The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 25, 2012
Filed:
Jul. 31, 2010
Bert H. Tanaka, Saratoga, CA (US);
Daniel J. Maltbie, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Joseph R. Mihelich, Folsom, CA (US);
Bert H. Tanaka, Saratoga, CA (US);
Daniel J. Maltbie, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Joseph R. Mihelich, Folsom, CA (US);
Fortinet, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods and systems for determining a congestion metric for a path in a network are provided. According to one embodiment, multiple paths are provided between each pair of multi-path load balancing (MPLB) components within a Layer 2 network by establishing overlapping loop-free topologies in which each MPLB component is reachable by any other via each of the overlapping topologies. A first MPLB component associated with a first network device sends a latency request packet, including a first timestamp provided by a first clock associated with the first MPLB component, to a second MPLB component associated with a second network device via the path. Responsive thereto, the first MPLB component receives, from the second MPLB component, a latency response packet, including a second timestamp provided by a second clock associated with the second MPLB component. The first MPLB component derives a one-way latency value for the path based upon the timestamps.