Patent ID: 8194552
Filing Date: 2012-06-05
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for generating realistic network traffic, the method comprising: providing a captured trace of network traffic from a network link, the captured trace comprising a duplicate record of the network traffic; splitting the captured trace into a plurality of subtraces by allocating packets from the captured trace to each of the subtraces, wherein packets within a given flow of the network traffic are allocated to a plurality of subtraces, wherein the packets in the given flow of network traffic share identical source and destination addresses, identical source and destination ports, and identical protocol number; replaying the plurality of subtraces as a plurality of network traffic streams by way of a plurality of network interface components, wherein each network interface component corresponds to one of the subtraces, wherein for each subtrace, packets within the subtrace are replayed as a separate network traffic stream over a corresponding replay network link by way of the corresponding network interface component, wherein the corresponding network interface component operates at a lower speed than the network link from which the captured trace was originally captured such that the packets within the subtrace are replayed at the lower speed over the corresponding replay network link; and recombining the separate network traffic streams by way of a network device that operates at a speed comparable to the network link from which the captured trace was captured, wherein the network device receives the separate network traffic streams at the lower speed from the corresponding replay network links and recombines the packets in each traffic stream into a single recombined network traffic stream on a recombine network link that reproduces the network traffic at a speed comparable to the network link from which the captured trace was captured, wherein timing of packets in the recombined traffic stream approximates the timing of packets in the captured trace.