A high-resolution, per-packet measurement tool for analyzing a computer network
that operates by sending a predetermined number of packets from a sender machine
to a receiver machine with measurement information inserted into the packet. The
system kernel at the sending machine stamps a sequence number and the sender's
local time into the data section of each packet. When packets arrive at the receiver
machine, they are similarly stamped by the receiving machine's kernel with the
receiving machine's local time. The maintained packet information serves as the
basis for latency analysis. For example, one set of latencies can be obtained with
QoS mechanisms turned on, and another set with QoS mechanisms turned off, whereby
the benefits of the QoS mechanisms can be accurately determined. To analyze the
latencies, the present invention normalizes each time and each latency into relative
latency information. Clock skew and timer jumps may be handled as part of the normalization.