Wireless network monitoring

• US 20050054300A1
• Filed: 10/15/2004
• Published: 03/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Vogel, Andreas, Adams, Mark E., Brenner, Andrew S., Suojanen, Noah B. K.
• Granted Patent: US 7,359,835 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/67.110
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5009 Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5012 determining service availability, e.g. which services are available at a certain point in time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5032 Generating service level reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5093 wherein the managed service relates to messaging or chat services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/12 Network monitoring probes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/55 Testing of service level quality, e.g. simulating service usage
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/22 Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities

Abstract

A system and method for monitoring performance of a wireless network. A probe server controls posts to send and receive probes of the wireless network. These probes provide feedback information, which indicates how the wireless network is performing.

Claims

1-25. -25. (cancelled).

26. A method for monitoring a wireless network, comprising:

generating a plurality of probes, each probe having a target with information;

sending each of the plurality of probes from a source to the wireless network; and

for each probe, recording feedback information indicative of the performance of the wireless network.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein each source is a wireless device.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein each wireless device is at a post.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the post records feedback information generated in response to the plurality of probes.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising sending, for each of the plurality of probes, the recorded feedback information to a server.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein the feedback information for each of the plurality of probes comprises a time of a first event.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the feedback information for each of the plurality of probes comprises a time of a second event.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising determining, for each of the plurality of probes, from the time of the first event and the time of the second event, the time between the first event and the second event.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the first event is the time the probe is sent from the source.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein the second event is the time the target information is received at the source.

36. The method of claim 31, wherein the first event is the time a carrier acknowledges a call from the source as an authenticated data call.

37. The method of claim 31, wherein the first event is the time a browser starts up.

38. The method of claim 31, wherein the first event is the time a browser authentication is completed.

39. The method of claim 31, wherein the first event is the time the source begins to receive the target information.

40. The method of claim 31, wherein the first event is the time the source begins to receive a homedeck.

41. The method of claim 31, wherein the first event is the time the source completes reception of a homedeck.

42. The method of claim 31, wherein the first event is the time the source establishes a TCP/IP connection with an HTTP server.

43. The method of claim 31, wherein the first event is the time a DNS server begins to translate a URL into an IP address.

44. The method of claim 31, wherein the first event is the time a DNS server completes a translation of a URL into an IP address.

45. The method of claim 26, wherein each of the plurality of the probes is a WAP pull probe.

46. The method of claim 26, wherein each of the plurality of the probes is an HTTP pull probe.

47. The method of claim 26, further comprising receiving, for each of the plurality of probes, the recorded feedback information at a server.

48. The method of claim 26, further comprising sending the recorded feedback information from each of the plurality of probes to a user interface.

49. The method of claim 26, further comprising generating a graphical representation of the recorded feedback information.

50. The method of claim 26, further comprising sending an alert in response to a specified performance level of the wireless network.

51-65. -65. (cancelled).