VoIP Quality Monitoring via ICMP Error Correlation
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Solution Overview
Problem
VoIP quality monitoring systems face limitations in accurately assessing the quality of media streams beyond the monitoring point, as they only consider data packets and lack information on errors occurring after the packets pass the monitoring point, leading to incomplete quality assessments.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves using error messages, particularly Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) messages, to gather additional quality information about VoIP media streams. These messages are correlated with the media stream data packets to determine transmission errors and deduce error scenarios, enhancing the accuracy of VoIP quality monitoring by incorporating ICMP-related quality information into Call Detail Records (CDRs).
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If only data packets are monitored for VoIP quality assessment, then the monitoring system remains simple and focused, but the quality assessment becomes incomplete as it lacks information on errors occurring after packets pass the monitoring point
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines data packet monitoring with ICMP error message monitoring into a unified quality assessment system. The monitoring probe correlates ICMP messages with corresponding media streams by matching IP addresses and ports, merging information from both data packets and error messages to provide comprehensive VoIP quality assessment that covers the entire transmission path.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses ICMP error messages as intermediary information to supplement direct data packet monitoring. These messages act as mediators that provide indirect evidence of transmission errors occurring beyond the monitoring point, allowing the system to infer quality issues without directly observing the problematic network segments.
2Loss of information
If ICMP messages are monitored and correlated with media streams, then error information completeness improves, but the complexity of correlating ICMP messages with data packets increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts key identifying information (IP addresses and ports) from both ICMP error messages and corresponding media stream data packets. By focusing only on these essential correlation elements rather than analyzing entire packet contents, the system reduces processing complexity while maintaining accurate matching between error messages and media streams.
Solution Approach 2:
The correlation mechanism developed in the patent serves multiple functions: it matches ICMP messages with media streams, identifies corresponding data packets, and enables comprehensive error tracking. This universal correlation approach can be applied to various types of network monitoring scenarios, reducing overall system complexity through a reusable methodology.
Data Source
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AI summary
This invention relates to a method for enhancing the quality information of a VoIP session by deducting information from received ICMP messages, in addition to quality information already collected from media streams and/or signaling streams of the same VoIP session. ICMP messages passing on the network link are monitored and correlated with an existing and ongoing VoIP session, i.e. media stream, already monitored by a media plane monitoring unit. A data record for the media stream(s) is expanded with information from the ICMP messages, thus giving a better and more complete quality feedback of the media stream reception at the two communication endpoints.