Analysis of causal relations between intercommunicating nodes

An apparatus for determining causal relations between a plurality of intercommunicating nodes, comprising:

• means for inputting trace data that describe inter-node communication, the trace data including for each message sent between nodes a time value that indicates a time at which the message was sent, a source identifier that identifies a node from which the message was sent, and a destination identifier that identifies a node to which the message was sent;
• means for determining for each of one or more nodes whether one or more causal relations exist between a first set of messages destined to the node and a second set of messages sourced from the node and destined to at least one other node, wherein a causal relation exists as a function of a probability distribution of delay values that are differences between timestamps of messages in the second set and timestamps of messages in the first set;
• and
• means for generating a processor-readable representation of the nodes and causal relations.

An article of manufacture for determining causal relations between a plurality of intercommunicating nodes, comprising:

• a computer-readable medium configured with instructions for causing a processor-based system to perform the steps of,
• inputting trace data that describe inter-node communication, the trace data including for each message sent between nodes a timestamp that indicates a time at which the message was sent, a source identifier that identifies a node from which the message was sent, and a destination identifier that identifies a node to which the message was sent;
• determining for each of one or more nodes whether one or more causal relations exist between a first set of messages destined to the node and a second set of messages sourced from the node and destined to at least one other node, wherein a causal relation exists as a function of a probability distribution of delay values that are differences between timestamps of messages in the second set and timestamps of the selected number of messages in the first set;
• and
• generating a processor-readable representation of the nodes and causal relations.