Services, systems and methods for precisely estimating a delay within a network

A method for determining a time delay of a network having i) a transmitting node and ii) a receiving node, wherein each of the transmitting node and the receiving node comprises a Data Link Layer (DLL), a management layer, and a Physical Layer (PHY), the method comprising:

• in response to the DLL of the transmitting node receiving a first packet of information from a data source, forwarding the information to the DLL of the receiving node;
• determining a transmit time, the transmit time being a point in time where the information is ready to be transmitted to a data sink by the receiving node;
• forwarding the transmit time to a management layer of the receiving node;
• and determining, using circuitry, the time delay of the network by subtracting a receive time from the transmit time, the receive time being provided via a management layer of the transmitting node, the receive time being a point in time that a first packet containing the information is received by the transmitting node, wherein determining the receive time is performed by a layer above a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer of a DLL of the transmitting node.

An apparatus for determining a time delay of a network, comprising:

• a transmitting node containing circuitry, comprising:
• a first Physical Layer (PHY);
• a management layer;
• and
• a first Data Link Layer (DLL) configured to receive a first packet of information from a data source, determining a receive time of the first packet by a layer above a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer of the DLL, forwarding the receive time to the first management layer, and forward information in the first packet to the first PHY;
• and
• circuitry configured to determine the time delay of the network by subtracting the receive time from a transmit time provided via a second management layer of a receiving node, the transmit time being a point in time that the information of the first packet is ready to be transmitted to a data sink by the receiving node.

An apparatus for determining a time delay of a network, comprising:

• a receiving node containing circuitry, including:
• a management layer;
• a Physical Layer (PHY) configured to receive information provided by a data source via a transmitting node of the network;
• and
• a Data Link Layer (DLL) configured to receive the information from the PHY, determine a receive time by a layer above a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer of the DLL, determine a transmit time, the transmit time being a point in time where the information is ready to be transmitted to a data sink, and forward the transmit time to the management layer;
• and
• circuitry configured to determine the time delay of the network by subtracting the receive time from the transmit time, the receive time being provided via a management layer of the transmitting node, the receive time being a point in time that a first packet containing the information is received by the transmitting node.