Patent ID: 7733794

Claim:
A method for performance monitoring in a network, comprising the steps of: generating a plurality of layer-2 performance monitoring frames by a first node, wherein the performance monitoring frames include: one or more type fields identifying the frame as a performance monitoring frame; an interval session identifier identifying a specific performance measuring, interval of related performance monitoring frames; a sequence number uniquely identifying each performance monitoring frame in the specific performance measuring interval; an origination timestamp field specifying the time that the frame is transmitted; and a padding field, wherein at least one of size and content of the padding field of one or more of the plurality of performance monitoring frames is varied during the specific performance measuring interval; transmitting the plurality of performance monitoring frames through the network; receiving the plurality of performance monitoring frames by a second node in the network and storing an arrival timestamp associated with the reception of the performance monitoring frames, wherein the second node determines that the specific performance measuring interval is being initiated in response to the interval session identifier of one of the received plurality of performance monitoring frames is different than interval session identifiers of previous performance monitoring frames; and determining performance criteria from the origination and arrival timestamps of the performance monitoring frames.