Network Probe User-Session Quality Quantification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for assessing wireless communication network performance are inadequate as they focus on coarse measures that do not specifically identify the quality of service experienced by individual users, particularly failing to account for device-specific factors like geographic location and device type, and require inconvenient querying of user devices for precise measurements.
Innovation Solution
A system and method to quantify the quality of network transmission for a user-session in real-time using network-specific data from the radio access network or core network, without relying on device queries, allowing for the characterization of end-user experience and identification of systemic issues affecting multiple users.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If coarse measures of network performance are used to monitor RAN transceiver performance, then network monitoring is convenient and simple, but the measurement precision of user experience quality is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a network probe as an intermediary component that captures user-session specific transmission data from the core network. This probe acts as a mediator between the network infrastructure and the analysis system, collecting detailed metrics without requiring direct user device involvement, thus maintaining operational convenience while significantly improving measurement precision of actual user experience quality.
2Measurement precision
If device-specific data is accessed by querying mobile computing devices, then precise user experience quality can be identified, but user convenience deteriorates and the method is limited to single-device issues
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous feedback by monitoring user-session transmissions in real-time through the network probe. Instead of querying devices only when problems occur, the system continuously collects and analyzes transmission data, providing ongoing feedback about network quality. This eliminates the need for user-initiated queries while maintaining precise measurement of user experience quality across all sessions.
Solution Approach 2:
The network monitoring system performs self-service by automatically collecting, analyzing, and reporting user experience quality metrics without requiring user intervention. The probe autonomously captures transmission data, the system processes this data to identify quality issues, and generates reports - all without users needing to query their devices or provide input, thus improving both measurement precision and user convenience.
3Productivity
If conventional CQI methods focusing on transmission rates and available bandwidth are used, then network performance can be monitored, but systemic quality issues affecting multiple users remain undetectable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the monitoring approach by focusing on individual user-sessions rather than aggregating only overall network metrics. By analyzing transmission data at the user-session level, the system can identify patterns that affect multiple users while maintaining the efficiency of automated monitoring. This segmented approach allows detection of systemic issues through aggregation of individual session data without sacrificing monitoring efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods are described that are used to identify quality problems in a wireless communication network as experienced by a user-session of a mobile computing device, and quantify the quality of network transmission associated with the user-session. The quality of transmission during a user-session can then be used to characterize the network quality as experienced by an end user. One benefit of applying the described methods is that the actual quality of network transmissions experienced in a user-session is quantified rather than being inferred from the performance of a radio access network (“RAN”) transceiver. The described methods are used in some examples to determine network quality issues related to user-session characteristics, such as location and mobile computing device type.