Frame Loss Vector Network Degradation Localization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems fail to accurately determine where degradation in Mean Opinion Score—Listening Quality (MOS-lq) occurs in VOIP communications networks, which are composed of both wireless and wired sections, making it difficult to isolate performance issues within these complex networks.
Innovation Solution
A system that includes a wireless Access Point with a lost-packet detector and substitute-packet inserter, which monitors and compensates for packet losses by inserting substitute packets with the same timestamps, allowing for the computation of Frame Loss Vectors (FLVs) for both wireless and wired sections, enabling the identification of performance degradations specific to each network portion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional systems are used to determine MOS-lq scores, then the overall communication quality can be measured, but the specific location of degradation in the network cannot be identified
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the network into distinct portions (wireless and wired sections) and computes separate Frame Loss Vectors for each segment. This allows the system to identify which specific network portion is causing degradation, resolving the contradiction by providing precise degradation location identification without requiring complex network-wide diagnostics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces Frame Loss Vectors as an intermediary data structure that captures packet loss information at specific network points. These vectors serve as mediators between the network portions and the quality assessment system, enabling precise degradation localization without adding complex diagnostic infrastructure throughout the entire network.
2Reliability
If packet losses are not compensated, then network performance can be accurately measured, but communication quality deteriorates due to missing packets
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates substitute packets that copy the temporal characteristics (timestamps) of lost packets. These substitute packets are inserted at the point where packet loss occurred, allowing the receiving end to reconstruct the packet stream accurately. This enables both reliable communication quality maintenance and precise performance measurement, as the substitute packets preserve the timing information needed for accurate FLV computation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies prior cushioning by inserting substitute packets at the point of loss before the receiving end processes the packet stream. This preemptive compensation ensures that the receiver never experiences actual packet loss, maintaining communication quality while the Frame Loss Vectors continue to provide accurate measurement data about the original packet loss conditions.
3Measurement precision
If diagnostics software is run on the entire network, then all performance issues can be detected, but the time and resources required increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts Frame Loss Vector computation to specific network points (access points and endpoints) rather than requiring network-wide diagnostics. By taking out the measurement function to these strategic locations, the system achieves accurate performance analysis of critical segments without the time and resource cost of analyzing the entire network simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by focusing diagnostic resources only on the wireless access point and endpoint where packet loss occurs, rather than scanning the entire network. This selective approach provides sufficient accuracy for identifying degradation locations while significantly reducing diagnostics time and computational resources required.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for facilitating network performance analysis. In an illustrative embodiment, the system includes a first module capable of quantifying network performance associated with a first portion of the network and providing a signal in response thereto. A second module is capable of ascertaining performance degradations in a communications link traversing plural portions of the network that are attributable to the first portion based on the signal. In a more specific embodiment, the second module further includes a third module adapted to ascertain degradations in network performance associated with a second portion of the network based on the signal and based on a performance parameter associated with both the first portion and the second portion of the network. In this embodiment, the first portion includes a wireless portion, and the second portion includes a wired portion. The performance parameter incorporates a Frame Loss Vector (FLV) associated with a communications link that traverses the wireless and wired portions of the network.