Method of outputting estimated QoEs on a terminal on an application basis

• US 9,667,744 B2
• Filed: 06/01/2016
• Issued: 05/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Empire Technology Development LLC (Allied Inventors Management, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Empire Technology Development LLC (Allied Inventors Management, LLC)
• Inventors: Oki, Eiji, Arakawa, Yutaka, Yamanaka, Naoaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Quang N
• Application Number:
  US15/170,131
• Publication Number:
  US 20160277533A1
• Time in Patent Office: 363 Days
• Field of Search: 709224, 709229, 717120, 370329
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3419 by assessing time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0829 Packet loss
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/61 taking into account QoS or priority requirements

Abstract

Implementations and techniques for outputting information about estimated QoEs on a terminal on which plural applications can be executed are generally disclosed. The estimated QoEs may be obtained by performing QoE estimation on an application basis.

Claims

1. A method to output estimated Quality of Experiences (QoEs) on a terminal on which plural applications can be executed, the method comprising:

estimating QoE for an application using a criterion on the application, the estimating including;

setting the criterion on the application by;

receiving QoE data from a user of the terminal after or during an execution of the application,

storing the QoE data on the application,

statistically estimating a quality factor having a greatest measurable effect on the QoE based on the stored QoE data, and

updating the criterion based on the statistical estimation, and

estimating the QoE based on the criterion; and

outputting the estimated QoE.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the QoE data indicates a need or a preference of the user of the terminal.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the criterion further includes:

determining whether a change in the criterion is requested based on numerical values.

4. The method of claim 3,

wherein setting the criterion further includes receiving a user input that indicates the numerical values, and

wherein updating the criterion is based on the numerical values.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting the estimated QoE includes changing a color of a displayed icon on the terminal according to the QoE estimation, the displayed icon corresponding to the application.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the estimated QoE includes ratings that include very good, good, fair, bad, or unusable, and wherein each of the ratings corresponds to a different color.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating the QoE further includes:

issuing, to a cloud server, a request for test data,

receiving, from the cloud server, the test data,

measuring at least one quality factor based on the received test data, and

estimating the QoE based on a relationship between the measured at least one quality factor and the criterion.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the application is an application to browse for a picture on the cloud server, the test data is picture data, and the quality factor associated with the application to browse the picture includes a transfer time between the request and the reception of the picture data at the terminal, and

wherein the relationship between the measured at least one quality factor and the criterion indicates whether the transfer time is shorter than a transfer time according to the criterion.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the application is an application to browse through videos on the cloud server, the test data is video data, and the quality factor associated with the application to browse the videos includes:

a transfer time between the request and the reception of the video data at the terminal, and

a packet loss rate during a transfer of the video data, and

wherein the relationship between the measured at least one quality factor and the criterion indicates whether each of the transfer time and the packet loss rate is smaller than each of a transfer time and a packet loss rate according to the criterion.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the application is an application to conduct Internet Protocol (IP) telephony via the cloud server, the test data is voice data, and the quality factor associated with the application to conduct the IP telephony includes:

a transfer time between the request and the reception of the voice data at the terminal, and

a packet loss rate during a transfer of the voice data, and

wherein the relationship between the measured at least one quality factor and the criterion indicates whether each of the transfer time and the packet loss rate is smaller than each of a transfer time and a packet loss rate according to the criterion.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein in response to the transfer time being shorter than the transfer time according to the criterion, the QoE for the application to browse for the picture on the cloud server is estimated as being rated very good or good, and the user is recommended to browse through high-quality pictures.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein in response to the transfer time being longer than the transfer time according to the criterion, the QoE for the application to browse for the picture on the cloud server is estimated as being rated bad, and the user is recommended to browse through low-quality pictures.

13. A terminal configured to:

estimate a Quality of Experience (QoE) for an application, wherein to estimate the QoE, the terminal is further configured to;

set a criterion on the application, wherein to set the criterion, the terminal is further configured to;

receive QoE data from a user of the terminal after or during an execution of the application,

store the QoE data on the application,

statistically estimate a quality factor having a greatest measurable effect on the QoE based on the stored QoE data, and

update the criterion based on the statistical estimation, and

estimate the QoE based on the criterion; and

output the estimated QoE.

14. The terminal of claim 13, wherein to set the criterion, the terminal is further configured to determine whether a change in the criterion is requested, based on numerical values included in received user input.

15. The terminal of claim 14, wherein the criterion is updated based on the numerical values.

16. The terminal of claim 13, wherein to estimate the QoE, the terminal is further configured to:

issue, to a cloud server, a request for test data,

receive, from the cloud server, the test data,

measure at least one quality factor based on the received test data, and

estimate the QoE based on a relationship between the measured at least one quality factor and the criterion.

17. The terminal of claim 13, wherein to output the estimated QoE, the terminal is further configured to change a color of a displayed icon, the displayed icon being provided to initiate the application.

18. A system, comprising:

a cloud server in communication with a terminal and configured to provide test data, wherein the terminal configured to;

estimate a Quality of Experience (QoE) for an application, wherein to estimate the QoE, the terminal is further configured to;

set a criterion on the application, wherein to set the criterion, the terminal is further configured to;

receive QoE data from a user of the terminal after or during an execution of the application,

store the QoE data on the application,

statistically estimate a quality factor having a greatest measurable effect on the QoE based on the stored QoE data, and

update the criterion based on the statistical estimation, issue, to the cloud server, a request for the test data, receive, from the cloud server, the test data, measure at least one quality factor based on the received test data, and

estimate the QoE based on a relationship between the measured at least one quality factor and the criterion; and

output the estimated QoE.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein to set the criterion, the terminal is further configured to determine whether a change in the criterion is requested, based on numerical values included in received user input, and wherein the criterion is updated based on the numerical values.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein to output the estimated QoE, the terminal is configured to change a color of a displayed icon, the displayed icon being provided to initiate the application.