Patent ID: 6058102
Filing Date: 2000-05-02
Classification: H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
An apparatus for acquiring data used to perform service level analysis of network performance metrics in a data transmission system comprising at least a first site and a second site and at least a first data transmission circuit establishing a communication path through a switching network between the first and second sites, the apparatus comprising:at least a first data acquisition device and a second data acquisition device respectively associated with said first and second sites;said first data acquisition device inserting a first inter-device message into data traffic bound for the second site that is offered by the first site to the switching network over the first data transmission circuit, the first inter-device message delimiting a set of the data traffic bound for the second site from subsequent data traffic;said second data acquisition device receiving the first inter-device message with data traffic originating from the first site and delivered by the switching network to the second site over the first data transmission circuit;said first data acquisition device determining a count OFF.sub.A indicating an amount of data traffic offered by the first site in the set delimited by the first inter-device message;said second data acquisition device determining a count DEL.sub.B indicating an amount of data traffic, in the set delimited by the first inter-device message, that is delivered by the switching network to the second site over the first data transmission circuit.