Method and system for latency measurement in communication systems
Described is a method and system for latency measurement in communication systems. The method comprises: determining, by a first communication device, a power-management state of a second communication device; transmitting, by the first communication device, one or more packets to the second communication device over a communication link, the one or more packets to be received by the second communication device while in the power-management state; receiving, from the second communication device over the communication link, one or more response packets in response to the one or more packets; and determining a latency of the communication link when the second communication device is in the power-management state based on the one or more packets and the one or more response packets.
1. A method comprising:
querying a first communication device to read one or more operational parameters of the first communication device, the one or more operational parameters are related to a communication link between a second communication device and the first communication device;
determining, by the first communication device, a connectivity behavior of the communication link based at least on the one or more operational parameters;
comparing the determined connectivity behavior to an established baseline behavior of the second communication device; and
varying one or more parameters for a configuration of the first communication device upon one or more de-coupling events between the first communication device and the second communication device or a deviation of the determined connectivity behavior from the established baseline behavior being determined.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first communication device is a Wi-Fi access point, the second communication device is a base station, the method further comprising:
querying, when the base station communicatively de-couples from the Wi-Fi access point, a cellular system within a coverage range of the station to determine whether the base station is communicatively coupled to the cellular system; and
identifying a pattern of times that the base station communicatively couples back and forth between the Wi-Fi access point and the cellular system.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
querying, when the second communication device communicatively de-couples from the first communication device, another communication device within a coverage range of the second communication device to determine whether the second communication device is communicatively coupled to the another communication device; and
identifying a pattern of times that the second communication device communicatively couples back and forth between the first communication device and the another communication device.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein querying the first communication device to read one or more operational parameters of the first communication device comprising:
querying the first communication device at a first time to determine whether the second communication device is coupled to the first communication device and to determine at least a value of an operational parameter of the one or more operation parameters at the first time, the operational parameter being related to a communication link between the second communication device and the first communication device.
5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:
querying the first communication device at a second time to determine whether the second communication device is coupled to the first communication device and to determine a value of the operational parameter at the second time.
6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:
determining the second communication device de-coupled from the first communication device based on detecting the second communication device was coupled to the first communication device at both the first time and the second time; and
detecting the value of the operational parameter at the second time is inside a range of threshold values based on the operational parameter at the first time.
7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the operational parameter is a counter which resets upon coupling or de-coupling of the communication link.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the counter indicates a connection duration of the communication link.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the counter is to indicate number of packets or size of data transmitted between the first communication device and the second communication device.
10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the counter is to indicate a number of beacons transmitted by the second communication device, the method further comprising:
determining a beacon interval value; and
determining the second communication device de-coupled from the first communication device based at least on the beacon interval value.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters are selected from a group comprising:
a retransmission parameter, a modulation and coding scheme, a channel, a radio band, channel bonding, a guard interval length, a fragmentation threshold, a retry limit, a request to send (RTS) parameter and a clear to send (CTS) parameter, a beacon interval, a transmission power, a multiple antenna mode, a preamble setting, a maximum bit rate, or a Quality of Service (QoS) configuration parameter.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first communication device and the second communication device is selected from a group comprising:
a cellular telephony compatible device;
a third generation (3G) compatible device;
a fourth generation (4G) compatible device;
a Long Term Evolution (LTE) compatible device;
a Wi-Fi device;
a Wi-Fi access point;
a Wi-Fi station; a modem;
a router;
a gateway;
a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) modem;
an in-home power line device;
a Home Phoneline Network Alliance (HPNA) based device;
an in-home coax distribution device;
a G.hn compatible device;
an in-home metering communication device;
an in-home appliance communicatively interfaced with the LAN;
a wireless femtocell base station;
a wireless picocell base station;
a wireless small-cell base station;
a wireless compatible base station;
a wireless mobile device repeater;
a wireless mobile device base station;
an Ethernet gateway;
a computing device connected to the LAN;
a HomePlug device;
an IEEE P1901 standards compatible access Broadband over Power Line (BPL) device;
an Ethernet connected computer peripheral device;
an Ethernet connected router;
an Ethernet connected wireless bridge;
an Ethernet connected network bridge; or
an Ethernet connected network switch.
13. An apparatus comprising:
a management entity communicatively coupled with a first communication device, the first communication device is coupled to a second communication device via a communication link, the management entity operable to:
query the first communication device to read one or more operational parameters of the first communication device, the one or more operational parameters are related to the communication link;
determine a connectivity behavior of the communication link based at least on the one or more operational parameters;
compare the determined connectivity behavior to an established baseline behavior of the second communication device; and
vary one or more parameters for a configuration of the first communication device upon one or more de-coupling events between the first communication device and the second communication device or a deviation of the determined connectivity behavior from the established baseline behavior being determined.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising a counter, the counter resets upon coupling or de-coupling of the communication link.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the counter is to indicate a connection duration of the communication link.
16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the counter is to indicate number of packets or size of data transmitted between the first communication device and the second communication device.
17. Non-transitory machine-readable storage medium or media having comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause steps to be performed comprising:
querying a first communication device to read one or more operational parameters of the first communication device, the one or more operational parameters are related to a communication link between a second communication device and the first communication device;
determining a connectivity behavior of the communication link based at least on the one or more operational parameters;
comparing the determined connectivity behavior to an established baseline behavior of the second communication device; and
varying one or more parameters for a configuration of the first communication device upon one or more de-coupling events between the first communication device and the second communication device or a deviation of the determined connectivity behavior from the established baseline behavior being determined.
18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium or media of claim 17 , wherein the first communication device is a Wi-Fi access point, the second communication device is a base station, and wherein the steps further comprising:
querying, when the base station communicatively de-couples from the Wi-Fi access point, a cellular system within a coverage range of the station to determine whether the base station is communicatively coupled to the cellular system; and
identifying a pattern of times that the base station communicatively couples back and forth between the Wi-Fi access point and the cellular system.
19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium or media of claim 17 , wherein the
one or more parameters comprising at least one of:
a retransmission parameter,
a modulation and coding scheme,
a channel,
a radio band,
channel bonding,
a guard interval length,
a fragmentation threshold,
a retry limit,
a request to send (RTS) parameter and a clear to send (CTS) parameter,
a beacon interval,
a transmission power,
a multiple antenna mode,
a preamble setting,
a maximum bit rate, and
a Quality of Service (QoS) configuration parameter.
20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium or media of claim 17 , wherein each of the first communication device and the second communication device is selected from the group of devices comprising:
a cellular telephony compatible device;
a third generation (3G) compatible device;
a fourth generation (4G) compatible device;
a Long Term Evolution (LTE) compatible device;
a Wi-Fi device;
a Wi-Fi access point;
a Wi-Fi station;
a modem;
a router;
a gateway;
a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) modem;
an in-home power line device;
a Home Phoneline Network Alliance (HPNA) based device;
an in-home coax distribution device;
a G.hn compatible device;
an in-home metering communication device;
an in-home appliance communicatively interfaced with the LAN;
a wireless femtocell base station;
a wireless picocell base station;
a wireless small-cell base station;
a wireless compatible base station;
a wireless mobile device repeater;
a wireless mobile device base station;
an Ethernet gateway;
a computing device connected to the LAN;
a HomePlug device;
an IEEE P1901 standards compatible access Broadband over Power Line (BPL) device;
an Ethernet connected computer peripheral device;
an Ethernet connected router;
an Ethernet connected wireless bridge;
an Ethernet connected network bridge; and
an Ethernet connected network switch.