Patent ID: 8804762

Claim:
A method for time-stamping a data frame, the data frame including a type field and data for transmission to a communication network, the method comprising: receiving the data frame; determining a reception time for the data frame; determining a value of the type field, the type field indicating whether the data frame is a time-stamped frame; responsive to determining that the value of the type field indicates the data frame is a time-stamped frame; calculating a length value, the length value indicating a length from an end of a length field to a start of a time stamp field, the length value including a length of the type field and a length of a data payload field containing the data, the length value indicating the position of the timestamp field; inserting the length field in the data frame prior to the data and prior to the type field, the length field including the length value; and inserting the timestamp field at a position in the data frame after the length field, the timestamp field, the timestamp field indicating the reception time.