Patent ID: 8797870

Claim:
A method for measuring quality of voice in a communication network, the method comprising: receiving, from a source of a voice data packet, the voice data packet at a first intermediate device located at a hop in the communication network; appending, by the first intermediate device, a first time stamp to the voice data packet indicating a time at which the voice data packet arrived at the first intermediate device; generating, at the first intermediate device, a copy of the voice data packet with the first time stamp; sending, from the first intermediate device, the copy of the voice data packet with the first time stamp relating to packet interaction with the first intermediate device but without a time stamp relating to packet interaction with a second intermediate device; receiving the voice data packet with the first time stamp at a second intermediate device located at a next hop in the communication network; appending, by the second intermediate device, a second time stamp to the voice data packet indicating a time at which the voice data packet arrives at the second intermediate device, wherein the first and second intermediate devices have internal clocks, and wherein the internal clock of the second intermediate device is synchronized with the internal clock of the first intermediate device; generating, at the second intermediate device, a copy of the voice data packet with the second time stamp; sending from at least the second intermediate device, the copy of the voice data packet to a monitoring station, including sending, from the second intermediate device, the copy of the voice data packet appended with the first and second time stamps from each of the first intermediate device and second intermediate device; calculating, by the monitoring station, a difference between the first and second time stamps appended on the copy of the voice data packet; determining, by the monitoring station, a delay in transmission between the first intermediate device and the second intermediate device based on calculating the difference between the first and second time stamps; and determining an indication of the quality of voice available in the communication network based on determining the delay in transmission.