System and method for analyzing the performance of multiple transportation streams of streaming media in packet-based networks
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for analyzing packetized network traffic comprising the steps of:
- a. receiving a copy of said network traffic comprising one or more streams;
b. filtering said received network traffic to isolate each stream from said one or more streams;
c. forwarding packetized data corresponding to each stream to a native streaming interface, said native streaming interface providing minimum time distortion as compared to said network traffic to permit media stream analysis and monitoring to indicate said network'"'"'s influence on each isolated stream and measure each isolated stream'"'"'s conformance to a pre-determined stream standard;
d. computing statistics associated with each isolated stream, said statistics comprising at least a delay factor (DF) parameter defining an instantaneous flow rate balance representing a virtual buffer delay that is needed to prevent data loss and absorb network jitter growth; and
e. forwarding, for each isolated stream, said computed statistics to a data consumer.
5 Assignments
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A packetized streaming media delivery network carries many “streams” of differing media content. They often are from multiple sources and of different media types. The invention consists of a scalable hardware and/or software computing element resolving the network traffic into its individual streams for focused, simultaneous, and continuous real-time monitoring and analysis. The monitoring and analysis consists of delay factor and media loss rate which measure the cumulative jitter of the streaming media within the delivery network and the condition of the media payload. These measurements form a powerful picture of network problem awareness and resolution. The delay factor objectively indicates the contribution of the network devices in the streams'"'"' path, allowing for both problem prediction and indication. In one example, tapping a packetized network at various locations allows for correlation of the same-stream performance at various network points to pinpoint the source(s) of the impairment(s).
-
Citations
28 Claims
-
1. A method for analyzing packetized network traffic comprising the steps of:
-
a. receiving a copy of said network traffic comprising one or more streams; b. filtering said received network traffic to isolate each stream from said one or more streams; c. forwarding packetized data corresponding to each stream to a native streaming interface, said native streaming interface providing minimum time distortion as compared to said network traffic to permit media stream analysis and monitoring to indicate said network'"'"'s influence on each isolated stream and measure each isolated stream'"'"'s conformance to a pre-determined stream standard; d. computing statistics associated with each isolated stream, said statistics comprising at least a delay factor (DF) parameter defining an instantaneous flow rate balance representing a virtual buffer delay that is needed to prevent data loss and absorb network jitter growth; and e. forwarding, for each isolated stream, said computed statistics to a data consumer. - View Dependent Claims (2)
-
-
3. A system for analyzing packetized network traffic comprising:
-
a. one or more interfaces to forward a copy of said network traffic comprising one or more streams; b. one or more filters to receive and filter said forwarded network traffic to isolate each stream from said one or more streams; c. a native streaming interface to receive packetized data corresponding to each isolated stream, said native streaming interface providing minimum time distortion by determining an arrival time of a given packet to be as close to when it is received by said interface in (a) to permit media stream analysis and monitoring to indicate said network'"'"'s influence on said each isolated stream and measure each isolated stream'"'"'s conformance to a pre-determined stream standard; d. a compute engine to compute statistics associated with said at least one isolated stream, said statistics for each stream comprising at least a delay factor (DF) defining an instantaneous flow rate balance representing a virtual buffer delay that is needed to prevent data loss and absorb network jitter growth; and e. one or more interfaces to forward said computed statistics for said one or more streams of interest to a data consumer. - View Dependent Claims (4)
-
-
5. A method for analyzing packetized network traffic comprising one or more streams, said method comprising the steps of:
-
a. receiving said network traffic comprising one or more streams; b. filtering said received network traffic and isolating at least one stream from said one or more streams; c. computing statistics associated with each isolated stream, said statistics comprising at least a delay factor (DF) parameter defining an instantaneous flow rate balance representing a virtual buffer delay that is needed to prevent data loss and absorb network jitter growth; and d. forwarding for each isolated stream, said computed statistics to a data consumer. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. An article of manufacture comprising computer usable medium encoded with computer executable instructions embodied therein which analyzes packetized network traffic comprising one or more streams, said medium comprising:
-
a. computer executable instructionsaiding in receiving said network traffic comprising one or more streams; b. computer executable instructions filtering said received traffic and isolating at least one stream from said one or more streams; c. computer executable instructions computing statistics associated with each isolated stream, said statistics comprising at least a delay factor (DF) parameter defining an instantaneous flow rate balance representing a virtual buffer delay that is needed to prevent data loss and absorb network jitter growth; and d. computer executable instructions aiding in forwarding said computed statistics to a data consumer. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
-
-
17. A system analyzing packetized network traffic comprising one or more streams, said system comprising:
-
a. one or more network interfaces to receive streaming network traffic associated with said one or more streams; b. a filter and compute engine to filter one or more streams of interest in said one or more streams and compute statistics associated with said one or more streams of interest, said statistics for each stream comprising at least a delay factor (DF) defining an instantaneous flow rate balance representing a virtual buffer delay that is needed to prevent data loss and absorb network jitter growth for said stream; and c. one or more interfaces to forward said computed statistics for said one or more streams of interest to a data consumer. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
25. A system analyzing packetized network traffic comprising one or more streams, said system comprising:
-
a. one or more network interfaces to receive streaming network traffic associated with said one or more streams; b. one or more filters to filter one or more streams of interest in said one or more streams; c. a compute engine comprising one or more finite state machines to compute index values associated with said one or more streams of interest said index values for each stream comprising at least a delay factor (DF) and a media loss rate (MLR), said DF defining an instantaneous flow rate balance representing a virtual buffer delay that is needed to prevent data loss and absorb network jitter growth for said stream, and said MLR representing number of media packets lost or corrupted for said stream; and d. one or more interfaces to forward said computed index values for said one or more streams of interest to a data consumer. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
-
Specification