Patent ID: 7602728

Claim:
A method for determining network topology information in a network-based communication system, the method comprising the steps of: generating at least one communication between a selected pair of endpoint devices each associated with a network, wherein the communication comprises at least one packet or frame, the communication being sent from a first one of the endpoint devices to a second one of the endpoint devices and returned from the second endpoint device to the first endpoint device; and processing information contained in the communication as received at the first endpoint device from the second endpoint device to determine network topology information characterizing at least a portion of the network; wherein the second endpoint device extracts forward path information from a header of the communication as received from the first endpoint device and inserts at least a portion of such extracted forward path information into a payload of the communication as returned to the first endpoint device; and wherein the information contained in the communication as received at the first endpoint device from the second endpoint device and processed to determine network topology information comprises: forward path information contained in the payload of the communication as received at the first endpoint device from the second endpoint device, the forward path information comprising at least a forward path length and a true forward path length and one or more addresses of respective network elements in a forward path traversed by the communication from the first endpoint device to the second endpoint device; and reverse path information contained in the header of the communication as received at the first endpoint device from the second endpoint device, the reverse path information comprising at least a reverse path length and one or more addresses of respective network elements in a reverse path traversed by the communication from the second endpoint device to the first endpoint device.