Patent Abstract:
A system monitors performance in a network ( 130 ) having several routers ( 210 ). The system determines a roundtrip path in the network ( 130 ) between a source and a destination, identifies routers ( 210 ) located on the path, collects performance data from the identified routers ( 210 ), and compares the performance data to at least one performance criteria to determine compliance with a service-level guarantee.

Full Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is related to copending application Ser. No. 09/450,601, entitled “Connectivity Service-Level Guarantee Monitoring and Claim Validity Systems and Methods,” filed concurrently herewith, and incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to quality of service guarantees and, more particularly, to systems and methods for providing packet loss service-level guarantees for data network communication. 
     B. Description of Related Art 
     In the highly competitive Internet service provision industry, service-level guarantees (SLGs) have become an extremely important market differentiator. The trend in SLGs has included a movement toward service contracts that attach financial penalties to failures to meet certain key network performance criteria. Since the industry remains in a state of flux, service providers must constantly extend and revise their SLGs to compete. As a result, service providers face the dilemma of formulating meaningful performance criteria to attract and retain business, while avoiding imposing a financially ruinous burden on the company. 
     An important aspect of SLGs is compliance monitoring. Currently, SLGs are reactive in the sense that customers must monitor performance and submit a claim when they experience poor service. At the same time, however, the service provider must monitor its own performance, both to make sure that sufficient resources are available and its SLGs are met, and to verify and validate customer claims. 
     A typical SLG criteria includes the measurement of end-to-end packet loss (i.e., a measure of packet drops between a source and a destination). Conventional systems measure packet loss using dedicated Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) packets. These conventional systems send ping packets to a reliable target and determine the round-trip packet loss rate from the fraction of unacknowledged pings. 
     Using ICMP to measure packet loss, however, has several disadvantages. First, packet characteristics, such as size and frequency, used to measure the packet loss typically do not correspond to the packet characteristics of the customers&#39; data traffic. Second, finding reliable targets to ping is not always easy. Third, routers are usually unreliable because they give low priority to responding to pings during busy periods. 
     As a result, a need exists for a system that facilitates measurement of packet loss to validate customer SLG claims. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Systems and methods consistent with the present invention address this need by using readily-available performance data, such as link-level drop statistics, to measure end-to-end packet loss and validate customer SLG claims. 
     In accordance with the purpose of the invention as embodied and broadly described herein, a system monitors performance in a network having several routers. The system determines a path in the network between a source and a destination, identifies routers located on the path, collects performance data from the identified routers, and compares the performance data to at least one performance criteria to determine compliance with a service-level guarantee. 
     In another implementation consistent with the present invention, a method validates customer claims relating to performance in a network having several routers. The method includes receiving one of the customer claims, the claim identifying a path in the network between a source and a destination and a time interval for which degraded performance was experienced; identifying routers located on the path; collecting performance data from the identified routers for several periods, at least some of the periods overlapping the time interval; weighting the performance data based on an amount of overlap of the corresponding period with the time interval; combining the weighted performance data for each of the identified routers to obtain path performance data; and determining compliance with a service-level guarantee based on the path performance data. 
     In a further implementation consistent with the present invention, a method for validating a claim relating to a service-level guarantee includes receiving the claim from a customer, the claim identifying a first path in a network from a source to a destination, a second path from the destination to the source, and a time interval for which degraded performance was experienced in the network; and validating the claim by collecting performance data reflecting performance of communication along the first and second paths and determining compliance with the service-level guarantee based on the collected performance data. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and, together with the description, explain the invention. In the drawings, 
     FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary system in which systems and methods consistent with the present invention may be implemented; 
     FIG. 2 is a detailed diagram of an exemplary network in the system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a detailed diagram of an exemplary router in the network of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a detailed diagram of an exemplary service-level guarantee (SLG) server in the system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a detailed diagram of an exemplary SLG unit in the system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 is a flowchart of processing for obtaining traceroutes in a manner consistent with the present invention; and 
     FIG. 7 is a flowchart of processing for monitoring and verifying packet loss service-level guarantees in a manner consistent with the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings identify the same or similar elements. Also, the following detailed description does not limit the invention. Instead, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents. 
     Systems and methods consistent with the present invention facilitate packet loss service-level guarantee (SLG) monitoring and verification by collecting link-level packet loss data and determining compliance with the service-level guarantee using the collected data. 
     Exemplary System 
     FIG. 1 is an exemplary system  100  in which systems and methods consistent with the present invention may be implemented. The system  100  includes several devices  110 - 118  connected to a network  130 , a service-level guarantee (SLG) server  140 , and a SLG unit  150 . The devices  110 - 118  may include any mechanism capable of communicating over the network  130 , including, for example, a personal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular or wireless communications device, such as a mobile telephone, etc. 
     The devices  110 - 118  may connect to the network  130  using wired or wireless communication mechanisms. For example, devices  110  and  112  connect to the network  130  via a local area network (LAN)  122 ; device  114  connects directly to the network  130  using a wired or wireless connection; device  116  connects to the network  130  via a conventional gateway  124 ; and device  118  connects to the network  130  via another network  126 , such as the Internet, an intranet, a wide area network (WAN), a LAN, or a similar network. FIG. 1 shows five devices connected to the network  130  for simplicity. One skilled in the art would recognize that different numbers of devices may connect to the network  130  in a number of different ways. 
     The network  130  is a packet routing network of a service provider that may include the Internet, an intranet, a wide area network (WAN), etc. FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram of the network  130  consistent with the present invention, including several interconnected routers. Each of the routers connects to its nearest neighbors. For example, router  210  connects to its neighbor to the north via a communications path  220 , to its neighbor to the east via a communications path  222 , to its neighbor to the south via a communications path  224 , and to its neighbor to the west via a communications path  226 . Other network configurations are also possible. 
     FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram of a router  210  consistent with the present invention. The router  210  includes several input buffers  310 , several output buffers  320 , a switching fabric  330 , and a controller  340 . The input buffers  310  temporarily store packets received from a neighboring node or a source device, such as one of the devices  110 - 118  (FIG.  1 ). The output buffers  320  temporarily store packets for transmission to a neighboring node or a destination device, such as one of the devices  110 - 118 . The switching fabric  330  may include a conventional switch fabric to connect the input buffers  310  to the output buffers  320 . The controller  340  controls the operation of the router  210 . The controller  340  may include a processor, microprocessor, digital signal processor, etc. that analyzes incoming packets to configure the switching fabric  330  to send the packets to the appropriate output buffers  320 . 
     Returning to FIG. 1, the SLG server  140  obtains traceroutes including paths contained within the network  130 . FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram of the SLG server  140  consistent with the present invention. The SLG server  140  includes a bus  410 , a processor  420 , a memory  430 , an input device  440 , an output device  450 , and a communication interface  460 . The bus  410  permits communication among the components of the SLG server  140 . 
     The processor  420  may include any type of conventional processor or microprocessor that interprets and executes instructions. The memory  430  may include a RAM or another dynamic storage device that stores information and instructions for execution by the processor  420 ; a ROM or another type of static storage device that stores static information and instructions for use by the processor  420 ; and/or some other type of magnetic or optical recording medium and its corresponding drive. 
     The input device  440  may include any conventional mechanism that permits an operator to input information into the SLG server  140 , such as a keyboard, a mouse, a pen, voice recognition and/or biometric mechanisms, etc. The output device  450  may include any conventional mechanism that outputs information to the operator, including a display, a printer, a pair of speakers, etc. The communication interface  460  may include any transceiver-like mechanism that enables the SLG server  140  to communicate with other devices and/or systems. For example, the communication interface  460  may include mechanisms for communicating via a network, such as network  130  (FIG.  1 ). 
     Returning to FIG. 1, the SLG unit  150  monitors and verifies path-long packet loss in the network  130 . FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram of the SLG unit  150  consistent with the present invention. The SLG unit  150  includes a bus  510 , a pre-processor  520 , a post-processor  530 , a data collector  540 , a memory  550 , an input device  560 , an output device  570 , and a communications interface  580 . The bus  510  permits communication among the components of the SLG unit  150 . 
     The pre-processor  520 , the post-processor  530 , and the data collector  540  may include any type of conventional processor or microprocessor that interprets and executes instructions. These components may be implemented as physically separate components or integrated into a single physical device. Further, these components may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. The pre-processor  520  parses customer-supplied traceroutes to identify routers located in the traceroutes. The data collector  540  continuously gathers statistics regarding network routers, such as link-level discard, error, packet, and octet rates, and stores them for later use by the post-processor  530 . The post-processor  530  analyzes the statistics gathered by the data collector  540  and determines whether network performance fell below the level specified by the SLG. 
     The memory  550  may include a RAM or another dynamic storage device that stores information and instructions for execution by the pre-processor  520 , the post-processor  530 , and/or the data collector  540 ; a ROM or another type of static storage device that stores static information and instructions for use by the pre-processor  520 , the post-processor  530 , and/or the data collector  540 ; and/or some other type of magnetic or optical recording medium and its corresponding drive. 
     The input device  560  may include any conventional mechanism that permits an operator to input information into the SLG unit  150 , such as a keyboard, a mouse, a pen, voice recognition and/or biometric mechanisms, etc. The output device  570  may include any conventional mechanism that outputs information to the operator, including a display, a printer, a pair of speakers, etc. The communication interface  580  may include any transceiver-like mechanism that enables the SLG unit  150  to communicate with other devices and/or systems. For example, the communication interface  580  may include mechanisms for communicating via a network, such as network  130  (FIG.  1 ). 
     Exemplary System Processing 
     FIG. 6 is a flowchart of processing for obtaining traceroutes in a manner consistent with the present invention. When a customer experiences a malfunction or degraded performance, the customer obtains a traceroute of the path experiencing the malfunction or degraded performance. Because the customer may not have the ability to perform a traceroute from the customer&#39;s source host to the destination host, the customer may obtain the capability by accessing the SLG server  140  [step  610 ]. For example, the SLG server  140  may be accessible through a web site (i.e., a site or location on the Internet) to provide the traceroutes. Prior to performing the traceroutes, the SLG server  140  may request that the customer enter a customer name and possibly an identifier. 
     The SLG server  140  then prompts the customer to provide the names and/or Internet protocol (IP) addresses of the source and destination hosts involved in the malfunction or degraded service. Once the customer enters the information [step  620 ], the SLG server  140  performs two source-routed traceroutes: (1) one from the SLG server  140  to the destination via the source and, (2) one from the SLG server  140  to the source via the destination [step  630 ]. The SLG server  140  then extracts portions of the traceroutes relevant to the SLG, namely that part of the forward and reverse paths fully contained within the service provider&#39;s network (i.e., network  130 ). 
     For example, suppose that customer A experiences poor performance, such as high packet loss, in trying to transmit information to destination B. Suppose further that B is a remote device connected to a network other than the network  130 , such as network  126 . The customer A provides the names and/or addresses of A and B to the SLG server  140 . The SLG server  140  then obtains two traceroutes: 
     
       
         S 140  X 1  X 2  X 3  X 4  A X 5  X 6  X 7  Y 1  Y 2  Y 3  Y 4  B 
       
     
     
       
         S 140  X 8  X 9  Y 5  Y 6  Y 7  B Y 8  Y 9  X 10  X 11  X 12  A 
       
     
     The term S 140  refers to the SLG server  140 . Each of the X and Y terms refers to a router along the path. The X&#39;s refer to routers on the network  130  and the Y&#39;s refer to routers on other networks. 
     The relevant portions of the traceroutes for the packet loss SLG include: 
      A X 5  X 6  X 7   
     
       
         X 10  X 11  X 12  A 
       
     
     Everything else in the traceroutes is either the paths between the SLG server  140  and one of the two endpoints (namely, S 140  X 1  X 2  X 3  X 4  and S 140  X 8  X 9 ), which are irrelevant as far as the SLG is concerned, or outside the network  130  (namely, Y 1  Y 2  Y 3  Y 4  B and Y 5  Y 6  Y 7  B Y 8  Y 9 ), which are not covered by the SLG. 
     The SLG server  140  provides the traceroutes to the customer [step  640 ]. The server  140  may do this via email or via similar mechanisms. In an alternative implementation consistent with the present invention, the SLG server  140  provides the traceroutes to the SLG unit  150 . 
     FIG. 7 is a flowchart of processing for monitoring and verifying packet loss service-level guarantees in a manner consistent with the present invention. Once the customer receives the traceroutes, the customer sends a claim, including the traceroutes and the time interval in which the malfunction or degraded performance occurred, to the SLG unit  150  [step  710 ]. The customer may do this by emailing the claim to the SLG unit  150 . 
     Within the SLG unit  150 , the pre-processor  520  (FIG. 5) parses the traceroutes to determine the paths traveled in the forward (source-to-destination) and reverse (destination-to-source) directions [step  720 ]. The pre-processor  520  then generates a list of routers located within each of the paths [step  730 ]. The pre-processor  520  may create a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that contains the router list. 
     The pre-processor  520  sends the URL to the data collector  540 . The data collector  540  uses the URL to retrieve packet loss statistics for each of the routers for the time interval specified in the customer&#39;s claim [step  740 ]. The data collector  540  obtains the desired statistics from the statistics the data collector  540  continuously obtains from the routers. The packet loss statistics include a set of measurements routinely collected by the routers, including byte rate, packet rate, discards, and drops, for each router along the path for the entire time interval specified in the customer&#39;s claim. The data collector  540  sends the router measurements to the post-processor  530 . 
     The post-processor  530  analyzes the router measurements to determine whether the SLG was met [step  750 ]. Since the router measurements are not synchronized with each other and since the routers collect the measurements at different intervals dependent upon router speed, the post-processor  530  may need to resample the data to obtain drop rate estimates for 10-minute periods based on an epoch time (i.e., the number of seconds that have elapsed since Jan. 1, 1970). Other periods are also possible. 
     To resample, the post-processor  530  partitions time into fixed 10-minute intervals. The post-processor  530  then computes the drop rate for each interval as the weighted arithmetic average of the drop rates for all of the collection intervals that overlap with the fixed intervals. The weight of each term is determined by the amount of time by which its collection interval overlaps with the fixed interval. A collection interval may, for example, be as long as 15 minutes or as short as 0.5 minutes. 
     The post-processor  530  then combines the link-level drop rates to obtain path-level drop rates. For example, if the round-trip path includes a set of routers i=1, 2, . . . , n and the inbound and outbound drop rate of router i is r_i, then the post-processor  530  approximates the path-level drop rate by: 
     
       
           r= 1−(1− r   — 1)(1− r   — 2) . . . (1− r   —   n ), 
       
     
     where each term in the product is the “pass rate” of the corresponding router, and the product is the “pass rate” of the entire path. 
     To determine whether network performance complied with the SLG, the post-processor  530  may consider several performance criteria, including, for example, a packet threshold, a drop guarantee, and an interval. The packet threshold parameter determines the minimum packet rate (in packets per second) for a router to be considered operational and passing traffic. If the packet rate falls below the threshold, the post-processor  530  considers the packet loss data unreliable. 
     The drop guarantee parameter determines the minimum packet loss rate (as a fraction of unity) that will be flagged as exceptions by the post-processor  530 . The interval parameter determines the duration of the interval (in seconds) over which the drop rate must not exceed the drop guarantee parameter. The post-processor  530  may not analyze the data over a sliding window of the size specified by the interval parameter, but may analyze successive disjoint windows of this duration. Thus, two successive windows where the drop rate is high, but below the SLG, may indicate that there was a period equal to the interval parameter that straddled two windows and for which the drop rate reached or exceeded the SLG. 
     Using these criteria, the post-processor  530  generates a list of intervals during which network performance failed to comply with the SLG [step  760 ]. Based on the generated list, the SLG unit  150  determines whether to credit the customer for the degraded performance. 
     CONCLUSION 
     Systems and methods consistent with the present invention monitor and validate packet loss service-level guarantees by collecting network performance data and determining whether the performance data complies with the service-level guarantees. 
     The foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the present invention provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents. 
     For example, FIG. 1 shows the devices  110 - 118  connected to both the SLG unit  150  and the SLG server  140  via network  130 . This need not be the case, however. The devices  110 - 118  may connect to SLG unit  150  and/or the SLG server  140  via different networks, such as the Internet, an intranet, a LAN, a WAN, a public telephone network, or a similar network. 
     In addition, the SLG unit  150  and SLG server  140  have been described as separate devices. In another implementation consistent with the present invention, these devices are implemented as a single device connected to the network  130 .

Technology Classification (CPC): 7