Low overhead continuous monitoring of network performance

An apparatus to monitor network performance characteristic between a first and a second access point in the network, said apparatus comprising:

• a trigger mechanism at the first access point for determining a time to generate a probe packet;
• a probe generation mechanism at the first access point for generating a probe packet based on contents of a data packet and probe generating criteria;
• a probe detection mechanism at the second access point for detecting the probe packet;
• and
• an analysis mechanism to compare the probe packet detected at the second access point to the probe packet generated at the first access point.

A method comprising:

• providing bandwidth measurement between an ingress and an egress access router in a network by:
• counting a plurality of packets at the ingress access-router;
• generating a probe packet based on content of a data packet whenever a packet count reaches a specified value N;
• and
• counting the probe packets received at the egress access-router.

A method for providing bandwidth accounting between a first and a second ISP access point in a network, the method comprising:

• configuring at least one ingress access point to have a first packet count of ‘N-in’;
• said at least one ingress access point keeping track of a second packet count ‘N-out’ of packets sent into the network;
• and
• generating a probe packet whenever ‘N-out’=‘N-in’, wherein said probe packets being given a destination address of an Nth packet sent into the network, and being given a source address of an ingress router associated with the at least one ingress point.

A method for forming a plurality of probes packets in a network, said method comprising:

• marking of protocol field in a header of each probe packet with a reserved protocol number;
• filling a source port field in a UDP header for each probe packet with the reserved pattern;
• and
• filling a destination probe field with the probe number.

A method comprising:

• monitoring performance of a shared network by:
• forming a probe packet for each group of packets based on content of a data packet received by a router on the network;
• counting the probe packets;
• and
• estimating the network bandwidth based on the packet probe count compared to a preset criteria.

A method for measuring network characteristics between a first and a second router in a network, the method comprising:

• configuring at least one ingress access point on the first router to generate a plurality of probe packets;
• generating each of the probe packets based on the contents of a next data packet passing through the ingress access point;
• configuring at least one egress access point on the second router to detect the probe packet;
• and
• correlating each of the probe packets received at the egress access point with each of the probe packets sent by the ingress access point to determine the network characteristics between the ingress and egress access points.

An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for determining network characteristics between a first and a second access point in a network, the computer readable program code means in said article of manufacture comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect:

• configuring the first access point as an ingress access point to generate a plurality of probe packets;
• generating each of the probe packets based on contents of a data packet and preset criteria;
• configuring the second access point as an egress access point to detect the probe packets;
• and
• correlating each of the probe packets received at the egress access point with one of the probe packets sent by the ingress access point to determine the network characteristics between the two access points.

A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for providing bandwidth measurement between an ingress and an egress access router in a network, the computer readable program code means in said computer program product comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect:

• counting a plurality of packets at the ingress access-router;
• generating a probe packet whenever a packet count reaches a specified value N;
• and
• counting the probe packets received at the egress access-router.

A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for providing bandwidth accounting between a first and a second ISP access point in a network, said method steps comprising:

• configuring at least one ingress access point to have a first packet count of ‘N-in’;
• said at least one ingress access point keeping track of a second packet count ‘N-out’ of packets sent into the network;
• and
• generating a probe packet when ‘N-out’=‘N-in’, wherein said probe packets being given a destination address of an Nth packet sent into the network, and being given a source address of an ingress router associated with the at least one ingress point.

An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for measuring network characteristics between a first and a second router in a network, the computer readable program code means in said article of manufacture comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect:

• configuring at least one ingress access point on the first router to generate a plurality of probe packets;
• generating each of the probe packets based on the contents of a next data packet passing through the ingress access point;
• configuring at least one egress access point on the second router to detect the probe packet;
• and
• correlating each of the probe packets received at the egress access point with each of the probe packets sent by the ingress access point to determine the network characteristics between the ingress and egress access points.

A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for forming a plurality of probes packets in an network, the computer readable program code means in said computer program product comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect:

• marking a protocol field in an header of each probe packet with a reserved protocol number;
• filling a source port field in a UDP header for each probe packet with the reserved pattern;
• and
• filling a destination probe field with the probe number.

A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for monitoring performance of a shared network, the computer readable program code means in said computer program product comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect:

• forming a probe packet for each group of packets received by a router on the network;
• counting the probe packets;
• and
• estimating the network bandwidth based on the packet probe count compared to a preset criteria.

A method comprising:

• determining network characteristics between a first and a second access point in a network, by:
• configuring the first access point as an ingress access point to generate a plurality of probe packets;
• generating each of the probe packets based on contents of a data packet and on preset criteria;
• configuring the second access point as an egress access point to detect the probe packets;
• and
• correlating each of the probe packets received at the egress access point with one of the probe packets sent by the ingress access point to determine the network characteristics between the two access points.