The packets can undergo multiple hops before the value specified in TTL filed expires and the packet stops its journey. The packet is discarded only if the TTL field has a time stamp that exceeds the local time at the node. The timing clock at each node is synchronized with all the remaining nodes similar to the clock synchronization in Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Extracting time from the packet and determining the relationship with the local clock in order to determine time delay is accomplished locally at each node.