System and method for measuring network round trip time by monitoring fast-response operations
First Claim
1. A system for measuring network round trip time, comprising:
- a client computer adapted for communications with a server computer, the client computer including;
a processor;
memory coupled to the processor containing definitions identifying fast-response operations initiated by an application program running on the processor;
a monitor and analysis engine, coupled to the processor, includes an analyzer for detecting the presence of at least one of the fast-response operations where fast-response operations are certain operations associated with normal running of the application program where the application program itself is not programmed to participate in determining the round trip time, the application program requiring the transmission of a first packet to the server computer and the receipt of a second packet from the server computer in response to the first packet, and;
the monitor and analysis engine calculating the round trip time when a fast-response operation is detected based on the time interval beginning with the transmission of the first packet and ending with the receipt of the second packet.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method is provided for measuring network round trip time by monitoring fast-response operations at one network endpoint, typically a client computer. A client computer of the system includes a network monitoring and analysis engine which monitors a sent packet for a fast-response operation. If a fast-response operation is detected, then the client computer assumes a server computer processed the packet substantially instantaneously. Thus, the processing time at the server computer is neglected as zero. The round trip time can then be approximated as the difference in time between when the client computer sent the packet and when the client computer received the response packet.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A system for measuring network round trip time, comprising:
a client computer adapted for communications with a server computer, the client computer including; a processor; memory coupled to the processor containing definitions identifying fast-response operations initiated by an application program running on the processor; a monitor and analysis engine, coupled to the processor, includes an analyzer for detecting the presence of at least one of the fast-response operations where fast-response operations are certain operations associated with normal running of the application program where the application program itself is not programmed to participate in determining the round trip time, the application program requiring the transmission of a first packet to the server computer and the receipt of a second packet from the server computer in response to the first packet, and; the monitor and analysis engine calculating the round trip time when a fast-response operation is detected based on the time interval beginning with the transmission of the first packet and ending with the receipt of the second packet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for measuring network round trip time, comprising the steps of:
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determining if a sent packet by a client computer to a server computer indicates a fast response operation where fast-response operations are certain operations associated with normal running of an application program on the client computer where the application program itself is not programmed to participate in determining the round trip time, the fast response operation including the transmission of a first packet to the server computer and the receipt of a second packet from the server computer responding to the first packet in response to the first packet occur; and if the first packet does indicate a fast response operation, determining the receipt of the corresponding second packet and calculating a round trip time based on a time interval beginning with the transmission of the first packet and ending with the receipt of the second packet. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer-readable medium storing program instructions for causing a computer to measure network round trip time, by performing the steps of:
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determining if a sent packet by a client computer to a server computer indicates a fast response operation where fast-response operations are certain operations associated with normal running of an application program on the client computer where the application program itself is not programmed to participate in determining the round trip time, the fast response operation including the transmission of a first packet to the server computer and the receipt of a second packet from the server computer responding to the first packet in response to the first packet occur; and if the first packet does indicate a fast response operation, determining the receipt of the corresponding second packet and calculating a round trip time based on a time interval beginning with the transmission of the first packet and ending with the receipt of the second packet.
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Specification