Mobile Node Service Impairment Detection and Reporting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional OSS approaches do not provide adequate monitoring of service quality experienced by mobile node users, as they offer only an indirect view of network elements, failing to directly monitor user perspectives on service impairments.
Innovation Solution
Equipping mobile nodes with software functionality to detect and report service impairments, including categorization, cause determination, and location-based reporting to a service quality management system, enabling proactive measurement and reporting of user-perspective performance metrics during communication sessions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional OSS architecture is used to monitor network elements, then network element management is achieved, but user-perspective service quality monitoring is not provided
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of having network elements report their status to the OSS (conventional approach), the patent inverts the approach by having mobile nodes directly monitor and report service quality impairments to the OSS. This inversion enables direct capture of user-perspective experience rather than indirect inference from network element states.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile node performs self-monitoring of service quality metrics (such as call quality, data throughput, latency) and autonomously generates impairment reports without requiring continuous intervention or configuration from the network side. This self-service capability enables accurate user-perspective monitoring while reducing network element management overhead.
2Reliability
If mobile nodes monitor and report service impairments, then user-perspective service quality is directly monitored, but mobile node complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal impairment detection framework where mobile nodes perform multiple functions: monitoring various service quality metrics (call quality, data session performance), categorizing impairments into predefined types, determining causes, and generating standardized reports. This multi-functionality approach consolidates complex monitoring tasks into a unified mechanism rather than requiring separate specialized components.
Solution Approach 2:
The system manages complexity by defining impairments in terms of observable service quality parameters (such as throughput thresholds, latency limits, packet loss rates) rather than requiring complex diagnostic capabilities. By changing the monitoring focus to parameter-based detection, the mobile node functionality remains manageable while maintaining reliable service quality monitoring.
3Measurement precision
If comprehensive service quality metrics are monitored, then user experience accuracy is improved, but measurement and detection difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments service quality monitoring into distinct impairment categories (such as call quality impairments, data session impairments, authentication failures) with specific detection criteria for each. This segmentation allows comprehensive monitoring of multiple service aspects while simplifying the detection mechanism for each individual category through predefined detection rules and thresholds.
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile node includes a software client that is configured to monitor the quality of a communication service provided by a wireless network and to detect an impairment of the communication service. When a service impairment is detected, the software client is further configured to generate a service impairment report for transmission to a service quality management system for the wireless network. The service impairment report may include a description of the service impairment (such as the category of impairment), a time associated with the impairment, and a location associated with the impairment. The software client may also be configured to determine a cause of the detected impairment and to indicate the cause in the service impairment report.