Latency locator

Abstract

A method for capturing data packets sent on a network for evaluating response time performance, the network including a financial institution and a partner bank. The method includes associating a captured data packet sent to the partner bank with a captured data packet received from the partner bank, by comparing at least one coded field of a data portion of the captured data packet sent to the partner bank with at least one coded field of a captured data portion of the data packet received from the partner bank. The method also includes measuring a response time of the associated data packet received from the partner bank, relative to a transmission time of the captured data packet sent to the partner bank.

1 . A method comprising:
 determining, by a computer-based system for analyzing data packets, that a response time of a second data packet relative to a transmission time of a first data packet has exceeded a predetermined threshold, wherein the first data packet includes a first pattern in a first coded field, and wherein the first coded field is contained within a first data portion of the first data packet, and wherein the second data packet includes a second pattern in a second coded field that corresponds to the first pattern of the first data packet, and wherein the second coded field is contained within a second data portion of the second data packet; and   transmitting, by the computer-based system, an alert message in response to the determination that the response time of the second data packet relative to the transmission time of the first data packet has exceeded the predetermined threshold.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the alert message includes data from the first data portion of the first data packet and the second data portion of the second data packet, the data including at least one coded field, an authorization request, and the response time. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined threshold is adjustable. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the adjustable predetermined threshold is about 2 seconds. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the adjustable predetermined threshold is adjustable to millisecond intervals. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a warning message in response to determining that no second data packet is captured having a second pattern within a predetermined time period. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the predetermined time period is 7 seconds. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the predetermined time period is adjustable to millisecond intervals. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the alert message includes at least one of a date, a time, a credit card number, a transaction amount, a reconciliation amount, a position in the data packet, a length of the field, and the response time. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data packets are ISO 8583 messages. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a warning message in response to determining that a match has not occurred. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a determination is automatically made on the origin of as delay based upon a transmitted coded field data within the alert message. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein a penalty for the delay is validated based upon the determination of the origin of the delay. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first data packet includes an authorization request for a transaction. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first data portion and the second data portion includes an additional coded field that is one of a date, a time, a credit card number, a transaction amount, a reconciliation amount, a position in the data packet, and a length of the field. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining a match between an additional coded field of the second data packet and an additional coded field of the first data packet. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the alert message includes coded field data from a portion of at least one of the first data packet and second data packet. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining that the response time of the second data packet relative to the transmission time of the first data packet has exceeded a predetermined threshold, is in response to a determination that a match has occurred between an additional coded field of the second data packet and an additional coded field of the first data packet. 
     
     
         19 . A computer based system, comprising:
 a computer network communicating with a memory;   the memory communicating with a processor for analyzing data packets; and   the processor, when executing a computer program, performs operations comprising:
 determining, by the processor, that a response time of a second data packet relative to a transmission time of a first data packet has exceeded a predetermined threshold, wherein the first data packet includes a first pattern in a first coded field, and wherein the first coded field is contained within a first data portion of the first data packet, and wherein the second data packet includes a second pattern in a second coded field that corresponds to the first pattern of the first data packet, and wherein the second coded field is contained within a second data portion of the second data packet; and 
 transmitting, by the processor, an alert message in response to the determination that the response time of the second data packet relative to the transmission time of the first data packet has exceeded the predetermined threshold. 
   
     
     
         20 . An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computer-based system for analyzing data packets, cause the computer-based system to be capable of performing operations comprising:
 determining, by the computer-based system, that a response time of a second data packet relative to a transmission time of a first data packet has exceeded a predetermined threshold, wherein the first data packet includes a first pattern in a first coded field, and wherein the first coded field is contained within a first data portion of the first data packet, and wherein the second data packet includes a second pattern in a second coded field that corresponds to the first pattern of the first data packet, and wherein the second coded field is contained within a second data portion of the second data packet; and   transmitting, by the computer-based system, an alert message in response to the determination that the response time of the second data packet relative to the transmission time of the first data packet has exceeded the predetermined threshold.