LATENCY LOCATOR

• US 20090112651A1
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Published: 04/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Liberty Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Atkinson, Jon E.
• Granted Patent: US 7,917,446 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/027 involving a payment switch or gateway
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0864 Round trip delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/12 Network monitoring probes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources

Abstract

A method for capturing data packets sent on a network for evaluating response time performance, the network including a financial institution and a partner bank. The method includes associating a captured data packet sent to the partner bank with a captured data packet received from the partner bank, by comparing at least one coded field of a data portion of the captured data packet sent to the partner bank with at least one coded field of a captured data portion of the data packet received from the partner bank. The method also includes measuring a response time of the associated data packet received from the partner bank, relative to a transmission time of the captured data packet sent to the partner bank. The method further includes transmitting an alert message upon determining that the response time is not within an adjustable predetermined threshold, wherein the alert message includes data from a data portion of the associated data packets.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising a computer-usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to capture data packets on a network for evaluating response time performance, the network including a financial institution and a partner bank, the control logic comprising:

first computer-readable program code for causing the computer to capture a first data packet sent from the financial institution to the partner bank, the first data packet including an authorization request for a transaction;

second computer-readable program code for causing the computer to check whether the captured first data packet includes a first pattern in a coded field;

third computer-readable program code for causing the computer to capture a second data packet sent from the partner bank to the financial institution;

fourth computer-readable program code for causing the computer to check whether the captured second data packet has a second pattern in a coded field that corresponds to the first pattern;

fifth computer-readable program code for, upon determining that the captured second data packet has the second pattern, causing the computer to check whether at least one additional coded field of the captured second data packet matches at least one additional coded field of the captured first packet to determine whether a match has occurred; and

sixth computer-readable program code for, upon determining that a match has occurred, causing the computer to determine whether a response time of the second data packet relative to a transmission time of the first data packet has exceeded a predetermined threshold, and, if so, to transmit an alert message.

2. A computer program product according to claim 1, wherein each additional coded field is one of a date, a time, a credit card number, a transaction amount, a reconciliation amount, a position in the data packet, and a length of the field.

3. A computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the alert message includes data from a data portion of the first and second packets, the data including at least one coded field, the authorization request, and the response time.

4. A computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined threshold is adjustable.

5. A computer program product according to claim 4, wherein the adjustable predetermined threshold is 2 seconds.

6. A computer program product according to claim 4, wherein the adjustable predetermined threshold is adjustable to millisecond intervals.

7. A computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the control logic further comprises seventh computer-readable program code for causing the computer to transmit a warning message upon determining that no second data packet is captured having the second pattern within a predetermined time period.

8. A computer program product according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined time period is 7 seconds.

9. A computer program product according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined time period is adjustable to millisecond intervals.

10. A computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the alert message includes at least one of a date, a time, a credit card number, a transaction amount, a reconciliation amount, a position in the data packet, a length of the field, and the response time.

11. A computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the data packets are ISO 8583 messages.

25. A computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the control logic further comprises seventh computer-readable program code for causing the computer to transmit a warning message upon determining that a match has not occurred.

12. A computer program product comprising a computer-usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to capture data packets in the form of ISO 8583 messages sent on a network for evaluating response time performance, the network including a financial institution and a partner bank, the control logic comprising:

first computer-readable program code for causing the computer to associate a captured data packet sent from the financial institution to the partner bank with a captured data packet received from the partner bank, by comparing at least one coded field of a data portion of the captured data packet sent to the partner bank with at least one coded field of a captured data portion of the data packet received from the partner bank;

second computer-readable program code for causing the computer to measure a response time of the associated data packet received by the financial institution from the partner bank, relative to a transmission time of the captured data packet sent to the partner bank; and

third computer-readable program code for causing the computer to transmit an alert message upon determining that the response time is not within an adjustable predetermined threshold.

13. A computer program product according to claim 12, wherein each coded field is one of a date, a time, a credit card number, a transaction amount, a reconciliation amount, a position in the data packet, a length of the field, and a pattern.

14. A computer program product according to claim 12, wherein the alert message includes at least one of a date, a time, a credit card number, a transaction amount, a reconciliation amount, a position in the data packet, a length of the field, a pattern, and the response time.

15. A computer program product according to claim 12, wherein the adjustable predetermined threshold is 2 seconds.

16. A computer program product according to claim 12, wherein the control logic further comprises fourth computer-readable program code for causing the computer to transmit a warning message upon determining that no associated data packet is received from the partner bank within a predetermined time period.

17. A computer program product according to claim 16, wherein the predetermined time period is 7 seconds.

18. A method for capturing data packets sent on a network for evaluating response time performance, the network including a financial institution and a partner bank, the method comprising the steps of:

associating a captured data packet sent to the partner bank with a captured data packet received from the partner bank, by comparing at least one coded field of a data portion of the captured data packet sent to the partner bank with at least one coded field of a captured data portion of the data packet received from the partner bank;

measuring a response time of the associated data packet received from the partner bank, relative to a transmission time of the captured data packet sent to the partner bank; and

transmitting an alert message upon determining that the response time is not within an adjustable predetermined threshold, wherein the alert message includes data from a data portion of the associated data packets.

19. A method according to claim 18, wherein each coded field is one of a date, a time, a credit card number, a transaction amount, a reconciliation amount, a position in the data packet, a length of the field, and a pattern.

20. A method according to claim 18, wherein the alert message includes at least one of a date, a time, a credit card number, a transaction amount, a reconciliation amount, a position in the data packet, a length of the field, a pattern, and the response time.

21. A method according to claim 18, further comprising the step of transmitting a warning message upon determining that no associated data packet is received from the partner bank within a predetermined time period.

22. A method according to claim 18, wherein the data packets are ISO 8583 messages.

23. A computer system including a processor and a memory storing control logic for causing the processor to capture data packets in the form of ISO 8583 messages sent on a network for evaluating response time performance, the network including a card issuer and a partner bank, the control logic comprising:

first computer-readable program code for associating a captured data packet sent to the partner bank with a captured data packet received from the partner bank, by comparing at least one coded field of a data portion of the captured data packet sent to the partner bank with at least one coded field of a captured data portion of the data packet received from the partner bank;

second computer-readable program code for measuring a response time of the associated data packet received from the partner bank, relative to a transmission time of the captured data packet sent to the partner bank; and

third computer-readable program code for transmitting an alert message upon determining that the response time is not within an adjustable predetermined threshold.

24. A method for capturing data packets sent on a financial network for evaluating response time performance, the method comprising the steps of:

associating a captured data packet sent to a participant with a captured data packet received from the participant, by comparing at least one coded field of a data portion of the captured data packet sent to the participant with at least one coded field of a captured data portion of the data packet received from the participant;

measuring a response time of the associated data packet received from the participant, relative to a transmission time of the captured data packet sent to the participant; and

transmitting an alert message upon determining that the response time is not within an adjustable predetermined threshold, wherein the alert message includes data from a data portion of the associated data packets.