Network User Satisfaction Measurement via Goodput Correlation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for optimizing wireless communications networks, such as drive tests and speed tests, fail to accurately measure user satisfaction and identify bottlenecks, as they do not account for the self-healing characteristics of modern networks, leading to unsatisfied users despite apparent network functionality.
Innovation Solution
A method to determine user satisfaction by correlating goodput with user ratings and simulating network traffic to identify bottlenecks, involving providing test users with predetermined data connections, collecting user satisfaction ratings, and generating graphs to interpolate user satisfaction functions, while simulating traffic patterns to intervene in cascading effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If speed tests are used to evaluate network performance, then large throughput numbers are obtained, but the measurements have no connection to actual user experience
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the network environment using network emulators and simulators that replicate real-world network conditions, device characteristics, and user behaviors. This allows measurement of user experience metrics in a controlled virtual environment that accurately reflects actual network performance without requiring physical drive tests or relying on simplistic speed tests.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces virtual users and network emulators as intermediary elements between the physical network and the measurement process. These virtual entities simulate real user traffic patterns, device behaviors, and network conditions, providing a more accurate bridge between raw network throughput and actual user experience than direct speed tests.
2Reliability
If traditional drive tests and KPI measurements are performed, then network functionality appears to work correctly, but user satisfaction cannot be accurately determined
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the virtual network environment to self-evaluate user satisfaction metrics by simulating diverse user behaviors, application usage patterns, and traffic demands. The system automatically measures how virtual users experience the network under various conditions, eliminating the need for manual user surveys or subjective satisfaction assessments while maintaining accurate functionality testing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent systematically varies multiple parameters including network conditions (signal strength, interference, bandwidth), device characteristics (processing power, memory, display), and user behaviors (traffic patterns, application usage) in the virtual environment. By changing these parameters and observing their impact on simulated user experience, the system can determine user satisfaction under different operational scenarios while maintaining reliable functionality testing.
3Productivity
If network capacity is increased to handle more traffic, then user demand can be met, but bottlenecks may propagate throughout the entire network causing cascading interference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary analysis in the virtual environment to identify potential bottleneck locations and interference propagation paths before implementing capacity increases in the physical network. By simulating various capacity expansion scenarios and observing their impact on network-wide interference patterns, the system can predict and prevent cascading effects before they occur in the actual network.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the virtual network environment continuously monitors the impact of capacity changes on interference patterns and user experience metrics. This feedback loop allows the system to identify when capacity increases are causing harmful interference propagation and to adjust the expansion strategy accordingly, preventing cascading bottlenecks while maintaining productivity improvements.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of mapping goodput to user satisfaction on a network includes providing, by at least one processor, users with a data connection having a pre-determined goodput for an average packet transaction of a given category of applications or a snippet of a transaction, receiving, by the at least one processor, user satisfaction ratings from test users after using one or more applications in the given category of applications using the data connection, from the received user satisfaction ratings, generating, by the at least one processor, a graph of average user satisfaction versus goodput for the given category of applications and interpolating between data points to obtain a function correlating user satisfaction and goodput for the given category of applications, and generating, by the at least one processor, a set of functions correlating user satisfaction and goodput for each of a plurality of given categories of applications.