Patent ID: 9331920
Filing Date: 2016-05-03
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A method comprising: at a network device in a network configured to forward packets, obtaining header information from a packet, wherein the header information comprises a universal datagram protocol (UDP) header and a real-time protocol (RTP) header of the packet, and wherein the header information is used to monitor network performance of one or more secure portions of the network; encrypting the packet using a security protocol resulting in an encrypted packet; encapsulating the encrypted packet using a transport protocol to produce a transport packet for transmission over the network, wherein the transport packet has an unencrypted transport protocol header; modifying the header information, prior to inserting the header information into the transport packet, such that modified header information includes only information required to monitor the network performance in a modified UDP header and a modified RTP header; inserting after an internet protocol (IP) header of the unencrypted transport protocol header the modified header information into the transport packet prior to transmission over the network, wherein the modified UDP header is disposed adjacent to the IP header and the modified RTP header; transmitting the transport packet over a secure portion of the network; at a downstream network device, examining the modified UDP header and the modified RTP header of the transport packet; and analyzing the modified UDP header and the modified RTP header to determine network performance metrics without decrypting the encrypted packet.