Patent ID: 7562134

Claim:
A method of monitoring a packet-switched network using traffic logs, comprising: creating a histogram file associated with one of a node and a link within the packet-switched network; at a first location within the packet-switched network, generating a traffic log specific to a particular packet of a plurality of packets based upon detection of a content of the packet, the traffic log containing a plurality of values detected within the packet comprising a time, wherein the time is time of the traffic log was created, a network entry point of the packet, a turn node, wherein the turn node is node number of the highest level in the packet-switched network through which the packet passed, a network exit point of the packet, and a packet state, wherein the packet state includes a congested indication; transferring the traffic log from the first location to a second location; storing the traffic log generated by the network at the second location; analyzing the stored traffic log to determine the time of creation of the traffic log and one or more nodes of a path traversed by the packet through the packet switched network from the network entry point to the network exit point; creating a histogram file by reading plurality of values in the traffic log; the histogram file is representative of the number of packets of several states and a total number of packets that pass through a given node over a predetermined time period; updating the histogram file according to the time of creation of the traffic log, the packet state, the network entry point and the network exit point of each packet of said plurality of packets; wherein the histogram file displays network conditions in near real-time enabling the detection and correction of network overloads and congestion at one of a network node and a network node link before network customers are affected.