Patent ID: 7778179
Filing Date: 2010-08-17
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of evaluating a condition in a data transfer path that transfers data between data communication nodes of a data network, comprising: receiving at a data production unit probe packets that traverse the data transfer path during real-time operation of the data transfer path; in response to traversal of the data transfer path by said probe packets, and during said real-time operation of the data transfer path, the data production unit using information from said probe packets to provide estimation data for use in estimating the condition, the condition being available bandwidth in the data transfer path; and producing at an estimation unit coupled to the data production unit an estimate of the condition during said real-time operation of the data transfer path, including applying a filter operation to said estimation data during said real-time operation of the data transfer path, wherein said applying step includes using a Kalman filter, wherein said applying step including using a state vector that corresponds to a characteristic exhibited by said estimation data, and wherein said characteristic is piecewise linearity.