Incremental Network Path Tracing for Delay Source Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional network path tracing techniques fail to accurately identify the network elements responsible for substantial delays in packet delivery, limiting their effectiveness in network diagnostics and remediation.
Innovation Solution
A method involving incremental testing of each node along a network path to determine delay metrics, using TCP SYN packets with varying TTL values, and dynamically adjusting timeout thresholds based on previous test results to account for outliers and variability, thereby identifying nodes causing delays with greater confidence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional path tracing techniques are used to measure end-to-end latency, then the path can be traced and basic latency information can be obtained, but the network elements responsible for substantial delays cannot be accurately identified
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the end-to-end path into individual hops and tests each node separately using incremental TTL values. Instead of treating the path as a single entity, the methodology segments the tracing process to measure latency at each intermediate node, allowing precise identification of which specific network element contributes to delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary end-to-end latency measurement before conducting incremental node-specific tests. This preliminary action establishes a baseline and informs the timeout threshold settings for subsequent detailed node testing, enabling more accurate delay source identification while accounting for overall path conditions.
2Reliability
If timeout thresholds are set too low to detect delays, then responsive network elements may be incorrectly identified as timeout cases, but if set too high, actual delay issues may be missed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic timeout thresholds that adapt based on previously recorded latencies for each node. Rather than using fixed thresholds, the system adjusts timeout values according to observed performance patterns, allowing reliable distinction between normal variations and actual delay issues while reducing false positives.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses feedback from previous test results to inform subsequent testing parameters. Recorded latencies from earlier measurements feed into timeout threshold calculations for later tests, creating a self-adjusting system that improves detection accuracy over time and reduces misclassification of responsive elements as timeout cases.
3Measurement precision
If multiple passes through nodes are performed to account for outliers, then more accurate delay metrics can be obtained, but the testing time and resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs multiple passes through the nodes, conducting more testing than a single pass would provide. This excessive action ensures sufficient data collection to identify and filter outliers, achieving reliable delay metrics even though it increases testing time. The additional passes are justified by the need for statistical confidence in identifying true delay sources versus transient variations.
Data Source
AI summary
An initial test is executed to determine an end-to-end latency of a path between a source and a destination. Subsequent tests incrementally target each node of the path for measurement of metric values indicative of delay of the nodes (e.g., latency, jitter, and packet loss). As tests are performed incrementally for each node, the maximum observed latency is tracked and used for calculating timeout thresholds. For the first hop, the timeout threshold is determined relative to the end-to-end latency; for subsequent hops, the timeout threshold is determined relative to the maximum non-timeout latency measured for a previous hop. Each test is performed N times to obtain additional values of delay metrics for each node. Upon completion of the N passes through the path, the resulting delay metric values determined for each test set are aggregated to yield a single, comprehensive result set.