Patent ID: 8005011

Claim:
A network system, comprising: a network address translation (NAT) device, configured to translate a network address; a measurement controller, configured to receive a measurement request, locate measurement points participating in the measurement according to the measurement request, and deliver a measurement configuration to the measurement points, wherein the measurement request contains a source IP address, a source port number, a destination IP address and a destination port number, wherein the measurement points include a first measurement point which is located according to the source IP address and the source port number, and a second measurement point which is located according to the destination IP address and the destination port number; a first device, configured to construct at the first measurement point of the measurement points a notification packet containing the source IP address and the source port number of the first measurement point in a data field thereof according to the measurement configuration, and then send the notification packet to the second measurement point via the NAT device; and a second device, configured to obtain at the second measurement point of the measurement points a corresponding network address binding relationship according to an external IP address, an external port number, the source IP address and the source port number in the notification packet, then construct a probe packet according to the binding relationship, and initiatively send the probe packet to the first device via the NAT device; wherein the first device calculates network performance metrics according to related information in the probe packet and reports the network performance metrics to the measurement controller; or, on receiving the probe packet, the first device generates and reports a packet abstract data to the measurement controller, and the measurement controller calculates the network performance metrics; wherein the NAT device is configured to: (a) substitute the external IP address and port number for the source IP address and port number in the notification packet, and send the notification packet to the second measurement point; and (b) substitute the IP address and port number of the first measurement point for the destination IP address and port number in the probe packet, and send the probe packet to the first measurement point.