METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MONITORING A SERVICE PROVIDED OVER A PACKET-SWITCHED NETWORK

Abstract
Methods and systems for monitoring a service provided over a packet-switched network, such as an Internet Protocol television (IPTV) service, an Internet access service, or a voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) telephony service. Various parameters related to the service (e.g., parameters indicative of packet loss, packet corruption, or other packet error) are determined and used to assess various aspects of the service and/or network over which the service is delivered, including a quality of experience (QoE) of subscribers.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to services delivered over packet-switched networks, such as Internet Protocol television (IPTV), Internet access, and voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) telephony services, and more particularly to methods and systems for monitoring such services.


BACKGROUND

Various services, including Internet access, voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) telephony, and Internet Protocol television (IPTV), are now being provided over packet-switched networks.


Subscribers to such services enjoy certain advantages, such as interactive features and/or other additional functionality, which they may not find in corresponding services provided over traditional networks (e.g., the public switched telephone network (PSTN), cable television, etc.). However, these services are also susceptible to various issues which can create service impairments affecting a subscriber's quality of experience (QoE). For example, a subscriber to an IPTV service may experience pixelation, screen freezing, set-top box crashes, outages, or other impairments, a subscriber to a VoIP telephony service may experience poor voice quality, dropped calls, or other impairments, etc.


While certain techniques have been used by service providers in an attempt to mitigate such service impairments, there remains a need for solutions directed to monitoring these services, including monitoring a subscriber's quality of experience and/or a network's performance in respect of such services.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of monitoring performance of a system that comprises a gateway connected to an appliance running a media application. The media application is configured to detect gaps between downstream packets received from the gateway and to issue to a head-end server a request for retransmission of a missing downstream packet. The method comprises: determining a first parameter indicative of an incidence of upstream packets intended for an access network having been discarded by the gateway without having been sent to the access network; determining a second parameter indicative of an incidence of gaps between downstream packets received by the media application from the gateway; determining, based on at least the first parameter and the second parameter, a compound parameter indicative of a likelihood that a request for retransmission issued by the media application will not reach the head-end server; and recording a log of the compound parameter on a storage medium.


According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of monitoring performance of a system that comprises a gateway connected to an appliance running a media application. The media application is configured to detect gaps between downstream packets received from the gateway and to issue to a head-end server a request for retransmission of a missing downstream packet unless the missing downstream packet falls within a gap that exceeds a threshold size. The method comprises: determining a first parameter indicative of an incidence of downstream packets intended for the media application having been discarded by the gateway without having been sent to the media application; determining a second parameter indicative of an incidence of gaps between downstream packets received by the media application from the gateway; determining, based on at least the first parameter and the second parameter, a compound parameter indicative of a likelihood that a gap detected by the media application will have a size exceeding the threshold size; and recording a log of the compound parameter on a storage medium.


According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of monitoring performance of a system that comprises a gateway connected to an appliance running a media application. The media application is configured to detect gaps between downstream packets received from the gateway and to issue to a head-end server a request for retransmission of a missing downstream packet unless the missing downstream packet falls within a gap that exceeds a threshold size. The method comprises: determining a first parameter indicative of an incidence of downstream packets having been detected as corrupted; determining a second parameter indicative of an incidence of gaps between downstream packets received by the media application from the gateway; determining, based on at least the first parameter and the second parameter, a compound parameter indicative of a likelihood that a gap detected by the media application will have a size exceeding the threshold size; and recording a log of the compound parameter on a storage medium.


According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of monitoring performance of a system that comprises a gateway connected to at least one appliance running a plurality of applications including a media application and at least one second application. The media application is configured to detect gaps between downstream packets received from the gateway and to issue to a head-end server a request for re-transmission of a missing downstream packet. The method comprises: determining a first parameter indicative of an incidence of downstream packets having been detected as corrupted; determining a second parameter indicative of an incidence of gaps between downstream packets received by the media application from the gateway; determining, based on at least the first parameter and the second parameter, a compound parameter indicative of a degree to which packets related to the at least one second application are corrupted; and recording a log of the compound parameter on a storage medium.


According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of monitoring performance of a system that comprises a gateway connected to an appliance running a media application. The media application is configured to detect gaps between downstream packets received from the gateway and to issue to a head-end server a request for retransmission of a missing downstream packet. The method comprises: determining a first parameter indicative of an incidence of upstream packets sent from the gateway to an access network having been detected as corrupted; determining a second parameter indicative of an incidence of gaps between downstream packets received by the media application from the gateway; determining, based on at least the first parameter and the second parameter, a compound parameter indicative of a likelihood that a request for retransmission issued by the media application will not reach the head-end server; and recording a log of the compound parameter on a storage medium.


According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of monitoring performance of a system that comprises a gateway connected to an appliance running a media application. The media application is configured to detect gaps between downstream packets received from the gateway and to issue to a head-end server a request for retransmission of a missing downstream packet. The method comprises: determining a first parameter indicative of an incidence of downstream packets having been detected as corrupted; determining a second parameter indicative of an incidence of fixed-duration intervals containing at least one downstream packet detected as corrupted; determining, based on at least the first parameter and the second parameter, a compound parameter indicative of a rate at which requests for retransmission are issued by the media application; and recording a log of the compound parameter on a storage medium.


According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of monitoring performance of a system that comprises a gateway connected to an appliance running a media application. The media application is configured to detect gaps between downstream packets received from the gateway and to issue to a head-end server a request for retransmission of a missing downstream packet. The method comprises: determining a first parameter indicative of an incidence of downstream packets having been detected as corrupted; determining a second parameter indicative of an incidence of severely errored intervals, a severely errored interval being a fixed-duration interval containing more than a threshold number of downstream packets that are detected as corrupted; determining, based on at least the first parameter and the second parameter, a compound parameter indicative of an incidence of downstream packets having been corrupted outside the severely errored intervals; and recording a log of the compound parameter on a storage medium.


According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of monitoring performance of a system that comprises a gateway connected to an appliance running a media application. The media application is configured to detect gaps between downstream packets received from the gateway and to issue to a head-end server a request for retransmission of a missing downstream packet. The method comprises: determining a first parameter indicative of an incidence of upstream packets sent from the gateway to an access network having been detected as corrupted; determining a second parameter indicative of an incidence of fixed-duration intervals containing at least one upstream packet sent from the gateway that is detected as corrupted; determining, based on at least the first parameter and the second parameter, a compound parameter indicative of a time taken to service an interactive command provided by a user of the media application; and recording a log of the compound parameter on a storage medium.


According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of monitoring performance of a system that comprises a gateway connected to an appliance running a media application. The media application is configured to detect gaps between downstream packets received from the gateway and to issue to a head-end server a request for retransmission of a missing downstream packet. The method comprises: determining a first parameter indicative of an incidence of upstream packets sent from the gateway to an access network having been detected as corrupted; determining a second parameter indicative of an incidence of severely errored intervals, a severely errored interval being a fixed-duration interval containing more than a threshold number of upstream packets sent from the gateway that are detected as corrupted; determining, based on at least the first parameter and the second parameter, a compound parameter indicative of an incidence of upstream packets having been corrupted outside the severely errored intervals; and recording a log of the compound parameter on a storage medium.


According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of monitoring performance of a system that comprises a gateway connected to an appliance running a media application. The media application is configured to detect gaps between downstream packets received from the gateway and to issue to a head-end server a request for retransmission of a missing downstream packet. The method comprises: determining a first parameter indicative of an incidence of missing downstream packets having been retransmitted by the head-end server; determining a second parameter indicative of an incidence of missing downstream packets for which a request for retransmission has been issued; determining, based on at least the first parameter and the second parameter, a compound parameter indicative of a success rate of the head-end server in handling requests for retransmission issued by the media application; and recording a log of the compound parameter on a storage medium.


According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of monitoring performance of a system that comprises a gateway connected to an appliance running a media application. The media application is configured to detect gaps between downstream packets received from the gateway and to issue to a head-end server a request for retransmission of a missing downstream packet. The method comprises: determining a first parameter indicative of an incidence of downstream packets not reaching the media application in time for a content of the media packets to be delivered to a user of the media application; determining a second parameter indicative of an incidence of downstream packets having been detected as corrupted; determining a third parameter indicative of an incidence of downstream packets intended for the media application having been discarded by the gateway without having been sent to the media application; determining, based on at least the first, second and third parameters, a compound parameter indicative of a faultiness of a connection between the gateway and the appliance; and recording a log of the compound parameter on a storage medium.


These and other aspects of the invention will now become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following description of embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.





BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A detailed description of embodiments of the invention is provided below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:



FIG. 1 shows an example of a network for providing services, including an Internet Protocol television (IPTV) service, to subscribers in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;



FIG. 2 shows an example of a gateway of a subscriber's end-user equipment;



FIG. 3 shows an example of a set-top box of the subscriber's end-user equipment;



FIG. 4 shows an example of a service monitoring entity of the network;



FIGS. 5 and 6 show an example of a process to determine levels of quality of experience of a subscriber for different periods of time;



FIGS. 7 to 11 show examples of manifestations of a graphical user interface (GUI) of a monitoring tool;



FIG. 12 shows an example of how a user of the monitoring tool can identify a root cause of a subscriber's issue; and



FIG. 13 shows an example of a more detailed network architecture over which the IPTV service can be delivered.





In the drawings, embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood that the description and drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating certain embodiments of the invention and are an aid for understanding. They are not intended to be a definition of the limits of the invention.


DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS


FIG. 1 shows an example of a network 10 for providing services to subscribers in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, one of these services is a television-containing multimedia service which is provided by a service provider (e.g., a telecommunications company, a cable company, etc.) that controls at least part of a packet-switched network 13 over which this service is delivered to subscribers. This control helps to ensure a desired level of quality of service, security, interactivity and reliability for the subscribers. The service provider thus has a relationship with each subscriber of the television-containing multimedia service in order for that subscriber to have the service it provides. Other services which may be provided over the network 10 may include, for example, an Internet access service and a telephone service.


More particularly, in this embodiment, the television-containing multimedia service is an Internet Protocol television (IPTV) service delivered over the packet-switched network 13 which employs Internet Protocol (IP) routing to convey audio, video and control data. The IPTV service includes delivery of television (TV) content comprising TV programs (e.g., live or recorded drama, comedy, news, reality or other TV shows, movies, sporting events, etc.) currently broadcast on various TV channels. In this case, the IPTV service also provides time-shifted TV programming allowing the subscribers to watch TV programs in a time-shifted manner (e.g., a “catch-up” TV feature which replays a TV program broadcast hours or days ago, or a “start-over” TV feature which replays a current TV program from its beginning). In addition to delivery of currently-broadcast TV content, in this case, the IPTV service also includes delivery of other audio/video (A/V) content on-demand, such as movies, TV shows, etc., which are not part of scheduled TV programming but can be selected by the subscribers using a video-on-demand (VOD) feature.


The network 10 comprises an IPTV system 11 which acquires TV and other A/V content, processes (e.g., encodes and/or stores) the acquired content, and distributes the content to the subscribers via packets conveyed over the packet-switched network 13. In this embodiment, the IPTV system 11 comprises a network apparatus 20 that will be referred to as a “super head-end” (SHE) and that is connected to a core network 22, which is also connected to a plurality of network apparatuses 241-24R that will be referred to as “video hub offices” or “video head-end offices” (VHOs), each of which is also connected to an access network 26 that is also connected to end-user equipment, including, in this example, end-user equipment 301-30N located at subscriber premises 281-28N of the subscribers (sometimes referred to as “customer premises equipment” (CPE)).


The SHE 20 comprises suitable hardware and/or software for implementing a plurality of functional entities, including a processing entity 32 and a routing entity 33.


The processing entity 32 is configured to acquire TV and/or other A/V content and process this content for distribution to the subscribers. More particularly, in this embodiment, the processing entity 32 comprises a content acquisition entity 36 which performs a content ingestion process to acquire TV and other A/V content from a plurality of sources of content 341-34C. For example, a source of content 34x may comprise an antenna receiving radio broadcast content (e.g., TV programs on national broadcast channels), a cable (e.g., fiber-optic or coaxial) conveying broadcast content (e.g., TV programs on specialty channels), a satellite dish receiving content conveyed by a satellite signal, storage media (e.g., magnetic or optical disks) storing recorded content (e.g., movies or TV shows), or any other source of content (e.g., a wired or wireless link conveying content taken from a live studio). The content acquisition entity 36 may comprise one or more encoders (e.g., for MPEG or WM compression) and one or more servers to acquire the content and put it in a format for distribution to the subscribers. For instance, in this embodiment, IPTV system 11 is implemented using a Microsoft IPTV™ platform and the content acquisition entity 36 comprises one or more acquisition servers, referred to as “A-servers”. In other embodiments, the IPTV system 11 may be implemented using any other suitable platform.


The processing entity 32 may perform other operations in addition to its content acquisition operation. For example, in this embodiment, the processing entity 32 comprises a digital rights management (DRM) entity 42 for encrypting or otherwise processing the acquired content to prevent unauthorized access, copying or conversion to other formats by end-users. As another example, in this embodiment, the processing entity 32 comprises an advertisement entity 43 for inserting advertisements in some of the content distributed to the subscribers. As yet another example, in this embodiment, the processing entity 32 comprises an applications entity 44 for implementing applications that may be invoked by the subscribers (e.g., an electronic program guide (EPG) displaying scheduling information for current and upcoming programming, games or other interactive features, etc.)


Furthermore, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, and as further discussed later, the processing entity 32 comprises a service monitoring entity 45 configured to collect and analyze data regarding parameters related to the IPTV service provided to the subscribers in order to assess various aspects of the IPTV service, including a quality of experience (QoE) of the subscribers.


In some embodiments, the processing entity 32, including the content acquisition entity 36, the DRM entity 42, the advertisement entity 43, the applications entity 44 and the service monitoring entity 45, may be part of a content management system (CMS) used by the service provider. In other embodiments, one or more components of the processing entity 42 may be part of one or more other systems used by the service provider. For instance, in some cases, the service monitoring entity 45 may be part of a network management system (e.g., Operations Support Systems/Business Support Systems (OSS/BSS)) used by the service provider.


The routing entity 33 is configured to transmit and receive packets pertaining to the IPTV service over the core network 22. For instance, the routing entity 33 may comprise one or more routers or switches. Packets transmitted by the routing entity 33 in a downstream direction (i.e., towards the end-user equipment 301-30N) may include packets conveying TV and/or other A/V content for distribution to the subscribers. For example, packets conveying TV content currently being broadcast may be transmitted as multicast streams, while packets conveying content selected on-demand may be transmitted as unicast streams. Packets received by the routing entity 33 in an upstream direction (i.e., towards the SHE 20) may include packets conveying requests or commands made by the subscribers via the end-user equipment 301-30N (e.g., TV channel changes, movie selections from the VOD feature, etc). Packets received by the routing entity 33 in the upstream direction may also include packets which convey data regarding parameters related to the IPTV service provided to the subscribers and which are destined for the service monitoring entity 45.


The SHE 20 may serve a relatively large geographical area. For instance, in some embodiments, the SHE 20 may serve at a national level, in which case the broadcast content from the sources of content 341-34C may include broadcast content on national TV channels and/or the advertisements inserted by the advertisement entity 43 may be national ads.


The core network 22 comprises high-capacity communication links (e.g., optical fiber links, etc.) which interconnect different components of the network 10, including in this case the SHE 20 and the VHOs 241-24R.


The VHOs 241-24R are geographically distributed in order to deliver the IPTV service to subsets of the subscribers in different regions. In that sense, the VHOs 241-24R can viewed as “regional head-ends” acting as relay points between the SHE 20 and the subscribers. For instance, in some embodiments, each of the VHOs 241-24R may be used to deliver the IPTV service to between 100,000 and 1,000,000 subscribers.


Each VHO 24x comprises suitable hardware and/or software for implementing a plurality of functional entities, including a processing entity 46 and a routing entity 47.


The processing entity 46 of the VHO 24x is configured to distribute TV and/or other A/V content to the subscribers. More particularly, in this embodiment, the processing entity 46 comprises a content distribution entity 48 for delivering content to respective ones of the subscribers over the access network 26. Some content distributed by the content distribution entity 48 is received from the SHE 20 over the core network 22. In addition, in this embodiment, some content distributed by the content distribution entity 48 may be acquired at the VHO 24x from a plurality of sources of content 491-49F such that the VHO 24x comprises a content acquisition entity 53. For example, a source of content 49x may comprise an antenna receiving regional radio broadcast content (e.g., TV programs on regional TV channels), a cable conveying regional broadcast content (e.g., TV programs on specialty channels targeted to the regional audience), storage media storing recorded content (e.g., movies or TV shows targeted to the regional audience), or any other source of content. The content acquisition entity 53 may comprise one or more encoders and one or more servers to acquire the content and put it in a format for distribution to the subscribers. For instance, in this embodiment where the IPTV system 11 is implemented using a Microsoft IPTV™ platform, the content acquisition entity 53 comprises one or more “A-servers”.


The content distribution entity 48 comprises one or more distribution servers to distribute the content to the subscribers. More particularly, in this embodiment, the content distribution entity 48 comprises one or more distribution servers configured to distribute TV content received from the SHE 20 and/or acquired by the VHO 24x to the subscribers. For instance, in this embodiment where the IPTV system 11 is implemented using a Microsoft IPTV™ platform, each of these one or more distribution servers is a “D-server”. Also, in this embodiment, the content distribution entity 48 comprises one or more on-demand servers configured to distribute on-demand content selected by the subscribers (e.g., VOD servers for delivering movies, TV shows or other content on-demand).


The processing entity 46 of the VHO 24x may perform other operations in addition to its content distribution operation. For example, in this embodiment, the processing entity 46 comprises a DRM entity 62 for encrypting or otherwise processing the content acquired at the VHO 24x to prevent unauthorized access, copying or conversion to other formats by end-users. As another example, in this embodiment, the processing entity 46 comprises an advertisement entity 60 for inserting advertisements in some of the content distributed to the subscribers. As yet another example, in this embodiment, the processing entity 46 comprises an applications entity 61 for implementing applications that may be invoked by the subscribers (e.g., an electronic program guide (EPG) displaying scheduling information for current and upcoming programming, games and/or other interactive features, etc).


The routing entity 47 of the VHO 24x is configured to route packets pertaining to the IPTV service over the access network 26x. For instance, the routing entity 33 may comprise one or more routers or switches. Packets transmitted by the routing entity 47 in the downstream direction may include packets conveying TV and/or other A/V content for distribution to the subscribers. Packets transmitted by the routing entity 47 in the upstream direction may include packets conveying requests or commands made by the subscribers (e.g., TV channel changes, movie selections from the VOD feature, etc.). Packets transmitted by the routing entity 47 in the upstream direction may also include packets conveying requests for retransmission of certain packets conveying TV and/or other A/V content that were missing, discarded, corrupted or otherwise not properly received by pieces of equipment of the end-user equipment 301-30N at the subscriber premises 281-28N. Packets transmitted by the routing entity 47 in the upstream direction may also include packets which convey data regarding parameters related to the IPTV service provided to the subscribers and which are destined for the service monitoring entity 45 of the SHE 20.


As mentioned above, the VHO 24x may be used for delivering the IPTV service to subscribers in a particular region. For instance, in this embodiment, while the SHE 20 is used at a national level, the VHO 24x is used at a regional level such that the broadcast content from the sources of content 491-49F may include broadcast content on regional TV channels and/or the advertisements inserted by the advertisement entity 60 may be regional ads.


The access network 26 (sometimes referred to as the “last mile”) forms a final leg delivering connectivity to subscribers and comprises a plurality of communication links that connect end-user equipment of subscribers to a remainder of the network 10, including, in this example, a plurality of communication links 631-63N that reach the end-user equipment 301-30N located at the subscriber premises 281-28N. In this embodiment, the communication links 631-63N are connected to an access network apparatus 64. In this example, the access network apparatus 64 is an access multiplexer. More particularly, in this embodiment, each of the communication links 631-63N comprises a metallic twisted-pair cable (e.g., a copper twisted-pair cable) and the access multiplexer 64 is a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM). For instance, in some embodiments, the access network 26 may implement a fiber-to-the-node or -neighborhood (FTTN) architecture such that the DSLAM 64 comprises a FUN platform (e.g., an Alcatel 7330 Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) Fiber to the Node (FTTN) platform).


The access network 26 also comprises a monitoring entity 58 configured to perform measurements of certain parameters related to the IPTV service provided to the subscribers and to report data regarding these parameters to the service monitoring entity 45, as further discussed later. In some embodiments, the DSLAM 64 and the monitoring entity 58 may be implemented by a common network component. In other embodiments, the DSLAM 64 and the monitoring entity 58 may be implemented by distinct network components linked together by one or more physical links.


The access network 26 may be implemented in various other ways in other embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, the access network 26 may be based on another type of fiber-to-the-x (FTTx) architecture, such as a fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC) architecture, or a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) architecture (e.g., fiber-to-the-building (FTTB) or fiber-to-the-house (FTTH) infrastructures) in which case the access multiplexer 64 may be omitted and the communication links 631-63N may comprise optical fiber cables leading to optical network terminals (ONTs) that may be part of the end-user equipment 301-30N at the subscriber premises 281-28N. As another example, in some embodiments, each of the communication links 631-63N may comprise a coaxial cable instead of a metallic twisted-pair cable or optical fiber cable.


Various network apparatuses of the network 10, including those of the IPTV system 11 (e.g., the SHE 20 and the VHOs 241-24R), thus implement a head-end system for communicating with the end-user equipment 301-30N at the subscriber premises 281-28N to provide the IPTV service and possibly one or more other services (e.g., an Internet access service, a telephone service, etc.). Various servers of the network 10 which communicate with the end-user equipment 301-30N at the subscriber premises 281-28 (e.g., a D-server of the content distribution entity 48) may thus be referred to as “head-end servers”.


While the network 10 has a certain configuration in this embodiment, the network 10 may have various other configurations in other embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, one or more additional network apparatuses, such as a Video Serving Office (VSO), may be provided between the VHO 24x and the access network 26.


The end-user equipment 301-30N located at the subscriber premises 281-28N enable the subscribers at these premises to have the IPTV service and possibly one or more other services (e.g., an Internet access service, a telephone service, etc.).


The end-user equipment 30x located at the subscriber premises 28x is configured to receive and transmit packets pertaining to the IPTV service over the access network 26x to allow a user 65 at the subscriber premises 28x to be presented with TV content and/or other A/V content on a TV set 66. The TV set 66 may be based on any suitable display technology, including cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid-crystal display (LCD), plasma, or any other type of TV display technology (e.g., Digital Light Processing (DLP) or organic light emitting diode (OLED)). In this embodiment, the end-user equipment 30x can also receive and transmit packets pertaining to an Internet access service over the access network 26x to allow the user 65 to browse the Internet on a personal computer 67 (e.g., a desktop computer, a laptop computer, etc.), as well as packets pertaining to a voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephony service over the access network 26 to allow the user 65 to engage in telephone calls using a telephone 68 (e.g., a VoIP phone, a a Plain Old Telephony System (POTS) phone equipped with an analog terminal adapter (ATA), or a softphone).


More particularly, in this embodiment, the end-user equipment 30x comprises a gateway 69 connected to a set-top box (STB) 70 which is connected to the TV set 66. The STB 70 is an example of an appliance running a media application, namely an IPTV application. In this embodiment, the gateway 69 is also connected to the personal computer 67 and the telephone 68. The personal computer 67 is another example of an appliance running a media application, namely an Internet browser application. The telephone 68 is yet another example of an appliance running a media application, namely a telephony application.


With additional reference to FIG. 2, the gateway 69 comprises suitable hardware and/or software for implementing a plurality of functional entities, including a processing entity 71 and a routing entity 72. The processing entity 71 comprises a modem 73 for modulating analog carrier signals to encode digital information and to demodulate analog carrier signals to decode information they convey. For example, in this embodiment where the communication links 63x comprises a metallic twisted-pair cable, the modem 73 is a DSL modem. The modem 73 may be of another type in other embodiments (e.g., a cable modem) depending on the nature of the communication link 63x.


The processing entity 71 of the gateway 69 also comprises a monitoring entity 74 configured to perform measurements of certain parameters related to the IPTV service provided to the subscriber at the subscriber premises 28x and to report data regarding these parameters to the service monitoring entity 45, as further discussed later.


The routing entity 72 of the gateway 69 is configured to route packets pertaining to the IPTV service to and from the STB 70 over a physical communication link (i.e., a wired link or wireless link). For instance, the routing entity 72 may comprise a router, switch or other data forwarding component. Packets transmitted by the routing entity 72 to the STB 70 may include packets conveying TV and/or other A/V content for presentation on the TV set 66. Packets transmitted by the routing entity 72 over the access network 26 may include packets conveying requests or commands made by the user 65 (e.g., TV channel changes, selections of movies from the VOD feature, etc.). Packets transmitted by the routing entity 72 over the access network 26 may also include packets conveying requests for retransmission of certain packets conveying TV and/or other A/V content that were missing, discarded, corrupted or otherwise not properly received by the STB 70. Packets transmitted by the routing entity 72 over the access network may also include packets which convey data regarding parameters related to the IPTV service provided to the subscriber at the subscriber premises 28, and which are destined for the service monitoring entity 45.


In this embodiment, the routing entity 72 of the gateway 69 is also configured to route data pertaining to the Internet access service to and from the personal computer 67, as well to route signals pertaining to the telephone service to and from the telephone 68 (e.g., via a suitable connector depending on whether the phone 68 is a wired POTS equipped with an ATA, a VoIP phone, etc.)


Thus, in this embodiment, the gateway 69 acts as a center or hub for end-user devices at the subscriber premises 28x. More particularly, in this embodiment the subscriber premises 28x is a residence and the gateway 69 is a residential gateway (RG) whose functional entities, including the processing entity 71 and the routing entity 72, are integrated into a terminal installed at a suitable location at the residence. In other embodiments, the functional entities of the gateway 69 may be part of two or more distinct devices interconnected to one another via one or more physical links.


The STB 70 comprises suitable hardware and/or software for implementing a plurality of functional entities, including a processing entity 75 and a routing entity 76. The processing entity 75 is configured to process a stream of packets conveying TV and/or other A/V content and received via the routing entity 76 in order to generate A/V signals transmitted to the TV set 66 for presenting the TV and/or other A/V content to the user 65. More particularly, in this embodiment, the processing entity 75 comprises a decoder 77 for decoding packets in the received stream of packets. Also, in this embodiment, the processing entity 75 comprises a DRM entity 78 to decrypt or otherwise process the received packets to undue the effects of the DRM entity 42 of the SHE 20 and/or the DRM entity 62 of the VHO 24x. A program selector 79 extracts a selected program stream corresponding to a selection made by the user 65 and provides the packets of the selected program stream to a demultiplexer 80, which divides them into elementary streams (voice, audio and control) that are supplied to a compositor 81 creating A/V signals transmitted to the TV set 66.


The processing entity 75 of the STB 70 is also configured to detect defects, such as corrupted packets, in the received stream of packets. When possible, the processing entity 75 may correct some of the detected defects in the received stream of packets. For example, in this embodiment, these detection and correction functions may be implemented by the decoder 77 of the processing entity 75.


The processing entity 75 of the STB 70 also comprises a monitoring entity 82 configured to perform measurements of certain parameters related to the IPTV service provided to the subscriber at the subscriber premises 28x and to report data regarding these parameters to the service monitoring entity 45, as further discussed later.


The routing entity 76 of the STB 70 is configured to route packets pertaining to the IPTV service to and from the gateway 69 over the physical communication link linking these components. For instance, the routing entity 76 may comprise a receiver and a transmitter. Packets received by the routing entity 76 in the downstream direction may include packets conveying TV and/or other A/V content for presentation on the TV set 66. Packets transmitted by the routing entity 76 in the upstream direction may include packets conveying requests or commands made by the user 65 (e.g., TV channel changes, movie selections from the VOD feature, etc.). Packets transmitted by the routing entity 76 in the upstream direction may also include packets conveying requests for retransmission of certain packets conveying TV and/or other A/V content that were missing, discarded, corrupted or otherwise not properly received by the STB 70. Packets transmitted by the routing entity 76 in the upstream direction may also include packets which convey data regarding parameters related to the IPTV service provided to the subscriber at the subscriber premises 28x and which are destined for the service monitoring entity 45.


Although in this embodiment the STB 70 is connected to the TV set 66, in other embodiments, functional entities corresponding to the processing entity 75 and the routing entity 76 of the STB 70 may be integrated into the TV set 66,


As mentioned previously, in this embodiment, the service monitoring entity 45 is configured to collect and analyze data regarding parameters related to the IPTV service provided to the subscribers in order to assess various aspects of the IPTV service, including the QoE of the subscribers.


Referring additionally to FIG. 4, the service monitoring entity 45 comprises an interface 57 and a processing entity 59. The interface 57 of the service monitoring entity 45 allows data, including data regarding parameters related to the IPTV service provided to the subscribers, to be received and transmitted by the service monitoring entity 45. The processing entity 59 is configured to process data received or to be transmitted via the interface 57. More particularly, in this embodiment, the processing entity 59 comprises an analysis entity 56 for analyzing the data to derive information indicative of the QoE of the subscribers, as well as a database 83 for storing the data and the derived information indicative of the QoE of the subscribers, as further discussed below.


The parameters related to the IPTV service provided to the subscribers, which will be referred to as “IPTV service parameters”, can take on various forms. For instance, Table 1 presents examples of IPTV service parameters that may be considered in this embodiment. Various other examples of IPTV service parameters may be considered in other embodiments.


In Table 1, each line corresponds to a respective IPTV service parameter related to the IPTV service provided to the subscriber at the subscriber premises 28x. The first column indicates a name of the respective IPTV service parameter. The second column indicates one or more sources from which the value of the respective IPTV service parameter is determined. Generally, the value of the respective IPTV service parameter may be determined on a basis of measurements performed by the monitoring entity 82 of the STB 70, the monitoring entity 74 of the residential gateway 69, the monitoring entity 58 of the access network 26, and/or other components (e.g., a D-server of the content distribution entity 48 of the VHO 24x). In some embodiments, the value of the respective IPTV service parameter may be obtained from a network management system (e.g., an OSS/BSS) used by the service provider and collecting data regarding such measurements. For instance, in this embodiment, the value of the respective IPTV service parameter may be obtained from: a Component Management System (CMS) which collects data regarding measurements performed by components at the subscriber premises 28x, namely the residential gateway 69 and the STB 70 (e.g., a “Snapshot” application on the STB 70); an access network system, in this case an Access Care™ (AC) system by Nortel, which collects data regarding measurements performed by the access network 26 and possibly the end-user equipment 30x at the subscriber premises 28x (e.g., the modem 73 (“far end”—FE) may report on packets received, errors, etc., through a communication channel to the DSLAM 64 for record keeping and the DSLAM 64 may perform data reporting and recording for its side (“near end”—NE), and the Access Care system may collect the data from the DSLAM 64 related to the NE and FE and provide it to the service monitoring entity 45); and/or a D-server of the content distribution entity 48 of the VHO 24x. In other embodiments, the value of the respective IPTV service parameter may be obtained based on data polled directly from one or more components, such as the residential gateway 69, the STB 70, etc. The second column may also indicate a frequency at which the value of the respective IPTV service parameter is obtained. For instance, in this case, the value of the respective IPTV service parameter may be obtained every fifteen minutes (i.e., the value is for a period of fifteen minutes) or daily (i.e., the value is for a period of one day). The third column provides a definition of the respective IPTV service parameter. The fourth column provides a technical description of the respective IPTV service parameter. The fourth column indicates an importance of the IPTV service parameter for the IPTV service or insight that the IPTV service parameter can give about the IPTV service.


For example, the IPTV service parameter “DISCARD_PKTS_SENT” refers to the number of packets intended to be sent by the residential gateway 69 to the STB 70 but that have been discarded by the residential gateway 69 instead of being sent to the STB 70. The discarded packets may be packets which have been delayed long enough to be useless. This may be caused, for instance, by shortage of resources or buffer overflow at the residential gateway 69. In this embodiment, the value of the “DISCARD_PKTS_SENT” parameter is obtained every fifteen minutes by the residential gateway 69.


As another example, the discarded packets may result in “gaps”, which can also be referred to as “holes, in the stream of packets received at the STB 70 where the discarded packets would normally have been. At least some of these holes may result in the STB 70 issuing requests for retransmission of the discarded packets by a D-server of the content distribution entity 48 of the VOH 24x. In this example, this applies to a hole at the STB 70 that is not larger than a threshold size (e.g., an interval of time corresponding to a number of consecutive missing packets which would normally occupy the hole). This size may be determined, for instance, by evaluating a maximal number of consecutive packets that can be retransmitted to the STB 70 in time to be reinserted in the stream of packets by the STB 70 (e.g., based on processing speeds of the STB 70 and the residential gateway 69, transmission characteristics of the communication link 63x, and/or any other relevant factor). For example, in this case, a request for retransmission may be issued by the STB 70 when encountering a hole with a size not greater than about 150 ms. For holes greater than 150 ms, the STB 70 does not issue requests for retransmission. When there is a request for retransmission, failure of the D-server to retransmit the discarded packets to the STB 70 in a timely manner may lead to pixilation, screen freeze, etc. In this embodiment, the IPTV service parameter “RETRY_NUMBER”, which refers to the number of holes smaller than 150 ms encountered by the STB 70 during a 15-minute interval, is measured by the D-server as the number of retransmission requests every 15 minutes and is used as the number of holes (“HOLES”) in other IPTV service parameters. In other embodiments, the number of holes (“HOLES”) may be determined from measurements performed by the STB 70 itself. For instance, in some cases, a diagnostic tool implemented by the service monitoring entity 45 may query the STB 70 to obtain the number of holes (“HOLES”) as measured by the STB 70.


As yet another example, error conditions may occur in the downstream direction from the access network 26 to the residential gateway 69 that can cause packets to be corrupted. For instance, packets can be determined to be corrupted when they are determined to have failed an error check performed by the residential gateway 69. In this case, the error check is a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). Other error checking techniques may be used in other cases. In this embodiment, the IPTV service parameter “FE_CV” refers to far end code violations, which is a count of CRC anomalies received by the residential gateway 69 during a 15-minute interval. Depending on their severity, code violations can lead to errored seconds or severely errored seconds and result in retransmission of IPTV packets from a D-Server of the content distribution entity 48 of the VOH 24x to the STB 70. A high “FE_CV” parameter may lead to visual artifacts such as pixilation or screen freeze and audio impairments such as clipping.


A similar discussion can be made in respect of other ones of the IPTV service parameters listed in Table 1.













TABLE 1






Source/

Technical
IPTV


Parameter
Frequency
Definition
Description
Importance







CRASH_COUNT
STB Crash
Number of

IPTV service



Log
Crashes

outage occurs



15 min
This is a count of

when the set-top




crash events

box crashes.




encountered by






the set-top box






over a 15-min






interval.




DISC_RCVD/HOLES
CMS |
Number of
In the event that
A value of infinity



D-Server
Discarded
holes are
means that either



15 min
Packets
encountered at
all IPTV packets




Received divided
the set top box,
have been




by Number of
requests for
successfully




Holes
retransmission
received at the




Discarded
from the set-top
set-top box (i.e.




packets received
box may not reach
no holes).




between the set-
the D-Server due
A high Discarded




top box and the
to packets being
Packet




Residential
discarded in the
Received-to-




Gateway would
upstream
Holes ratio would




indicate
direction.
increase the




congestion or

probability of the




out-of-order

requests for re-




packets in the

transmission




upstream

from the set-top




direction.

box failing to




The

reach the D-




“DISC_RCVD”

Server, and




(number of

result in visual




discarded

and/or audio




packets

impairments for




received)

the IPTV




parameter is an

customer.




example of a

The




parameter

“DISC_RCVD/




indicative of an

HOLES”




incidence of

parameter is an




upstream

example a




packets intended

compound




for the access

parameter




network 26

indicative of a




having been

likelihood that a




discarded by the

request for




gateway 69

retransmission




without having

issued by the




been sent to the

IPTV application




access network

running on the




26.

STB 70 will not




The “HOLES”

reach the D-




(number of

server of the




holes) parameter

content




is an example of

distribution entity




a parameter

48.




indicative of an






incidence of gaps






between






downstream






packets received






by the IPTV






application






running on the






STB 70 from the






gateway 69.




DISC_RCVD/REQ
CMS |
Number of
In the event that
A value of infinity



D-Server
Discarded
holes are
means that either



15 min
Packets
encountered at
all IPTV packets




Received divided
the set top box,
have been




by Number of
requests for
successfully




Packets
retransmission
received at the




Requested
from the set-top
set-top box (i.e.




Discarded
box may not reach
no holes) or the




packets received
the D-Server due
holes are more




between the set-
to packets being
than 150 ms (i.e.




top box and the
discarded in the
no request for re-




Residential
upstream
transmission).




Gateway would
direction.
A high Discarded




indicate

Packet




congestion or

Received-to-




out-of-order

Number of




packets in the

Packets




upstream

Requested ratio




direction.

would increase




The

the probability of




“DISC_RCVD”

the requests for




(number of

re-transmission




discarded

from the set-top




packets

box failing to




received)

reach the ()-




parameter is an

Server, and




example of a

result in visual




parameter

and/or audio




indicative of an

impairments for




incidence of

the IPTV




upstream

customer.




packets intended

The




for the access

“DISC_RCVD/




network 26

REQ” parameter




having been

is an example a




discarded by the

compound




gateway 69

parameter




without having

indicative of a




been sent to the

likelihood that a




access network

request for




26.

retransmission




The “REQ”

issued by the




(number of

IPTV application




packets

running on the




requested)

STB 70 will not




parameter is an

reach the D-




example of a

server of the




parameter

content




indicative of an

distribution entity




incidence of gaps

48.




between






downstream






packets received






by the IPTV






application






running on the






STB 70 from the






gateway 69.




DISC_SENT/HOLES
CMS |
Number of
This may be
A ratio of 1 would



D-Server
Discarded
caused by
strongly suggest



15 min
Packets Sent
shortage of
that the hole(s)




divided by
resources or
encountered at




Number of Holes
buffer overflow,
the set-top box




Discarded
etc. at the
are likely caused




packets sent
residential
by the packets




denote that
gateway. IPTV
being discarded




packets to be
packets being
before being sent




sent from the
discarded would
at the residential




residential
result in holes at
gateway.




gateway to the
the set-top box.
A ratio of less




set-top box (i.e.

than 1 is possible




downstream

(e.g. more than




direction) are

one set-top box




discarded/

in the home




dropped before

watching the




being sent.

same IPTV




The

channel).




“DISC_SENT”

A ratio of greater




(number of

than 1 is possible




discarded

(e.g. a large hole




packets sent)

resulting from




parameter is an

several packets




example of a

being discarded




parameter

by the residential




indicative of an

gateway).




incidence of

The




downstream

“DISC_SENT/




packets intended

HOLES”




for the IPTV

parameter is an




application

example of a




running on the

compound




STB 70 having

parameter




been discarded

indicative of a




by the gateway

likelihood that a




69 without having

gap detected by




been sent to the

the IPTV




IPTV application

application




running on the

running on the




STB 70.

STB 70 will have




The “HOLES”

a size exceeding




(number of

a threshold size.




holes) parameter






is an example of






a parameter






indicative of an






incidence of gaps






between






downstream






packets received






by the IPTV






application






running on the






STB 70 from the






gateway 69.




DISC_SENT/REQ
CMS |
Number of
This may be
A ratio of 1:1



D-Server
Discarded
caused
by would strongly



15 min
Packets Sent
shortage of
suggest that the




divided by
resources or
hole(s)




Number of
buffer overflow,
encountered at




Packets
etc. at the
the set-top box




Requested
residential
are likely caused




Discarded
gateway. IPTV
by the packets




packets sent
packets being
being discarded




denote that
discarded would
before being sent




packets to be
result in holes at
at the residential




sent from the
the set-top box,
gateway.




residential
and result in
A high ratio of




gateway to the
requests for re-
Discarded




set-top box (i.e.
transmission of
Packet Sent-to-




downstream
discarded packets
Number of




direction) are
(provided that the
Packets




discarded/
discarded packets
Requested may




dropped before
has a hole size of
be an indication




being sent.
less than 150 ms).
that the holes




The

caused by the




“DISC_SENT”

sent packets




(number of

being discarded




discarded

are larger than




packets sent)

150 ms (i.e. too




parameter is an

large/no request




example of a

for




parameter

retransmission).




indicative of an

The




incidence of

“DISC_SENT/




downstream

REQ” parameter




packets intended

is an example of




for the IPTV

a compound




application

parameter




running on the

indicative of a




STB 70 having

likelihood that a




been discarded

gap detected by




by the gateway

the IPTV




69 without having

application




been sent to the

running on the




IPTV application

STB 70 will have




running on the

a size exceeding




STB 70.

a threshold size.




The “REQ”






(number of






packets






requested)






parameter is an






example of a






parameter






indicative of an






incidence of gaps






between






downstream






packets received






by the IPTV






application






running on the






STB 70 from the






gateway 69.




DISCARD_PKTS_RCVD
CMS
Number of
This parameter is
Discarded IPTV



15 min
Discarded
an indication of
packets received




Packets from the
congestion within
by the residential




set-top box
home network,
gateway may




received by
resulting in
lead to slow or




Residential
packets from
no response




Gateway.
home devices
during channel




Discarded
being discarded
change, or using




packets are
by the residential
PVR trick modes.




packets which
gateway





arrive out-of-
discarded due to





order or have
unacceptable





been delayed
delay.





long enough to






become useless.




DISCARD_PKTS_SENT
CMS
Number of
Discarded packets
When IPTV



15 min
Discarded
sent denote that
packets are




Packets Sent by
packets to be sent
discarded by the




Residential
from the
residential




Gateway.
residential
gateway instead




Discarded
gateway to the
of being sent to




packets are
set-top box (i.e.
the set-top box,




packets which
downstream
holes will likely




have been
direction) are
result and




delayed long
discarded/
requests for re-




enough to be
dropped before
transmission to




useless; as such,
being sent.
the D-Server will




they are being
This may be
be generated by




discarded
caused by
the set-top box.




instead of sent
shortage of
Failure for the D-




by the residential
resources or
Server to re-




gateway.
buffer overflow,
transmit these





etc. at the
discarded





residential
packets to the





gateway. IPTV
set-top box in a





packets being
timely manner





discarded would
will lead to





result in holes at
pixilation, screen





the set-top box.
freeze, etc.


ERRORS_RCVD
CMS
Number of Errors
Possible errors
High error counts



Daily
Received by the
include CRC
in the upstream




Residential
errors, corrupted
direction may




Gateway.
frames, etc.
result in slow




This provides a
received by the
channel change




daily count of
residential
time and/or




transmission
gateway from the
commands to the




errors in the
set-top box. These
PVR being slow




upstream
errors are likely
or unresponsive.




direction (i.e.
caused by issues





received by the
with the inside





Residential
wiring.





Gateway).




ERRORS_SENT
CMS
Number of Errors
Possible errors
IPTV packets



Daily
Sent by the
include CRC
containing errors




Residential
errors, corrupted
will result in




Gateway
frames, etc.
requests for re-




This provides a
detected by the
transmission




daily count of
residential
from the set-top




errors in the
gateway prior to
box to the D-




IPTV packets
sending to the set-
Server. If these




detected by the
top box.
packets are not




residential

retransmitted and




gateway.

received by the






set-top box in






time, visual






and/or audio






impairments will






occur.


FE_CB
AccessCare
Far End-
This is a count of
Corrected Blocks



15 min
Corrected Block
the number of
should not have




This is a
blocks at the
any direct impact




measure of the
residential
on IPTV




number of
gateway (i.e.
customer




packets with
downstream)
experience.




errors which
which have been





have been
corrected using





corrected in the
FEC (forward





downstream
error correction)





direction.
during the 15-min






interval.



FE_CV
AccessCare
Far End-Code
Code violation is
Depending on



15 min
Violation
defined as a count
the severity, the




This is a
of the CRC
presence of code




measure of
anomalies
violations leads




errors conditions
occurring during
to errored




of the DSL
the accumulation
seconds or




connection in the
period (15-min).
severely errored




downstream
Far End Code
seconds.




direction.
Violation refers to
Code violations





CRC anomalies
in the





received by the
downstream





Residential
direction results





Gateway.
in retransmission






of IPTV packets






from the D-






Server to the set-






top box. A high






CV value in the






downstream may






lead to visual






artefacts such as






pixilation or






screen freeze






and audio






impairments






such as clipping.


FE_CV/FE_ES
AccessCare
Far End Code
This ratio is an
A high CV-to-ES



15 min
Violations divided
indicator of how
ratio in the




by Far End
the Code
downstream




Errored Seconds
Violations in the
direction will




The “FE_CV” (far
downstream
likely result in




end code
direction are
frequent packet




violations)
distributed during
retransmissions




parameter is an
the 15-min
between the D-




example of a
interval.
Server and set-




parameter

top box, with a




indicative of an

high probability




incidence of

of visual and/or




downstream

audio




packets having

impairments




been detected by

being observed




the gateway 69

by the IPTV




as corrupted.

customer.




The “FE_ES” (far

The “FE_CV/




end errored

FE_ES”




seconds)

parameter is an




parameter is an

example of a




example of a

compound




parameter

parameter




indicative of an

indicative of a




incidence of

rate at which




fixed-duration

requests for




intervals (e.g., 1-

retransmission




second intervals)

are issued by the




containing at

IPTV application




least one

running on the




downstream

STB 70.




packet detected






by the gateway






69 as corrupted.




FE_CV/FE_SESM
AccessCare
Far End Code
This ratio is an
A high CV-to-



15 min
Violations divided
indicator of how
SES ratio in the




by Far End
the Code
downstream




Severely Errored
Violations in the
direction




Seconds
downstream
suggests that




The “FE_CV” (far
direction are
CVs are also




end code
distributed while
likely occurring




violations)
the DSL
outside of the




parameter is an
connection is
intervals when




example of a
reporting severely
the DSL




parameter
errored seconds
connection is




indicative of an
during the 15-min
experiencing




incidence of
interval.
SES condition,




downstream

and there is a




packets having

high probability




been detected by

that IPTV




the gateway 69

customer will




as corrupted.

experience visual




The “FE_SESM”

and audio




(far end severely

impairments




errored seconds)

during the 15-min




parameter is an

interval.




example of a

The “FE_CV/




parameter

FE_SESM”




indicative of an

parameter is an




incidence of

example of a




severely errored

compound




intervals, where

parameter




a severely

indicative of an




errored interval is

incidence of




a fixed-duration

downstream




interval (e.g., a 1-

packets having




second interval)

been corrupted




containing more

outside the




than a threshold

severely errored




number of

intervals.




downstream






packets that are






detected by the






gateway 69 as






corrupted.




FE_CV/HOLES
D-Server |
Far End Code
Code Violations in
A high CV-to-



AC
Violations divided
the downstream
Holes in the



15 min
by Number of
direction may lead
downstream




Holes
to packet loss (i.e.
direction




The “FE_CV” (far
holes) at the set-
suggests that a




end code
top box during the
higher probability




violations)
15-min interval.
of holes greater




parameter is an

than 150 ms,




example of a

which are not




parameter

being requested




indicative of an

for




incidence of

retransmission.




downstream

This will result in




packets having

visual and audio




been detected by

impairments.




the gateway 69

The “FE_CV




as corrupted.

HOLES”




The “HOLES

parameter is an




(number of

example of a




holes) parameter

compound




is an example of

parameter




a parameter

indicative of a




indicative of an

likelihood that a




incidence of gaps

gap detected by




between

the IPTV




downstream

application




packets received

running on the




by the IPTV

STB 70 will have




application

a size exceeding




running on the

a threshold size.




STB 70 from the






gateway 69.




FE_CV_PKTS_REQ
D-Server |
Far End Code
The CV-to-Packet
A high CV-to-



AC
Violations divided
Requested ratio in
Packet



15 min
by Number of
the downstream
Requested ratio




Packets
direction is an
in the




Requested
indication of the
downstream




Code Violations
impact of code
direction would




in the
violations on IPTV
suggest that non-




downstream
packets (vs.
IPTV packets




direction may
Internet packets)
may also be




lead to packet
during the 15-min
impacted.




loss at the set-
interval.
The “FE_CV/




top box.

PKTS_REQ”




The “FE_CV” (far

parameter is an




end code

example of a




violations)

compound




parameter is an

parameter




example of a

indicative of a




parameter

degree to which




indicative of an

packets related




incidence of

to at least one




downstream

other application




packets having

running in the




been detected by

end-user




the gateway 69

equipment 30x




as corrupted.

(e.g., the Internet




The

browser




“PKTS_REQ”

application




(number of

running on the




packets

computer 67) are




requested)

corrupted.




parameter is an






example of a






parameter






indicative of an






incidence of gaps






between






downstream






packets received






by the IPTV






application






running on the






STB 70 from the






gateway 69.




FE_CV_SUB_HOLES
D-Server |
Far End Code
Code Violations in
A high value



AC
Violations minus
the downstream
suggests that a



15 min
Number of Holes
direction may lead
higher probability




The “FE_CV” (far
to packet loss (i.e.
of holes greater




end code
holes) at the set-
than 150 ms,




violations)
top box during the
which are not




parameter is an
15-min interval.
being requested




example of a

for




parameter

retransmission.




indicative of an

This will result in




incidence of

visual and audio




downstream

impairments.




packets having

The




been detected by

“FE_CV_SUB_




the gateway 69

HOLES”




as corrupted.

parameter is an




The “HOLES”

example of a




(number of

compound




holes) parameter

parameter




is an example of

indicative of a




a parameter

likelihood that a




indicative of an

gap detected by




incidence of gaps

the IPTV




between

application




downstream

running on the




packets received

STB 70 will have




by the IPTV

a size exceeding




application

a threshold size.




running on the






STB 70 from the






gateway 69.




FE_CV_SUB_PKTS_REQ
D-Server |
Far End Code
Code Violations in
A high value



AC
Violations minus
the downstream
suggests that a



15 min
Packets
direction may lead
higher probability




Requested
to packet loss (i.e.
of holes greater




The “FE_CV” (far
holes) at the set-
than 150 ms,




end code
top box during the
which are not




violations)
15-min interval.
being requested




parameter is an

for




example of a

retransmission.




parameter

This will result in




indicative of an

visual and audio




incidence of

impairments.




downstream

The




packets having

“FE_CV_SUB_




been detected by

PKTS_REQ”




the gateway 69

parameter is an




as corrupted.

example of a




The

compound




“PKTS_REQ”

parameter




(packets

indicative of a




requested)

likelihood that a




parameter is an

gap detected by




example of a

the IPTV




parameter

application




indicative of an

running on the




incidence of gaps

STB 70 will have




between

a size exceeding




downstream

a threshold size.




packets received






by the IPTV






application






running on the






STB 70 from the






gateway 69.




FE_ES
AccessCare
Far End-
Far End Errored
The presence of



15 min
Errored Seconds
Seconds refers to
error seconds is




This is a
the count of 1-
an indication of




measure of
second intervals
problems with




errors in the DSL
during which: one
the DSL




line for the
or more CRC
connection which




downstream
anomalies, or
may impact the




direction (i.e.
defects such as
transmission,




from DSLAM to
severely errored
resulting in re-




residential
frame (SEF), loss
transmission of




gateway), and
of signal (LOS),
packets or




will affect both
loss of power
packet loss.




IPTV and
(LPR) are
Uncorrected




Internet packets
detected at the
errors in IPTV




being transmitted
Residential
packets in the




at the time of
Gateway (i.e.
downstream




error condition.
downstream).
direction may






lead to video






defects such as






pixilation, screen






freeze, etc. or






audio defects






such as clipping.


FE_HBER
AccessCare
Far End-High
A high bit error
A DSL



15 min
Bit Error Rate
rate is an
connection with




This parameter
indication of the
high bit error rate




indicates that a
presence of
in the




high bit error rate
disturbers such as
downstream




is detected by
high noise level in
direction will




the Residential
the DSL
likely have a high




Gateway (i.e.
connection, as
count of code




downstream).
detected by the
violations,





Residential
errored seconds,





Gateway.
etc., which will






likely result in






visual and audio






impairments.


FE_SESM
AccessCare
Far End-
This is a count of
A DSL



15 min
Severely Errored
1-second intervals
connection with




Second
during which there
high count of




This measures
are: 18 or more
severely errored




the number of 1-
CRC anomalies,
seconds in the




sec intervals in
or one or more
downstream




which the DSL
LOS (loss of
direction will




connection has
signal), SEF
likely result in




experienced
(severe errored
visual artefacts




severe error
frame) or LPR
such as pixilation




conditions in the
(loss of power)
or screen freeze




downstream
defects are
and/or audio




direction.
detected at the
impairments





residential
such as clipping.





gateway (i.e.






downstream).



FE_SFR
AccessCare
Far End-
This is a count of
includes both



15 min
Superframe
the number of
IPTV and




Received
superframes (or
Internet traffic




This is a
blocks) received





measure of the
by the residential





amount of traffic
gateway from the





being sent from
DSLAM during the





the DSLAM to
15-min interval





the residential
(i.e. downstream)





gateway (i.e.






downstream)




FE_SFT
AccessCare
Far End-
This is a count of
includes both



15 min
Superframe
the number of
IPTV and




Transmitted
superframes (or
Internet traffic




This is a
blocks) sent from





measure of the
the residential





amount of traffic
gateway to the





being sent from
DSLAM during the





the residential
15-min interval





gateway to the
(i.e. upstream).





DSLAM (i.e.






upstream)




FE_UAS
AccessCare
Far End-
A DSL line
A DSL



15 min
Unavailable
becomes
connection with




Second
unavailable at the
unavailable




An unavailable
onset of 10
second(s) in the




second is a count
contiguous SES
downstream




of 1-second
(severely errored
direction will




intervals for
seconds).
likely result in




which the DSL
This parameter
loss of video




line is
shows the count
signal (i.e. IPTV




unavailable at
of 1-sec intervals
service outage)




the DSLAM.
during which the
during the 15-min





DSL line is
interval.





unavailable at the






Residential






Gateway.



ISW
AccessCare |
This is the cont
Packets dropped
Reflects in the



CMS |
of packets
by the home
user experience



Snapshot |
dropped by the
wiring. During a
through pixilation



15 min
inside wiring of a
15 minute period if
and freezing of




home
there are no
the screen




Calculated as
packets being
The “ISW”




follows:
reported dropped
parameter is an




Total_Packets_
by the local loop
example of a




Expired-FE_CV-
and no packets
compound




disc_sent-disc_
being dropped by
parameter




rcvd
the modem yet the
indicative of a




The
STB report
faultiness of a




“Total_Packets_
packets being
connection




Expired”
dropped through
between the




parameter is an
the D-Server
gateway 69 and




example of a
packets requested
the STB 70.




parameter
and packets





indicative of an
expired, then the





incidence of
home wiring is





downstream
causing the issue.





packets not
This measure can





reaching the
isolate precisely





IPTV application
which STB is a





running on the
problem and point





STB 70 in time
a technician to the





for a content of
right device





the packets to be
quickly-therefore





delivered to the
reducing the time





user 65 of the
to resolve the





IPTV application
trouble





running on the






STB 70.






For instance, in






some cases, an






example of the






“Total_Packets_






Expired”






parameter may






be a number of






downstream






packets that






were expected






by the IPTV






application






running on the






STB 70 within a






fixed-duration






interval and were






either not






received before






expiration of the






fixed-duration






interval or were






received in






corrupted form.






The “FE_CV






parameter is an






example of a






parameter






indicative of an






incidence of






downstream






packets having






been detected by






the gateway 69






as corrupted.






The “disc_sent”






parameter is an






example of a






parameter






indicative of an






incidence of






downstream






packets intended






for the IPTV






application






running on the






STB 70 having






been discarded






by the gateway






69 without having






been sent to the






IPTV application






running on the






STB 70.






The “disc_rcvd”






parameter is an






example of a






parameter






indicative of an






incidence of






upstream






packets intended






for the access






network 26






having been






discarded by the






gateway 69






without having






been sent to the






access network






26.




Link Resync
CMS
Link Retrain is a
Link retrain can
Link retrain will



Daily
re-sync of the
occur when a DSL
likely result in




DSL connection.
connection
temporary IPTV





encounters
service outage





severely errored






frame (SEF)






defects, high






signal-to-noise






(SNR) ratio, loss






of frames (LOF) or






loss of signal






(LOS), etc.



MAX_HOLE_SIZE
D-Server
Maximum Hole
This parameter
The closer this



15 min
Size is the the
captures the
value is to




largest hole
largest hole (i.e.
150 ms, the




encountered
packet discard or
higher the




(measured in ms)
loss), up to
probability for




by set top box
150 ms,
holes greater




over the 15-min
encountered
than 150 ms and




interval
during a 15-min
the more likely





interval.
visual and/or






audio






impairments will






be experienced






by the IPTV






customer.


NE_CB
AccessCare
Near End-
This is a count of
Corrected Blocks



15 min
Corrected Block
the number of
should not have




This is a
blocks at the
any direct impact




measure of the
DSLAM (i.e.
on IPTV




number of
upstream) which
customer




packets with
have been
experience.




errors which
corrected using





have been
FEC (forward





corrected in the
error correction)





upstream
during the 15-min





direction.
interval.



NE_CV
AccessCare
Near End-Code
Code violation is
Depending on



15 min
Violation
defined as a count
the severity, the




This is a
of the CRC
presence of code




measure of
anomalies
violations leads




errors conditions
occurring during
to errored




of the DSL
the accumulation
seconds or




connection in the
period (15-min).
severely errored




upstream
Near End Code
seconds.




direction.
Violation refers to
High CVs in the





CRC anomalies
upstream





received by the
direction may





DSLAM (i.e.
lead to slow





upstream)
response in






channel change






time or some






PVR commands.


NE_CV/HOLES
D-Server |
Near End Code
Code violations in
A value of 0



AC
Violations divided
the upstream
indicates that



15 min
by Number of
direction may
requests for all




Holes
impact the ability
holes less than




The “NE_CV”
of the set-top box
150 ms should be




(near end code
to request re-
received by the




violations)
transmission of
D-Server.




parameter is an
packets from the
A high CV-to-




example of a
D-Server during
Holes ratio




parameter
the 15-min
indicates a




indicative of an
interval.
higher probability




incidence of

of requests for




upstream

retransmission




packets sent

not being




from the gateway

received by the




69 to the access

D-Server.




network 26

The “NE_CV/




having been

HOLES”




detected by the

parameter is an




access network

example of a




26 as corrupted.

compound




The “HOLES”

parameter




(number of

indicative of a




holes) parameter

likelihood that a




is an example of

request for




a parameter

retransmission




indicative of an

issued by the




incidence of gaps

IPTV application




between

running on the




downstream

STB 70 will not




packets received

reach the D-




by the IPTV

server of the




application

content




running on the

distribution entity




STB 70 from the

48.




gateway 69.




NE_CV/NE_ES
AccessCare
Near End Code
This ratio is an
A high CV-to-ES



15 min
Violations divided
indicator of how
ratio in the




by Near End
the Code
upstream




Errored Seconds
Violations in the
direction will




The “NE_CV
upstream direction
likely result in




(near end code
are distributed
slow response in




violations)
during the 15-min
channel change




parameter is an
interval.
time or some




example of a

PVR commands




parameter

during the




indicative of an

periods when the




incidence of

DSL line is




upstream

reporting error




packets sent

seconds.




from the gateway

The “NE_CV/




69 to the access

NE_ES”




network 26

parameter is an




having been

example of a




detected by the

compound




access network

parameter




26 as corrupted.

indicative of a




The “NE_ES

time taken to




(near end errored

service an




seconds)

interactive




parameter is an

command (e.g., a




example of a

channel change




parameter

or VOD




indicative of an

command)




incidence of

provided by the




fixed-duration

user 65 of the




intervals (e.g., 1-

IPTV application




second intervals)

running on the




containing at

STB 70.




least one






upstream packet






sent from the






gateway 69 that






is detected by






the access






network 26 as






corrupted.




NE_CV/NE_SESM
AccessCare
Near End Code
This ratio is an
A high CV-to-



15 min
Violations divided
indicator of how
SES ratio in the




by Near End
the Code
upstream




Severely Errored
Violations in the
direction




Seconds
upstream direction
suggests that




The “NE_CV”
are distributed
CVs are also




(near end code
while the DSL
likely occurring




violations)
connection is
outside of the




parameter is an
reporting severely
intervals when




example of a
errored seconds
the DSL




parameter
during the 15-min
connection is




indicative of an
interval.
experiencing




incidence of

SES condition,




upstream

and there is a




packets sent

high probability




from the gateway

that slow




69 to the access

response time in




network 26

channel change




having been

or PVR




detected by the

commands will




access network

be experienced




26 as corrupted.

during the 15-min




The “NE_SESM”

interval.




(near end

The “NE_CV/




severely errored

NE_SESM”




seconds)

parameter is an




parameter is an

example of a




example of a

compound




parameter

parameter




indicative of an

indicative of an




incidence of

incidence of




severely errored

upstream




intervals, where

packets having




a severely

been corrupted




errored interval is

outside the




a fixed-duration

severely errored




interval (e.g., a 1-

intervals.




second interval)






containing more






than a threshold






number of






upstream






packets sent






from the gateway






69 that are






detected by the






access network






26 as corrupted.




NE_CV/PKTS_REQ
D-Server |
Near End Code
Code violations in
A high CV-to-



AC
Violations divided
the upstream
Packet



15 min
by Packets
direction may
Requested ratio




Requested
impact the ability
in the upstream




The “NE_CV”
of the set-top box
direction will




(near end code
to request re-
likely lead to




violations)
transmission of
unfilled holes,




parameter is an
packets from the
resulting in visual




example of a
D-Server during
and/or audio




parameter
the 15-min
impairments.




indicative of an
interval.
The “NE_CV/




incidence of

PKTS_REQ”




upstream

parameter is an




packets sent

example of a




from the gateway

compound




69 to the access

parameter




network 26

indicative of a




having been

likelihood that a




detected by the

request for




access network

retransmission




26 as corrupted.

issued by the




The

IPTV application




“PKTS_REQ”

running on the




(packets

STB 70 will not




requested)

reach the D-




parameter is an

server of the




example of a

content




parameter

distribution entity




indicative of an

48.




incidence of gaps






between






downstream






packets received






by the IPTV






application






running on the






STB 70 from the






gateway 69.




NE_CV_SUB_HOLES
D-Server |
Near End Code
Code violations in
A negative value



AC
Violations minus
the upstream
indicates that



15 min
Number of Holes
direction may
most/all packet




The “NE_CV”
impact the ability
retransmission




(near end code
of the set-top box
requests should




violations)
to request re-
be received by




parameter is an
transmission of
the D-server.




example of a
packets from the
The




parameter
D-Server during
“NE_CV_SUB_




indicative of an
the 15-min
HOLES”




incidence of
interval.
parameter is an




upstream

example of a




packets sent

compound




from the gateway

parameter




69 to the access

indicative of a




network 26

likelihood that a




having been

request for




detected by the

retransmission




access network

issued by the




26 as corrupted.

IPTV application




The “HOLES”

running on the




(number of

STB 70 will not




holes) parameter

reach the D-




is an example of

server of the




a parameter

content




indicative of an

distribution entity




incidence of gaps

48.




between






downstream






packets received






by the IPTV






application






running on the






STB 70 from the






gateway 69.




NE_CV_SUB_PKTS_REQ
D-Server |
Near End Code
Code violations in
A negative value



AC
Violations minus
the upstream
indicates that



15 min
Number of
direction may
most/all packet




Packets
impact the ability
retransmission




Requested
of the set-top box
requests should




The “NE_CV”
to request re-
be received by




(near end code
transmission of
the D-server.




violations)
packets from the
The




parameter is an
D-Serve during
“NE_CV_SUB_




example of a
the 15-min
PKTS_REQ”




parameter
interval.
parameter is an




indicative of an

example of a




incidence of

compound




upstream

parameter




packets sent

indicative of a




from the gateway

likelihood that a




69 to the access

request for




network 26

retransmission




having been

issued by the




detected by the

IPTV application




access network

running on the




26 as corrupted.

STB 70 will not




The

reach the D-




“PKTS_RED”

server of the




(packets

content




requested)

distribution entity




parameter is an

48.




example of a






parameter






indicative of an






incidence of gaps






between






downstream






packets received






by the IPTV






application






running on the






STB 70 from the






gateway 69.




NE_ES
AccessCare
Near End-
Near End Errored
The presence of



15 min
Errored Seconds
Seconds refers to
error seconds is




This is a
the count of 1-
an indication of




measure of
second intervals
problems with




errors in the DSL
during which one
the DSL




line for the
or more: CRC
connection which




upstream
anomalies, or
may impact the




direction (i.e.
defects such as
transmission,




from residential
severely errored
resulting in re-




gateway to
frame (SEF), loss
transmission of




DSLAM), and will
of signal (LOS),
packets or




affect both IPTV
loss of power
packet loss.




and Internet
(LPR) are
Uncorrected




packets being
detected at the
errors in the




transmitted at the
DSLAM (i.e.
upstream




time of error
upstream)
direction may




condition.

lead to slow






response in






channel change






time or some






PVR commands.


NE_HBER
AccessCare
Near End-High
A high bit error
A DSL



15 min
Bit Error Rate
rate is an
connection with




This parameter
indication of the
high bit error rate




indicates that a
presence of
in the upstream




high bit error rate
disturbers such as
direction will




is detected by
high noise level in
likely lead to slow




the DSLAM (i.e.
the DSL
response in




upstream).
connection, as
channel change





detected by the
time and some





DSLAM.
PVR commands.


NE_LIA
AccessCare
Near End-Line
The NE_LIA
IPTV service



15 min
Initiation Attempt
counter is only
outage will occur




This is a count of
registered by the
during DSL line




the number of
DSLAM after a
re-sync.




DSL line attempt
line re-sync has





to re-syncs.
successfully been






completed re-






sync has been






completed during






the 15-min time






interval.



NE_LOLS
AccessCare
Near End-Loss
Loss of Link may
A loss of link for



15 min
of Link Seconds
occur due to
the DSL




This is a count of
severely errored
connection will




1-second
frame (SEF)
result in IPTV




intervals during
defects, loss of
service outage.




which there is a
signal (LOS), loss





loss of link for the
of power (LPR),





DSL connection,
etc.





as measured at






the DSLAM over






a 15-min interval.




NE_SESM
AccessCare
Near End-
This is a count of
A DSL



15 min
Severely Errored
1-second intervals
connection with




Second
during which there
high count of




This measures
are: 18 or more
severely errored




the number of 1-
CRC anomalies,
seconds in the




sec intervals in
or one or more
upstream




which the DSL
LOS (loss of
direction will




connection has
signal), SEF
likely result in




experienced
(severe errored
slow response in




severe error
frame) or LPR
channel change




conditions in the
(loss of power)
time and/or some




upstream
defects are
PVR commands.




direction.
detected at the






DSLAM (i.e.






upstream).



NE_SFR
AccessCare
Near End-
This is a count of
includes both



15 min
Superframe
the number of
IPTV and




Received
superframes (or
Internet traffic




This is a
blocks) received





measure of the
by the DSLAM





amount of traffic
from the





being sent from
residential





the residential
gateway to the





gateway to the
residential





DSLAM (i.e.
gateway during





upstream)
the 15-min interval






(i.e. upstream)



NE_SFT
AccessCare
Near End-
This is a count of
includes both



15 min
Superframe
the number of
IPTV and




Transmitted
superframes (or
Internet traffic




This is a
blocks) sent from





measure of the
the DSLAM to the





amount of traffic
residential





being sent from
gateway during





the DSLAM to
the 15-min interval





the residential
(i.e. downstream).





gateway (i.e.






downstream)




NE_UAS
AccessCare
Near End-
By definition, a
A DSL



15 min
Unavailable
DSL line becomes
connection with




Second
unavailable at the
unavailable





onset of 10
second(s) in the





contiguous SES
upstream





(severely errored
direction will lead





seconds).
to difficulty with





This parameter
channel change





shows the count
or some PVR





of 1-sec intervals
commands





during which the
during the 15-min





DSL line is
interval.





unavailable at the






DSLAM.



PACKETS_REQUESTED
D-Server
Number of
This is a count of
A high value of



15 min
Packets
the number of
number of




Requested to be
packets requested
packets




retransmitted to
by the set-top box
requested for




the set-top box
to be re-
retransmission




from the D-
transmitted (for
indicates a




Server
holes smaller than
higher probability





150 ms) from the
of visual or audio





D-Server during
impairment.





the 15-min






interval.



PACKETS_SERVICED
D-Server
Number of
This is a count of
A high value of



15 min
Packets
the number of
number of




requested to be
packets being re-
packets




retransmitted to
transmitted from





the set-top box
the D-Server to a





which have been
set-top box during





fulfilled by the D-
the 15-min





Sever
interval.



PKT_SERV_SUB_PKT_REQ
D-Server
Packets Serviced
This parameter
A value of 0



15 min
minus Packets
provides an
indicates all




Requested
indication of how
requests for




The
successful the D-
retransmission




“PKT_SERV”
Server is in
(for holes less




(packets
fulfilling the
than 150 ms)




serviced)
request for packet
have been




parameter is an
retransmission by
fulfilled by the D-




example of a
the set-top box.
Server.




parameter

A negative value




indicative of an

indicates that not




incidence of

all requests for




missing

retransmission




downstream

have been




packets having

fulfilled, which




been

would result in




retransmitted by

visual or audio




the D-server of

impairments.




the content

The




distribution entity

“PKT_SERV_




48.

SUB_PKT_REQ”




The “PKT_REQ”

parameter is an




(packets

example of a




requested)

compound




parameter is an

parameter




example of a

indicative of a




parameter

success rate of




indicative of an

the D-server of




incidence of

the content




missing

distribution entity




downstream

48 in handling




packets for which

requests for




a request for

retransmission




retransmission

issued by the




has been issued

IPTV application




by the IPTV

running on the




application

STB 70.




running on the






STB 70.




REBOOT
CMS | 5530 |
Number of

IPTV service



AccessCare
Reboots

outage occurs




This is a count of

when the




the number of

residential




times the

gateway reboots.




residential






gateway reboots






during the 15-min






time interval.




RETRY_NUMBER
D-Server
Number of Holes
This parameter
A high value of



15 min
encountered at
counts the number
retry indicates a




the set-top box
of holes smaller
higher probability





than 150 ms
of visual or audio





encountered by
impairment.





the set-top box






during the 15-min






interval.



TOTAL_HOLE_PKTS
Snapshot
Total Hole
This is the total
This provides an




Packets is the
number of packets
indication of the




total number of
for all large holes
number of




packets for all
and unfilled holes
packets required




holes
for all live TV
for




encountered by
channels.
retransmission.




the set-top box

For holes greater






than 150 ms,






there will be no






request for re-






transmission,






and visual/audio






impairments will






be experienced






by IPTV






customers.


TOTAL_PKTS_EXPIRED
Snapshot
Total Packets
This is the total
A positive value




Expired is the
number of expired
indicates that




total number of
packets (i.e. out-
visual and/or




packets which
of-order packets
audio




took too long to
or have taken too
impairments will




arrive at the set-
long to arrive) for
be experienced




top box
all large holes and
by the IPTV





unfilled holes for
customer.





all live TV






channels.



TOTAL_PKTS_RCVD
Snapshot
Total Packets
This is a count of





Received is the
the total number





total number of
of packets





packets received
received for all live





by the set-top
TV channels by





box.
the set-top box.



TOTAL_PKTS_SENT
CMS
Total Number of
A measure of the




Daily
Packets Sent by
amount of traffic





Residential
being sent by the





Gateway
residential






gateway to






devices connected






to the home






network.









In this embodiment, the IPTV service parameters may be categorized in different ways.


For example, in this embodiment, one way in which the IPTV service parameters may be categorized is based on where they are measured (e.g., in the subscriber premises 28x, in the access network 26, etc.). In particular, in this embodiment, some of the IPTV service parameters which are used by the service monitoring entity 45 to assess the QoE of the subscribers are measured in the access network 26. More specifically, in this embodiment, these parameters may be measured by the monitoring entity 58 of the access network 26. This is particularly useful as it can provide insight that could not be otherwise achieved when considering IPTV service parameters only measured by the end-user equipment 30x at the subscriber premises 28x. For example, in this case, the “NE_CV” parameter, which refers to near end code violations reflecting a measure of errors conditions of the DSL connection in the upstream direction (i.e., towards the DSLAM 64), is based on measurements performed by the monitoring entity 58 of the access network 26.


As another example, in this embodiment, another way in which the IPTV service parameters may be categorized is by categorizing them as “independent” IPTV service parameters and “compound” IPTV service parameters.


An independent IPTV service parameter can be viewed as a metric which is directly measured and does not depend on another IPTV service parameter. For instance, one example of an independent IPTV service parameter that is listed in Table 1 is the “DISCARD_PKTS_SENT” parameter, which refers to the number of packets intended to be sent by the residential gateway 69 to the STB 70 but that have been discarded by the residential gateway 69 instead of being sent to the STB 70. Another example of an independent IPTV service parameter that is listed in Table 1 is the “PACKETS_REQUESTED” parameter, which refers to the number of packets requested to be retransmitted in requests for retransmission issued by the STB 70.


A “compound” IPTV service parameter can be viewed as a metric which is a function of a plurality of IPTV service parameters. A compound IPTV service parameter may provide insight that cannot be obtained when considering individually the IPTV service parameters on which it depends. For instance, one example of a compound IPTV service parameter that is listed in Table 1 is the “DISC_SENT/REQ” parameter, which refers to a ratio of the “DISCARD_PKTS_SENT” parameter (i.e., the number of packets intended to be sent by the residential gateway 69 to the STB 70 but that have been discarded by the residential gateway 69) and the “PACKETS_REQUESTED” parameter (i.e., the number of packets requested to be retransmitted in requests for retransmission issued by the STB 70). A ratio of 1:1 would strongly suggest that the holes encountered at the STB 70 are likely caused by the packets being discarded before being sent by the residential gateway 69. A high ratio may be an indication that the holes caused by the packets being discarded are larger than 150 ms (i.e., they are too large such that no request for retransmission is issued by the STB 70).


The function defining a given compound IPTV service parameter may take on various forms. In the examples of compound IPTV service parameters listed in Table 1, the function defining each compound parameter is purely arithmetic. More particularly, in these examples, the function defining a given compound IPTV service parameter is a division of one parameter by another or a subtraction of one parameter from another. Thus, in these examples, a given compound IPTV service parameter may be determined by determining an arithmetic difference between, or a quotient of, a first operand that comprises a first IPTV service parameter on which the given IPTV service compound parameter depends and a second operand that comprises a second IPTV service parameter on which the given IPTV service compound parameter depends, as the case may be. Instead of a quotient, a logarithmic difference may be equivalently used in some cases. The function defining a given compound IPTV service parameter may be more complex in other examples.


In this embodiment, a given compound IPTV service parameter may be a function of two or more other IPTV service parameters which gives an indication of a likelihood of a situation affecting QoE of the subscriber, possibly causing a service impairment for the subscriber (i.e., video and/or audio impairment, such as pixelation, screen freezing, etc.).


For example, when packets are dropped and the STB 70 encounters, the STB 70 issues requests for retransmission of the dropped packets for holes no greater than 150 ms. Based only on the number of retransmission requests received at a D-server of the content distribution entity 48 (the IPTV service parameter “RETRY_NUMBER”), one does not know whether some requests for retransmission sent to the D-Server get dropped before reaching the D-Server or whether packets retransmitted by the D-server get dropped before reaching the STB 70. However, a higher value of the IPTV service parameter “DISC_RCVD/HOLES” can indicate a higher likelihood of requests for retransmission from the STB 70 failing to reach the D-Server and resulting in visual and/or audio impairment for the subscriber.


As another example, requests for packet retransmission received by a D-server of the content distribution entity 48 indicate that packets are dropped before reaching the STB 70. Based on the number of retransmission requests alone, one cannot know whether the dropped packets are causing a service impairment for the subscriber. However, a higher value of the IPTV service parameter “DISC_SENT/REQ” can indicate that the holes caused by the packets being discarded are larger than 150 ms (i.e. they are too large so that no request for retransmission is issued), thus causing video and/or audio impairment for the subscriber.


Other examples of IPTV service parameters which give indications of likelihood of situations affecting QoE of the subscribers are presented in Table 1. Yet other examples may be envisaged in other embodiments.


The service monitoring entity 45 of the SHE 20 collects and processes the values of the IPTV service parameters to provide insight into the QoE of each of the subscribers. More particularly, based on the values of the IPTV service parameters for the subscriber at the subscriber premises 28x, the service monitoring entity 45 derives information indicative of the QoE of the subscriber. This information, which will be referred to as “QoE information”, can be derived in various ways.


For example, in this embodiment, the QoE information for the subscriber comprises a plurality of levels of QoE of the subscriber for different periods of time (e.g., a fraction of an hour, an hour, a day, a week, a month) which provide insight into the QoE of the subscriber at different degrees of temporal resolution or granularity. These levels of QoE are attributed by the service monitoring entity 45 based on the values of the IPTV service parameters. Since they can be viewed as basically rating the QoE of the subscriber, the levels of QoE of the subscriber that are determined by the service monitoring entity 45 can be viewed as “ratings of QoE”. More particularly, in this embodiment, the QoE information comprises a QoE rating for every interval of fifteen minutes (hereinafter referred to as a “15-min QoE rating”), a QoE rating for every day (hereinafter referred to as a “daily QoE rating”), a QoE rating for every week (hereinafter referred to as a “weekly QoE rating”), and a QoE rating for every month (hereinafter referred to as a “monthly QoE rating”).


The QoE ratings can be derived in many different ways based on the values of the IPTV service parameters for the subscriber. An example of how the QoE ratings for the subscriber may be derived in this embodiment will now be discussed, with additional reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.


a) 15-min QoE Rating


The values of the IPTV service parameters which are measured every 15 minutes are rated to obtain ratings for these parameters. These ratings, which will be referred to as “parameter ratings”, are taken from a set of potential parameter ratings which constitute a parameter rating scale. The parameter rating scale can take on various forms. For example, as shown in Table 2, in this embodiment, the parameter rating scale includes three potential parameter ratings, namely “green”, “yellow”, and “red”. The value of a given IPTV service parameter for a particular 15-min interval may be attributed: the “green” parameter rating when it is considered to be in a normal or standard range for this parameter; the “yellow” parameter rating when it is considered to be outside the normal or standard range for this particular parameter by a degree which is unlikely to be indicative of a problem affecting the subscribers QoE; and the “red” parameter rating when it is considered to be so outside the normal or standard range for this particular parameter that it likely indicates a problem affecting the subscriber's QoE.


In this embodiment, a parameter rating is attributed to the value of a given IPTV service parameter for a particular 15-min interval by comparing this value to one or more thresholds. Such thresholds may be determined by the service provider (e.g., based on conditions which clearly demonstrate impairments of the IPTV service to the subscriber). Examples of such thresholds are provided in Table 2.


For example, in this case, the value of the “DISCARD_PKTS_SENT” parameter for a particular 15-min interval is compared to a first threshold of 200 discarded packets and a second threshold of 9000 discarded packets. If the value of the “DISCARD_PKTS_SENT” parameter is less than or equal to 200, it is attributed the “green” parameter rating. If the value of the “DISCARD_PKTS_SENT” parameter is greater than or equal to 9000, it is attributed the “red” parameter rating. If the value of the “DISCARD_PKTS_SENT” parameter is between 200 and 9000, it is attributed the “yellow” parameter rating.


The 15-min QoE rating for the subscriber for a particular 15-min interval is derived on a basis of the parameter ratings of the values of the IPTV service parameters for the particular 15-min interval. Specifically, in this example, the 15-min QoE rating for the subscriber for the particular 15-min interval is taken from a set of potential 15-min QoE ratings which forms a 15-min QoE rating scale or range. For example, in this embodiment, the 15-min QoE rating scale or range includes four potential 15-min QoE ratings, namely “green”, “yellow”, “red”, and “blue” (which are represented by different cross-hatching patterns in FIGS. 5 and 6). A “green” 15-min QoE rating may be attributed when the subscribers QoE is deemed to be normal or standard for the particular 15-min interval. A “yellow” 15-min QoE rating may be attributed when the subscriber's QoE is deemed to be affected by a relatively minor issue during the particular 15-min interval. A “red” 15-min QoE rating may be attributed when the subscriber's QoE is deemed to be affected by a relatively major issue during the particular 15-min interval. A “blue” 15-min QoE rating may be attributed when the subscriber's QoE is deemed to be affected by an issue during a primetime viewing period, which is determined by the service provider (e.g., 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm Eastern and Pacific and 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm Central and Mountain from Monday to Saturday, and 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm Eastern and Pacific and 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm Central and Mountain on Sunday).


The 15-min QoE rating for the subscriber for the particular 15-min interval is determined based on criteria defined in terms of the parameter ratings of the values of the IPTV service parameters for the particular 15-min interval. For instance, in this example:

    • If every one of the parameter ratings of the values of the IPTV service parameters for the particular 15-min interval is the “green” parameter rating, then the 15-min QoE rating for the particular 15-min interval is the “green” QoE rating.
    • If any of the parameter ratings of the values of the IPTV service parameters for the particular 15-min interval is the “red” parameter rating, then the 15-min QoE rating for the particular 15-min interval is the “red” QoE rating.
    • If any of the parameter ratings of the values of the IPTV service parameters for the particular 15-min interval is the “yellow” parameter rating but none of these parameter ratings is the “red” parameter rating, then the 15-min QoE rating for the particular 15-min interval may be the “yellow” QoE rating or the “red” QoE rating, depending on the number of “yellow” parameter ratings for the particular 15-min interval. For instance, if the number of “yellow” parameter ratings for the particular 15-min interval is below a threshold (e.g., 4 or any other number), the 15-min QoE rating for the particular 15-min interval may be the “yellow” QoE rating; otherwise, if the number of “yellow” parameter ratings for the particular 15-min interval is at or above the threshold, the 15-min QoE rating for the particular 15-min interval may be the “red” QoE rating.
    • If the particular 15-min interval fails within a primetime viewing period determined by the service provider and any of the parameter ratings of the values of the IPTV service parameters for the particular 15-min interval is the “yellow” or “red” parameter rating, then the 15-min QoE rating for the particular 15-min interval is the “blue” QoE rating.


Various other criteria may be applied in other embodiments to attribute the 15-min QoE rating for the particular 15-min interval.


This approach is applied to each of the ninety-six 15-min intervals in a day in order to obtain ninety-six 15-min QoE ratings for the subscriber for that day.


The 15-min QoE ratings for the subscriber are examples of intraday ratings for periods of time shorter than one day that can be attributed. In other embodiments, intraday ratings for longer or shorter periods of time can be used (e.g., 5-min QoE ratings, 30-min QoE ratings, 1-hour QoE ratings, 3-hour QoE ratings, etc.).










TABLE 2








Thresholds










Measure
Red
Yellow
Green





CRASH_COUNT
  1  
Only Red or Green
     0


DISC_RCVD/HOLES
 200+
101-199
<=100


DISC_RCVD/REQ
 200+
101-199
<=100


DISC_SENT/HOLES
 200+
101-199
<=100


DISC_SENT/REQ
 200+
101-199
<=100


DISCARD_PKTS_
9000+
 201-8999
<=200


RCVD





DISCARD_PKTS_
9000+
 201-8999
<=200


SENT





ERRORS_RCVD
150,000+  
Not defined but
<=200




will use a





blended metric to





determine status



ERRORS_SENT
150,000+  
Not defined but
<=200




will use a blended





metric to





determine status



FE_CB
No Threshold
No Threshold
No Threshold


FE_CV
9,000+ 
Not defined but
<=200




will use a blended





metric to





determine status



FE_CV/FE_ES
 100+
11-99
 <=10


FE_CV/FE_SESM
 100+
11-99
 <=10


FE_CV/HOLES
 100+
11-99
 <=10


FE_CV/PKTS_REQ
 100+
11-99
 <=10


FE_CV_SUB_HOLES
1000+
 11-999
 <=10


FE_CV_SUB_PKTS_
1000+
 11-999
 <=10


REQ





FE_ES
No Threshold
No Threshold
No Threshold



Not an
Not an indicator
Not an



indicator on
on it's own
indicator



it's own but
but used
on it's own



used as a
as a combined
but used as a



combined
measure with
combined



measure with
others
measure



others

with others


FE_HBER
  5+
1-4
     0


FE_SESM
  5+
1-4
     0


FE_SFR
No Threshold
No Threshold
No Threshold


FE_SFT
No Threshold
No Threshold
No Threshold


FE_UAS
  5+
1-4
     0


ISW
 40+
11-39
 <=10


Link Resync
  2  
1
     0


MAX_HOLE_SIZE
No Threshold
No Threshold
No Threshold


NE_CB
No Threshold
No Threshold
No Threshold


NE_CV
9,000+ 
Not defined but
<=200




will use a blended





metric to





determine status



NE_CV/HOLES
 100+
11'99
 <=10


NE_CV/NE_ES
 100+
11'99
 <=10


NE_CV/NE_SESM
 100+
11'99
 <=10


NE_CV/PKTS_REQ
 100+
11'99
 <=10


NE_CV_SUB_HOLES
1000+
 11-999
 <=10


NE_CV_SUB_PKTS_
1,000+ 
 11-999
 <=10


REQ





NE_ES
No Threshold
No Threshold
No Threshold



Not an indicator
Not an indicator
Not an



on it's own but
on it's own but
indicator



used as a
used as a
on it's own



combined
combined
but used as a



measure with
measure with
combined



others
others
measure with





others


NE_HBER
  5+
1-4
     0


NE_LIA
  1  
Either Red or
     0




Green nothing in





between



NE_LOLS
  5+
1-4
     0


NE_SESM
  5+
1-4
     0


NE_SFR
No Threshold
No Threshold
No Threshold


NE_SFT
No Threshold
No Threshold
No Threshold


NE_UAS
  5+
1-4
     0


PACKETS_
4500+
Not defined but
 <=70


REQUESTED

will use a blended





metric to





determine status



PACKETS_
No Threshold
No Threshold
No Threshold


SERVICED





PKT_SERV_SUB_
  <=−5        
−4 to 0
     0


PKT_REQ





REBOOT
  1  
Only Red or Green
     0


RETRY_NUMBER
4500+
Not defined but
 <=70




will use a blended





metric to





determine status



TOTAL_HOLE_PKTS
No Threshold
No Threshold
No Threshold


TOTAL_PKTS_
  5+
1-4
     0


EXPIRED





TOTAL_PKTS_RCVD
No Threshold
No Threshold
No Threshold


TOTAL_PKTS_SENT
No Threshold
No Threshold
No Threshold









b) Daily QoE Rating


The daily QoE rating for the subscriber for a particular day is determined on a basis of the ninety-six 15-min QoE ratings for the subscriber for that day. Specifically, in this example, the daily QoE rating for the subscriber for the particular day is taken from a set of potential daily QoE ratings which forms a daily QoE rating scale or range. For example, in this embodiment, the daily QoE rating scale includes four potential daily QoE ratings, namely “green”, “yellow”, “red”, and “blue”. A “green” daily QoE rating may be attributed when the subscriber's QoE is deemed to be normal or standard for the particular day. A “yellow” daily QoE rating may be attributed when the subscriber's QoE is deemed to be detrimentally affected by a relatively minor issue on the particular day. A “red” daily QoE rating may be attributed when the subscriber's QoE is deemed to be detrimentally affected by a relatively major issue on the particular day. A “blue” daily QoE rating may be attributed when the subscriber's QoE is deemed to be detrimentally affected by an issue during a primetime viewing period on the particular day.


The daily QoE rating for the subscriber for the particular day is determined based on criteria defined in terms of the ninety-six 15-min QoE ratings for the subscriber for that day. For instance, in this example:

    • If the number of “yellow” and “red” 15-min QoE ratings for the particular day is less than or equal to a first threshold, in this case five, then the daily QoE rating for the particular day is the “green” daily QoE rating.
    • If the number of “yellow” and “red” 15-min QoE ratings for the particular day is greater than the first threshold but less than or equal to a second threshold, in this case twenty, then the daily QoE rating for the particular day is the “yellow” daily QoE rating.
    • If the number of “yellow” and “red” 15-min QoE ratings for the particular day is greater than the second threshold, then the daily QoE rating for the particular day is the “red” daily QoE rating.
    • If the number of “blue” 15-min QoE ratings for the particular day is greater than or equal to a given threshold, in this case 10, then the daily QoE rating for the particular day is the “blue” daily QoE rating.


The criteria on which the daily QoE rating for the subscriber for the particular day is determined may also take into account the values of the IPTV service parameters which are measured every day. For instance, the value of a given IPTV service parameter which is measured every day is rated to obtain a parameter rating. As discussed above, and as shown in Table 2, in this embodiment, the “green”, “yellow”, and “red” parameter rating is attributed to the value of the given IPTV service parameter for a particular day by comparing this value to one or more thresholds, which are determined by the service provider. As an example, in this case, the value of the “ERRORS_SENT” parameter for a particular day, which refers to the number of errors in the IPTV packets detected by the residential gateway 69, is compared to a first threshold number of 200 errors and a second threshold of 150000 discarded packets. If the value of the “ERRORS_SENT” parameter is less than or equal to 200, it is attributed the “green” parameter rating. If the value of the “ERRORS_SENT” parameter is greater than or equal to 150000, it is attributed the “red” parameter rating. If the value of the “ERRORS_SENT” parameter is between 200 and 150000, it is attributed the “yellow” parameter rating. In such cases, if any of the parameter ratings of the values of the IPTV service parameters for the particular day is the “red” parameter rating, then the daily QoE rating for the particular day is the “red” daily QoE rating, regardless of what are the 15-min QoE ratings for the particular day.


Various other criteria may be applied in other embodiments to attribute the daily QoE rating for the particular day.


This approach is applied to each of the seven days in a week in order to obtain seven daily QoE ratings for the subscriber for that week.


c) Weekly QoE Rating


The weekly QoE rating for the subscriber for a particular week is obtained on a basis of the seven daily QoE ratings for the subscriber for that week. Specifically, in this example, the weekly QoE rating for the subscriber for the particular week is taken from a set of potential weekly QoE ratings which forms a weekly QoE rating scale or range. For example, in this embodiment, the weekly QoE rating scale includes four potential weekly QoE ratings, namely “green”, “yellow”, “red”, and “blue”. A “green” weekly QoE rating may be attributed when the subscriber's QoE is deemed to be normal or standard for the particular week. A “yellow” weekly QoE rating may be attributed when the subscriber's QoE is deemed to be detrimentally affected by a relatively minor issue on the particular week. A “red” weekly QoE rating may be attributed when the subscriber's QoE is deemed to be detrimentally affected by a relatively major issue on the particular week. A “blue” weekly QoE rating may be attributed when the subscriber's QoE is deemed to be detrimentally affected by an issue during a primetime viewing period during the particular week.


The weekly QoE rating for the subscriber for the particular week is determined based on criteria defined in terms of the seven daily QoE ratings for the subscriber for that week. For instance, in this example:

    • If the number of “red” daily QoE ratings for the particular week is less than or equal to a first threshold, in this case one, then the weekly QoE rating for the particular week is the “green” weekly QoE rating.
    • If the number of “red” daily QoE ratings for the particular week is greater than the first threshold but less than or equal to a second threshold, in this case three, then the weekly QoE rating for the particular week is the “yellow” weekly QoE rating.
    • If the number of “red” daily QoE ratings for the particular week is greater than the second threshold, then the weekly QoE rating for the particular week is the “red” weekly QoE rating.
    • If the number of “blue” daily QoE ratings for the particular week is greater than or equal to a given threshold, in this case 3, then the weekly QoE rating for the particular week is the “blue” weekly QoE rating.


The criteria on which the weekly QoE rating for the subscriber for the particular week is determined may also take into account the parameter ratings of certain IPTV service parameters. For instance, the parameter rating of a given IPTV service parameter may be considered to be of sufficient importance that, if it is “red” parameter rating, the weekly QoE rating for the particular week is the “red” weekly QoE rating, regardless of what are the daily QoE ratings for the particular week. As an example, in this case, if the “REBOOT” parameter, which refers to the number of reboots of the residential gateway 69, was attributed the “red” parameter rating anytime during the particular week, the weekly QoE rating for the particular week is the “red” weekly QoE rating, regardless of what are the daily QoE ratings for the particular week.


Various other criteria may be applied in other embodiments to attribute the weekly QoE rating for the particular week.


d) Monthly QoE Rating


The monthly QoE rating for the subscriber for a particular month is obtained on a basis of the daily QoE ratings for the subscriber for that month, in a manner similar to that discussed above in respect of the weekly QoE ratings.


The QoE information for each of the subscribers, including the QoE ratings for each of the subscribers, is recorded and stored in the database 83 of the service monitoring entity 45. The database 83 is implemented by data storage media, which may store data optically (e.g., an optical disk such as a CD-ROM or a DVD), magnetically (e.g., a hard disk drive, a removable diskette), electrically (e.g., semiconductor memory, floating-gate transistor memory, etc.), and/or in various other ways.


By including the 15-min, daily, weekly, and monthly QoE ratings for the subscribers, the QoE information stored in the database 83 maintains a history of each subscriber's QoE which spans several weeks or months (e.g., a rolling period of six months or more) and which can be analyzed on a 15-min, daily, weekly or monthly basis. This archive can allow the service provider to identify issues or trends with respect to each subscriber's QoE. For example, the historical QoE information can allow the service provider to identify recurring issues or patterns experienced by individual subscribers. In order to optimize data storage efficiency, in some embodiments, the historical QoE information stored in the database 83 may be pruned to retain only items of information pertaining to issues experienced by the subscribers. For instance, only the QoE information reflecting “yellow”, “red” or “blue” QoE ratings may be retained.


The QoE information derived by the service monitoring entity 45 can be used in various ways. Generally, based on the QoE information, the service monitoring entity 45 provides a service assurance capability to enable the service provider to know how each subscriber is doing, know where and when trouble or issues arise, and therefore reduce the time and cost to resolve such trouble or issues.


For example, in this embodiment, a user 86 may use a monitoring tool provided by a user device 87 to gain insight into the QoE of the subscribers based on the QoE information derived by the service monitoring entity 45. For instance, in various cases, the user 86 may be a helpdesk agent or other customer service representative, a technician, a network engineer, an executive or other manager, or some other employee of the service provider. The user device 87 comprises an input portion (e.g., a keyboard, a touchscreen, and/or a mouse or other pointing device), an output portion comprising a display and possibly other output components (e.g., a speaker), and a processing portion to process data allowing the monitoring tool to be used by the user 86. In this embodiment, the user device 87 is a personal computer (e.g., a workstation, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, etc.). In other embodiments, the user device 87 may take on other forms (e.g., a mobile phone, a portable technician terminal, etc.).


The monitoring tool is implemented by a monitoring tool application 85. In this embodiment, the monitoring tool application 85 is executed by the processing entity 59 of the service monitoring entity 45. The monitoring tool comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) implemented on the user device 87. The user device 87 is connected to the service monitoring entity 45 via a communications link 55, which may be a wired or wireless link.


The monitoring tool enables the user 86 to interact with its GUI in order to request and be presented with meaningful representations of the QoE information stored in the database 83. The GUI may provide charts, tables, lists and/or any other graphical representation of selected portions of the QoE information stored in the database 83 that are to be presented to the user 86.


For instance, FIGS. 7 to 11 show examples of manifestations of the GUI on the computer 86 in this embodiment. In FIG. 7, a set of tables presents the daily, weekly, and monthly QoE ratings for the subscribers in terms of proportions of the subscribers which had “green”, “yellow”, “red” and “blue” QoE ratings for particulars days, weeks and months. For instance, the table indicates that, on May 18, 2010, 84.05% of the subscribers had “green” daily QoE ratings, 2.45% of the subscribers had “yellow” daily QoE ratings, 6.86% of the subscribers had “red” daily QoE ratings, and 6.63% of the subscribers had “blue” daily QoE ratings. In FIG. 8, the daily, weekly, and monthly QoE ratings for a given subscriber are presented by a calendar which conveys the daily QoE rating for each particular day, a list which conveys the weekly QoE rating for each particular week, and another list which conveys the monthly QoE rating for each particular month. For instance, the calendar and the lists indicate that the subscriber had “red” daily QoE ratings from April 18 to Apr. 21, 2010, a “green” daily QoE rating on Apr. 22, 2010, and a “yellow” daily QoE rating on Apr. 23, 2010, the subscriber had “red” weekly QoE ratings for the weeks of April 4 and Apr. 11, 2010, and the subscriber had a “red” monthly QoE rating for the month of April 2010. In FIGS. 9 to 11, different performance charts are presented.


Various other charts, tables, lists and/or other graphical representations of selected portions of the QoE information stored in the database 83 may be presented to the user 86 via the GUI of the monitoring tool (e.g., representations of the 15-min QoE ratings for a given subscriber, representations of individual ones of the IPTV service parameters for a given subscriber, etc.).


Based on the QoE information stored in the database 83, the user 86 may be alerted to situations affecting the QoE of subscribers. For example, when a particular IPTV service parameter (e.g., a given compound IPTV service parameters indicative of a likelihood of a situation affecting the QoE of a subscriber) is attributed a “red” parameter rating or a particular period of time (e.g., a 15-min interval, a day, a week, or a month) is attributed a “red” QoE rating, output of the “red” parameter rating or “red” QoE rating on the GUI of the computer 86 provides an alert alerting the user 86 to the fact that a situation is potentially affecting the QoE of the subscriber. Other forms of alerts (e.g., pop-up windows, email messages, etc.) may be issued in other embodiments.


The user 86 can use the monitoring tool provided by the user device 87 in order to assess the quality of the IPTV service provided to the subscribers in general or to specific subscribers, to identify issues in connection with this service, and establish corrective actions to resolve these issues.


For example, in cases in which the user 86 is a helpdesk agent or technician who is handling a subscriber's complaint about the IPTV service being poor, the QoE information accessible via the monitoring tool provided by the user device 87 may help the helpdesk agent or technician diagnose the trouble the subscriber is experiencing and be able to fix it as quickly and efficiently as possible. For instance, FIG. 12 shows how the user 86 can use the monitoring tool via the user device 87 to identify the root cause of a subscriber's issue as likely being a particular STB at the subscriber's premises. In particular, since the QoE information reflects the status of the access network 26, the user 86 can exclude the DSL connection as the root cause of the subscriber's issue.


As another example, in some cases, the user 86 may proactively review the QoE information accessible via the monitoring tool provided by the user device 87 to identify specific subscribers experiencing poor service quality (e.g., subscribers having a “red” weekly QoE rating) and reach out to them to resolve the issues before these subscribers notice the poor service or contact the service provider. For instance, the user 86 may contact a given subscriber identified as experiencing poor service to explain the situation and provide a solution to the problem (e.g., instruct the given subscriber to change a cable between the STB 70 and the residential gateway 69, advise the given subscriber that a technician can stop by to resolve the problem, etc.).


Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the processing entity 59 of the service monitoring entity 45 may proactively analyse the QoE information for the subscribers in order to identify specific subscribers experiencing poor service quality (e.g., subscribers having a “red” weekly QoE rating) and automatically take actions to resolve the issues before these subscribers notice the poor service and contact the service provider. For instance, the service monitoring entity 45 may send a communication (e.g., an email, a voice mail, an internal log communication etc.) to a helpdesk agent or a technician to advise of a given subscriber identified as experiencing poor service to explain the situation and provide a solution to the problem. As another example, the service monitoring entity 45 may send a communication (e.g., an email, a voice mail, etc.) to the given subscriber identified as experiencing poor service to explain the situation and provide a solution to the problem (e.g., advise the given subscriber that a technician can stop by to resolve the problem, etc.).


While in the examples considered above the user 86 is an employee of the service provider, in other examples, the user 86 may be the subscriber, who can use the monitoring tool provided by the user device 87 to access the QoE information pertaining to his/her subscription.


Another way in which the QoE information derived by the service monitoring entity 45 can be used is to assess performance of the network 10. Such assessments can give insight into how well the IPTV service is provisioned by the service provider, isolate chronic issues, serve to develop better provisioning standards/guidelines and training programs for technicians, and/or rationalize added investments in connection with the IPTV service. For example, this may be used to isolate problems by identifying which network components (e.g., in the SHE 20, in the core network 22, in the access network 26 or in the end-user equipment 30x) are causing these problems. For instance, FIG. 13 shows an example of a more detailed architecture over which the IPTV service may be delivered, with rectangular boxes illustrating potential areas where issues affecting delivery of the IPTV service may be encountered.


Although in embodiments discussed above the service monitoring entity 45 and the QoE information that it derives pertain to an IPTV service, in other embodiments, principles discussed herein may apply to other services that can be provided over the packet-switched network 13. For example, in other embodiments, principles discussed herein may apply to an Internet access service and/or a VoIP service provided over the packet-switched network 13. For instance, in such embodiments, a service monitoring entity similar to the service monitoring entity 45 may derive QoE information for subscribers of the Internet access service and/or the VoIP service on a basis of parameters similar to the IPTV service parameters discussed above (e.g., with different thresholds being used in attributing QoE ratings to the parameter values).


While in embodiments considered above, the end-user equipment 301-30N of the subscribers is located at the subscriber premises 281-28N and the communication links 631-63N of the access network 26 include wired links leading to the end-user equipment 301-30N, in other embodiments, the end-user equipment 301-30N of the subscribers may include mobile wireless devices (e.g., cellular phones) and the communication links 631-63N may include wireless links (e.g., cellular links) over which the services are delivered.


Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in some embodiments, a given component described herein (e.g., the service monitoring entity 45) may comprise one or more pre-programmed hardware or firmware elements (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), etc.) or other related elements to implement at least some functionality of that given component. In other embodiments, a given component described herein (e.g., the service monitoring entity 45) may comprise a processor having access to a memory which stores program instructions for execution by the processor to implement at least some functionality of that given component. The program instructions may be stored on data storage media that is fixed, tangible, and readable directly by the processor. The data storage media may store data optically (e.g., an optical disk such as a CD-ROM or a DVD), magnetically (e.g., a hard disk drive, a removable diskette), electrically (e.g., semiconductor memory, floating-gate transistor memory, etc.), and/or in various other ways. Alternatively, the program instructions may be stored remotely but transmittable to the given component via a modem or other interface device connected to a network over a transmission medium. The transmission medium may be either a tangible medium (e.g., optical or analog communications lines) or a medium implemented using wireless techniques (e.g., microwave, infrared or other wireless transmission schemes).


Although various embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims.

Claims
  • 1. A method of monitoring performance of a system that comprises a gateway connected to an appliance running a media application, wherein packets are communicated between the appliance through the gateway and a head-end server, the method comprising: determining a first parameter indicative of a number of packets that, within an accumulation period of time, have been detected as corrupted;determining a second parameter indicative of a count of fixed-duration intervals during the accumulation period of time, containing at least one packet detected as corrupted;determining, based on at least the first parameter and the second parameter, a compound parameter associated with requests for retransmission issued by the media application during the accumulation period of time;determining a level of quality of experience (QoE) of a user of the appliance based on the compound parameter; andoutputting the level of QoE through a user interface.
Provisional Applications (2)
Number Date Country
61363441 Jul 2010 US
61391974 Oct 2010 US
Continuations (3)
Number Date Country
Parent 15299587 Oct 2016 US
Child 16378066 US
Parent 13974577 Aug 2013 US
Child 15299587 US
Parent 13809715 US
Child 13974577 US