Synchronizing packet traces
US7570669B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 9, 2004 |
| Grant date | Aug 4, 2009 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 17, 2027 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L41/14
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method for determining a common time base among nodes in a network by iteratively propagating timing constraints among the nodes, and determining a time-shift to apply to the time base of each node that conforms to these constraints. “Trace” files record the time of transmission or reception of packets at each node, based on the time base at the node. A fundamental constraint in a common time-based system is that the time of reception of a packet at a destination node cannot be prior to the time of transmission of the packet from a source node. A further constraint in a common time-based system is that the time of reacting to an event cannot be prior to the time of the event. By concurrently tracing traffic among multiple nodes in a network and subsequently processing the trace files to assure that each packet's transmission occurs prior to its reception, and that each reaction packet occurs after its corresponding causal packet, a correspondence between each node's time base and the common time base can be determined.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.