Patent ID: 7954109

Claim:
A method for processing data events captured in a multi-protocol communications system, the method comprising: capturing first data events at a first link analyzer, the first link analyzer being disposed in an in-line arrangement with respect to a first data stream corresponding to a first communication protocol; capturing second data events at a second link analyzer, the second link analyzer being disposed in an in-line arrangement with respect to a second data stream corresponding to a second communication protocol that is different from the first communication protocol; generating a clock at the first link analyzer; timestamping the first data events with timestamps using the clock as a reference; propagating the clock from the first link analyzer to the second link analyzer; timestamping the second data events with timestamps using the propagated clock as a reference; sorting at least some of the first captured data events with respect to at least some of the second captured data events according to the respective clock timestamps associated with each of the first and second captured data events; and displaying at least some of the sorted data events by way of a graphical user interface.