Patent ID: 8837473

Claim:
A method comprising: generating a first set of timing information; inserting the first set of timing information into a first packet, wherein the first packet complies with a first protocol; appending an internal header to the first packet, wherein the internal header identifies a second protocol, the generating and the inserting of the first set of timing information is performed in response to the appending the internal header, and the first set of timing information is inserted into the first packet at an offset specified in the internal header; generating a second set of timing information; inserting the second set of timing information into a second packet, wherein the second packet complies with the second protocol, and the generating and the inserting of the first set of timing information and the generating and the inserting of the second set of timing information are performed by a single timestamp engine; and transmitting the first and second packets with the respective first and second sets of timing information from a network device onto a network, wherein the network device comprises the single timestamp engine.