Patent ID: 8134927

Claim:
A system for data packet capture, the system comprising: a data packet capture apparatus comprising: a physical, network-connectable data capture probe; a time-stamping circuit configured to time stamp data packets captured via the data capture probe; a real time data packet interface; a real-time packet forwarding circuit configured to stream the data packets captured via the data capture probe to the real-time data packet interface; a data store; a real-time packet storing circuit operating in parallel with the real-time packet forwarding circuit, the real-time packet storing circuit configured to store the data packets captured via the data capture probe, in association with time stamps generated by the time-stamping circuit, in the data store, wherein the data store stores the data packets captured by the data capture probe for non-real time access; an application configured to receive the data packets from the real-time data packet interface, to drop at least one of the packets, and to obtain a copy of the dropped packet from the data store; and wherein the real-time packet storing circuit associates stored packets in different groups and the data packet capture apparatus further comprises a configuration interface, wherein the real-time packet storing circuit adaptively reconfigures at least one parameter of the different groups, in response to input received via the configuration interface while data packets are being captured by the data packet capture apparatus.