2 more elements

An apparatus for measuring round-trip delay in a data transmission system comprising at least a first site and a second site and at least a first data transmission circuit establishing a communication path through a switching network between the first and second sites, the apparatus comprising:

at least a first data acquisition device and a second data acquisition device respectively associated with said first and second sites and being configured to exchange a sequence of inter-device messages, such that:
said first data acquisition device transmits a first message to said second data acquisition device at time T.sub.1, the first message being received at said second data acquisition device at time T.sub.2 ;
said second data acquisition device transmits at time T.sub.3 a second message to said first data acquisition, the second message being received at said first data acquisition device at time T.sub.4 ;
said first data acquisition device transmits to said second data acquisition device a third message containing timestamp information indicating values of the transmit time T.sub.1 of the first message and receive time T.sub.4 of the second message;
and
said second data acquisition device calculates the round trip delay over the first transmission circuit using the values of times T.sub.1, T.sub.2, T.sub.3 and T.sub.4.

3 more elements

A data transmission system capable of performing service level analysis of network performance metrics, comprising:

a switching network;
at least a first site and a second site;
at least a first data transmission circuit establishing a communication path through the switching network between the first and second sites;
at least a first data acquisition device and a second data acquisition device respectively associated with said first and second sites;
and
a console in communication with at least one of said first and second data acquisition devices;
said first data acquisition device being configured to:
collect first performance data related to performance of said first transmission circuit;
insert a first inter-device message into data traffic bound for the second site that is offered by the first site to the switching network over the first data transmission circuit;
and use the first inter-device message to delimit a set of the data traffic for which the first performance data is collected;
said second data acquisition device being configured to:
receive the first inter-device message with data traffic originating from the first site and delivered by the switching network to the second site over the first data transmission circuit;
and collect second performance data related to performance of said first transmission circuit for the set of data traffic delimited by the first inter-device message;
at least one of said first data acquisition device, said second data acquisition device and said console generating service level analysis data of at least one network performance metric from the first and second performance data;
and
said console providing as an output the service level analysis data.

13 more elements

A method of performing service level analysis of network performance metrics in a data transmission system that includes at least first and second sites;

at least first and second data acquisition devices respectively associated with the first and second sites;
and at least a first data transmission circuit establishing a communication path through a switching network between the first and second sites, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) collecting, at the first data acquisition device, first performance data related to performance of the first transmission circuit;
(b) collecting, at the second data acquisition device, second performance data related to performance of the first transmission circuit;
(c) inserting a first inter-device message into data traffic bound for the second site that is offered by the first site to the switching network over the first data transmission circuit;
(d) using the first inter-device message to delimit a set of the data traffic for which the first and second performance data are collected;
and
(e) generating service level analysis data of at least one network performance metric from the first and second performance data.

5 more elements

A method of measuring data delivery performance of a data transmission circuit forming a transmission path between a first site and a second site through a switching network over which the first and second sites communicate, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) maintaining at a first site end of the data transmission circuit a count OFF.sub.A of a number of protocol data units (PDUs) bound for the second site that are offered by the first site to the switching network over the data transmission circuit;
(b) maintaining at the first site end a count DEL.sub.A of a number of PDUs originating from the second site that are delivered by the switching network to the first site over the data transmission circuit;
(c) maintaining at a second site end of the data transmission circuit a count OFF.sub.B of a number of PDUs bound for the first site that are offered by the second site to the switching network over the data transmission circuit;
(d) maintaining at the second site end a count DEL.sub.B of a number of PDUs originating from the first site that are delivered by the switching network to the second site over the data transmission circuit;
and
(e) computing a measure of PDU delivery performance of the data transmission circuit from the counts OFF.sub.A, OFF.sub.B, DEL.sub.A and DEL.sub.B.

3 more elements

A data transmission structure for transmitting a sequence of inter-device messages over a data transmission circuit forming a path through a switching network between first and second sites, the switching network employing at least one data transmission protocol, the structure comprising:

a message type field identifying the inter-device message as a particular message within the sequence;
and
a count field for transmitting an indicator of a number of protocol data units (PDUs) offered for transmission to the switching network over the data transmission circuit, wherein, when said message type field contains a first value, said count field contains a count OFF.sub.A indicating a number of PDUs bound for the second site that are offered by the first site to the switching network over the first transmission circuit, and when said message type field contains a second value, said count field contains a count OFF.sub.B indicating a number of PDUs bound for the first site that are offered by the second site to the switching network over the first transmission circuit;
wherein each inter-device message conforming to the data transmission structure is capable of being encapsulated in a single protocol data unit of said at least one data transmission protocol.

1 more element

A method of transmitting a sequence of inter-device messages over a data transmission circuit forming a path through a switching network between first and second sites, the switching network employing at least one data transmission protocol, the inter-device messages containing data relating to transmission performance of the data transmission circuit, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) forming each of the inter-device messages in the sequence in accordance with an inter-device message transmission structure, such that each of the inter-device messages is capable of being encapsulated in a single protocol data unit of said at least one data transmission protocol of the switching network, wherein each inter-device message includes:
a message type field identifying the inter-device message as a particular message within the sequence;
and a count field for transmitting an indicator of a number of protocol data units (PDUs) offered for transmission to the switching network over the data transmission circuit, wherein, when the message type field contains a first value, the count field contains a count OFF.sub.A indicating a number of PDUs bound for the second site that are offered by the first site to the switching network over the first transmission circuit, and when the message type field contains a second value, the count field contains a count OFF.sub.B indicating a number of PDUs bound for the first site that are offered by the second site to the switching network over the first transmission circuit;
(b) inserting each of the inter-device messages into data traffic to be transmitted on the data transmission circuit between the first and second sites;
and
(c) extracting the inter-device messages from the data traffic transmitted on the data transmission circuit.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and apparatus for performing service level analysis of communications network performance metrics

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Method and apparatus for performing service level analysis of communications network performance metrics

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims91