Call Session Quality Indicator Calculation for Push-to-Talk
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of Push-to-Talk (PTT) platforms are unaware of call quality before or during calls due to the resource-intensive nature of continuous connection quality indication tests, and signal strength is not a reliable indicator of service quality, which complicates dynamic network management and user experience optimization.
Innovation Solution
A method where a server calculates call session quality indicators (CSQI) by determining channel parameters through packet measurements and transmits these indicators to client devices, allowing users to predict call quality before initiating calls and adapt codec or bit-rate in response to changing network conditions during calls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If continuous connection quality indication tests are performed, then call quality awareness is improved, but network resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs connection quality indication tests at periodic intervals rather than continuously, reducing network resource consumption while maintaining adequate call quality awareness. The server schedules quality tests at predetermined time intervals between calls, providing users with quality information without constant monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs connection quality tests in advance before the actual call begins. This preliminary action provides users with quality information beforehand, allowing them to make informed decisions about initiating calls while consuming resources only when needed for prediction, not during the entire call duration.
2Ease of operation
If signal strength is used as the sole indicator, then measurement simplicity is improved, but quality assessment accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system combines multiple quality indicators including signal strength, jitter, latency, bandwidth, packet loss, and packet throughput into a comprehensive call quality assessment. By merging these diverse parameters, the system achieves accurate quality prediction while maintaining operational simplicity through automated multi-parameter evaluation.
3Reliability
If high bandwidth codecs are used to encode data, then audio quality is improved, but network congestion increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adapts codec selection and bandwidth usage based on real-time network conditions and predicted call quality. When network congestion is detected or quality is poor, the system automatically switches to lower bandwidth codecs, maintaining acceptable audio quality while reducing network load. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction between audio quality and congestion.
4Loss of information
If CSQI tests are performed for all potential contacts, then quality information completeness is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies quality testing selectively rather than uniformly to all contacts. CSQI tests are performed based on local conditions such as user preferences, contact importance, network conditions, and predictive wakeup lists. This localized approach provides quality information where most needed while avoiding unnecessary tests, reducing system complexity while maintaining information completeness for relevant cases.
Data Source
AI summary
An embodiment method includes receiving, by a server of a telecommunications services platform, a request for a first call session quality indicator (CSQI) of a first client device, determining, by the server, first channel parameters of a first channel between the server and the first client device, and calculating, by the server, the first CSQI of the first client device in accordance with the first channel parameters of the first channel. The method further includes transmitting, by the server, the first CSQI to the first client device and receiving, by the server, a call session initiation request from the first client device after transmitting the first CSQI to the first client device.