JP2004228857A - Real time service measurement system and subscriber terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a real time service measurement system capable of measuring the quality in the actual operation state of a real time service such as conversation by VOIP and the distribution of video images or sound by streaming in an IP network including a radio section. <P>SOLUTION: The real time service measurement system comprises radio base station equipment 101 communication-connected with a plurality of subscriber terminals 100 by radio, a real time performance measuring device 107 for monitoring the state of the radio base station equipment 101, and a packet measuring device 102 connected to the radio base station equipment 101 for measuring the information of packets transmitted and received in the radio base station equipment 101 on the basis of a command from the real time performance measuring device 107 and transmitting the measured result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a real-time service measurement system and a subscriber terminal suitable for use in real-time service quality measurement using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a conventional real-time service measurement system, a monitor system in an ATM switching system, a VOIP test system, and the like are known.
The conventional ATM switching system has a monitor function, extracts communication information between any two subscribers as a passing cell, and checks the quality and the presence or absence of traffic. To check the quality of the voice call, the cell loss rate and cell delay time were measured and confirmed based on the respective numerical values. When the call voice is monitored on the ATM line, the passing cells are extracted, restored to the call voice and recorded. Then, monitoring is performed by reproducing the recorded sound (for example, see Patent Document 1). For example, when a “monitor key” is pressed from a “dealing terminal”, recording starts first, and then a call is started when a “call button” is pressed. Thus, "recording start" and "call start" are set according to the intention of the dealer who is the caller.
[0003]
The conventional VOIP test system can measure the communication quality in an IP network. Items that can be measured include continuous packet recording, detailed packet display, outgoing number, incoming number, lost RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) packet, jitter, and delay, and call sound quality affected by these network transmission characteristics. Evaluation is performed based on the PSQM value, PSQM + value, MOS correlation value, and R value by recording and reproducing audio data. In addition, waveform observation and sound reproduction can be confirmed.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2001-237845
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the above-described monitoring function of the conventional ATM switching system obtains communication information between any two subscribers by extracting a passing cell, thereby checking the quality and the presence or absence of traffic and monitoring a voice call. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not possible to measure how much influence is exerted on the communication quality due to the caching performed by each server connected to the IP network.
[0006]
Further, in the conventional VOIP test system, although it is possible to confirm in advance, there is a problem that monitoring for quality confirmation in an actual operation state cannot be performed.
[0007]
A wireless broadband network represented by HDR (High Data Rate) enables reproduction of streaming video by a mobile phone, but has some problems. In particular, it is difficult to make the user sharing mechanism in the wireless section compatible with ensuring the required bandwidth for streaming video playback. In addition, the radio wave condition in the wireless section changes greatly, especially when moving. For this reason, the change in transmission throughput is large, the quality of streaming video reproduction is not constant, and it is difficult to secure QOS (Quality Of Service). As a result, the quality of real-time image services such as pay-per-view and moving image commercials may be degraded, and there is a concern that the spread of wireless broadband networks will be adversely affected.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a real-time service such as VOIP communication or streaming video or audio distribution in an IP network including a wireless section. An object of the present invention is to provide a real-time service measurement system and a subscriber terminal capable of measuring quality.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a real-time service measurement system according to claim 1 is a real-time service apparatus for communicating with a plurality of subscriber terminals by radio, and a real-time performance for monitoring a state of the radio base station apparatus. A measuring device, a packet measuring device connected to the radio base station device, which measures information of a packet transmitted and received by the radio base station device based on a command from the real-time performance measuring device, and transmits the measurement result. It is characterized by having.
[0010]
The real-time service measurement system according to claim 2, wherein the real-time performance measurement device instructs the measurement for a predetermined time, area, or content.
[0011]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the real-time service measurement system, a charge is determined based on a measurement result of the packet measurement device.
[0012]
A subscriber terminal according to claim 4, wherein the subscriber terminal in the real-time service measurement system according to claim 3, receives the determination result of the charging via the radio base station, and notifies the determination result. It is characterized by.
[0013]
6. The subscriber terminal according to claim 5, wherein the measuring unit measures radio communication quality with the radio base station, a transmitting unit transmits a measurement result of the measuring unit to the radio base station, and information such as content. Requesting means for making a service distribution request, receiving means for receiving information service billing information calculated based on the transmitted wireless communication quality, and reporting means for broadcasting the billing information. And
[0014]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a real-time service measurement system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a subscriber terminal 100 is a portable terminal such as a wireless telephone terminal having an IP communication function. The subscriber terminal 100 supports a real-time service such as VOIP. The wireless base station 101 wirelessly communicates with the subscriber terminal 100 and transmits IP packets by a wireless protocol. In the wireless section, the transmission band is allocated by a mechanism for sharing the transmission band by the user. This distribution is performed based on the user's request, the communication status, particularly the retransmission status, the CI value of the radio wave condition, the radio wave intensity, and the like. The base station control device 103 controls the wireless base station 101 via the dedicated control line 105.
[0015]
The packet measuring device 102 is connected to the wireless base station 101 and can monitor packets transmitted and received between the wireless base station 101 and the subscriber terminal 100. Then, a monitor instruction is received from the base station control device 103 via the wireless base station 101. In accordance with the instruction from the monitor, the delay, fluctuation, throughput, and priority of the transmission packet to the specific subscriber terminal 100 included in the instruction are measured. Further, the packet measurement device 102 is connected to the Internet 106 and transmits a measurement result to the real-time performance measurement device 107 in accordance with an instruction from the base station control device 103. Further, the packet measurement device 102 receives a real-time monitor service request from the real-time performance measurement device 107 via the base station control device 103.
[0016]
Even in the best-effort Internet, it is important to provide the communication quality required by each application. There are four factors of communication quality in a communication network: delay, fluctuation, throughput, and priority. These measurements are performed by the packet measurement device 102.
[0017]
The real-time service HTTP server 104 distributes a VOIP gatekeeper and a streaming program. The real-time performance measurement device 107 measures and records the real-time performance together with the packet measurement device 102 under predetermined conditions.
[0018]
Next, the operation of the real-time service measurement system of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of a quality measurement process performed by the real-time service measurement system shown in FIG.
Upon receiving the real-time service request from the subscriber terminal 100, the real-time service HTTP server 104 passes the request to the real-time performance measuring device 107. Upon receiving the real-time service request (step S1 "YES"), the real-time performance measuring device 107 analyzes the content of the received request. As a result of this analysis, if the monitoring condition is satisfied (step S2 "YES"), the request source information is recorded (step S3), and a monitor setting request is sent to the base station controller 103 to perform monitoring (step S4). .
[0019]
Next, in step S5, real-time packets are monitored in the wireless base station 103. Hereinafter, the monitoring process will be described.
The real-time performance measurement device 107 is used to start performance measurement for a real-time service (for example, a specific program such as a content, particularly a commercial or a VOIP call) that uses, for example, an area, time, and an access frequency as measurement start conditions. Perform processing. The measurement start instruction is transmitted to the base station controller 103 connected to the Internet 106 as the monitor setting request, and the base station controller 103 is transmitted to the wireless base station 101 via the control dedicated line 105, The packet is transmitted from the wireless base station 101 to the packet measurement device 102.
[0020]
The packet measuring device 102 monitors the real-time packet in the wireless base station 103 according to the received request content, and measures the delay, fluctuation, throughput, and priority of the real-time packet. Further, the wireless base station 101 transmits the CI value, the radio wave intensity, and the distribution information to the packet measurement device 102 as additional information. Next, the packet measurement device 102 transmits its own measurement value and the additional information received from the wireless base station 101 to the real-time performance measurement device 107 via the Internet 106. The real-time performance measuring device 107 records the measured value and the additional information received from the packet measuring device 102 and the request source information obtained from the real-time service HTTP server 104 in association with each other. Thereby, later browsing can be efficiently performed.
[0021]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, in an IP network including a wireless section, it is possible to measure the quality of an actual operation state of a real-time service such as VOIP communication or streaming video or audio distribution.
In particular, it is useful if used for quality assurance in a wireless Internet such as HDR that includes a wireless section and has a large band fluctuation.
[0022]
Note that the measurement results of each measurement item (delay, fluctuation, throughput, priority) of the packet measurement device 102 include a statistical value and a measurement value that enables a reproduction test. For example, a distribution commercial can be reproduced and reproduced on the subscriber terminal model, and its quality can be evaluated based on both numerical values and impressions. Thus, when the implementation status is described to a commercial client or the like who is not a communication expert, the measurement result of the packet measurement device 102 becomes useful evaluation data together with the distribution frequency.
[0023]
In addition, when the subscriber terminal 100 purchases the pay billing information and the quality of the information greatly depends on the real-time performance, the real-time performance measurement data is acquired by the real-time service measurement system according to the present invention. Then, the charge may be determined based on the provision quality of the information. If the charging is determined, the subscriber terminal 100 is notified of the information to that effect via the wireless base station 101, and the subscriber terminal reads, "Charging has been performed because the used content was of poor quality. Notify "," This content fee is 50% off "or the like (display, audio output, etc.) can be performed. Thus, the real-time service measurement system according to the present invention can also perform alternative quality assurance.
[0024]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the subscriber terminal 100. 3, the subscriber terminal 100 includes an antenna 201, a wireless unit 202, a control unit 203, a measurement unit 204, a display unit 205, an operation unit 206, a voice input / output unit 207, and a storage unit 208.
[0025]
The wireless unit 202 transmits and receives a wireless signal to and from a wireless base station via the antenna 201. The control means 203 controls each part of the subscriber terminal 100. The measuring unit 204 measures the quality of wireless communication with the wireless base station. The display means 205 includes a liquid crystal display panel and a display control circuit. The operation unit 206 includes input keys such as numeric keys and various function keys. The voice input / output means 207 is composed of a microphone and a speaker. The storage unit 208 is accessed by the control unit 203 and stores various data.
[0026]
The control unit 203 requests distribution of an information service such as a content by the wireless unit 202. Further, the measurement result of the wireless communication quality by the measuring means 204 is transmitted to the wireless base station by the wireless means 202. Then, the wireless unit 202 receives the billing information of the information service calculated based on the transmitted wireless communication quality. Then, the received billing information is notified by display on the display unit 205 or voice output by the voice input / output unit 207.
[0027]
As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments, and includes a design change or the like without departing from the gist of the present invention.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the real-time performance measurement device monitors the state of the radio base station via the base station control device, and transmits and receives the packet to and from the packet measurement device based on the status of the radio base station. Command to monitor the incoming packet. As a result, in an IP network including a wireless section, the quality of the service can be measured by monitoring a packet in the actual operation state of a real-time service such as a VOIP call or streaming video or audio distribution.
[0029]
Further, since the service quality in the actual operation state can be grasped, the effect of contributing to securing the QOS of the wireless broadband network can be obtained. As a result, commercial use of the wireless broadband network is promoted, and it is possible to contribute to the spread of the wireless broadband network, for example, a mobile phone grows into a key player for video distribution.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a real-time service measurement system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of a quality measurement process performed by the real-time service measurement system shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a subscriber terminal 100;
[Explanation of symbols]
100: subscriber terminal, 101: wireless base station, 102: packet measuring device, 103: base station control device, 104: real-time service HTTP server, 105: dedicated control line, 106: internet network, 107: real-time performance measuring device, 201 antenna, 202 wireless means, 203 control means, 204 measurement means, 205 display means, 206 operation means, 207 voice input / output means, 208 storage means

Claims (5)

A wireless base station device that wirelessly communicates with a plurality of subscriber terminals;
A real-time performance measuring device for monitoring the state of the radio base station device,
A packet measurement device that is connected to the radio base station device, measures information of a packet transmitted and received by the radio base station device based on a command from the real-time performance measurement device, and transmits the measurement result.
A real-time service measurement system comprising: The real-time service measurement system according to claim 1, wherein the real-time performance measurement device instructs the measurement for a predetermined time, area, or content. The real-time service measurement system according to claim 1, wherein a charge is determined based on a measurement result of the packet measurement device. A subscriber terminal in the real-time service measurement system according to claim 3,
A subscriber terminal that receives the charging determination result via the wireless base station and reports the determination result. Measuring means for measuring the radio communication quality between the radio base station,
Transmitting means for transmitting the measurement result of the measuring means to the radio base station,
Request means for requesting distribution of information services such as contents;
Receiving means for receiving billing information of the information service calculated based on the transmitted wireless communication quality,
Notifying means for notifying the charging information;
A subscriber terminal comprising:

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