| CPC H04L 45/566 (2013.01) [H04L 43/024 (2013.01); H04L 45/24 (2013.01); H04L 45/74 (2013.01)] | 16 Claims |

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1. A method in a network device for sampling data packets, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of data packets;
sampling the received data packets; and
transmitting the sampled data packets, including:
generating a datagram comprising one or more of the sampled data packets;
storing the datagram in a payload portion of a UDP (User Datagram Protocol) packet;
storing, in a header portion of the UDP packet, a timestamp associated with a sampled data packet contained in the datagram, wherein the timestamp indicates a time at which the sampled data packet was received and varies between successive sampled data packets;
selecting a path to the destination, from among a plurality of paths, using the timestamp in the header portion of the UDP packet; and
transmitting the UDP packet to the destination on the selected path.
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