Correlating User Experience with Location via IP Geolocation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Network administrators face challenges in managing network configurations and performing fault analysis due to difficulties in accurately determining user location and correlating it with user experience, leading to persistent network issues like delays, packet loss, and service outages, which affect overall system performance and user experience.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that estimate user location based on session information, using public IP addresses and geolocation databases, to associate user experience scores with locations, enabling holistic location-based analytics for identifying and mitigating network degradations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual efforts or Active Directory location fallback is used to determine user location, then location information can be obtained, but the location accuracy is poor and may not reflect actual user location
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses public IP address as an intermediary to determine user location. Instead of directly using Active Directory location or manual input, the system obtains the user's public IP address and uses geolocation services to translate it into physical location information, thereby improving location accuracy while maintaining ease of operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual location input methods with automated IP-based geolocation. The system automatically obtains public IP address from session information and uses geolocation databases to determine location, eliminating the need for manual location entry or reliance on Active Directory location fields
2Adaptability or versatility
If location and delivery groups are not mapped one-to-one, then network configuration flexibility is improved, but the ability to correlate user experience with location is degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces public IP address as a mediating identifier that connects users to their physical locations independently of delivery group assignments. This allows the system to correlate user experience with actual location even when delivery groups are configured flexibly without one-to-one location mapping
Solution Approach 2:
The patent separates location determination from delivery group configuration by using public IP address as an independent identifier. This segmentation allows delivery groups to be configured for functional purposes while location correlation is established through IP-based geolocation, resolving the conflict between configuration flexibility and location correlation
3Measurement precision
If comprehensive session information is collected for location estimation, then user experience correlation accuracy is improved, but system complexity and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential element needed for location determination - the public IP address - from session information. By focusing on this single key identifier and using geolocation services to derive location from it, the system achieves accurate location correlation without the complexity of processing comprehensive session data
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses geolocation services as an intermediary that handles the complex task of translating IP address into location information. This external service absorbs the complexity of location data processing, allowing the core system to maintain simplicity while achieving accurate location correlation with user experience metrics
Data Source
AI summary
Described embodiments provide for associating a user experience score with a location of a client. A device may identify a session between the client and an application service established via a first network. The device may receive, via the application service, a network address of the client associated with a second network. The device may determine a location of the client accessing the application service via the first network based at least on the network address associated with the second network. The device may receive, from an instrumentation service, performance factors for the client. Each of the performance factors may be associated with access to the application service by the client. The device may generate a user experience score for the client based at least on the performance factors. The device may provide an instruction based at least on an association between the user experience score and the location.