Method and apparatus for designing, updating and operating a network based on quality of experience

• US 20080155087A1
• Filed: 10/29/2007
• Published: 06/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Clearinghouse LLC (RPX Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited (Nortel Networks Corporation)
• Inventors: Bharrat Hsingh, Kathy, Blouin, Francois, Ravindran, Ravishankar
• Granted Patent: US 8,280,994 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5006 Creating or negotiating SLA contracts, guarantees or penalties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/091 Measuring contribution of individual network components to actual service level

Abstract

A software program or a set of software tools allows end user quality of experience to be quantified and translated into network conditions required to achieve that end user quality of experience. By focusing on the Quality of Experience (QoE) for the applications that will use the network rather than the traditional bottom up approach, and then looking to design the network based on those end user requirements, the network may be designed and/or operated to achieve a high quality of experience. The program and tools may be used at different phases of the networking cycle, including design, planning, deployment, and operational phases, to allow the QoE requirements to be obtained while optimizing network cost and utilization. A QoE server may be implemented off line and used for network design/planning, or may be included on the network to monitor the network and control operation of the network to achieve the intended QoE.

Claims

1. A method of designing or updating a network based on end-user Quality of Experience requirements for a service, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving input about a service to be offered on the network;

determining end-to-end Quality of Experience (QoE) requirements for the service;

mapping the QoE requirements to QoS requirements for the service.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step of receiving input about a service to be offered on the network comprises receiving input about context independent parameters of the service and context dependent parameters of the service.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the context independent parameters comprise at least one of timeliness of the service and media/modalities to be used to implement the service.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the context dependent parameters comprise at least one of network scenario, contact type, transmission mode, connectivity type, and terminal type.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of determining end-to-end Quality of Experience (QoE) requirements for the service comprises using the input about the service to be offered on the network to key into a Quality of Experience database to obtain preferred and acceptable values for the service.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the context independent parameters of the service are used to determine the preferred values for the service, and wherein the context dependent parameters of the service are used to adjust the preferred values to compute the acceptable values for the service.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the QoE requirements comprise a comprehensive set of metrics for the media and control path for each modality associated with the service.

8. A method of allocating an impairment budget between a plurality of nodes on a network path, the method comprising:

determining a set of quality of service metrics for a service based on a required quality of experience value for the service;

determining a total impairment budget based on the quality of service metrics;

allocating a portion of the total impairment budget to each network forming the network path; and

within at least one of the networks on the network path, allocating the portion of the impairment budget for that network to nodes forming a portion of the network path that extends through that network to arrive at an impairment allocation for the nodes on the portion of the path through that network.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of allocating a portion of the total impairment budget comprises allocating the total impairment budget between access networks and core networks.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of allocating the portion of the impairment budget comprises allocating at least one of the quality of service metrics.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the allocated quality of service metric is latency.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of determining a fixed latency for each node on the network path in upstream and downstream directions.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of determining a variable latency for each node on the network path in upstream and downstream directions.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising summing the downstream variable latency for the nodes on the network path and using the sum to determine a size of a jitter buffer for the service.

15. A method operating a network based on quality of experience, the method comprising the steps of:

determining that a Quality of Experience (QoE) violation has occurred;

determining if the QoE violation is due to an equipment failure;

if the QoE violation is not due to an equipment failure, determining if the QoE violation is due to violation of a nodal Quality of Service (QoS) requirement; and

if there has been a nodal QoS violation, performing nodal optimization to adjust the manner in which the node is handling traffic to attempt to meet the QoS requirements;

if there has not been a nodal QoS violation, adjusting a class of service mapping for the service or identifying and selecting application layer control knobs for the service.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of adjusting a class of service for the service comprises determining if the service has been mapped to an appropriate class of service.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein nodal optimization comprises determining if an aggregate traffic profile for the service is greater than a capacity allocated to the service.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein nodal optimization comprises adjusting a scheduler share for the service.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein nodal optimization comprises adjusting a buffer size at the node so that a delay/loss margin for the service is not violated.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein the nodal Quality of Service (QoS) requirements are derived from a QoE allocation process for the service.