End-to-end service quality monitoring method and system in a radio network

• US 8,654,660 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2008
• Issued: 02/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 7signal Oy (7Signal Solutions, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: 7signal Oy (7Signal Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ketonen, Veli-Pekka
• Primary Examiner(s): Thier, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOUIS, VINNCELAS
• Application Number:
  US12/673,222
• Publication Number:
  US 20110096678A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,020 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/338, 455/423, 455/438, 455/517, 709/203, 709/223, 702/186
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/147 for predicting network behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/149 for prediction of maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0852 Delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0864 Round trip delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/06 Testing, supervising or monitoring using simulated traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

A method and a system for service quality monitoring in a network includes radio interfaces. The measurements are end-to-end measurements between the end user and chosen network element. The measurements are implemented using monitoring stations which can monitor the traffic passively or actively by transmitting test signals. The antenna beam directions of the monitoring stations can be controlled. The performance server works as a counterpart of the active tests. A reporting suite may define the performed measurements and it also collects the measurement data from different monitoring stations. Monitoring data from several corporate intranets can also be collected to an external server through internet connection.

Claims

1. A method for service quality monitoring in a wireless network, the network comprising network elements which further comprise at least one monitoring means with a directional antenna, the method comprising the steps of:

selecting or setting a direction of the antenna beam in a horizontal direction, in a vertical direction, or in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction in order to establish a chosen antenna direction for monitoring purposes;

after said selecting or setting step, monitoring transmissions with at least one monitoring means with the chosen antenna direction, where the monitoring means are independently functioning measurement units;

determining at least one service quality parameter using the monitored transmissions; and

using one of i) a test server and ii) another monitoring means as a test counterpart for the monitoring means, wherein,

the monitoring means creates test traffic comprising test signals, and controls a beam of the antenna in a horizontal direction, in a vertical direction, or in both the horizontal and vertical directions,

the test counterpart is at least one test server located in public internet or close to central application servers for monitoring means located inside several closed networks, and

the test server being used in active tests determining end-to-end transmission quality between devices where the test server receives the test signals created by the monitoring means, performs tests using the test signals, and transmits results of the test from the received test signals, the active tests including testing end-to-end transmission quality between network and end-user devices in each direction therebetween.

2. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

choosing a test signal transmitter among the network elements;

transmitting a test signal through a desired route in the network;

monitoring the test signal or a received response signal in a chosen receiver among the network elements; and

calculating at least one service quality parameter from the test signal or from the received response signal.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the desired route comprises at least one radio connection of the wireless local area network.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the service quality parameters comprise at least one of availability of the radio connection, availability of the service or application, accessability to a server or service, retainability of connection or service, capacity usage, number of users connected in the cell, quality of the radio connection, quality of service and security of service.

5. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

monitoring at least one of an end user application service availability or quality, user actions and errors in networks usage, functionality of network access control or usage charging and RF transmissions from selected locations.

6. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

transferring the monitoring results to an internal or external server of a network owner.

7. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

controlling at least one monitoring means by an external server or by an internal server, by setting desired measurements.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the results of monitoring, comprising network status and service quality, are retrieved from the monitoring means or displayed on a map, on a floorplan or on a screen.

9. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

triggering an alarm, when the results of monitoring exceed predetermined ranges or vary from historical trend, or when the measured output power of the base station has a decreasing trend or exceeds regulations.

10. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

causing at least one cell change by the monitoring means during a monitoring period by selecting another antenna beam for use or redirecting the used antenna beam.

11. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

monitoring a cell change success rate, duration and impact to end user service quality.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring means has a local area network connection or at least one wireless connection or both.

13. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

monitoring used network devices and end user device types; and

collecting compatibility information concerning different devices of the network.

14. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

identifying network device models and manufacturers by their MAC address.

15. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

defining a monitoring means as a starting point of a route and the same monitoring means as an ending point of the route, or

defining a monitoring means as a starting point of a route and another monitoring means as an ending point of the route, or

defining a monitoring means as a starting point of a route and a test server as an ending point of the route, or

defining a test server as a starting point of a route and a monitoring means as an ending point of the route, or

defining a monitoring means as a starting point of a route and a reporting server as an ending point of the route, or

defining a reporting server as a starting point of a route and a monitoring means as an ending point of the route.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein one monitoring means is capable of accessing several separate networks, monitoring them and transmitting results separately for each monitored network.

17. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

adjusting at least one of the transmitted output power and received signal level of the monitoring means.

18. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

setting data rate used in the monitoring lower than automatically selected data rate.

19. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

monitoring usage of radio channels in the wireless network;

monitoring channel selection overlap between adjacent radio cells; and

sending an alarm to network management in case of risk for degraded performance.

20. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

polling the monitoring means for ensuring the functionality of the monitoring means and its network connection.

21. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

measuring round trip time or a delay between data transmission and acknowledgement message in the monitoring means for a test signal transmitted between the monitoring means and a network element;

calculating a distance between the network element and the monitoring means from the round trip time or the delay between data transmission and acknowledgement message; and

calculating a location of the network element based on an antenna beam angle of the monitoring means and the calculated distance.

22. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

transmitting a test signal to an end user through at least two base stations; and

determining optimality of the serving base station from a round trip time or from a measured delay between data transmission and acknowledgement message.

23. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

measuring signal levels using at least two antenna beams of the monitoring means; and

if a signal transmitted by the network element is detected with at least two antenna beams,

calculating a location of the network element using beam amplification forms of the antenna, beam directions and the measured signal levels.

24. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

locating the position of the monitoring means by a Global Positioning System functionality.

25. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

using the monitoring means as a passive monitoring means or as an active monitoring means or as a base station serving as the traffic gateway or as a repeater station serving a desired sector or as a spare route between at least two networks implemented in at least two different technologies; and

switching the functionality of the monitoring means dynamically.

26. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

supplying power for the monitoring means through inductive connection of the electromagnetic field.

27. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

identifying desired user device for monitoring from the radio interface;

monitoring the identified user traffic in local area network; and

measuring at least one of user service quality, data security or security threat level from the local area network.

28. The method according to claim 1, wherein monitoring data is transferred to an application used for network management.

29. The method according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring means is either a dedicated monitoring station or implemented integrally to a base station.

30. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method is implemented in at least one of WLAN, WiMAX, Flash-OFDM, GSM/EDGE and WCDMA technologies.

31. The method according to claim 1, wherein key performance indicators for the network are calculated using at least one of measured radio network signal to noise ratios, probe response times, amount of retransmissions, amount of transmitted data frames or used data rates or codecs between clients and access points or between equal network nodes or between monitoring stations and other network nodes.

32. The method according to claim 1, wherein,

the monitoring step uses the monitoring means to i) measure signal noise level, signal RF properties, and user traffic, ii) create test traffic comprising test signals, and iii) control a beam of the antenna with both horizontal and vertical rotation, and

the another monitoring means is used as the test counterpart in making the at least one service quality parameter using the monitored transmissions as part of active tests determining end-to-end transmission quality between the monitoring means and the another monitoring means where the another monitoring means i) receives the test signals created by the monitoring means, ii) performs tests using the test signals, and iii) transmits results of the test from the received test signals, the active tests including testing end-to-end transmission quality between network and end-user devices in each direction therebetween, the another monitoring means not being a test server.

33. The method according to claim 32, wherein,

the monitoring means is a non-mobile, device remaining in a fixed position while making plural end-to-end transmission quality determinations between the monitoring means and a plurality of said another monitoring means, including:

a)—

selecting or setting a first direction of the antenna beam in the horizontal direction, in the vertical direction, or in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction in order to establish a first chosen antenna direction for the monitoring purposes,

the monitoring means monitoring transmissions with the first chosen antenna direction, and

determining a first end-to-end service quality parameter using the monitored transmissions between the monitoring means and a first of the another monitoring means, and

b)—

selecting or setting a second direction of the antenna beam in the horizontal direction, in the vertical direction, or in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction in order to establish a second chosen antenna direction for the monitoring purposes,

the monitoring means monitoring transmissions with the second chosen antenna direction, and

determining a second end-to-end service quality parameter using the monitored transmissions between the monitoring means and a second of the another monitoring means.

34. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing a computer program for service quality monitoring in a wireless network, the network comprising network elements which further comprise at least one monitoring means with a directional antenna, the computer program controlling a data-processing device to perform:

establishing a chosen antenna direction for monitoring purposes by selecting or setting a direction of the antenna beam in a horizontal direction, in a vertical direction, or in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction;

monitoring transmissions with monitoring means with the chosen antenna direction, where the monitoring means are performed by independently functioning measurement units, the monitoring means measuring signal noise level, signal RF properties, and user traffic, creating test traffic comprising test signals, and controlling a beam of the antenna with both horizontal and vertical rotation;

determining at least one service quality parameter using the monitored transmissions; and

using one of i) a test server and ii) another monitoring means as a test counterpart for the monitoring means, the test counterpart being used in active tests determining two-way end-to-end transmission quality between devices where the test counterpart receives the test signals created by the monitoring means, performs tests using the test signals, and transmits results of the test from the received test signals.