Patent Grant
11356348
The invention relates generally to services delivered over packet-switched networks, such as Internet Protocol television (IRTV), Internet access, and voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) telephony services, and more particularly to methods and systems for monitoring such services.
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.
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.
A detailed description of embodiments of the invention is provided below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
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.
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 tire 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 FTTN 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 68 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 (nix) 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 281-26N 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
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 AN content that were missing, discarded, corrupted or otherwise not property 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 28x 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 entitles 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 property 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
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 dipping.
A similar discussion can be made in respect of other ones of the IPTV service parameters listed in Table 1.
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
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 subscriber's 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 foe 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 foe value of foe “DISCARD_PKTS_SENT” parameter is greater than or equal to 9000, it is attributed the “red” parameter rating. If foe 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
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:
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.).
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:
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 dally 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:
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,
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,
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 mall, 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,
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.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20200336399 A1 | Oct 2020 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61391974 | Oct 2010 | US | |
| 61363441 | Jul 2010 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16378066 | Apr 2019 | US |
| Child | 16917427 | US | |
| Parent | 15299587 | Oct 2016 | US |
| Child | 16378066 | US | |
| Parent | 13974577 | Aug 2013 | US |
| Child | 15299587 | US | |
| Parent | 13809715 | US | |
| Child | 13974577 | US |
