Method and system for controlling quality of service over a telecommunication network

• US 6,748,433 B1
• Filed: 07/10/2000
• Issued: 06/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xylon LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: ECtel Ltd. (Amdocs Ltd.)
• Inventors: Yaakov, Yaron
• Primary Examiner(s): Barot, Bharat
• Application Number:
  US09/613,461
• Time in Patent Office: 1,429 Days
• Field of Search: 709/200-203, 709/223-224, 709/236-238, 709/246, 370/224-230, 370/241, 370/395.2, 370/395.21, 370/401-402
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/302 Route determination based on requested QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/308 Route determination based on user's profile, e.g. premium users
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0087 Network testing or monitoring arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/66 Traffic distributors

Abstract

A method, a system and equipment for determining quality of telecommunication service over a telecommunication network, which provide: (a) obtaining data on quality of service over a number of routes in the network by determining, for each route, N parameters p_i, each reflecting either a quality of transmission of a particular service through said route or a statistical characteristics of said route'"'"'s availability to a subscriber, and (b) building an objective quality score (OQS) for each of the routes, the OQS being a multi-profile quality estimation equation presenting a sum of N said parameters p_i taken with respective weight functions W_i(p_i) thereof. Based on the score, one or more routes can be selected in the network (for example, for routing), which have the OQS value not lower than a predetermined OQS.

Claims

1. A method for determining quality of telecommunication service over a telecommunication network, including steps of:

a) obtaining data on quality of service over one or more routes in the network by determining, for each route, N of parameters p_i, each of said parameters p_i reflecting either a quality of transmission of a particular service through said route or a statistical characteristics of said route'"'"'s availability to a subscriber,

b) building an objective quality score (OQS) for each of said routes, the OQS being a multi-profile quality estimation equation presenting a sum of N said parameters p_i taken with respective weight functions W_i(p_i) thereof.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step

(c) determining one or more routes having the OQS value not lower than a predetermined OQS value, suitable for further routing the telecommunication services there-through.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising a step (d) of routing the services over one or more routes determined at step (c).

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising a step (e) of monitoring the quality of service in real time and comparing it with the predetermined OQS value.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the step (e) comprises obtaining data on quality of service over a particular selected route in the network by determining M of said parameters p_i and building an objective quality score (OQS) for said route, the OQS being a multi-profile quality estimation equation.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein step (e) additionally comprises real-time monitoring the OQS of a plurality of routes in the network, and a step of near real-time re-routing the telecommunication services to those routes which are characterized by OQS value not lower than the predetermined value;

the re-routing is provided in case that the selected route has the OQS lower than the predetermined value.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the real-time monitoring the OQS of a plurality of routes in the network with respect to a particular transmission type is provided in the following way:

obtaining data on quality of service concerning said particular transmission type from a plurality of points in the network, distributed therein,

processing the obtained data to determine a corresponding current value of p_i parameter for said plurality of points, and

defining in said network a number of alternative transmission paths for said transmission type, each having a particular current value of the parameter p_i.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said parameter p_i is the Voice Quality of Service parameter QoS, and said network comprises a packet switched IP network.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein more than one parameter p_i is determined and monitored.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein said equation is presented in the following form:

$\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{OQS}=\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br>W_i<br><br>\left(p_i\right)<br><br>p_i& 1\end{array}$

wherein;

OQS—

is the objective quality score estimation

pi—

is a value of a parameter “

i”

in a particular route in the network

W_i(p_i)—

is a weight function of the parameter “

i”

N—

is the number of parameters defined for the network, and wherein

the weight functions W_i(p_i) reflect a preferred profile of the quality of service in said network and are presented as positive numbers in the range 0≦

W_i(p_i)≦

1 selected so that M values of said weight functions W_i(p_i) are more than 0, (M≦

N), and the sum of the selected values of the W_i(p_i) is equal to 1.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein said particular service is one of components in a non-limiting list comprising voice, fax and data transmission types, and wherein said parameters comprise at least six (N=6) characteristics of the quality of service for particular transmission types and the network of interest, said parameters being:

p₁—

a voice Quality of Service parameter QoS;

P₂—

is a Fax Quality of Service parameter;

P₃—

is a Data Quality of Service parameter;

p₄—

is Line Availability in the network;

p₅—

is Connectivity of the network;

p₆—

is a Service Availability parameter.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the weight functions W_i(p_i) of the quality of service are selected by a service provider for forming a number of profiles of service suitable for offering to clients.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the weight functions W_i(p_i) of the quality of service are selected by a client for forming a profile of service.

14. The method according to claim 1, further including a step of quality related call billing.

15. The method according to claim 1, for controlling the quality of service in said network, further comprising a step of routing the transmission services over one of said routes having the OQS value not lower than a predetermined OQS value.

16. A system for controlling quality of service in a telecommunication network, capable of implementing the method according to claim 1.

17. A system for determining a quality of service QoS estimate in a telecommunication network, comprising:

a plurality of test units capable of collecting data at various points in said network, each of said test units being adapted to determine value of at least one quality of service parameter p_i with respect to a particular transmission type, said parameter p_i being one of N quality of service parameters;

a server computer adapted to communicate with said test units for receiving therefrom the collected data on said quality of service parameters at the respective points of the network;

based on the collected data concerning the points and the parameters, the server computer being capable of building an objective quality score (OQS) for one or more routes in the network, wherein the OQS being a multi-profile quality estimation equation presenting a sum of N said parameters p_i taken with respective weight functions W_i(p_i) thereof.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein said plurality of test units are capable of monitoring said at least one quality of service parameter p_i in real time, while the server computer is adapted to define in real time a number of transmission paths each having its own current value of quality of service parameter p_i.

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein said at least one monitored parameter p_i is a voice QoS parameter, thereby said server computer being capable of measuring the audio quality of individual packetized voice transmission paths.

20. The system according to claim 19, for a packet switched network, wherein said network cooperates with a gateway circuitry where an analog voice signal is packetized and routed, the above-mentioned gateway circuitry comprises a service provider'"'"'s network element responsible for routing said voice signals, and the server computer is capable of providing said element with information on the defined transmission paths and respective values of their voice quality of service p_i(QoS) parameter, thereby enabling the routing of the voice signals via those of said transmission paths having predetermined values of the QoS parameter.

21. The system according to claim 17, wherein said server computer is also capable of ranking said paths according to their at least one p_i parameter.

22. A server computer for determining quality of service in a network, the server computer being designed for communicating with a plurality of test units for receiving therefrom data on quality of service parameters p_i at various points of the network;

based on the collected data concerning the points and the parameters, the server computer being capable of building an objective quality score (OQS) for one or more routes in the network, wherein the OQS being a multi-profile quality estimation equation presenting a sum of said parameters p_i taken with respective weight functions W_i(p_i) thereof, wherein

each of said test units being adapted to determine value of at least one quality of service parameter p_i with respect to a particular transmission type.