RESPONSE TIME MEASURING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING AND ISOLATING TIME DELAYS WITHIN A NETWORK

Promiscuous probes are inserted at various locations in a network to determine response times at the various locations. Each probe identifies each signal detected as a request signal or a response signal. Furthermore, each probe determines and maintains a time stamp value of each detected signal. By comparing the time stamp values of a response signal with its corresponding request signal, the response time for the request/response transaction can be determined. A system manager monitors the response times at the various locations in the network in order to determine where a slowdown in data transfer is occurring. Accordingly, the system manager can isolate problems within the network which cause a decrease in data transfer efficiency.