US 7,756,032 B2Granted

Method and apparatus for communicating data within measurement traffic

AssigneeAvaya Inc.

InventorsWayne A. Feick, Sean P. Finn, Mansour J. Karam, Michael A. Lloyd, Herbert S. Madan, James G. McGuire, Jose-Miguel Pulido, Omar C. Baldonado

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Abstract

The present invention is directed to using measurement packets to compute network performance. Embodiments that send, receive and both send and receive measurement packets are described. Some embodiments are described that compute statistics based at least partly on measurement traffic. Some embodiments are described that communicate computed statistics within measurement traffic. Some embodiments are described that rank and select paths based at least partly on computed statistics.

Claims52

Dependent claims

A method for communicating data within measurement traffic, the method comprising:

sending a plurality of one or more measurement packets over a plurality of one or more paths, each of the first plurality of one or more measurement packets having a common source and destination IP address, each of the plurality of one or more paths traversing at least a portion of an internetwork, and each of the plurality of one or more measurement packets including:
information for a receiver of the measurement packet to compute measurements of performance characteristics of at least a portion of the path of the measurement packet,
and data including control data comprising instructions that direct a receiver of the measurement packet to change one or more configuration parameters of the receiver, the data further including one or more of measurement statistics, a generic communication channel, and network information;
and
determining a delay average for the plurality of one or more measurement packets by analyzing at least two packets from the plurality of one or more measurement packets;
determining a jitter average for the plurality of one or more measurement packets by analyzing at least two packets from the plurality of one or more measurement packets;
and
combining the jitter average and delay average for the plurality of one or more measurement packets into a single value;
and
including the single value in the data measurement statistics.

7 more elements

A method for communicating data within measurement traffic, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of one or more measurement packets over a plurality of one or more paths, each of the plurality of one or more measurement packets being assigned a sequence number from a range of sequence numbers, each of the plurality of one or more paths traversing at least a portion of an internetwork, and each of the plurality of one or more measurement packets including:
information for a receiver of the measurement packet to compute measurements of performance characteristics of at least a portion of the path of the measurement packet, the information including the assigned sequence number,
data including control data directing a receiver of the measurement packet to change one or more configuration parameters of the receiver, the data further including one or more of measurement statistics, a generic communication channel, network information;
and
determining a delay average for the plurality of one or more measurement packets by analyzing at least two packets from the plurality of one or more measurement packets;
determining a jitter average for the plurality of one or more measurement packets by analyzing at least two packets from the plurality of one or more measurement packets;
and
combining the jitter average and delay average for the plurality of one or more measurement packets into a single value;
and
including the single value in the data measurement statistics.

7 more elements

A method for communicating data within measurement traffic, the method comprising:

sending a first plurality of one or more measurement packets over a first plurality of one or more paths, each of the first plurality of one or more measurement packets having a common source and destination IP address, each of the first plurality of one or more paths traversing at least a portion of an internetwork, and each of the first plurality of one or more measurement packets including:
information for a receiver of the measurement packet to compute measurements of performance characteristics of at least a portion of the path of the measurement packet, the performance characteristics including at least one of averages, deviations, and variances determined by analyzing at least two of the first plurality of one or more measurement packets,
data including control data directing a receiver of the measurement packet to change one or more configuration parameters of the receiver, the data further including one or more of measurement statistics, a generic communication channel, network information, and
determining a delay average for the first plurality of one or more measurement packets by analyzing at least two packets from the first plurality of one or more measurement packets;
determining a utter average for the first plurality of one or more measurement packets by analyzing at least two packets from the first plurality of one or more measurement packets;
and
combining the utter average and delay average for the first plurality of one or more measurement packets into a single value;
and
including the single value in the data measurement statistics,
receiving a second plurality of one or more measurement packets over a second plurality of one or more paths, each of the second plurality of one or more paths traversing at least a portion of an internetwork, and each of the second plurality of one or more measurement packets including:
information for a receiver of the measurement packet to compute measurements of performance characteristics of at least a portion of the path of the measurement packet, and
data including control data directing a receiver of the measurement packet to change one or more configuration parameters of the receiver, the data further including one or more of measurement statistics, a generic communication channel, network information, and
determining a delay average for the second plurality of one or more measurement packets by analyzing at least two packets from the second plurality of one or more measurement packets;
determining a jitter average for the second plurality of one or more measurement packets by analyzing at least two packets from the second plurality of one or more measurement packets;
and
combining the jitter average and delay average for the second plurality of one or more measurement packets into a single value;
and
including the single value in the data measurement statistics.

15 more elements

A networking system, comprising:

a plurality of one or more devices communicating at least a first plurality of one or more measurement packets over a first plurality of one or more paths, each of the plurality of one or more measurement packets being assigned a sequence number from a range of sequence numbers, each of the first plurality of one or more paths traversing at least a portion of an internetwork, and each of the first plurality of one or more measurement packets including:
information for a receiver of the measurement packet to compute measurements of performance characteristics of at least a portion of the path of the measurement packet, the performance characteristics including at least one of averages, deviations, and variances determined by analyzing at least two of the plurality of one or more measurement packets, and
data including control data directing a receiver of the measurement packet to change one or more configuration parameters of the receiver, the data further including one or more of measurement statistics, a generic communication channel, network information;
and
determining a delay average for the first plurality of one or more measurement packets by analyzing at least two packets from the first plurality of one or more measurement packets;
determining a jitter average for the first plurality of one or more measurement packets by analyzing at least two packets from the first plurality of one or more measurement packets;
and
combining the jitter average and delay average for the first plurality of one or more measurement packets into a single value;
and
including the single value in the data measurement statistics.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 10/070,339Filed 17 Oct 2001 · continuation in part
Priority: 17 Oct 2000
Published: US 2007/0115840 A124 May 2007
Granted: 13 Jul 2010
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

H04L 43/50
Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks: testing arrangements
H04L 41/0813
Configuration setting: characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
H04L 43/08
Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks: monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or…
H04L 43/10
Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks: active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route

Family

Application60/241,450Us provisional application · filed 17 Oct 2000
Application60/275,206Us provisional application · filed 12 Mar 2001
Application09/903,423Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 10 Jul 2001
Application09/903,441Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 10 Jul 2001
Application09/923,924Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 6 Aug 2001
Application09/960,623Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 20 Sep 2001
PCT/US01/31420Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 4 Oct 2001
PCT/US01/31419Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 4 Oct 2001
PCT/US01/31259Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 5 Oct 2001
PCT/US01/32312Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 17 Oct 2001
US 2007/0115840 A1Pre-grant publication · published 24 May 2007
US 2002/0075813 A1Published application
US 2002/0078223 A1Published application
US 2002/0129161 A1Published application
US 2002/0184393 A1Published application
US 7,080,161 B2Related patent
US 7,349,994 B2Related patent
US 7,363,367 B2Related patent
US 7,406,539 B2Related patent
US 7,756,032 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.