Patent ID: 8670315

Claim:
A method comprising: using a network component to estimate distribution of end-to-end delay for a path including a plurality of segments which are traversed in sequence in a transmission network which includes a plurality of interconnected network devices associated with a plurality of domains by: measuring, for each of the segments of each domain in the path, a number of characterizing parameters of a distribution of delays consisting of the mean, the variance, and the third central moment of the distribution of delays across the domain, wherein the distribution includes individual delay contributions by individual ones of the segments of the path across the domain for each characterizing parameter; for each domain characterizing parameter, summing the individual delay contributions into corresponding end-to-end characterizing parameters; approximating end-to-end delay distribution using the end-to-end characterizing parameters, the distribution being indicative of delay variation probability; and adjusting a characteristic of at least one of the network devices based on estimated distribution of end-to-end delay.