Patent ID: 8270309

Claim:
A system comprising: a first reference node configured to receive a packet flow; a second reference node communicatively coupled to said first reference node and configured to receive said packet flow from said first reference node by at least one network path, said first reference node and said second reference node being configured to support transmission and monitoring of said packet flow passing between one another over the at least one network path, each of said first reference node and said second reference node being configured to count data packets received, the data packets being associated with the packet flow being monitored, and latch a count of a number of the data packets received; and a monitoring protocol configured to request said first reference node and said second reference node to latch their respective said counts upon receipt of a count latch message, retrieve the respective said counts from said first reference node and said second reference node, and use said counts to determine a packet delivery measurement associated with the transmission of the packet flow between said first reference node and said second reference node; wherein each of said first reference and said second reference node is configured to latch said count in response to receiving said count latch message, and said monitoring protocol is configured to transmit said count latch message to said second reference node by way of said first reference node, said second reference node being configured to reflect said count latch message back to its source by way of said first reference node.