Method and System for Providing Communication Service During Movement

Abstract

To provide a method for providing a communication service based on the perceived quality to a moving transport craft via a communication system.SOLUTION: A method includes the steps of measuring a communication service metric for a mobile communication service during a measurement time window, comparing the communication service metric to a trigger threshold, and automatically starting a service level trigger that includes compensation issued to one or more passengers aboard a transport craft affected by a problem with the mobile communication service on the basis of a determination that the communication service metric is less than the trigger threshold.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] (Cross - Reference to Related Applications) This application claims priority to U.S. Non - Provisional Application No. 16 / 146,673, filed on September 28, 2018, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] (Field of the Invention) Embodiments generally relate to communication systems, and more specifically, to providing communication services based on haptic quality to a moving transport craft via a communication system.

Background Art

[0003] Individual or corporate customers of communication services and content services typically enter into relatively long - term (e.g., monthly, annual, etc.) contractual relationships with providers of services such as Internet service providers, television service providers, over - the - top media service providers, etc. Those customers generally expect a specific contract - level of service, and when a customer experiences an undesirable level of service, the customer often tries to contact the service provider to report the undesirable level of service. For example, a dissatisfied customer will contact their Internet service provider whenever there are service outages, clear speed drops, configuration problems, etc. To ensure a desirable experience for the customer, such service providers typically encourage customers to report problems and operations in order to address those problems in a timely manner.

[0004] During movement on a transport craft, it is becoming more common for a user to desire to consume communication resources (for, e.g., streaming media, email, the Internet, etc.). For example, a passenger can carry a mobile phone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, an integrated media terminal, and / or other mobile terminals while moving by car, airplane, bus, train, ship, or other transport craft. In many cases, some or all of the communication services are provided to the passenger via a remote network (e.g., the Internet) that communicates with the transport craft. In such cases, there is often a contractual relationship between the communication provider and the transport provider operating the transport craft. To ensure that a particular level of service is provided by the communication provider, some such providers tend to periodically check that their service is available at a rate of time and / or meets some contracted data speed thresholds.

[0005] In many cases, there is a relatively long-term contractual relationship between the communication provider and the transport provider, but only a relatively short-term relationship may exist between the communication provider and the passenger. For example, a passenger on an airline route can use the airline route's Internet service only for a portion of a single flight. Even while the service is technically available and provides at least a minimum data speed to the airplane, the passenger may still experience insufficient service or no service at all for some reasons. However, both the transport provider and the communication provider may have an insufficient understanding of the end-user experience, which can prevent those providers from recognizing and appropriately addressing problems that occur with respect to the end-user experience of their own. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] Specifically, a system and method for providing a communication service during movement based on the perceived quality (QoE) will be described. For example, the communication service during movement is provided to the content consumption devices of one or more transport crafts via a network. During measurement windows, the delivery of the communication service during movement can be measured to obtain network-level delivery (hereinafter also referred to as NLD) measurement values, and the consumption of the communication service during movement by one or more of the content consumption devices can be measured to obtain customer-level consumption (hereinafter also referred to as CLC) measurement values. Using the NLD and CLC measurement values, a QoE score indicating the quality of the delivered service recognized by one or more passengers of one or more transport crafts can be calculated. The stored service level data can be updated using the QoE score. The update can generate one or more service level triggers, which can trigger an automatic correction operation to address QoE-related conditions.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007] The present disclosure will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0008]

Figure 1

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Figure 2

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Figure 3

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Figure 5

[0013] In the accompanying drawings, similar components and / or features can have the same reference numerals. Further, various components of the same type can be distinguished by following reference numerals with a second numeral for distinguishing among similar components. If only the first reference numeral is used herein, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference numeral, regardless of the second reference numeral.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, one of ordinary skill in the art should recognize that the present invention can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, circuits, structures, and techniques are not shown in detail to avoid obscuring the present invention.

[0015] FIG. 1 shows a simplified diagram of a satellite communication system 100 that provides scenarios for various embodiments. The satellite communication system 100 generally facilitates the delivery of on-board content from one or more content sources to a plurality of transport crafts 110 according to release-time-based prioritization, as described herein. For example, a passenger aircraft may have an on-board system for providing in-flight communication services (e.g., in-flight entertainment, in-flight Internet connection, etc.) via in-seat mobile, personal mobile, or other devices. While the passenger aircraft is in flight, its on-board system can communicate with one or more carriers of the satellite communication system 100, thereby delivering in-flight communication services to passengers.

[0016] The transport crafts 110 and transport-related services can be provided to passengers by a transport provider such as an airline, and the transport provider desires to provide a positive passenger experience to its passengers regarding in-flight communication services. To create a positive passenger experience, the transport provider will seek to ensure that the in-flight communication services have at least a desired level of availability (e.g., little or no network downtime or other service outages are felt) and a desired level of accessibility (e.g., appropriate pricing, support for various different applications and / or device types) at a desired data rate (e.g., sufficiently high throughput, bandwidth, etc. to support passenger usage). The in-flight communication services can be provided by a communication provider such as a satellite communication company, and the communication provider can provide and operate some or all of the components of the provider network over which the communication services are provided. In some cases, the communication provider is fully or partially affiliated with the transport provider. In other cases, the communication provider is separate from the transport provider. In such cases, the transport provider can ensure a desired passenger experience through a contractual relationship with the communication provider.

[0017] Conventionally, to ensure a desirable passenger experience, it has been a tendency to obligate communication providers only to check that the services of the communication provider are available at least for some percentage of the contracted time and / or to meet some contracted data speed thresholds periodically. However, such periodic checks tend not to accurately reflect whether a desirable level of service is being provided to the end user (e.g., the passenger). For example, even if objective measurements indicate that the network is available and providing at least a minimum level of data speed during a particular airplane flight at a particular time, some other issues may cause network connection troubles for using a particular application for some or all of the passengers on that flight or otherwise cause an undesirable passenger experience. In such cases, the transport crew often has little opportunity or ability to address the problem, the passengers may have little incentive to report the problem, and / or it may be difficult to determine the cause or fix of the problem even if it is reported (e.g., because the individual reporting the problem does not fully understand the problem or because it is difficult for a technician to debug the problem afterwards).

[0018] The embodiments described in this specification provide a novel approach for maintaining a desired quality of experience (hereinafter also referred to as QoE) with respect to delivering in-motion communication services. For example, components of a provider network are used to obtain network-level delivery (hereinafter also referred to as NLD) measurements and customer-level consumption (hereinafter also referred to as CLC) measurements over a measurement time window while an in-motion communication service is being provided. A QoE score can be calculated as a function (e.g., weighted average, etc.) of the NLD measurements and the CLC measurements, and those measurements can be based on both objective metrics and subjective metrics. The calculated QoE score can indicate, in real time, the delivered quality of service (hereinafter also referred to as QoS) as perceived by one or more passengers of one or more transport crafts. In some embodiments, the QoE score can be automatically used to generate one or more service-level triggers, and these service-level triggers can at least partially address changes detected in QoE as needed by performing one or more automated trigger response actions.

[0019] In an embodiment, many different types of metrics can be used in many different ways. NLD measurements generally include objective measurements that indicate the effectiveness of the network when delivering mobile communication services (e.g., regardless of whether the services being delivered are consumed by one or more passengers). NLD measurements can be obtained at various levels, such as across the entire network, across a sub-network, or across one or more links of the network. CLC measurements generally include subjective measurements that indicate the effectiveness of a passenger when consuming mobile communication services (and can also include objective measurements). CLC measurements can also be obtained at various levels, such as for each individual passenger, for large or small groups of passengers, or for one or more simulated content consumption devices. The two types of measurements can be reflected in the calculated QoE in different ways. For example, even if a mobile communication service is objectively available to a particular passenger (e.g., according to the NLD measurement), the CLC measurement can indicate that one or more passenger content consumption devices are experiencing difficulties due to poor wireless reception (or wired interface problems) in the passenger seat, technical limitations of the device, and / or other reasons. Further, while a particular CLC measurement can be objectively measured (e.g., by a passenger content consumption device or a simulated content consumption device), the objective measurement can also be combined with, or contribute to, the subjective part of the QoE score calculation. For example, the CLC measurement can include an objective measurement of the number of video buffering events over a measurement time window, and this number of video buffering events can be compared to a threshold of video buffering events as part of the calculation of the QoE score and / or as part of the output of a service level trigger (described below). Also, the threshold of video buffering events can be determined by subjectively measuring how many video buffering events tend to have an adverse effect on the QoS being delivered as perceived by the passenger.

[0020] One or more types of QoE scores can be calculated and / or used to generate service level triggers according to the specific metrics used. In some embodiments, a general QoE score is calculated to indicate the awareness of the overall QoS delivered. In other embodiments, a web browsing QoE score is calculated to indicate the awareness of the QoS delivered in relation to the use of mobile communication services for normal web browsing behavior. In some embodiments, a video streaming QoE score is calculated to indicate the awareness of the QoS delivered in relation to the use of mobile communication services for video streaming services. In other embodiments, another type of QoE score can be calculated to indicate the awareness of the QoS delivered in relation to the use of mobile communication services for other types of actions. Any of these forms of QoE scores can be calculated in relation to one or more passengers, one or more transport crafts, one or more measurement time windows, and / or other suitable parameters.

[0021] These and other features can be provided using the components of a provider network. As used herein, a provider network can include some or all of a provider-side component, a craft-side component, and a provider network that communicatively couples the provider-side component to the craft-side component. The provider-side component can include one or more gateway terminals 150 and provider-side network nodes 245. In some cases, the provider-side component can also include one or more content networks 160, one or more content servers 180, and / or any other suitable components located remote from the transport craft 110. The craft-side component can include an on-board communication system 112, which can have a mobile terminal 230 with any other suitable communication-related components disposed on the transport craft 110. The provider network can include communication links (e.g., satellite communication link 135), relays (e.g., satellite 105), and / or any other suitable components disposed between the transport craft and the provider-side component.

[0022] The illustrated embodiment shows a transport craft 110 that communicates with one or more content servers 180 via satellites 105, one or more provider-side network nodes 245 (e.g., gateways, core nodes, etc.), and a content network 160. The communication system 100 is illustrated with a transport craft 110 as a single aircraft that communicates with a satellite 105 via a spot beam 135, but such an illustration is not intended to be limiting and, in embodiments, can operate in many different situations. For example, the communication system 100 can include one or more transport craft(s) 110 (e.g., aircraft, trains, buses, airships, cruise ships, etc.), which communicate via any one or more suitable communication architecture(s) that include any suitable communication link, such as a satellite communication system, an air-to-ground communication system, a hybrid satellite, and an air-to-ground communication system, a cellular communication system, etc.

[0023] Typically, due to the nature of the movement of the transport craft 110, the communication architecture is likely to require at least one wireless communication link. In some embodiments, the transport craft 110(s) can communicate with a communication system having multiple carriers. The term "carrier" generally refers to a wireless communication link such as a spot beam 135 of a satellite communication system (e.g., providing service to a specific spot beam coverage area), a specific carrier frequency band and / or polarization within a spot beam of a satellite communication system (e.g., providing service to some or all terminals within a specific spot beam coverage area), a cellular carrier frequency band (e.g., providing service to cellular terminals within a specific cell coverage area), etc., for one or more transport craft 110 and / or content consumption devices 120. For example, communication with a particular carrier can involve communicating via respective wireless links using a particular frequency, polarization, etc. The communication system architecture can provide various features including using multiple carriers to provide service to a large service area composed of multiple carrier coverage areas (e.g., spot beam coverage areas, cell coverage areas, etc.). The carrier coverage areas can partially or fully overlap such that a particular geographic area is served (e.g., simultaneously) by multiple carriers. Since the transport craft 110 moves through the communication network, it can move through multiple carrier coverage areas, and as a result, communication services can be provided to the transport craft 110 via different carriers over time. For example, during an interoceanic or international flight, the content consumption devices 120 of the passengers on the plane can move through many carrier coverage areas.Also, different carriers that provide services to those coverage areas can be used over time to maintain communication with the transport craft 110 in a large geographical area covered during movement (e.g., the traversed area is larger than a single carrier coverage area), and / or other features such as carrier grouping of terminals can be provided to facilitate load balancing across multiple carriers. Moving the transport craft 110 from one carrier to another during movement may require a "handover" of communication services between those carriers, which may require handling of multiple multicast communications in progress and / or, in some cases, other multiple services.

[0024] The use of in-motion communication services by passengers of the transport craft 110 can include communication of various types of content via the provider network. For example, the content can include media content streaming (e.g., over-the-top TV, movies, or radio programming), live TV or radio playback, Internet browsing, social media, or online gaming interaction, email, text, or other messaging interaction, etc. For example, such content can originate from and / or be destined for content server(s) 180 via the content network 160 and the gateway 150 (and / or other provider-side network nodes 245). The content network 160 can include communication that supports any suitable type of network such as the Internet, an IP network, an intranet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a virtual private network (VPN), a virtual LAN (VLAN), an optical fiber network, a cable network, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a public switched data network (PSDN), a public land mobile network, and / or any other type of network as described herein. The network 160 can include both wired and wireless connections, as well as optical links.

[0025] The content server(s) 180 can be accessible via the satellite 105 with any suitable architecture. For example, the content stored in the content server(s) 180 can be generated by the content server(s) 180 and / or received by the content server(s) 180 via the network 160. Also, the content server(s) 180 may be arranged at the gateway 150, the core node, or any other suitable location of the communication infrastructure. The content can be communicated from the content server(s) 180 (e.g., in response to such a media request from the content consumption device 120) to the content consumption device 120 during flight via the satellite 105 and the on-board communication system 112. Only one content server 180 is shown to avoid the complexity of the figure, but the content received by the content consumption device 120 may be from one or more content servers 180 (s) at one or more locations. In some cases, providing the in-flight communication service includes providing content in response to such a request (e.g., explicit or implicit request) for such content from the content consumption device 120. In other cases, providing the in-flight communication service includes pushing the content to the transport craft 110 and / or a specific content consumption device 120 without responding to a client request. For example, the content can be pushed to the content consumption device 120 based on a schedule or for pre-positioning. The content can be broadcast or multicast to the transport craft 110 using any suitable communication protocol and / or schema, etc.

[0026] Providing communication services during movement to the transport craft 110 can involve interaction between the provider-side components of the network (e.g., via one or more satellite communication links 135 and satellite 105) and the on-board communication system 112. In an embodiment, the on-board communication system 112 includes a mobile terminal 230, which can include an antenna system 170, a transceiver 172, a modem 174, a network access unit (NAU) 176, and a wireless access point (WAP) 178. In some implementations, the on-board communication system 112 can provide reception of a forward downlink signal from the satellite 105 and transmission of a return uplink signal to the satellite 105, and support bi-directional data communication between the content consumption device 120 of the transport craft 110 and the provider-side components of the provider network. The content consumption device 120 can include, for example, a mobile device (e.g., a smartphone, laptop, tablet, netbook, etc.), such as a personal electronic device (PED) brought onto the transport craft 110 by a passenger. As a further example, the content consumption device 120 can include a passenger seatback system, or other devices in the transport craft 110. The content consumption device 120 can communicate with the network access unit 176 via a communication link that can be wired and / or wireless. The communication link can be part of a local area network, such as a wireless local area network (WLAN) supported by the WAP 178, for example. One or more WAPs 178 can be distributed around the transport craft 110 and cooperate with the network access unit 176 to provide traffic switching and routing functions, for example, as part of a WLAN extended service set (ESS).

[0027] During operation, the network access unit 176 can provide uplink data received from the content consumption device 120 to the modem 174 and generate uplink data (e.g., a transmitted intermediate frequency (IF) signal) modulated for transmission to the transceiver 172. The transceiver 172 can up-convert the modulated uplink data and then amplify it to generate a multiplexed uplink signal for transmission to the satellite 105 via the antenna system 170. Similarly, the transceiver 172 can receive a forward downlink signal from the satellite 105 via the antenna system 170. The transceiver 172 can amplify and down-convert the forward downlink signal to generate modulated downlink data (e.g., a received IF signal) that is demodulated by the modem 174. The demodulated downlink data from the modem 174 can be provided to the network access unit 176 for routing to the content consumption device 120. The modem 174 can be integrated with the network access unit 176 or, in some embodiments, can be a separate component.

[0028] Since the transport crafts 110 move through the carriers of the communication system 100, the passengers of those transport crafts 110 can consume in-flight communication services using their content consumption devices 120. Some embodiments described herein seek to ensure at least a desired level of QoE for the in-flight communication services consumed or to be consumed by the passengers. This can involve using various components across the provider network to obtain and utilize both objective QoE-related information and subjective QoE-related information regarding the passengers of the transport crafts 110.

[0029] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary communication system 200 for delivering an in-motion communication service to support a desired passenger QoE, according to various embodiments. Communication system 200 can be an example implementation of a portion of communication system 100 described with reference to FIG. 1. For example, as in FIG. 1, communication system 200 of FIG. 2 includes one or more transport crafts 110 that communicate with one or more provider-side network nodes 245 via a provider network 240. Provider network 240 can include the satellite communication network shown in FIG. 1, or any other suitable network(s).

[0030] Transport craft 110 can have a mobile terminal 230 disposed thereon, which communicates with a plurality of content consumption devices 120 via an on-board network 225. Embodiments of mobile terminal 230 can include a provider network interface 232 communicatively connected to provider network 240 that provides an in-motion communication service to transport craft 110. Also, embodiments of mobile terminal 230 can include an on-board network interface 234 for communicatively connecting to content consumption devices 120 via on-board network 225.

[0031] In the illustrated embodiment, the provider-side network node 245 includes a measurement subsystem 250, a QoE scoring subsystem 270, and a service profile memory 260 in which service level data is stored (described below). An embodiment of the measurement subsystem 250 includes a network level delivery (NLD) subsystem 252 for measuring the delivery of the mobile communication service during a measurement time window to obtain a set of NLD measurements. In some embodiments, the set of NLD measurements includes measurements of the availability of the mobile communication service in the measurement time window. In one implementation, the NLD subsystem 252 repeatedly (e.g., periodically) pings the communication network to determine whether the connection is persistent, records the results of the pings over the measurement time window, and obtains a measurement of availability. In another aspect, the NLD subsystem 252 periodically or continuously measures the data rate of one or more links of the communication network to determine whether any request or response data is traversing the link(s). Any period during which data is not traversing the link(s) can be recorded as a period of unavailability, and the NLD subsystem 252 can obtain a measurement of availability accordingly. In other embodiments, the set of NLD measurements includes measurements of the data rate of the mobile communication service in the measurement time window. In other embodiments, the set of NLD measurements includes link metric measurements for at least one communication link between the provider-side node of the communication network and the transport craft. For example, the link metric can represent link latency, bandwidth, handover state, and / or any other suitable link metric. Any of these and / or other types of NLD measurements can include measurements of forward link performance (NLD measurements related to forward link traffic traversing the links of the communication network) and / or measurements of reverse link performance (NLD measurements related to reverse link traffic traversing the links of the communication network). As used herein, forward link communication generally refers to communication transmitted to the transport craft 110, and reverse link communication generally refers to communication transmitted from the transport craft 110.For example, the forward link communication can be transmitted from the provider side node(s) 245 to the transport craft 110 (or, referring to FIG. 1, from the gateway 150 to one or more transport crafts 110 via one or more satellite communication links 135), and the reverse link communication can be transmitted from the transport craft 110 to the provider side node(s) 245 (or, referring to FIG. 1, from the transport craft 110 to the gateway 150 via one or more satellite communication links 135).

[0032] The NLD subsystem 252 can obtain NLD measurement values in any suitable manner. For example, the measurement subsystem 250 can perform a speed test and / or other network tests to check whether the network is available and provides a specific data speed. By arranging the NLD subsystem 252 at the provider side network node 245, it is possible to easily obtain and / or aggregate measurement values across multiple transport crafts 110. For example, the NLD measurement values can be aggregated for each transport craft, for each carrier / beam, for each queue, for each transport craft type, for each travel route, for each passenger type, for each content consumption device type, for each content consumption application format, for each service class, for each terrain, for each time (e.g., time of day, season), for each transport craft capacity, etc. In some implementations, the aggregation can be multi-dimensional. For example, the NLD measurement values can be aggregated for each carrier for each transport craft type.

[0033] An embodiment of the measurement subsystem 250 also includes a customer level consumption (CLC) subsystem 254 for measuring the consumption of in-motion communication services within a measurement time window by at least one of the content consumption devices 120 to obtain a set of CLC measurement values. In some embodiments, some or all of the NLD measurement values are objective measurement values, and some or all of the CLC measurement values are subjective measurement values. In some embodiments, one or more subjective CLC measurement values are obtained by communicating a prompt to one or more passengers via one or more content consumption devices 120 and requesting subjective feedback data regarding the consumption of in-motion communication services during the measurement time window. For example, the prompt can be communicated while the passenger(s) is / are consuming the in-motion communication service using the content consumption device(s) 120 or at any point thereafter. In such an embodiment, the in-motion media service is consumed via a dedicated application (e.g., provided by a transport craft provider or a communication provider, etc.) or via a standard application (e.g., a standard internet browser). The application can include graphical user interface elements, pop-ups, etc. that can display a prompt during login to the service and can include interacting with the service in response to detecting certain conditions during consumption of the service. The subjective feedback data can be received from at least one of one or more passengers via at least one content consumption device in response to the prompt, and at least a portion of the CLC measurement values can be generated according to the subjective feedback data.

[0034] The CLC subsystem 254 can additionally or alternatively obtain one or more objective CLC measurement values in any suitable manner. For example, the CLC subsystem 254 can include, or communicate with, a provider-side deep packet monitoring engine, a traffic shaper, etc. (e.g., and / or one or more simulated content consumption devices (SCCDs) 222 as described below). Such components can monitor traffic communicated with the transport craft 110 and / or individual content consumption devices 120 to determine, for example, what types of content are being consumed, how much of each type of content is being consumed, and what applications or application forms are being used to consume the content. Similar to the NLD subsystem 252, placing the CLC subsystem 254 at the provider-side network node 245 can facilitate obtaining and / or aggregating measurement values from across multiple transport crafts 110. The CLC measurement values can be aggregated in the same or different ways as the aggregation of the NLD measurement values (e.g., at a higher or lower resolution, or across the same or different variables, etc.). For example, in some implementations, the CLC measurement values can be aggregated by communication protocol format, application format, browser format, etc.

[0035] In one implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicates the amount of data of the in-motion communication service used (e.g., including the use of upload and / or download) by one or more content consumption devices 120 during the measurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicates the length of time that one or more content consumption devices 120 used the in-motion communication service during the measurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicates at least one device type (e.g., device form such as smartphone, laptop, tablet, etc., installation of devices such as personal mobile devices, seat-back terminals, shared cable displays, device characteristics such as screen size, operating system, etc.) used by one or more content consumption devices 120 to consume the in-motion communication service during the measurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicates at least one content consumption application (e.g., over-the-top media streaming, Internet chat, Internet browsing, email, etc.) used by one or more content consumption devices 120 to consume the in-motion communication service during the measurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicates the type of traffic included in the consumption of the in-motion communication service by one or more content consumption devices 120 during the measurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicates whether at least one of the passengers associated with one or more content consumption devices 120 successfully purchased the consumption of the communication service in relation to the measurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicates whether one or more content consumption devices 120 were successfully communicatively connected to the mobile terminal 230 to consume the in-motion communication service in relation to the measurement time window.

[0036] In some embodiments, some CLC measurements may be affected by the use of one or more simulated content consumption devices (SCCDs) 222. Each SCCDs 222 can be implemented as an executable program running on a mobile server 230 that simulates the behavior of one or more actual content consumption devices 120. Alternatively, one or more SCCDs 222 can be implemented as an actual or virtual machine that executes a simulation program. The SCCDs 222 can be used to simulate, for example, normal consumer behavior, irregular consumer behavior, specific failure modes of content consumption devices, characteristics of specific types of content consumption devices (e.g., brand, browser, operating system, software updates, etc.), characteristics of specific use cases (e.g., app format, type of content, etc.), and / or other conditions.

[0037] In some embodiments, SCCD222 is used to generate metrics related to web browsing (e.g., web page load time, etc.), thereby contributing to calculating a web browsing QoE score. For example, the program executable by SCCD222 can include a predefined set of one or more web pages required by SCCD222. By repeatedly executing the program (e.g., a different number of times), SCCD222 is caused to request the same predefined set of one or more web pages each time (e.g., from provider-side node 245), thereby enabling the acquisition of multiple measurement samples of web page load time over time. Using the measurement samples (e.g., automatically), an acceptable web page load time (or an acceptable range of web page load times) can be defined, and non-conforming samples (indicating an unacceptable web page load time) can be detected. In such an embodiment, SCCD222 records the web page load time over a number of iterations and / or over time, automatically characterizes the recorded web page load time to define an acceptable web page load time, uses the defined acceptable web page load time to detect anomalies in the recorded web page load time, and / or detects anomalies in the subsequently recorded web page load time. In another such embodiment, SCCD222 records the web page load time over a number of iterations and / or over time and transmits the recorded web page load time to CLC subsystem 254. CLC subsystem 254 can automatically characterize the recorded web page load time to define an acceptable web page load time, use the defined acceptable web page load time to detect anomalies in the recorded web page load time, and / or detect the subsequently recorded web page load time.

[0038] In some embodiments, SCCD222 is used to generate metrics related to video streaming (e.g., video startup latency, video re-buffering, etc.), thereby contributing to the calculation of a video streaming QoE score. For example, a program executable by SCCD222 can include a predefined set of one or more video files required by SCCD222. By repeatedly executing the program (e.g., a different number of times), SCCD222 can be made to request the same predefined set of one or more video files each time (e.g., from provider-side node 245), thereby obtaining multiple measurement samples for video startup latency. The measurement samples can be used to (e.g., automatically) define the video startup latency and detect non-conforming samples (indicating an unacceptable video startup latency). Similarly, while streaming a video file using SCCD222, the number of re-buffering events can be counted over a specific period (e.g., 5 minutes), this number can be used to set an acceptable threshold, and / or this number can be compared with an existing threshold to detect an unacceptable number of re-buffering events.

[0039] In other embodiments, the SCCD 222 can be used to generate any other suitable metric to contribute to calculating a general QoE score and / or various QoE scores associated with a particular type of activity. In some of these and / or other implementations, the CLC measurements obtained using the SCCD 222 can further contribute to calculating one or more QoE scores in combination with NLD measurements (e.g., availability of communication services during movement, forward link data rate of communication services during movement, etc.). For example, while the measurement subsystem 250 is obtaining NLD and CLC measurements, one or more SCCD 222s can be executed on the mobile terminal 230 to simulate the generation and / or consumption of various types of traffic (e.g., thereby affecting and / or further contributing to the measurement of CLC measurements). This can be done during normal movement of the transport craft 110 (e.g., during a measurement time window while transporting passengers), or during simulated movement of the transport craft 110 (e.g., while the transport craft 110 is parked or being inspected), or at any other suitable time.

[0040] The in-motion communication service is provided to passengers via their content consumption devices 120 (and / or SCCD 222) during some or all of the travel time of the transport craft 110. Similarly, the measurement time window during which the NLD and / or CLC measurements are obtained can be some or all of the travel time of the transport craft 110. For example, an aircraft passenger may not be permitted to access the in-motion communication service during takeoff or landing, or during other parts of the flight, while a bus passenger may be permitted to access the in-motion communication service throughout the time the passenger is on the bus. Thus, in some implementations, the measurement time window is set according to the portion of the travel time of the transport craft 110 during which passengers are permitted to access the in-motion communication service. Also, there may be times during the travel of the transport craft 110 when more or fewer passengers attempt to use the in-motion communication service, or when the in-motion communication service is provided to the transport craft 110 with greater or lesser reliability. Thus, in some implementations, the measurement time window is set to account for such times when certain failure modes or other conditions are likely to occur. In other implementations, the measurement time window is set to record samples of activity over a predefined time. For example, the measurement time window can be set to a 10-minute window that is approximately half of the travel time of the transport craft. In other implementations, the measurement time window can be set in response to a trigger event. For example, in one implementation, measurements regarding the length of time can be automatically triggered in relation to one or more transport craft 110.This trigger can be performed in response to an explicit measurement request (e.g., issued contractually based on a schedule or issued by a service technician), in response to the detection of a network event that can affect QoE (e.g., detection of a network outage, detection of a sharp increase in network usage), or in response to the detection of a decrease in QoE metrics (e.g., detection of a decrease in QoE for one or more passengers of transport craft 110 can trigger the measurement of QoE for other passengers of that transport craft 110 or for other transport craft 110 served by the same carrier), and / or in response to any other suitable trigger event.

[0041] In an embodiment of the QoE scoring subsystem 270, it communicates with the measurement subsystem 250 to calculate the QoE score associated with a specific measurement time window as a function of the NLD measurement value and the CLC measurement value. The QoE score can indicate the quality of service (QoS) of the service perceived by one or more passengers of one or more transport craft 110 in relation to the consumption (or lack of consumption) of their mobile communication services via the content consumption device 120. After calculating the QoE score, in an embodiment of the QoE scoring subsystem 270, the service level data stored in the service profile memory 260 can be updated as appropriate. In some embodiments, updating the service profile memory 260 may involve storing new data in the service profile memory 260 and / or overwriting data. In other embodiments, the update may include calculating updated statistics, metrics, trends, and / or other data according to the updated service level data and storing those updates in the service profile memory 260.

[0042] By updating the service profile memory 260, when some parts of the service level data exceed pre-defined trigger thresholds (e.g., exceed the maximum threshold level or fall below the minimum threshold level), the QoE scoring subsystem 270 can output a service level trigger 275. In some embodiments, the service level trigger 275 can indicate one or more pre-defined undesirable conditions regarding QoE to one or more passengers of the transport craft 110. In other embodiments, the service level trigger 275 can indicate one or more exceptionally desirable conditions regarding QoE to one or more passengers of the transport craft (e.g., when exceeding the contracted or guaranteed QoE level).

[0043] The QoE scoring subsystem 270 can calculate the QoE score in any suitable manner as a function of the NLD measurement value and the CLC measurement value. In some embodiments, the calculation is based on a predefined number of coefficients, each having a corresponding weighting. The weighting and / or function used in the calculation may depend on the type of service level trigger 275 output by the QoE scoring subsystem 270. The calculation can be performed at any suitable resolution (one or more), and thus the calculation can include aggregation, interpolation, extrapolation, correlation, etc. For example, this calculation can result in one or more QoE scores associated with a particular transport craft, a particular customer or group of customers, a particular device type, a particular application or data format, a particular service class, a particular travel route, etc. In some embodiments, the in-motion communication service is delivered to the transport craft according to a set of contractual QoE conditions that indicate at least one target NLD level for a set of NLD measurement values and at least one target CLC level for a set of CLC measurement values. In such embodiments, the QoE scoring subsystem 270 can further calculate the QoE score as a function of at least one of the set of contractual QoE conditions. For example, the provision of in-motion media services can be governed by a contract between a communication provider and a transportation service provider, or between a communication provider and a passenger, or between a communication provider and a passenger (e.g., by an end-user license agreement, terms of use contract, royalty program contract, etc.), and the contract can provide for an agreed, guaranteed, or other level of service related to QoE.

[0044] In some embodiments, the QoE scoring subsystem 270 calculates a QoE score according to predicted QoE conditions generated in advance or dynamically. For example, in an embodiment, for one or more transport crafts 110, a set of predicted QoE conditions can be generated for the transport craft type, the travel route, or the carrier, etc. In some implementations, some or all of the predicted QoE conditions are manually generated, for example, according to contractual obligations, normal operation predictions, etc. In other implementations, some or all of the predicted QoE conditions are automatically generated by the QoE scoring subsystem 270 as a function of the service level data stored in the service profile memory 260. For example, using a machine learning model, a statistical model, trend analysis, etc., it is possible to generate the number of days elapsed and the range of passenger capacity values that are considered to be within the normal operating range for a specific transport craft 110. The generated predicted QoE conditions can indicate at least one of the predicted NLD levels for at least one of the sets of NLD measurements, or at least one of the predicted CLC levels for at least one of the sets of CLC measurements. Then, the QoE score subsystem 270 can calculate the QoE score such that this QoE score indicates the delivered QoS recognized by one or more passengers of the transport craft as compared to the predicted QoS.

[0045] In some embodiments, the service level trigger 275 generated by the QoE scoring subsystem 270 can be pre-associated with one or more automated trigger response actions. In such embodiments, the provider-side network node 245 can further include an automated response subsystem 280. The automated response subsystem 280 can detect the service level trigger 275 and, in response to the detection, can instruct the execution of an automated trigger response action. The automated trigger response action can include an instruction for the automatic execution of a task to address an issue with the in-flight communication service indicated by the service level trigger 275. In one implementation, the task includes communicating a service call. For example, the automated service call can be issued to a flight crew member (e.g., a flight attendant) to determine whether the passenger experience can be improved in some way (e.g., by resetting one or more components of the mobile terminal or guiding the customer through usage), or to a ground staff member (e.g., to the ground crew at the destination airport to notify of a potentially serviceable issue with the mobile terminal), or to a communication provider (e.g., so that the communication provider can record the issue, perform corrective actions, schedule services, etc.). In another implementation, the task includes executing a repair script. For example, an auto-repair script can be automatically used to reboot one or more parts of the mobile terminal, re-establish a network connection, update software, check for viruses or other software errors, and propose corrective actions (e.g., prompt a different browser or download a specific software). In another implementation, the task includes adjusting subsequent provisioning of network resources.For example, bandwidth allocation, traffic shaping, and / or other provisioning can be adjusted in real time for the affected transport craft, and scheduled provisioning can be adjusted for a future time when the affected transport craft is to move, or for a future time when the same or another transport craft is scheduled to cross the affected route. In another implementation, the task includes providing compensation to at least one of one or more passengers affected by the problem, or adjusting the pricing for consumption of in-flight communication services. For example, one or more affected passengers can automatically gain access to a higher service level at no cost or at a reduced cost, and can automatically receive a refund or discount for communication or other services (such as Internet access on a future flight, coupons for meals or drinks on a future flight, loyalty program credits, etc.). In another implementation, the task includes generating a report on the communication to a contract partner associated with the delivery of the in-flight communication service. For example, a transport service provider can contract with a communication provider for the delivery of the in-flight communication service, and this contract can require the communication provider to notify the transport service provider of QoE-related metrics.

[0046] As described herein, QoE scores can be calculated at various resolutions across various dimensions. For example, QoE scores can be calculated across one or more passengers, one or more aircraft, one or more behavioral patterns (e.g., web browsing, video streaming, etc.), one or more application forms, and / or any suitable combination of other dimensions. Depending on the type of QoE score being calculated and / or the type of service level trigger 275 being output, service level data can be updated in the service profile memory 260 in various ways, and the functions used to update the service level data can vary from embodiment to embodiment. In some embodiments, the service level data is updated to directly correspond to a particular QoE score (e.g., each piece of data in the set of service level data in the service profile memory 260 is the corresponding previously calculated QoE score). For example, a QoE score calculated across passengers of a particular aircraft over a measurement time window may indicate that, although the in-flight communication service appears to be available at a desirable data rate (e.g., according to a particular NLD measurement), the user's perception is poor (e.g., according to a particular CLC measurement). In such an example, the service level data can be updated to reflect the calculated QoE score and can trigger the output of a particular service level trigger 275, which can automatically reset the mobile terminal 230.

[0047] In other cases, the service level data is updated to aggregate a plurality of QoE scores calculated over the same or different measurement time windows. For example, for each of a plurality of passengers of each of a plurality of aircraft over each of a plurality of measurement time windows, respective QoE scores are calculated over time. The update of the service level data can include aggregating some or all of the respective QoE scores over one or more dimensions (e.g., by aggregating QoE scores for all passengers of a particular aircraft in a particular measurement time window, or for one passenger over a plurality of measurement time windows) and / or at one or more resolutions (e.g., for all passengers in a particular cabin of a particular aircraft, or for all passengers in a fleet of aircraft). Further, each QoE score can be part of one or more aggregations (e.g., one aggregation includes all passengers of a particular aircraft in a particular measurement time window, and another aggregation includes some of the same passengers over a plurality of aircraft over a plurality of time windows). In some cases, the aggregation can include further processing and / or calculations such as, for example, filtering and / or sorting by interpolation, extrapolation, or calculating statistical trends, or by processing via a machine learning algorithm. The aggregation reflected by the updated service level data can then be used to notify when many types of service level triggers 275 are to be output. For example, aggregating the respective QoE scores of individual passengers can be used in a similar manner as calculating a single QoE score for a plurality of passengers (e.g., in the above example, service level trigger 275 causes an automatic reset of mobile terminal 230). The aggregated service level data can be used to detect and address QoE trends over longer periods and / or macroscopically. For example, the service level data can indicate that passengers tend to experience poor QoE when seated in the business class cabins of a particular aircraft type in a large queue, and such service level data can cause service level trigger 275 to be output.This service level trigger initiates a systematic inspection of the delivery of in-flight communication services to the business class cabins of a specific aircraft type.

[0048] In the various embodiments described with reference to FIG. 2, the components of the measurement subsystem 250 and the QoE scoring subsystem 270 are located in the provider-side network node 245. Thus, in these embodiments, NLD measurements and CLC measurements are obtained and QoE scores are calculated in the provider-side portion of the network away from the transport craft 110. In other embodiments, various portions of the measurement and / or calculation components can be located in other parts of the network such as the transport craft 110. Some of these alternative embodiments are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0049] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary communication system 300 for delivering in-flight communication services. In this communication system, the components of the system 300 according to various embodiments are substantially located within individual transport crafts 110 to support a desired passenger QoE. The communication system 300 can be an implementation example of the portion of the communication system 100 described with reference to FIG. 1. For example, the illustrated transport craft 110 can represent one of a number of transport crafts 110 that communicate with one or more provider-side network nodes 245 (not shown) via the provider network 240.

[0050] As shown in FIG. 2, the transport craft 110 includes a mobile terminal 230 that communicates with several content consumption devices 120 via an on-board network 225. In some embodiments, it may also include one or more SCCDs 222 implemented by the mobile terminal 230. The mobile terminal 230 can include a provider network interface 232 that communicatively connects to a provider network 240, and mobility communication services are provided to the transport craft 110 via this provider network interface. Further, the mobile terminal 230 can include an on-board network interface 234 that communicatively connects to the content consumption device 120 via the on-board network 225. Different from FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 230 in FIG. 3 includes a measurement subsystem 250, a QoE scoring subsystem 270, and a service profile memory 260 (i.e., each mobile terminal 230 disposed in each transport craft 110, or a part of the transport craft 110, can include respective instances of the measurement subsystem 250, the QoE scoring subsystem 270, and the service profile memory 260).

[0051] The measurement subsystem 250 mounted on the transport craft 110 includes an NLD subsystem 252 and a CLC subsystem 254. The NLD subsystem 252 can monitor the provider network interface 232 to obtain NLD measurements for one or more network connections between the provider network 240 and the mobile terminal 230. For example, the NLD measurements can include network availability, data speed, bandwidth, handover status, communication protocol, modulation and / or coding scheme, and / or any other suitable NLD measurements. The CLC subsystem 254 can monitor the on-board network interface 234 and include an on-board traffic shaper, an on-board deep packet monitoring engine, and / or other components to obtain CLC measurements for one or more network connections between the mobile terminal 230 and the content consumption device 120. For example, the CLC measurements can include how many content consumption devices 120 are consuming the in-motion communication service, which type of content consumption device 120 (e.g., device category such as screen size and / or a specific device form) is being used to consume the in-motion communication service, which application (e.g., application category such as messaging, over-the-top media streaming and / or a specific application) is being used to consume the in-motion communication service, which type of traffic (e.g., data protocol) is traversing the on-board network 225, and / or any other suitable CLC measurements.

[0052] In the illustrated embodiment, the on-board QoE scoring subsystem 270 can then calculate a QoE score using the acquired NLD measurements and CLC measurements. For example, the QoE scoring subsystem 270 can update the service profile memory 260 to determine whether to generate a service level trigger 275. If the service level trigger 275 is generated by the QoE scoring subsystem 270, in some embodiments, the service level trigger 275 can be recorded. For example, the recorded service level trigger 275 can be used for subsequent maintenance or subsequent corrective actions. In other embodiments, the QoE scoring subsystem 270 can include components or communicate with an on-board automated response subsystem 280 (not shown) to automatically perform corrective actions (such as by restarting a connection, executing a diagnostic script, etc.).

[0053] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary communication system 400 similar to the system 300 of FIG. 3, except that the QoE scoring subsystem 270 and the service profile memory 260 are located in the provider-side network node 245. For example, as in FIG. 3, the transport craft 110 can represent one or more transport crafts 110 each communicating with the provider network 240 (via the provider network interface 232) and communicating with some content consumption devices 120 (via the on-board network interface 234) via the on-board network 225. Each mobile terminal 230 can include an on-board measurement subsystem 250 that can include an NLD subsystem 252 and a CLC subsystem 254. In some embodiments, one or more SCCDs 222 that can be implemented by the mobile terminal 230 can also be included.

[0054] The NLD measurement values and CLC measurement values obtained by the on-board measurement subsystem 250 of the plurality of transport crafts 110 can communicate to a QoE scoring subsystem 270 (e.g., a plurality of QoE scoring subsystems 270) via a provider network 240. In the illustrated embodiment, the QoE scoring subsystem 270 can calculate one or more QoE scores using the obtained NLD measurement values and CLC measurement values. For example, the QoE score can be generated using the measurement values from a single transport craft 110 over a single measurement time window, or aggregated from a single transport craft 110 over multiple measurement time windows, or aggregated from multiple transport crafts 110 in a single carrier over one or more measurement time windows, or further aggregated from multiple transport crafts 110 in multiple carriers over one or more measurement time windows, etc. The received NLD measurement values and CLC measurement values can be used to update the service profile memory 260 and determine whether to generate a service level trigger 275. If the service level trigger 275 is generated by the QoE scoring subsystem 270, in an embodiment, the service level trigger 275 can be recorded for use in future operations and / or can include components (e.g., an automated response subsystem 280 not shown) for automatically performing corrective actions.

[0055] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method 500 for delivering in-flight media services according to various embodiments. In some embodiments, method 500 is implemented using various components of the system described in FIGS. 1-4. Method 500, in an embodiment, starts at step 504 by providing, over a measurement time window, an in-flight communication service via a provider network to a content consumption device via a mobile terminal disposed on a transport craft. The in-flight communication service can include over-the-top or other streaming media services (e.g., movies, television, music, etc.), Internet browsing services (e.g., interaction with website content), personal communication services (e.g., email, text, etc.), and / or any other suitable communication services delivered via the provider network. The provider network can include any suitable satellite or other wireless communication link for communicating between one or more provider-side network nodes and the mobile terminal of the transport craft. The mobile terminal can include any suitable communication hardware (e.g., transceiver, modem, server, etc.) disposed on any suitable transport craft (e.g., aircraft, ship, train, bus, etc.). The content consumption device can include a consumption device installed on the transport craft (e.g., seat-back display terminal, shared display screen mounted on the transport craft, etc.), a personal consumption device (e.g., passenger smartphone, tablet, or laptop computer, etc.), or any other suitable content consumption device.

[0056] The measurement time window can include some or all of the time during which in-flight communication is provided to the passengers of the transport craft. In one implementation, the measurement time window includes the entire travel time of the transport craft. In another implementation, the measurement time window includes only a portion of the travel time of the transport craft during which consumption of the in-flight communication service is permitted (e.g., the time during which a particular aircraft flight is above 10,000 feet). In another implementation, the measurement time window is several sample times (e.g., 10 minutes) during the travel time of the transport craft.

[0057] In stage 508, in an embodiment, to obtain a set of network level delivery (NLD) measurements, the delivery of the in-motion communication service during the measurement time window can be measured. In some embodiments, the set of NLD measurements includes measurements of the availability of the in-motion communication service in the measurement time window. In other embodiments, the set of NLD measurements includes measurements of the data rate of the in-motion communication service in the measurement time window. In other embodiments, the set of NLD measurements includes link metric measurements for at least one communication link between a provider-side node of the communication network and the transport craft. For example, the link metric can indicate link latency, bandwidth, handover state, and / or any other suitable link metric. Any of these and / or other types of NLD measurements can include measurements of forward link performance (NLD measurements related to forward link traffic across a link of the communication network) and / or measurements of reverse link performance (NLD measurements related to reverse link traffic across a link of the communication network). In some implementations, some or all of the measurements in stage 508 can be performed by the mobile terminal. For example, the mobile terminal can perform a speed test and / or other network tests to check whether the network is available and whether the network is providing a specific data rate. In a particular implementation, the measurements in stage 508 can include aggregating NLD data from multiple content consumption devices. For example, the NLD data can be aggregated for each transport craft, for each carrier and / or beam, for each queue, for each transport craft type, for each travel route, for each passenger type, for each content consumption device type, for each content consumption application format, for each service class, for each terrain, for each time (e.g., time of day, season), for each transport craft capacity, etc. In some embodiments, the provision in stage 504 includes communicating the in-motion communication service from the provider-side network node to the transport craft via the provider network, and at least a portion of the measurements in stage 508 are performed by the provider-side network node.For example, the gateway terminal can detect link conditions and ping a transport craft mobile terminal, etc.

[0058] In an embodiment at stage 512, to obtain a set of customer-level consumption (CLC) measurements, consumption of the in-motion communication service within a measurement time window can be measured by at least one of a plurality of content consumption devices. In some embodiments, the measurement at stage 512 can include communicating a prompt to at least one of one or more passengers of a transport craft using at least one content consumption device via at least one content consumption device. This prompt requests subjective feedback data from at least one of one or more passengers regarding consumption of the in-motion communication service within the measurement time window by at least one content consumption device. For example, the in-motion media service can be consumed via a dedicated application (e.g., provided by a transport craft provider or a communication provider, etc.) or via a standard application (e.g., a standard internet browser). This application includes graphical user interface elements, pop-ups, etc. that can display a prompt during login to the service, and includes interaction with the service in response to detection of certain conditions during consumption of the service. The subjective feedback data can be received from at least one of one or more passengers via at least one content consumption device in response to the prompt, and at least a portion of the CLC measurement can be generated according to the subjective feedback data. In some implementations, the measurement at stage 512 includes obtaining at least one of a set of CLC measurements by a mobile terminal. For example, a mobile terminal (e.g., a craft-side deep packet monitoring engine, a traffic shaper, etc.) can ping a connected content consumption device, aggregated feedback, check link status, etc. In some such implementations, a simulated content consumption device can be used for such measurements as described herein.In other embodiments, the provision in step 504 includes communicating a mobility service from a provider-side network node to a transport craft via a provider network, and at least a portion of the measurements in step 512 are performed by a provider-side network node. For example, components of a provider-side gateway node (e.g., a provider-side deep packet inspection engine, a traffic shaper, etc.) can aggregate CLC data from multiple transport crafts across a carrier or beam.

[0059] In one implementation, the set of CLC measurement values indicates the amount of data of the mobile communication service used (e.g., including the use of upload and / or download) by at least one content consumption device among a plurality of content consumption devices within the measurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLC measurement values indicates the length of time during which at least one content consumption device used the mobile communication service within the measurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLC measurement values indicates the form of at least one device (e.g., device forms such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc., installation of devices such as personal mobile devices, seat-back terminals, shared cable displays, device characteristics such as screen size, operating system, etc.) used by at least one content consumption device to consume the mobile communication service within the measurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLC measurement values indicates at least one content consumption application (e.g., over-the-top media streaming, Internet chat, Internet browsing, email, etc.) used by at least one content consumption device to consume the mobile communication service within the measurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLC measurement values indicates the type of traffic included in the consumption of the mobile communication service by at least one content consumption device within the measurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLC measurement values indicates whether at least one passenger associated with at least one content consumption device successfully purchased the consumption of the mobile communication service in relation to the measurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLC measurement values indicates whether at least one content consumption device was successfully communicatively connected to the mobile server to consume the mobile communication service in relation to the measurement time window.

[0060] In some embodiments, at stage 510, to consume the in-motion communication service according to a simulation protocol, the simulated content consumption device can be executed within a measurement time window by the mobile terminal. In such embodiments, the measurement at stage 512 can include measuring the consumption of the in-motion communication service by the simulated content consumption device within the measurement time window to obtain at least a portion of the set of CLC measurements. The simulated content consumption device is an executable program executed on a mobile server that simulates the behavior of one or more content consumption devices. Such a simulated content consumption device can be used to simulate normal consumer behavior, irregular consumer behavior, specific failure modes of the content consumption device, specific types of content consumption devices (e.g., brand, browser, operating system, software update, etc.), characteristics of specific use cases (e.g., type of app, type of content, etc.), and / or other conditions.

[0061] In stage 516, in an embodiment, as a function of a set of NLD measurement values and a set of CLC measurement values, a perceived quality of experience (QoE) score related to a measurement time window and a transport craft can be calculated. As described herein, the QoE score indicates the quality of service (QoS) perceived by one or more passengers of the transport craft. The calculation in stage 516 can be based on a number of predefined coefficients each having a respective weighting. The weighting and / or function used in the calculation may depend on the type of trigger output in subsequent stage 524. The calculation can be performed at any suitable resolution, and thus, this calculation can include aggregation, interpolation, extrapolation, correlation, etc. For example, this calculation can result in one or more QoE scores associated with a particular transport craft, a particular customer or group of customers, a particular device type, a particular application or data format, a particular service class, a particular transport route, etc. In some embodiments, the in-motion communication service is delivered to the transport craft according to a set of contractual QoE conditions indicating at least one target NLD level for a set of NLD measurement values and at least one target CLC level for a set of CLC measurement values. In such embodiments, the calculation in stage 516 can further be performed as a function of at least one of the set of contractual QoE conditions. For example, the provision of the in-motion media service in stage 504 can be governed by a contract between the communication provider and the transport service provider, or a contract between the communication provider and the passenger, or a contract between the communication provider and the passenger (e.g., by an end-user license agreement, terms of use contract, royalty program contract, etc.), and this contract can provide services related to QoE, promised, guaranteed, or other levels of service.

[0062] In stage 520, in an embodiment, the service level data stored in the service profile memory can be updated as a function of the QoE score. In some embodiments, the update involves storing new data and / or overwriting the data in the service profile memory. In other embodiments, the update may include calculating updated statistics, metrics, trends, and / or other data according to the updated service level data.

[0063] In some embodiments, in stage 530, predicted QoE conditions for the transport craft are generated, which are generated such that the calculation is further performed as a function of a set of predicted QoE conditions. For example, in an embodiment, prior to the calculation, a set of predicted QoE conditions for the transport craft (e.g., for a particular transport craft, transport craft type, travel route, carrier, etc.) indicating at least one of the predicted NLD levels for at least one of the set of NLD measurements or at least one of the predicted CLC levels for at least one of the set of CLC measurements, as a function of the service level data stored in the service profile memory, can be generated. In such a case, the calculation in stage 516 is performed such that the QoE score further indicates the delivered QoS recognized by one or more passengers of the transport craft as compared to the predicted QoS.

[0064] In stage 524, in an embodiment, a service level trigger is output in response to an update such that at least a portion of the service level data exceeds a predefined trigger threshold. For example, depending on the type of service level trigger, exceeding a predefined trigger threshold can include reaching a level above a predefined maximum threshold or below a predefined minimum threshold. In some embodiments, the service level trigger can indicate to one or more passengers of a transport craft one or more predefined undesirable conditions related to QoE. In other embodiments, the service level trigger can indicate to one or more passengers of a transport craft one or more (e.g., exceeding a contracted or guaranteed QoE level) exceptionally desirable conditions related to QoE. As described above, in some embodiments, subjective feedback data is collected from passengers (e.g., via a dedicated application, etc.). In some embodiments, the subjective feedback data is used to calibrate one or more trigger thresholds. For example, subjective feedback data collected from several passengers over time can indicate that a particular type of service level trigger 275 is being output too frequently or too rarely, or that the trigger threshold is too high or too low, and can indicate that the trigger threshold can be raised or lowered.

[0065] In some embodiments, at step 526, the output of the service level trigger at step 524 can be detected. In such embodiments, the service level trigger can be pre-associated with an automated trigger response operation. In some such embodiments, at step 528, execution of the automated trigger response operation can be instructed in response to the detection. The automated trigger response operation can be instructed to automatically perform tasks to address problems with the in-flight communication service indicated by the service level trigger. In one implementation, the task includes communicating a service call. For example, an automated service call can be issued to a craft crew (e.g., a flight attendant) to determine whether it is possible to improve the passenger experience in some way (e.g., by resetting one or more components of the mobile terminal or guiding the customer through usage), or to a ground crew (e.g., to notify the ground crew at the destination airport of potentially serviceable problems with the mobile terminal), or to a communication provider (e.g., so that problems can be logged, corrective actions can be taken, services can be scheduled, etc.). In another implementation, the task includes executing a repair script. For example, an automatic repair script can be automatically used to reboot one or more parts of the mobile terminal, re-establish a network connection, update software, check for viruses or other software errors, and suggest corrective actions (e.g., prompting a different browser or downloading a specific software). In another implementation, the task includes adjusting subsequent provisioning of network resources. For example, bandwidth allocation, traffic shaping, and / or other provisioning can be adjusted in real time for the affected transport craft, and scheduled provisioning can be adjusted for a future time when the affected transport craft is in motion or for a future time when the same or another transport craft is scheduled to cross the affected route.In another implementation, the task includes providing compensation to at least one of one or more passengers affected by the problem, or adjusting the pricing for consumption of in-flight communication services. For example, one or more affected passengers can automatically access a higher service level at no cost or at a reduced cost, and can automatically receive a refund or discount for communication or other services (e.g., Internet access on a future flight, coupons for food or drinks on a future flight, loyalty program credits, etc.). In another implementation, the task includes creating a report on communication to a contract partner associated with the delivery of in-flight communication services. For example, a transportation service provider can contract with a communication provider for the delivery of in-flight communication services, and this contract can require the communication provider to notify the transportation service provider of QoE-related metrics.

[0066] The methods disclosed herein include one or more operations for achieving the described methods. The methods and / or operations can be interchanged with each other without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, the specific order and / or use of the specific operations can be modified without departing from the scope of the claims, unless the specific order of the operations is specified.

[0067] The functions described can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the functions can be stored as one or more instructions on a tangible computer-readable medium. The storage medium can be any available tangible medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other tangible medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. As used herein, Disk and Disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray Disc, where Disk typically magnetically replicates data, while Disc optically replicates data with lasers.

[0068] Accordingly, a computer program product can execute the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product can be a computer-readable tangible medium having instructions tangibly stored thereon (and / or encoded thereon) that are executable by one or more processors for performing the operations described herein. The computer program product can include packaging materials. Software or instructions can also be transmitted via a transmission medium. For example, the software can be transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a transmission medium such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, or microwave.

[0069] Furthermore, modules and / or other suitable means for executing the methods and techniques described herein can be downloaded by a suitable terminal and / or obtained in some other way to facilitate the transfer of means for executing the methods described herein. Alternatively, the various methods described herein can be provided via storage means (e.g., physical storage media such as RAM, ROM, CD, or floppy disk), whereby the user terminal and / or base station can obtain the various methods when connecting or providing the storage means to the device. Additionally, any other suitable techniques for providing the methods and techniques described herein to the device can be utilized. The features implementing the functions can also be physically positioned at various locations, which includes being distributed such that portions of the functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0070] The following terms are used when describing the present invention. The singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, a reference to an item includes a reference to one or more items. The term "ones" refers to one, two, or more and generally applies to a selection of some or all of a quantity. The term "plurality" refers to two or more of the items. The term "about" means a quantity, dimension, size, formulation, parameter, shape, and other characteristics, but need not be exact, reflecting acceptable tolerances, conversion factors, rounding, measurement errors, and other factors known to those skilled in the art. The term "substantially" means that the recited characteristics, parameters, or values need not be achieved exactly, and that deviations or variations, including, for example, tolerances, measurement errors, measurement precision limitations, and other factors known to those skilled in the art, may occur in an amount that does not exclude the intended effect for which the characteristic is provided. Numerical data may be expressed or presented herein in a range format. Such range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and should therefore be interpreted flexibly so as to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also all of the individual numerical values or sub-ranges subsumed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range were explicitly recited. By way of illustration, a numerical range of "about 1 to 5" should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited values of about 1 to about 5, but also the individual values and sub-ranges within the indicated range. Thus, included in this numerical range are individual values such as 2, 3, and 4, and sub-ranges such as 1 to 3, 2 to 4, and 3 to 5. This same principle applies to ranges recited with only a single numerical value (e.g., "greater than about 1") and should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristics being described. For convenience, a plurality of items may be presented in a common list. However, these lists should be interpreted as if each member of the list were individually identified as a separate and distinct member. Thus, the individual members of such a list should not be construed as equivalents of any other member of the same list based solely on their presentation in a common group without an indication to the contrary.Furthermore, the terms "and" and "or" should be interpreted broadly when used with a list of items, in that any one or more of the listed items can be used alone or in combination with other listed items. The term "alternatively" refers to the selection of one of two or more alternatives and is not intended to limit the selection to only the listed alternatives or only one of the listed alternatives, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the term "coupled" does not require that the components be directly connected to each other. Instead, this term is also intended to include configurations having an indirect connection that can include one or more other components between the coupled components. For example, such other components can include amplifiers, attenuators, isolators, directional couplers, redundant switches, and the like. Also, as used herein, including in the claims, "or" used in a list of items preceded by "at least one of" indicates a disjunctive list, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C" means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Further, the term "exemplary" does not mean that the examples described are preferred or better than other examples. As used herein, a "set" of elements is intended to mean "one or more" of those elements, provided that the set is two or more or is explicitly required to be an explicit null set.

[0071] Various changes, substitutions, and modifications to the techniques described herein can be made without departing from the teachings of the technology defined by the appended claims. Further, the scope of the present disclosure and the claims is not limited to the specific aspects of the processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, means, methods, and acts described above. Processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, means, methods, or acts that currently exist or will be developed in the future that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding aspects described herein can be utilized. Accordingly, the appended claims include such processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, means, methods, or acts within their scope.

Claims

1. A method for providing a communication service during the movement time of a transport craft, comprising: measuring a communication service metric related to the communication service during the movement time within a measurement time window; comparing the communication service metric with a trigger threshold; automatically starting a service level trigger including compensation issued to one or more passengers on board a transport craft affected by a problem with the communication service during movement, based on a determination that the communication service metric is lower than the trigger threshold; wherein the communication service metric includes a QoE score calculated during the measurement time window; A method.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the communication service metric is at least partially based on a network level delivery (NLD) measurement of the communication service during movement received from a provider network at a mobile terminal disposed on the transport craft, or a customer level consumption (CLC) measurement of the communication service during movement served by the mobile terminal disposed on the transport craft and consumed by a content consumption device, wherein the NLD measurement is related to the delivery of the communication service during movement, and the CLC measurement is related to the consumption of the communication service during movement within the measurement time window.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the NLD measurement includes measuring a link metric of a communication link between the transport craft and a provider enabling the communication link to the transport craft.

4. The method according to claim 3, The link metric includes at least one of the link waiting time, bandwidth, and handover state of the communication link, method.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein The CLC measurement value is The amount of data of the mobile communication service used by the content consumption device in the measurement time window; The length of time the content consumption device used the mobile communication service in the measurement time window; At least one type of device used by the content consumption device to consume the mobile communication service in the measurement time window; At least one content consumption application used by the content consumption device to consume the mobile communication service in the measurement time window; The type of traffic included in the consumption of the mobile communication service used by the content consumption device in the measurement time window; Whether at least one of the one or more passengers associated with the content consumption device successfully purchased the consumption of the mobile communication service related to the measurement time window; Whether the content consumption device was successfully communicatively connected to the on-board network to consume the mobile communication service related to the measurement time window; The method includes at least one of the measurements.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein The measurement of the set of CLC measurement values includes the aggregation of CLC data from some of the plurality of content consumption devices, method.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein The measurement of the communication service metric is periodically performed during the measurement time window, method.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein The measurement of the communication service metric is continuously performed during the measurement time window, method.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement time window includes a portion of the travel time that is shorter than the travel time.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the service level trigger is initiated in real time during the travel time of the transport craft.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the compensation includes at least one of a refund of the cost of the in-flight communication service provided during the travel time, a reimbursement of the cost of the in-flight communication service provided during the travel time, a discount on the in-flight communication service during future trips, provision of access to a higher service level at a discounted price, loyalty program credit, and a coupon for food or drink on a future trip.

12. A system for monitoring the in-flight communication service of a transport craft during travel time, a measurement subsystem configured to measure communication service metrics related to the in-flight communication service during a measurement time window, a scoring subsystem in communication with the measurement subsystem, the scoring subsystem comparing the communication service metric to a trigger threshold and automatically initiating a service level trigger including compensation issued to one or more passengers on board a transport craft affected by a problem with the in-flight communication service based on a determination that the communication service metric is lower than the trigger threshold. wherein the communication service metric includes a QoE score calculated during the measurement time window.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the communication service metric is at least partially A network-level delivery (NLD) measurement value of a mobile communication service received from a provider network in a mobile terminal disposed in the transport craft, wherein the mobile communication service is provided to the transport craft via the provider network, or, Based on one of a customer-level consumption (CLC) measurement value of a mobile communication service served by the mobile terminal disposed in the transport craft and consumed by a content consumption device, The NLD measurement value is related to the delivery of the mobile communication service, and the CLC measurement value is related to the consumption of the mobile communication service during a measurement time window, the system.

14. The system according to claim 13, The measurement subsystem measures the NLD measurement value as a link metric of a communication link between the transport craft and a provider enabling the communication link to the transport craft.

15. The system according to claim 14, The link metric includes at least one of a link latency, a bandwidth, and a handover state of the communication link, the system.

16. The system according to claim 13, The measurement subsystem measures the CLC measurement value as The amount of data of the mobile communication service used by the content consumption device in a measurement time window; The length of time the content consumption device used the mobile communication service in the measurement time window; At least one type of device used by the content consumption device to consume the mobile communication service in a measurement time window; At least one content consumption application used by the content consumption device to consume the mobile communication service in a measurement time window; The types of traffic included in the consumption of in-vehicle communication services used by a content consumption device during a measurement time window; Whether at least one passenger among one or more passengers associated with the content consumption device has successfully purchased the consumption of in-vehicle communication services related to the measurement time window; Whether the content consumption device is successfully communicatively connected to the on-board network to consume in-vehicle communication services related to the measurement time window; A system that measures at least one of the above.

17. The system according to claim 13, wherein the measurement subsystem measures a set of CLC measurement values by aggregating CLC data from some of a plurality of content consumption devices.

18. The system according to claim 12, wherein the measurement subsystem periodically measures the communication service metric during the measurement time window.

19. The system according to claim 12, wherein the measurement subsystem continuously measures the communication service metric during the measurement time window.

20. The system according to claim 12, wherein the measurement time window includes a portion of the travel time that is shorter than the travel time.

21. The system according to claim 20, wherein the service level trigger is started in real time during the travel time of the transport craft.

22. The system according to claim 12, The compensation includes at least one of a refund of the cost of in-flight communication services provided during the travel time, a reimbursement of the cost of in-flight communication services provided during the travel time, a discount on in-flight communication services during future trips, providing access to a higher service level at a discounted price, loyalty program credits, and coupons for meals or drinks on future trips.

23. A method of providing an in-flight communication service during a travel time of a transport craft, comprising: establishing at least one communication link between a mobile terminal and a provider network via a provider network interface; providing, via an on-board network, an in-flight communication service from the mobile terminal to a plurality of content consumption devices, wherein the plurality of content consumption devices are associated with purchasing passengers who purchase consumption of the in-flight communication service; measuring, during a measurement time window, a first link metric measurement for the at least one communication link between the mobile terminal and the provider network and a second link metric measurement for the in-flight communication service provided from the mobile terminal to the plurality of content consumption devices via the on-board network, wherein the measurement time window includes a portion of the travel time that is shorter than the travel time; generating a communication service metric based on the first link metric measurement and the second link metric measurement; comparing the communication service metric with a trigger threshold; automatically initiating a service level trigger that includes compensation issued to the purchasing passengers boarding the transport craft, based on a determination that the communication service metric for the content consumption devices of the purchasing passengers is lower than the trigger threshold, wherein the service level trigger is initiated in real time during the travel time of the transport craft.

24. A system for monitoring a communication service during the movement of a transport craft during movement time, a mobile terminal configured to establish at least one communication link between the mobile terminal and a provider network via a provider network interface and to provide the communication service during movement to a plurality of content consumption devices of the transport craft via an on-board network, wherein the plurality of content consumption devices are associated with purchasing passengers who purchase consumption of the communication service during movement, a measurement subsystem configured to measure, during a measurement time window, a first link metric measurement for the at least one communication link between the mobile terminal and the provider network and a second link metric measurement for the communication service during movement provided from the mobile terminal to the plurality of content consumption devices via the on-board network, wherein the measurement time window includes a portion of the movement time that is shorter than the movement time, a scoring subsystem communicating with the measurement subsystem, configured to generate a communication service metric based on the first link metric measurement and the second link metric measurement, compare the communication service metric with a trigger threshold, and automatically initiate a service level trigger including compensation issued to the purchasing passengers boarding the transport craft based on a determination that the communication service metric for the content consumption devices of the purchasing passengers is lower than the trigger threshold, wherein the service level trigger is initiated in real time during the movement time of the transport craft, the system comprising a scoring subsystem.

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