US20100166051A1 - Video Streaming Diagnostics - Google Patents
Video Streaming Diagnostics Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20100166051A1 US20100166051A1 US12/226,911 US22691107A US2010166051A1 US 20100166051 A1 US20100166051 A1 US 20100166051A1 US 22691107 A US22691107 A US 22691107A US 2010166051 A1 US2010166051 A1 US 2010166051A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- dsl
- counter
- data
- physical layer
- management data
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
- H04L65/80—Responding to QoS
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/22—Arrangements for supervision, monitoring or testing
- H04M3/26—Arrangements for supervision, monitoring or testing with means for applying test signals or for measuring
- H04M3/28—Automatic routine testing ; Fault testing; Installation testing; Test methods, test equipment or test arrangements therefor
- H04M3/30—Automatic routine testing ; Fault testing; Installation testing; Test methods, test equipment or test arrangements therefor for subscriber's lines, for the local loop
- H04M3/302—Automatic routine testing ; Fault testing; Installation testing; Test methods, test equipment or test arrangements therefor for subscriber's lines, for the local loop using modulation techniques for copper pairs
- H04M3/304—Automatic routine testing ; Fault testing; Installation testing; Test methods, test equipment or test arrangements therefor for subscriber's lines, for the local loop using modulation techniques for copper pairs and using xDSL modems
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04B—TRANSMISSION
- H04B3/00—Line transmission systems
- H04B3/02—Details
- H04B3/46—Monitoring; Testing
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L12/00—Data switching networks
- H04L12/64—Hybrid switching systems
- H04L12/6418—Hybrid transport
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L43/00—Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
- H04L43/08—Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
- H04L43/0876—Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
- H04L43/0882—Utilisation of link capacity
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
- H04L69/30—Definitions, standards or architectural aspects of layered protocol stacks
- H04L69/32—Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
- H04L69/322—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions
- H04L69/323—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the physical layer [OSI layer 1]
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M11/00—Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
- H04M11/06—Simultaneous speech and data transmission, e.g. telegraphic transmission over the same conductors
- H04M11/062—Simultaneous speech and data transmission, e.g. telegraphic transmission over the same conductors using different frequency bands for speech and other data
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L12/00—Data switching networks
- H04L12/64—Hybrid switching systems
- H04L12/6418—Hybrid transport
- H04L2012/6478—Digital subscriber line, e.g. DSL, ADSL, HDSL, XDSL, VDSL
Definitions
- This disclosure relates generally to communications networks, systems or any combination thereof and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for video streaming diagnostics.
- IPTV Internet Protocol Television
- DSL digital subscriber line
- IPTV refers to both live TV (multicasting) as well as stored video (Video on Demand VOD).
- DSL physical layer for IPTV is the same as the one for providing high-speed Internet.
- DSL diagnostic tools designed for a high-speed Internet service may not be adequate for an IPTV service. For example, a small number of errors in the physical layer may not be noticed by the web-surfer, but may result in unsatisfactory experience for the IPTV viewer. In contrast, when errors occur while web-surfing, the lost packets can in most cases be received through retransmission without the customer perceiving the errors. However, for IPTV, once an uncorrectable error occurs, the customer will immediately notice it.
- IPTV providers maintain their applications independent from the DSL service provider.
- the DSL service provider typically does not diagnose problems above the physical layer.
- content providers maintain their own applications and typically do not diagnose problems at the physical layer.
- the physical layer is one of the seven abstract layers defined in the Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model (OSI).
- OSI Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model
- the seven layers are commonly known as the physical, link, network, transport, session, presentation and application layers.
- video streaming errors may arise from more than one of the seven layers. Previous solutions to this problem either ignore the availability of data from more than one layer, which can often lead to unreliable IPTV service.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a video stream analyzer according to one embodiment
- FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method to diagnose a video stream over a DSL network according to one embodiment
- FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a DSL system according to one embodiment
- FIG. 4 is a block diagram and manner of implementing the video stream DSL analyzer according to another embodiment
- FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method to diagnose the vide stream over the DSL system according to one embodiment
- FIG. 6 illustrates tables for minimum and maximum delays according to one embodiment
- FIG. 7 is a table of DSL error metrics available for VDSL2 according to one embodiment
- FIGS. 8 and 9 14 illustrate tables for minimum and maximum delays according to one embodiment
- FIG. 10 is a block diagram of DSL concatenated coding according to one embodiment
- FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an example processor platform according to one embodiment
- FIG. 12 illustrates three exemplary alternative network layering schemes according to one embodiment
- FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary architecture of EFM (Ethernet-in-the-First-Mile) over a telephone line according to one embodiment
- FIG. 14 is a flowchart for diagnosing multiple communication layers according to one embodiment.
- a video stream DSL analyzer receives at least non-physical layer management data and physical layer management data and in response generates metric information.
- the generated metric information is used to characterize the performance of the video stream information or diagnose any problems if necessary.
- the video stream DSL analyzer changes one or more DSL configuration(s) in order to improve performance.
- the video streaming protocol may conform to the Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model (OSI).
- OSI Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model
- the video stream DSL analyzer performs DSL diagnosis on multiple layers. Diagnosis is performed in response to both physical and non-physical layer management data (i.e. link, network, transport, session, presentation and application layers).
- Management data refers to any data suitable to monitor, diagnose or control the performance of one or more elements of the DSL network.
- the physical and application layers are diagnosed; however any combination of physical and non-physical layers may be diagnosed.
- the video stream DSL analyzer performs DSL diagnosis on any two of the seven possible layers. Therefore, data from any combination of two layers from the seven layers may be used to produce the metric information.
- the video stream DSL analyzer diagnoses performance issues and problems on multiple layers and is operable to optimize parameters on the corresponding multiple layers.
- the video stream DSL analyzer is one of several DSL diagnostic tools to support video streaming on a high-speed Internet service. These diagnostic tools ensure that the video streaming service provides video quality according to any suitable performance requirements. For example, the diagnostic tools ensure that the video streaming service provides video quality as stable as or more stable than existing broadcast, satellite or cable TV services.
- the video stream DSL analyzer also allows the service provider to guarantee a certain data rate on the DSL line, in order to deliver video streaming service.
- DSL refers to any of a variety or variant of DSL technology such as, for example, Asymmetric DSL (ADSL), High-speed DSL (HDSL), Symmetric DSL (SDSL), or Very high-speed DSL (VDSL1 and VDSL2).
- DSL technologies are commonly implemented in accordance with an applicable standard such as, for example, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard G.992.1 (a.k.a. G.dmt) for ADSL modems, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard G.992.3 (a.k.a. G.dmt.bis) for ADSL2 modems, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard G.992.5 (a.k.a.
- G.adsl2plus for ADSL2+ modems
- the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard G.993.1 (a.k.a. G.vdsl) for VDSL modems
- the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard G.993.2 for VDSL2 modems
- the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard G.994.1 (G.hs) for modems implementing handshake
- the ITU G.997.1 a.k.a. G.ploam
- the term “operative” describes an apparatus capable of an operation or actually in operation, or any combination thereof.
- an apparatus turned off or powered off is “operative” to perform or capable of performing an operation when the apparatus is turned on.
- the apparatus is “operative” to perform some function by virtue of pre-programmed hardware or software programmed hardware or any combination thereof.
- signal typically refers to an analog signal
- data typically refers to digital data
- information may refer to either an analog signal or a digital signal although other meanings may be inferred from the context of the usage of these terms.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a video stream DSL analyzer 100 according to one embodiment.
- the video stream DSL analyzer 100 includes a metric information generator 110 coupled to a DSL configurator 120 .
- the video stream DSL analyzer 100 may be part of a computer server, such as a network management system server, or other suitable computer.
- the video stream DSL analyzer 100 may also be one or more suitably programmed processors, such as a microprocessor, and therefore includes associated memory containing executable instruction that when executed cause the video stream DSL analyzer 100 to carry out the operations described herein.
- FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method to diagnose a video stream over a DSL network according to one embodiment.
- the method may be carried out by the video stream DSL analyzer 100 shown in FIG. 1 .
- any other suitable structure may also be used. It will be recognized that the method beginning with step 210 will be described as a series of operations, but the operations may be performed in any suitable order and may be repeated in any suitable combination.
- the metric information generator 110 receives at least non-physical layer management data 130 and physical layer management data 140 .
- the physical layer management data 140 may correspond to information related to the physical layer of the OSI model.
- the non-physical layer management data 130 may correspond to data related to any corresponding non-physical OSI layer, such as the link, network, transport, session, presentation and application layers.
- the non-physical layer management data 130 includes any combination of: subscriber bandwidth usage, MPEG error data, packets received, bytes received, packets lost, fraction lost, corrupted packets, overruns, underruns, receive interarrival jitter, average receive interarrival, packets received, packet discontinuity counter or any other suitable data.
- the DSL Forum entitled “Data Model for a TR-069 enabled STB, WT-135 revision 3, February 2006” defines a data model for monitoring and controlling the set top box (STB).
- the non-physical layer management data 130 described above are listed as parameters related to IPTV services in this data model; however data from any suitable video streaming service may be used. For example, these parameters may be used for diagnosing video streaming issues such as IPTV delivery issues.
- the physical layer management data 140 is any combination of: reported INP, reported delay, reported data rate, full inits counter, failed full inits counter, short inits counter, failed short inits counter, FECS-L counter, ES-L counter, SES-L counter, LOSS-L counter, UAS-L counter, FECS-LFE counter, ES-LFE counter, SES-LFE counter, LOSS-LFE counter, UAS-LFE counter, CV-C counter, FEC-C counter, CV-CFE counter, FEC-CFE counter, CRC-P counter, CRCP-P counter, CV-P counter, CVP-P counter CRC-PFE counter, CRCP-PFE counter, CV-PFE counter, CVP-PFE counter or any other suitable data.
- the non-physical layer corresponds with at least one of: an Ethernet, IP, UDP, RTP, MPEG-TS, MPEG Payload, data, link, network, transport, session, presentation and application layer.
- the video stream and the corresponding non-physical layer management data 130 and physical layer management data 140 may conform to all or part of the Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model (OSI).
- OSI Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model
- the metric information generator 110 receives information from any two of the seven possible OSI abstraction layers.
- the received management data 130 , 140 is not limited to physical layer management data but may include any valid combination of layers with any two of the seven layers for any suitable video streaming protocol.
- the table below illustrates physical layer management data 140 , according to one embodiment, as DSL initialization metrics available for VDSL2.
- the table lists example DSL initialization metrics as physical layer management data 140 , however any other metrics or similar DSL error metrics may be used as well.
- the physical layer management data 140 allows the video stream DSL analyzer 100 to estimate the reliability of the physical layer for delivering video streaming.
- the element management system (EMS), auto-config server (ACS) or any combination thereof may provide DSL error metrics to the video stream DSL analyzer 100 to derive network error metrics as described in more detail below.
- These DSL initialization metrics may be reported in intervals of, for example, every 5, 10, 15 minutes, or any interval and also for the current and previous 1 day interval, or for any suitable intervals.
- An initialization history showing a large count of initialization attempts may be an indication of time-varying stationary noise.
- the metric information generator 110 generates metric information 150 in response to the non-physical layer management data 130 and physical layer management data 140 .
- the non-physical layer management data 130 and physical layer management data 140 obtained from the multiple sources can be correlated or combined to diagnose and determine the root cause of any video stream degradation.
- the video stream DSL analyzer 100 may directly set the metric information 150 to at least one of the received management data 130 , 140 .
- the video stream DSL analyzer 100 may directly set the metric information 150 to a packet loss, delay, error rate or any suitable performance metric received.
- the video stream DSL analyzer 100 groups the received management data 130 , 140 for a corresponding timeslot or otherwise synchronizes or translates the received management data 130 , 140 .
- the video stream DSL analyzer 100 computes or generates the metric information 150 as a function of at least two of the received management data 130 , 140 .
- the function may be an average, a Bayesian computation as described in a co-pending application entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS TO COMBINE DATA FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES TO CHARACTERIZE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS” having a docket number 20103/0727; P39, owned by the instant assignee and having the same filing date as the instant application herein incorporated by reference or any suitable function.
- the video stream DSL analyzer 100 computes or generates the metric information 150 using any combination of the embodiments described herein, or any other suitable functions or combinations.
- the metric information 150 may be a packet loss rate.
- the metric information 150 may be any suitable metric combination or parameter such as delay, bandwidth usage, packet discontinuity, packet size or any suitable performance metric.
- the packet loss rate can be derived from the code violation counts (CV-C and CV-CFE). The code violation count derivations differ for VDSL1 and VDSL2, because the definitions of code violations differ between these standards.
- CV-C and CV-CFE code violation counts
- the code violation count derivations differ for VDSL1 and VDSL2, because the definitions of code violations differ between these standards.
- examples of calculating packet loss rate are provided below, the techniques as well as the data used as a basis for the calculations may be different depending on, for example, the performance characteristic desired, the available data and the specific protocol or OSI layer involved.
- the CV-C and CV-CFE counters can capture the number of VDSL1 superframes that contain at least one DSL error.
- Any other suitable metric, data, counter or information may be used as physical layer management data 140 . For example, let the total number of Ethernet frames within a 15-min period (any suitable period may be used) equal to:
- Ethernet_frames DMT_superframes ⁇ 360 ⁇ 10 3 ⁇ ⁇ Ethernet ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ frames
- one CRC error will mean that only one Ethernet frame is corrupted per DMT superframe.
- each CRC error will mean that all Ethernet frames spanning a DMT superframe are corrupted. It is here assumed that the net data rate is in the range of VDSL applications, so that the number of Ethernet frames per DMT superframe is larger than 1. (This corresponds to net data rates larger than 4.3648 Mbps.) If this does not hold, then two CRC errors might lead to only one Ethernet frame error.
- the ratio of corrupted Ethernet frames to the total Ethernet frames within a 15-minute interval is approximately equal to:
- Ethernet_Frame ⁇ _Loss ⁇ _Rate ⁇ _low CV 360 ⁇ 10 3 ⁇ DMT_superframes Ethernet_frames
- the ratio of corrupted Ethernet frames to the total Ethernet frames within a 15-minute interval is approximately equal to:
- Ethernet_Frame ⁇ _Loss ⁇ _Rate ⁇ _high CV 360 ⁇ 10 3
- Ethernet Frame Loss Rate can subsequently be translated into loss rates for packet types of higher layers. For example, by knowing that 7 MPEG-TS packets are typically contained within an Ethernet frame, one can compute the MPEG-TS loss rate. In this manner, one can convert DSL error metrics to the upper layer frame error rate, and eventually to the video frame error rate.
- the elementary framing unit is the Mux Data Frame (MDF), which consists of bytes from the overhead buffer, the buffer of bearer channel 0, and the buffer of bearer channel 1.
- MDF Mux Data Frame
- Tp/Mp RS codewords Tp/Mp RS codewords
- Up “groups of codewords” Up “groups of codewords”
- a “super-group of codewords” is formed. The total number of bytes in such a “super-group” is (UpxTp/Mp) times the number of bytes per RS codeword and is defined as PERBp.
- Each MDF has a number of overhead bytes.
- the overhead bytes contained in the MDFs of Tp/Mp RS codewords form an OH sub-frame.
- the combination of Up OH sub-frames gives an OH frame.
- the format of an OH frame can be seen to contain a CRC byte. This CRC byte is computed based on the PERBp bytes of a “super-group” of RS codewords.
- the “message” over which the CRC byte is computed has variable length, which is expressed as shown below.
- PERB p T ⁇ N FECp M p ⁇ ⁇ Q ⁇ ⁇ M p T p ⁇ N FECp ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ bytes ⁇ ⁇
- Q ⁇ ⁇ Q if ⁇ ⁇ TDR p ⁇ TDR 0
- Q ⁇ TDR p TDR 0 if ⁇ ⁇ TDR p ⁇ TDR 0
- TDR p ⁇ ⁇ is ⁇ ⁇ the ⁇ ⁇ total ⁇ ⁇ data ⁇ ⁇ rate ⁇ ⁇ of ⁇ ⁇ latency ⁇ ⁇ path ⁇ ⁇ p ⁇ ⁇ in ⁇ ⁇ kbit ⁇ / ⁇ s
- Q 17000 ⁇ ⁇ bytes
- TDR 0 7880 ⁇ ⁇ kbit
- a CV count means that there is an error within a “data block” equal to PERBp bytes.
- This data block includes overhead bytes and RS parity bytes. It can be seen that for practical total data rates, PERBp is lower-bounded by 17,000 bytes. Calculating the exact duration of this “data block” requires knowledge of parameters (Tp, Mp and Up). If this data is not available, then assuming knowledge of such a duration period, then the Ethernet frame loss rate calculations would use similar derivations as for VDSL1.
- the DSL configurator 120 receives the generated metric information 150 and in response is operative to change at least one DSL configuration, according to one embodiment.
- the DSL configurator 120 produces DSL configuration data 160 to characterize the performance of the video stream, correct problem(s) or any combination thereof.
- the video stream DSL analyzer 100 changes one or more DSL configuration(s) in order to improve performance.
- the video stream DSL analyzer 100 performs DSL diagnosis on any two of the seven layers. For example, diagnosis is performed in response to both the physical layer management data 140 and the non-physical layer management data 130 (i.e. link, network, transport, session, presentation and application layers).
- the physical and applications layers are diagnosed; however any combination of physical and non-physical layers may be diagnosed.
- FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a DSL system 300 according to one embodiment.
- the DSL system 300 includes equipment at a service provider location 305 coupled to a customer premises 310 via PSTN 320 .
- the DSL services are, or may be, provided to the example customer premises 310 via a conventional twisted-pair copper telephone line 315 .
- the example telephone line 315 of FIG. 3 is a part of a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 320 .
- the service provider location 305 includes video stream content delivery 302 , video streaming delivery servers 306 , Ethernet switch 308 and non-video service delivery server 392 .
- the video stream content delivery 302 may be for example, a television station, a provider of video stream content or any other suitable video stream content provider to produce a video stream 304 .
- the video streaming delivery server(s) 306 receives a video stream 304 and in response formats the video stream 304 , for example according to the Internet Protocol (IP), and provides a delivered video stream 307 to the service delivery system 365 .
- the non-video service delivery server 392 receives non-video content from, for example, an Internet service provider (ISP) or any suitable server, formats the non-video content according to the Internet Protocol and produces non-video stream 394 .
- the service delivery system 365 receives at least the non-video stream 394 and the delivered video stream 307 and in response produces Internet data 368 .
- the Ethernet switch 308 receives the Internet data 368 and transmits routed or switched Internet data 309 for transmission ultimately to the appropriate subscriber equipment 332 .
- the customer premises 310 include for example a DSL modem 330 connected to subscriber equipment 332 and loop test equipment 340 .
- the term “customer premises” refers to the location to which communication services are being provided by a service provider. For an example public switched telephone network (PSTN) used to provide DSL services, customer premises are located at the network termination (NT) side of the telephone lines.
- PSTN public switched telephone network
- NT network termination
- the terms “user”, “subscriber” or “customer” refer to a person, business or organization to which communication services or equipment are or may potentially be provided by any of a variety of service provider(s).
- Example subscriber equipment 332 includes a personal computer (PC), a set-top box (STB), a residential gateway or a television located at a subscriber's residence by which the subscriber receives or utilizes a DSL service or Internet services.
- the service provider location 305 includes DSLAM(s) 325 , a distribution frame 335 that implements a metallic cross-connect, loop test equipment 345 and line tester 350 .
- the example loop test equipment 345 may be implemented by or within the DSLAM 325 or any suitable component.
- the term “service provider location” refers to a location from which DSL services are provided or a location in which systems or equipment related to the providing of DSL services are located.
- Example service providers include a telephone operating company, a cable operating company, a wireless operating company, or an Internet service provider to provide, sell, provision, troubleshoot or maintain communication services or communication equipment.
- the example DSLAM(s) 325 implements, among other things, any of a variety or number of DSL modem(s), one of which is, or may be, used to provide DSL service to the example customer premises 310 via the telephone line 315 .
- the service provider location 305 also includes an auto-configuration server (ACS) 360 , element management system (EMS) 355 , service assurance system (SAS) 370 , service delivery system 365 , data collector combiner (not shown) and network management system (NMS) 390 .
- FIG. 3 shows these elements according to one embodiment, however these elements can be reallocated in any desired manner.
- any combination of the loop test equipment 340 or line tester 350 measure, compute or otherwise determine any number or any of a variety of signals, management data 130 , 140 , information or parameter(s) that characterize, describe or indicate a status of the telephone line 315 .
- the example loop test equipment 345 is connected to the telephone line 315 via the distribution frame 335 , and the example loop test equipment 340 is connected to the telephone wiring located in the customer premises 310 (i.e., an in-home distribution network). Additionally or alternatively, the example loop test equipment 345 may be implemented by or within the DSLAM 325 or any suitable component.
- EMS 355 monitors, measures or records physical layer management data 140 such as current or historical DSL performance characteristics for DSL communications occurring between the example DSLAM 325 and the DSL modem 330 .
- Physical layer management data 140 such as DSL performance data, statistics or information for ongoing DSL services can be measured or reported to the EMS 355 by the example DSL modem 330 or the DSLAM 325 using any of a variety of well known techniques. For example, they can be measured based on the ITU G.992.1 (a.k.a. G.dmt) standard or based on the ITU G.997.1 (a.k.a. G.ploam) standard for management of DSL modems.
- Example performance data, statistics and information include, but are not limited to any combination of: EMS data, EMS status, HLOG, HLIN, QLN (quiet line noise), SNR, LATN (line attenuation), SATN (signal attenuation), noise, channel attenuation, data rate, ATTNDR (attainable data rate), margin, CV (code violations), FEC (forward-error-correction) counts, ES (errored seconds), SES (severely errored seconds), UAS (unavailable seconds), BITS (bit distribution), GAINS (fine gains), TSS1 (transmit spectral shaping), MREFPSD (reference PSD), transmitted power, transmitted PSD, failures, initialization counts, actual delay, actual impulse noise protection, forward error correction (FEC) and interleaving data, impulse noise sensor data, a number of FEC errors, margin information, data rate information, a channel transfer function, loop attenuation information, bit allocation information, or any other suitable performance information.
- FEC forward-error-correction
- Physical layer management data 140 includes performance information related to DSL physical layer characteristics, or DSL-PHY-characterizing data including SNR, bit distribution, data rate, margin, attainable data rate, or any suitable information.
- physical layer management data 140 such as DSL performance data, statistics or information is sent by the example DSL modem 330 via the DSL service using, for example, the exchange protocol defined in the ITU G.994.1 (a.k.a. G.hs) standard. Additionally or alternatively, the DSL performance data, statistics or information may be sent by the DSL modem 330 via a transmission control protocol (TCP)/Internet protocol (IP) connection to the ACS 360 as defined in the DSL Forum document TR-069.
- TCP transmission control protocol
- IP Internet protocol
- the service delivery system(s) 365 produces Internet data 368 to provide any of a variety of services such as, for example, video streaming, IP television (IPTV), video-on-demand (VoD), voice-over-IP (VoIP) or any combination thereof of service to the example customer premises 310 .
- SAS 370 monitors the quality, performance or characteristics of services provided by the example service delivery system 365 .
- the service delivery systems 365 combine and format the Internet data 394 and the delivered video stream 307 for distribution according to the Internet Protocol to the appropriate subscriber equipment.
- the SAS 370 monitors, for example, motion picture experts group (MPEG) statistics (e.g., frame losses, etc.), a packet loss rate, etc of the video stream 304 .
- MPEG motion picture experts group
- the example ACS 360 , the example line tester 350 , the example EMS 355 , the example SAS 370 , or any combination thereof represent sources of data indicative of past, ongoing or possible future DSL services provided or provide-able by the service delivery system 365 , the DSLAM 325 or the DSL modem 330 via the telephone line 315 .
- the example data sources 350 , 355 , 360 , 370 may contain data measured, collected, estimated, determined, or any combination thereof at either one of or both ends of the example telephone line 315 .
- the example data sources 350 , 355 , 360 , 370 of FIG. 3 may collect and report data on a periodic or aperiodic basis. Additionally or alternatively, data may be collected and reported in response to a request for data or information. Data or information collected by the data sources 350 , 355 , 360 , 370 may represent current or past snapshot(s) of the example DSL system of FIG. 3 .
- the EMS 355 may report physical layer management data 140 such as 15-min DSL error counters
- the ACS 360 may report DSL errors since Showtime
- the Service Assurance Server 370 may report MPEG frame statistics. Accordingly, methods to “translate” from one type to another type vary widely depending on many factors and may be applied. Further, the data collected from multiple sources may not be synchronized, and steps must be taken to make sure that data comparisons are made for the appropriate time periods.
- Management data 130 , 140 or information collected, acquired, measured, computed, estimated, received, or any combination thereof by the example data sources 350 , 355 , 360 , 370 may be affected by any of a variety of factors such as, relevance, completeness, reliability, accuracy and timeliness (e.g., recent versus out of date). Some of the example data sources 350 , 355 , 360 , 370 have inherently higher accuracy or reliability and, thus, may be more useful in the determination of particular parameters related to the example DSL system of FIG. 3 . For example, TDR data contained in the example line tester 350 may be more accurate or more useful for detecting or parameterization of a bridged tap than channel attenuation data or a channel transfer function available in the EMS 355 .
- two of the data sources 350 , 355 , 360 , 370 may include related, similar or possibly incomplete management data 130 , 140 .
- the example ACS 360 may contain ACS type management data 130 , 140 that represents the channel attenuation for a first portion of frequencies (e.g., the downstream channel), while the EMS 355 contains EMS type management data 130 , 140 that represents the channel attenuation for a second portion of frequencies (e.g., the upstream channel) or
- a bridged tap can be detected using related information from a channel transfer function contained in the ACS 360 or a TDR response contained in the line tester 350 .
- ACS type management data 130 , 140 also include any combination of: ACS status, HLOG, HUN, QLN (quiet line noise), SNR, LATH (line attenuation), SATN (signal attenuation), noise, channel attenuation, data rate, ATTNDR (attainable data rate), margin, CV (code violations), FEC (forward-error-correction) counts, ES (errored seconds), SES (severely errored seconds), UAS (unavailable seconds), BITS (bit distribution), GAINS (fine gains), TSSI (transmit spectral shaping), MREFPSD (reference PSD), transmitted power, transmitted PSD, failures, initialization counts, actual delay, actual impulse noise protection, FEC and interleaving data, impulse noise sensor data or other suitable data.
- ACS type management data 130 , 140 also include any combination of: ACS status, HLOG, HUN, QLN (quiet line noise), SNR, LATH (line attenuation), SATN (signal attenuation), noise
- HLOG can be reported from the EMS 355 ACS 360 or any suitable network element depending on for example the particular equipment and relevant DSL standard; wherever it might be located.
- HLOG is another example of physical layer management data 140 .
- Management data 130 , 140 from DSLAM 325 can be collected via EMS 355 and management data 130 , 140 from the DSL modem 330 can be collected via ACS 360 .
- Other examples will abound to persons of ordinary skill in the art.
- the example line tester 350 of FIG. 3 can configure, command or request that the example loop test equipment 340 or 345 transmit any of a variety of line probing signals into the telephone line 315 , or receive or measure signals present on the telephone line 315 with or without injecting a line probing signal.
- Any combination of signal probing, signal receiving, or measuring can be utilized by the example line tester 350 , or the loop test equipment 340 , 345 to perform any of a variety of single-ended or double-end line testing method(s), algorithm(s) or technique(s).
- Example probing signals include any combination of: step time domain reflectometry (TDR) signals, pulse TDR signals, spread spectrum signals, nominal modem transmission signals (e.g., a multi-carrier training signal for an ADSL modem), chirp signals, impulse trains, single impulse, or any suitable signals.
- TDR step time domain reflectometry
- nominal modem transmission signals e.g., a multi-carrier training signal for an ADSL modem
- chirp signals e.g., a multi-carrier training signal for an ADSL modem
- impulse trains e.g., single impulse, or any suitable signals.
- Example methods and apparatus to transmit line probing signals or receive or measure signal(s) present on the telephone line 315 are described in U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/796,371, filed on May 1, 2006, and U.S. patent application Serial No. (Attorney Docket #20103/0728), which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
- the methods and apparatus described herein may be used to estimate, determine or infer metric information 150 including characteristics or parameters for telephone lines 315 or DSL equipment for any variety, any size or any topology of DSL system 300 or network.
- the DSL system 300 may include any number of customer premises, more than one DSL access multiplexer DSLAM(s) 325 located in more than one location, or may include any number and combination of telephone lines, DSL modems, servers, systems, data sources, data collectors, data stores, data combiners or data collector combiners.
- DSL digital subscriber line
- DSL services DSL systems or the use of ordinary twisted-pair copper telephone lines for distribution of DSL services
- the disclosed methods and apparatus to infer characteristics of communication systems or networks using data collected from multiple data sources disclosed herein are applicable to many other types or varieties of communication equipment, services, technologies or systems.
- the disclosed methods and apparatus may also be applicable to wireless distribution systems, wired or cable distribution systems, coaxial cable distribution systems, Ultra High Frequency (UHF)/Very High Frequency (VHF) radio frequency systems, satellite or other extra-terrestrial systems, cellular distribution systems, power-line broadcast systems, WiMAX, WiFi, fiber optic networks or any suitable network or system.
- UHF Ultra High Frequency
- VHF Very High Frequency
- a combination of twisted-pair and coaxial cable connected by a balun, or any other physical-channel-continuing combination such as an analog fiber to copper connection with linear optical-to-electrical connection at an optical network unit (ONU) may be used.
- a computing device communicatively coupled or couple-able to the loop test equipment 340 , 345 may generate the metric information 150 .
- the example line tester 350 may obtain the received or measured signals from the loop test equipment 340 , 345 and estimate or determine the metric information 150 .
- subscriber equipment e.g., a subscriber's personal computer (PC) or set-top box (STB)
- PC personal computer
- STB set-top box
- the video stream DSL analyzer 100 receives non-physical layer management data 130 and physical layer management data 140 from the example loop tester 340 , 345 , the example line tester 350 , DSLAM(s) 325 , ACS 360 , EMS 355 , SAS 370 or any suitable device via any of a variety of method(s), network(s), protocol(s), or any combination thereof.
- Any other device or system used to receive, measure, compute or estimate metric information 150 may, such as video streaming delivery servers 306 , Ethernet switch 308 and subscriber equipment 332 additionally or alternatively, provide the same to the example line tester 350 .
- example data sources 350 , 355 , 360 and 370 are illustrated in FIG. 3 , persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that a DSL system may include additional or alternative data sources than those illustrated in FIG. 3 or may include more than one of any or all of the illustrated data sources. Further, while this disclosure describes particular pieces of data or information being contained or available via particular ones of the example data sources 350 , 355 , 360 , 370 of FIG. 3 , persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that a DSL service provider may utilize any of a variety of combinations of data or information and data sources.
- the example data sources 350 , 355 , 360 or 370 of FIG. 3 contain data associated with each telephone line 315 , DSLAM 325 or DSL modem 330 .
- the set of data contained in the data sources 350 , 355 , 360 or 370 may differ, for example, from telephone line to telephone line, DSLAM to DSLAM, DSL modem to DSL modem, or subscriber to subscriber, for any of a variety of reasons such as, for example, how long a DSL service has been active, the type or manufacturer of a DSL modem, types of services utilized or subscribed to, location of a customer premises, etc.
- Video stream DSL analyzer 100 receives any of a variety of parameter(s), management data 130 , 140 or information based on data contained from one or more example data sources 350 , 355 , 360 or 370 , to generate metric information 150 and also to check the integrity of the management data 130 , 140 , and check the consistency of the management data 130 , 140 . If management data 130 , 140 is collected from more than one of the data sources 350 , 355 , 360 or 370 , the example data video stream DSL analyzer 100 heuristically, logically, statistically or probabilistically combines the checked data 130 , 140 .
- the video stream DSL analyzer 100 stores the non-physical layer management data 130 , physical layer management data 140 , metric information 150 or the DSL configuration data 160 in an example database 372 using any of a variety of data structure(s), data table(s), data array(s), etc.
- the example database 372 is stored in a machine accessible file or in any of a variety of memory 375 .
- Network Management System (NMS) 390 controls, monitors, maintains or provisions the example DSL system 300 to allow the video stream DSL analyzer 100 and a person such as a customer service representative, a sales person or a technician to control, monitor, maintain or provision the example DSL system 300 .
- the example NMS 390 uses, provides or makes available to the video stream DSL analyzer 100 or a person the parameter(s), data or information stored in the example database 372 .
- the example NMS 390 of FIG. 3 may directly provide or make available the parameter(s), data or information inferred, estimated, computed or determined by the example video stream DSL analyzer 100 .
- the NMS 390 can provide a GUI by which a technician can retrieve any combination of the non-physical layer management data 130 , physical layer management data 140 , metric information 150 or the DSL configuration data 160 .
- FIG. 4 is a block diagram of implementing the video stream DSL analyzer 100 according to another embodiment.
- the DSL configurator 120 further includes a performance deficiency identifier 410 , a physical layer problem identifier 420 , a DSL setting selector 430 , a DSL setting realization checker 440 and a DSL setting configurator 450 .
- the performance deficiency identifier 410 is operatively coupled to the metric information generator 110 and the physical layer problem identifier 420 .
- the DSL setting selector 430 is operatively coupled to the physical layer problem identifier 420 and the DSL setting realization checker 440 .
- the DSL setting configurator 450 is operatively coupled to the DSL setting realization checker 440 .
- the DSL setting selector 430 is operatively coupled to the performance deficiency identifier 410 .
- FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method to diagnose video streaming performance over the DSL system 300 according to one embodiment.
- the method may be carried out by the video stream DSL analyzer 100 shown in FIG. 1 , 3 or FIG. 4 .
- any other suitable structure may also be used. It will be recognized that the method beginning with step 210 will be described as a series of operations, but the operations may be performed in any suitable order and may be repeated in any suitable combination.
- the performance deficiency identifier 410 is operative to compare the generated metric information 150 with performance threshold information 412 . In response, the performance deficiency identifier 410 determines if there is a performance deficiency and optionally produces corresponding performance deficiency information 414 .
- the determination of a performance deficiency has a direct affect on the quality of experience (QoE) or quality of service (QOS). For example, video streaming, such as IPTV, is affected by network effects such as delay, jitter, and loss.
- QoE quality of experience
- QOS quality of service
- the subscriber equipment 332 such as the Set-Top Box (STB) can partially compensate for these effects through the mechanisms of buffering (to compensate for jitter) and error concealment algorithms (to compensate for loss).
- buffering to compensate for jitter
- error concealment algorithms to compensate for loss
- performance thresholds may be established in order to determine if a performance deficiency occurs.
- the table at the bottom of FIG. 6 lists some exemplary performance objectives that may be used directly or indirectly as performance threshold information 412 .
- the maximum recommended delay may correspond to the performance threshold information 412 and the measured delay may correspond to the generated metric information 150 .
- the maximum recommended delays listed in FIG. 6 are examples only and thus the specific maximum recommended delays or performance threshold information 412 may be any suitable amount depending on the specific requirements, equipment, standards or application. Other information correlating user experience with measures of dropped, repeated and out-of-sequence video frames may be used as well. Examples of minimum application layer bit rate requirements for video and audio are also shown in FIG. 6 .
- the examples of maximum delay in the tables and the examples of minimum bit rate requirements in FIG. 6 are examples of performance threshold information 412 used to determine if there is a performance deficiency, however, any suitable performance requirements and specific requirements levels may be used.
- the performance threshold information 412 is adjusted based on pre-collected data. For example, if the performance threshold proves to be too rigid then the performance threshold information 412 may be relaxed, either automatically without human intervention, or with human interaction, in order to, for example, release system resources, reduce processing burdens or otherwise increase performance speed.
- the performance threshold information is adjusted based on bandwidth usage information. For example, if bandwidth usage is relatively high then the performance threshold criteria may be adjusted in order to increase the quality of service. The user who watches streaming video, such as IPTV twenty-four hours a day, might need a higher quality of service. Alternatively, the video stream DSL analyzer 100 can adjust the metric information 150 depending on the bandwidth usage.
- Some metrics may be accumulated from the equipment if and if only the user is actively using the bandwidth. For example, if the error in the video signal is counted only if the user is actively using the video channel, then the impact of the error count varies depending on the bandwidth.
- the performance threshold information 412 may be adjusted accordingly.
- the performance threshold information 412 may be related to the QOE or QOS by a mathematical function, or simply by a relational table so that if, for example the QOE or QOS requirement changes, or if the function or relational table itself changes, then the performance threshold information 412 changes automatically without human intervention. If there is no performance deficiency, then processing returns to block 230 , otherwise processing proceeds to block 520 .
- the physical layer problem identifier 420 is operative to receive the performance deficiency information 414 and in response determine if there is a problem in the physical layer.
- the physical layer problem identifier 420 may produce physical layer problem information 422 .
- FIG. 7 illustrates exemplary DSL error metrics available for VDSL2 according to one embodiment, however any other metrics may be used as well.
- DSL error metrics such as one or more of the DSL performance monitoring parameters in FIG. 7 or management data 130 , 140 may be compared to a physical layer threshold or to metric information 150 with respect to block 510 in order to determine if there is a problem in the physical layer.
- These DSL error metrics may be reported in intervals of, for example, 15 minutes, and also for the current and previous 1 day interval, or for any suitable intervals. Examples of time-varying noise include crosstalk from other DSL lines, crosstalk from home networking systems, and interference from other customer premises devices.
- any of the above parameters DSL error metrics can aid with detecting video streaming problems at the physical or DSL layer.
- the parameters of CV-C and CV-CFE may be used for the purpose of estimating a quality metric at the DSL layer.
- the ES-L and ES-LFE parameters may be useful as well.
- one or more of the parameters listed in FIG. 7 or any other suitable parameters may be combined and compared to the performance criteria provided in FIG. 6 .
- the physical layer threshold may be adjusted in a manner similar to that described above with respect to block 510 . If there is no performance deficiency in the physical layer, then a report is made to other modules at block 530 , otherwise processing proceeds to block 540 .
- the DSL setting selector 430 is operative to receive the physical layer performance deficiency information 422 and in response select at least one DSL setting to produce DSL setting information 432 .
- the physical layer performance deficiency information 422 and any other suitable metrics obtained using the estimation procedures previously described can help reveal the cases where IPTV degradation is due to the DSL physical layer.
- actions can be recommended to correct the problem, such as by changing DSL setting information 432 .
- the DSL setting selector 430 is operative to receive performance deficiency information 414 from the performance deficiency identifier 410 .
- the DSL problems may be due to time-varying stationary noise.
- the provisioned data rate must be adjusted to a setting that prevents a retrain due to the stationary noise.
- the second case is the one where the DSL problems emanate from impulse noise on the line. This problem must be handled by adjusting the configuration parameters to increase the impulse noise protection on the line.
- the configuration parameters may include min/max data rate, maximum delay and minimum impulse noise protection.
- a significant difference between ADSL high-speed Internet service and VDSL supporting an IPTV service is that the IPTV service may include a data rate guarantee as opposed to the high-speed Internet service.
- any change to the configuration parameters to increase the impulse noise protection must be such that the data rate does not degrade below the guaranteed levels.
- the impulse noise protection increase inevitably leads to a significantly degraded data rate, then the offered service must be assigned to a different category.
- the DSL setting selector 430 provides the proposed DSL setting information 432 to the DSL setting realization checker 440 to determine if the DSL settings are valid.
- the DSL setting realization checker 440 checks to proposed DSL settings.
- the DSL setting realization checker 440 is operative to receive the DSL setting information 432 and in response, check if the selected at least one DSL setting is realizable and produce DSL setting realization information 442 .
- the DSL setting realization checker 440 may predict the data rate performance that results from different configuration settings related to the impulse noise protection. However, an arbitrary choice of these parameters is not possible, and may lead to configuration errors, an invalid configuration or initialization failures. There are two reasons for such errors/failures:
- Equipment limitations In configurations settings are impossible to achieve because of resource limitations such as the interleaver (deinterleaver) memory, and the maximum number of RS codewords that can be decoded per unit of time. Such limitations, for example, are described in the ADSL2 and ADSL2+ recommendations. Limitations of the same kind exist in VDSL1 and VDSL2 systems. The corresponding recommendations do not explicitly provide these limitations, however, the known constraints on aggregate interleaver-deinterleaver delay, interleaver depth and (1/S) parameter (see FIGS. 8-9 ).
- Performance objectives Loss of data rate—Note that if the equipment permits a particular setting, the performance objectives may not be realizable and as a result new DSL setting information 432 is required. For example, increasing the impulse noise protection capability often requires increasing the number of parity bytes per RS codeword. Such an increase leads to additional redundancy, which implies that the net available data rate is correspondingly decreased. In other words, the extra offered protection may come at a price of a smaller net coding gain.
- the DSL setting realization checker 440 may check any combination of 1) equipment and 2) performance objectives according to this embodiment. Using the above observations and the corresponding DSL setting realization information 442 , the DSL setting selector 430 recommends a new configuration with, according to this example, increased impulse noise protection at block 560 :
- the INP_min and delay_max combination must be such that they are achievable for the desired data rate and for the given equipment. This can be accomplished using tables such as the ones in FIGS. 8 and 9 .
- the chosen INP_min and delay_max combination estimate the difference between the current net coding gain and the previous net coding gain. This difference provides a measure of the “loss” due to increased protection. If the current SNR margin is insufficient compared to this “loss”, then this choice of INP_min and delay_max would lead to the line failing to initialize. Knowing the difference in the net coding gain can prevent this situation. Methods to compute the net coding gain are described next.
- FIG. 10 is a block diagram of DSL concatenated coder and decoder 1000 for calculating net coding gain according to one embodiment.
- An example calculation of the net coding gain to check the DSL setting information 432 is provided.
- the net coding gain may be used by the video stream DSL analyzer 100 or any suitable DSL Optimizer or DSL management center to check the DSL setting information 432 .
- the concatenated coder and decoder consists of an outer RS coder 1010 , an RS decoder 1020 and a concatenation of an inner trellis coder 1030 , 1040 (for example, a 16-state, 4-dimensional code, developed by Wei).
- An interleaver 1030 is placed between the RS encoder 1010 and a trellis encoder 1050
- a deinterleaver 1040 is placed between the trellis decoder 1060 and the RS decoder 1020 .
- the codeword size, N, and the number of payload bytes, K, of the RS code are known. (These can be obtained from reported values, or from assembled tables, or from algorithm descriptions for a particular implementation.) It is also assumed that the errors occurring at the RS decoder 1020 are random. It is also assumed that the desired data rate is R.
- the coding gain can be expressed in dB as the addition of three terms:
- ⁇ c,dB ⁇ tc,dB + ⁇ rs,dB ⁇ loss,dB
- the coding gain loss can be expressed as:
- processing proceeds to block 560 to classify the selected at least one DSL setting as unavailable and another DSL setting with new DSL setting information 432 is selected at block 540 . If the DSL setting information 442 is realizable, then processing proceeds to block 570 .
- the DSL setting configurator 450 receives the DSL setting realization information 442 and in response produces the DSL configuration data 160 .
- the NMS 390 receives the DSL configuration data 160 and performs the requested configuration change.
- FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1100 that may be used or programmed to implement the example video stream DSL analyzer 100 .
- the processor platform 1100 can be implemented by one or more general purpose processors, cores, microcontrollers, 1105 etc.
- the processor 1105 executes video DSL analyzer instructions 1110 contained in main memory 1115 (e.g., within a random access memory (RAM)) to implement the example video stream DSL analyzer 100 .
- the processor 1105 may be any type of processing unit, such as a DSP, a RISC processor, or a general purpose or customized processor from the INTEL®, AMD®, SUN®, IBM® families of cores, processors or microcontrollers.
- the processor 1105 is in communication with the main memory 1115 (such as a read only memory (ROM) 1120 or hard drive) via a bus 1125 .
- the RAM 1115 may be implemented by dynamic random access memory (DRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), or any other type of RAM device, and ROM 1120 may be implemented by flash memory or any other desired type of memory device.
- the output devices 1140 may be used, for example, to display or provide a GUI.
- example software or firmware implementations described herein are may be stored on an optional tangible storage medium, such as: a magnetic medium (e.g., a disk or tape); a magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk; or a solid state medium such as a memory card or other package that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile) memories, random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile) memories; or a signal containing computer instructions.
- a magnetic medium e.g., a disk or tape
- magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk
- solid state medium such as a memory card or other package that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile) memories, random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile) memories
- a signal containing computer instructions a signal containing computer instructions.
- a digital file attachment to e-mail or other self-contained information archive or set of archives is considered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storage medium.
- the example software or firmware described herein can be stored on a tangible storage medium or distribution medium such as those described above or equivalents and successor media.
- the video DSL analyzer instructions 1110 may be wirelessly transmitted to the memory 1115 for example, via a wide area wireless access network (WWAN), such as a wireless communication or WiMax network, or a local wireless access network (LWAN) such as WiFi network.
- WWAN wide area wireless access network
- LWAN local wireless access network
- dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to, an ASIC, programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement some or all of the example methods or apparatus described herein, either in whole or in part.
- alternative software implementations including, but not limited to, distributed processing or component/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also be constructed to implement the example methods or apparatus described herein.
- FIG. 12 illustrates three exemplary alternative network layering schemes for IPTV: MPEG-TS/UP 1210 , MPEG-TS/RTP/UDP 1220 , and Native RTP 1230 .
- FIG. 12 shows examples of non-physical layer management data 130 and physical layer management data 140 are provided.
- video streaming such as IPTV streaming, and thus other suitable layer schemes may be used.
- the video stream DSL analyzer 100 may support any other suitable video streaming schemes and any other future video streaming schemes.
- the physical layer 1232 protocol depends on the underlying physical medium. There are at least three segments with different technologies that may be used:
- Backbone optical links are characterized by probabilities of bit error lower than 10 ⁇ 1 (10 ⁇ 10 ⁇ ).
- VDSL transmission over copper pairs with the Ethernet layer are provided below:
- VDSL1 defines a TPS-TC for Packet Transfer Mode (called PTM-TC) based on HDLC encapsulation. This mode can be used to transport Ethernet traffic.
- VDSL2 defines a TPS-TC for Ethernet and generic packet transport (PTM-TC). This mode uses 64/65 encapsulation.
- the EFM standard for VDSL (called 10PASS-TS) is an IEEE specification for an Ethernet system based on the VDSL1 standards.
- FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary architecture of EFM (Ethernet-in-the-First-Mile) over a telephone line 315 .
- EFM uses slightly different naming for the various functions.
- the ⁇ -interface is positioned between the Transmission Convergence (TC) and the Physical Coding SubLayer (PCS) functions.
- TC Transmission Convergence
- PCS Physical Coding SubLayer
- the Ethernet layer 1234 includes the Media Access Control (MAC) layer and has the frame format as described in IEEE Standard 802.3-2002, Local and metropolitan area networks, Part 3: Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) Access Method and Physical Layer Specifications, Mar. 8, 2002.
- the payload (MAC client) data can vary between 46 and 1500 bytes. Ethernet frames have a Frame Check Sequence, which can be used for detecting errors. For video streaming applications, such as IPTV, the payload data contain IP packets.
- the IP layer 1240 provides two basic functions: addressing and fragmentation/reassembly. Flow control, error control for data, and connection or virtual circuits may be provided.
- the Internet Group Management Protocol is used for IP multicasting, where an IP packet is transmitted to multiple destination hosts by using a single IP destination address.
- a group of destination hosts is defined as a multicast host group, and the membership of a host group is dynamic.
- the IGMP protocol is used by IP hosts to report their multicast group memberships to immediately neighboring multicast routers.
- the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) 1250 provides a means for application programs to send messages to other programs with a minimum of protocol mechanism. Delivery and duplicate protection may or may not be guaranteed.
- the Real Time Protocol (RTP) 1260 provides end-to-end network transport functions for applications transmitting real-time data such as audio and video. According to one embodiment, resource reservation may be available. Each RTP stream must carry timing information used at the client side to synchronize multiple streams if needed. An RTP header carries a sequence number that may be used by the receiver to detect packet loss and to restore the packet sequence. According to an alternative embodiment, the RTP 1260 also includes a control protocol (Real Time Control Protocol, RTCP) for monitoring the data delivery. Its primary function is to provide feedback on the quality of the data delivery, and is considered to be an integral part of the protocol.
- the Native RTP method 1230 carries AVC video and AAC audio over RTP.
- RTP streams are used for video and audio transport.
- a single NAL unit is mapped to an RTP packet. This allows an intelligent mapping of video packets to transport packets, so that video packets are not split over two UDP packets.
- the MPEG-2 Transport Streams (MPEG-TS) 1270 are described in ISO/IEC 13818-1:2000 (ITU Recommendation H.222.0), Generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information: Systems, October 2000.
- the MPEG-TS 1270 is composed of packets with 188 bytes, containing a 4 byte header, however any suitable packet format may be used.
- the packet payloads contain program information and Packetized Elementary Streams (PES), which transport the video and audio information.
- PES Packetized Elementary Streams
- a transport stream contains multiplexed data: audio, video and program information.
- the MPEG Transport Streams are carried directly as the payload of the UDP datagram.
- the MPEG-TS/RTP/UDP method 1220 uses the RTP payload to carry a number of MPEG-TS packets.
- AVC Advanced Video Codec
- ITU Recommendation H.264 in ITU-T Recommendation H.264, Advanced video coding for generic audiovisual services, May 2005. It is also known as MPEG-4 part 10, and is adopted by the DVD forum, Blue-ray Disk Association, DVB, 3GPP and ISMA.
- AVC segments each picture into slices.
- a picture slice contains a number of macroblocks.
- a macroblock corresponds to 16 ⁇ 16 pixels of the picture.
- Macroblocks are encoded in intra or inter mode.
- the output of the encoder is encapsulated in Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) units.
- NAL Network Abstraction Layer
- the Advanced Audio Codec has been standardized by the MPEG group in ISO/IEC 14496-3:1999, “Coding of Audio-Visual Objects—Part 3: Audio, 1999”, and is currently used by iTunes and XM satellite radio, and is adopted by 3GPP, ISMA and DVB.
- FIG. 14 is a flowchart for diagnosing multiple communication layers according to one exemplary embodiment.
- the non-physical layer management data 130 corresponds to network layer and application layer data. However, this data may conform to all or part of the Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model (OSI).
- OSI Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model
- diagnosis and management of the physical layer is performed in block 1410
- diagnosis of the network layer is performed in block 1420
- diagnosis of the application layer is performed in block 1430 .
- diagnosis for any combination of physical and non-physical layers may be performed. For example, diagnosis of the physical layer at block 420 and the application layer at block 1430 is performed in response to the physical layer management data 140 and the non-physical layer management data 130 .
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
- Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
- Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
- Multimedia (AREA)
- Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
- Monitoring And Testing Of Exchanges (AREA)
- Data Exchanges In Wide-Area Networks (AREA)
- Maintenance And Management Of Digital Transmission (AREA)
- Testing, Inspecting, Measuring Of Stereoscopic Televisions And Televisions (AREA)
- Communication Control (AREA)
- Complex Calculations (AREA)
- Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)
Abstract
Description
- This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/796,371, entitled “DSL System” filed on May 1, 2006. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/796,371 is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
- This disclosure relates generally to communications networks, systems or any combination thereof and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for video streaming diagnostics.
- IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is a technology for broadcasting television signals using the Internet Protocol over consumer broadband connections such as digital subscriber line (DSL) lines. IPTV refers to both live TV (multicasting) as well as stored video (Video on Demand VOD). Fundamentally, the DSL physical layer for IPTV is the same as the one for providing high-speed Internet. In practice, the required performance objectives are significantly different between IPTV and high-speed Internet. Therefore, DSL diagnostic tools designed for a high-speed Internet service may not be adequate for an IPTV service. For example, a small number of errors in the physical layer may not be noticed by the web-surfer, but may result in unsatisfactory experience for the IPTV viewer. In contrast, when errors occur while web-surfing, the lost packets can in most cases be received through retransmission without the customer perceiving the errors. However, for IPTV, once an uncorrectable error occurs, the customer will immediately notice it.
- Content providers using video streaming, such as IPTV providers, maintain their applications independent from the DSL service provider. As a result, the DSL service provider typically does not diagnose problems above the physical layer. In contrast, content providers maintain their own applications and typically do not diagnose problems at the physical layer. The physical layer is one of the seven abstract layers defined in the Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model (OSI). The seven layers are commonly known as the physical, link, network, transport, session, presentation and application layers. However, video streaming errors may arise from more than one of the seven layers. Previous solutions to this problem either ignore the availability of data from more than one layer, which can often lead to unreliable IPTV service.
-
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a video stream analyzer according to one embodiment; -
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method to diagnose a video stream over a DSL network according to one embodiment; -
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a DSL system according to one embodiment; -
FIG. 4 is a block diagram and manner of implementing the video stream DSL analyzer according to another embodiment; -
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method to diagnose the vide stream over the DSL system according to one embodiment; -
FIG. 6 illustrates tables for minimum and maximum delays according to one embodiment; -
FIG. 7 is a table of DSL error metrics available for VDSL2 according to one embodiment; -
FIGS. 8 and 9 14 illustrate tables for minimum and maximum delays according to one embodiment; -
FIG. 10 is a block diagram of DSL concatenated coding according to one embodiment; -
FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an example processor platform according to one embodiment; -
FIG. 12 illustrates three exemplary alternative network layering schemes according to one embodiment; -
FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary architecture of EFM (Ethernet-in-the-First-Mile) over a telephone line according to one embodiment; and -
FIG. 14 is a flowchart for diagnosing multiple communication layers according to one embodiment. - A video stream DSL analyzer receives at least non-physical layer management data and physical layer management data and in response generates metric information. The generated metric information is used to characterize the performance of the video stream information or diagnose any problems if necessary. In response to the metric information, the video stream DSL analyzer changes one or more DSL configuration(s) in order to improve performance. For example, the video streaming protocol may conform to the Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model (OSI). The video stream DSL analyzer performs DSL diagnosis on multiple layers. Diagnosis is performed in response to both physical and non-physical layer management data (i.e. link, network, transport, session, presentation and application layers). Management data refers to any data suitable to monitor, diagnose or control the performance of one or more elements of the DSL network. According to one embodiment, the physical and application layers are diagnosed; however any combination of physical and non-physical layers may be diagnosed. According to another embodiment, the video stream DSL analyzer performs DSL diagnosis on any two of the seven possible layers. Therefore, data from any combination of two layers from the seven layers may be used to produce the metric information.
- The video stream DSL analyzer diagnoses performance issues and problems on multiple layers and is operable to optimize parameters on the corresponding multiple layers. The video stream DSL analyzer is one of several DSL diagnostic tools to support video streaming on a high-speed Internet service. These diagnostic tools ensure that the video streaming service provides video quality according to any suitable performance requirements. For example, the diagnostic tools ensure that the video streaming service provides video quality as stable as or more stable than existing broadcast, satellite or cable TV services. The video stream DSL analyzer also allows the service provider to guarantee a certain data rate on the DSL line, in order to deliver video streaming service.
- As used herein, the term “DSL” refers to any of a variety or variant of DSL technology such as, for example, Asymmetric DSL (ADSL), High-speed DSL (HDSL), Symmetric DSL (SDSL), or Very high-speed DSL (VDSL1 and VDSL2). Such DSL technologies are commonly implemented in accordance with an applicable standard such as, for example, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard G.992.1 (a.k.a. G.dmt) for ADSL modems, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard G.992.3 (a.k.a. G.dmt.bis) for ADSL2 modems, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard G.992.5 (a.k.a. G.adsl2plus) for ADSL2+ modems, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard G.993.1 (a.k.a. G.vdsl) for VDSL modems, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard G.993.2 for VDSL2 modems, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard G.994.1 (G.hs) for modems implementing handshake, the ITU G.997.1 (a.k.a. G.ploam) standard for management of DSL modems, or any suitable combination.
- As used herein, the term “operative” describes an apparatus capable of an operation or actually in operation, or any combination thereof. For example, an apparatus turned off or powered off is “operative” to perform or capable of performing an operation when the apparatus is turned on. Thus, although an apparatus is powered off or otherwise turned off, the apparatus is “operative” to perform some function by virtue of pre-programmed hardware or software programmed hardware or any combination thereof. The term “signal” typically refers to an analog signal, the term “data” typically refers to digital data and the term “information” may refer to either an analog signal or a digital signal although other meanings may be inferred from the context of the usage of these terms.
-
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a videostream DSL analyzer 100 according to one embodiment. The videostream DSL analyzer 100 includes ametric information generator 110 coupled to aDSL configurator 120. According to one embodiment, the videostream DSL analyzer 100 may be part of a computer server, such as a network management system server, or other suitable computer. The videostream DSL analyzer 100 may also be one or more suitably programmed processors, such as a microprocessor, and therefore includes associated memory containing executable instruction that when executed cause the videostream DSL analyzer 100 to carry out the operations described herein. -
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method to diagnose a video stream over a DSL network according to one embodiment. The method may be carried out by the videostream DSL analyzer 100 shown inFIG. 1 . However, any other suitable structure may also be used. It will be recognized that the method beginning withstep 210 will be described as a series of operations, but the operations may be performed in any suitable order and may be repeated in any suitable combination. - As shown in
block 210 ofFIG. 2 and in the block diagram ofFIG. 1 , themetric information generator 110 receives at least non-physicallayer management data 130 and physicallayer management data 140. The physicallayer management data 140 may correspond to information related to the physical layer of the OSI model. The non-physicallayer management data 130 may correspond to data related to any corresponding non-physical OSI layer, such as the link, network, transport, session, presentation and application layers. According to one embodiment, the non-physicallayer management data 130 includes any combination of: subscriber bandwidth usage, MPEG error data, packets received, bytes received, packets lost, fraction lost, corrupted packets, overruns, underruns, receive interarrival jitter, average receive interarrival, packets received, packet discontinuity counter or any other suitable data. For example, the DSL Forum entitled “Data Model for a TR-069 enabled STB, WT-135revision 3, February 2006” defines a data model for monitoring and controlling the set top box (STB). According to one embodiment, the non-physicallayer management data 130 described above are listed as parameters related to IPTV services in this data model; however data from any suitable video streaming service may be used. For example, these parameters may be used for diagnosing video streaming issues such as IPTV delivery issues. - According to one embodiment, the physical
layer management data 140 is any combination of: reported INP, reported delay, reported data rate, full inits counter, failed full inits counter, short inits counter, failed short inits counter, FECS-L counter, ES-L counter, SES-L counter, LOSS-L counter, UAS-L counter, FECS-LFE counter, ES-LFE counter, SES-LFE counter, LOSS-LFE counter, UAS-LFE counter, CV-C counter, FEC-C counter, CV-CFE counter, FEC-CFE counter, CRC-P counter, CRCP-P counter, CV-P counter, CVP-P counter CRC-PFE counter, CRCP-PFE counter, CV-PFE counter, CVP-PFE counter or any other suitable data. - The non-physical layer corresponds with at least one of: an Ethernet, IP, UDP, RTP, MPEG-TS, MPEG Payload, data, link, network, transport, session, presentation and application layer. According to an alternative embodiment, the video stream and the corresponding non-physical
layer management data 130 and physicallayer management data 140 may conform to all or part of the Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model (OSI). According to one embodiment, themetric information generator 110 receives information from any two of the seven possible OSI abstraction layers. Thus, the receivedmanagement data - The table below illustrates physical
layer management data 140, according to one embodiment, as DSL initialization metrics available for VDSL2. The table lists example DSL initialization metrics as physicallayer management data 140, however any other metrics or similar DSL error metrics may be used as well. According to one embodiment, the physicallayer management data 140 allows the videostream DSL analyzer 100 to estimate the reliability of the physical layer for delivering video streaming. For example, the element management system (EMS), auto-config server (ACS) or any combination thereof may provide DSL error metrics to the videostream DSL analyzer 100 to derive network error metrics as described in more detail below. These DSL initialization metrics may be reported in intervals of, for example, every 5, 10, 15 minutes, or any interval and also for the current and previous 1 day interval, or for any suitable intervals. An initialization history showing a large count of initialization attempts may be an indication of time-varying stationary noise. -
G.997.1 PHY Parameter Description references references Full inits counter Count of full initialization attempts on 7.2.1.3 — the line during the accumulation period Failed full inits Count of failed full initialization 7.2.1.3 — counter attempts on the line during the accumulation period Short inits counter Count of short initialization attempts on 7.2.1.3 Short the line during the accumulation period initialization not yet defined in VDSL2 Failed short inits Count of failed short initialization 7.2.1.3 Short counter attempts on the line during the initialization accumulation period not yet defined in VDSL2 - As shown in
block 220 ofFIG. 2 and in the block diagram ofFIG. 1 , themetric information generator 110 generatesmetric information 150 in response to the non-physicallayer management data 130 and physicallayer management data 140. For example, the non-physicallayer management data 130 and physicallayer management data 140 obtained from the multiple sources can be correlated or combined to diagnose and determine the root cause of any video stream degradation. - An example for calculating the
metric information 150 is provided. However, any alternative techniques for calculating themetric information 150 may be used. According to one embodiment, the videostream DSL analyzer 100 may directly set themetric information 150 to at least one of the receivedmanagement data stream DSL analyzer 100 may directly set themetric information 150 to a packet loss, delay, error rate or any suitable performance metric received. According to an alternative embodiment, the videostream DSL analyzer 100 groups the receivedmanagement data management data stream DSL analyzer 100 computes or generates themetric information 150 as a function of at least two of the receivedmanagement data stream DSL analyzer 100 computes or generates themetric information 150 using any combination of the embodiments described herein, or any other suitable functions or combinations. - According to yet another embodiment, the
metric information 150 may be a packet loss rate. Again, themetric information 150 may be any suitable metric combination or parameter such as delay, bandwidth usage, packet discontinuity, packet size or any suitable performance metric. For example, the packet loss rate can be derived from the code violation counts (CV-C and CV-CFE). The code violation count derivations differ for VDSL1 and VDSL2, because the definitions of code violations differ between these standards. Although examples of calculating packet loss rate are provided below, the techniques as well as the data used as a basis for the calculations may be different depending on, for example, the performance characteristic desired, the available data and the specific protocol or OSI layer involved. - In VDSL1, the CV-C and CV-CFE counters can capture the number of VDSL1 superframes that contain at least one DSL error. Any other suitable metric, data, counter or information may be used as physical
layer management data 140. For example, let the total number of Ethernet frames within a 15-min period (any suitable period may be used) equal to: -
- In an exemplary low error rate scenario, one CRC error will mean that only one Ethernet frame is corrupted per DMT superframe. In an exemplary high error rate scenario, each CRC error will mean that all Ethernet frames spanning a DMT superframe are corrupted. It is here assumed that the net data rate is in the range of VDSL applications, so that the number of Ethernet frames per DMT superframe is larger than 1. (This corresponds to net data rates larger than 4.3648 Mbps.) If this does not hold, then two CRC errors might lead to only one Ethernet frame error.
- Assuming the exemplary low error rate scenario, the ratio of corrupted Ethernet frames to the total Ethernet frames within a 15-minute interval is approximately equal to:
-
- Assuming the exemplary high error rate scenario, the ratio of corrupted Ethernet frames to the total Ethernet frames within a 15-minute interval is approximately equal to:
-
- The above estimates of Ethernet Frame Loss Rate can subsequently be translated into loss rates for packet types of higher layers. For example, by knowing that 7 MPEG-TS packets are typically contained within an Ethernet frame, one can compute the MPEG-TS loss rate. In this manner, one can convert DSL error metrics to the upper layer frame error rate, and eventually to the video frame error rate.
- In VDSL2, the framing method is completely different than VDSL1, which has many implications on the interpretation of the CV count. There are two latency paths, and thus two framing operations. The elementary framing unit is the Mux Data Frame (MDF), which consists of bytes from the overhead buffer, the buffer of
bearer channel 0, and the buffer ofbearer channel 1. By combining Mp MDFs, the payload of a RS codeword is formed, and the parity bytes are added. By combining Tp/Mp RS codewords, a “group of codewords” is formed. By combining Up “groups of codewords”, a “super-group of codewords” is formed. The total number of bytes in such a “super-group” is (UpxTp/Mp) times the number of bytes per RS codeword and is defined as PERBp. - Each MDF has a number of overhead bytes. The overhead bytes contained in the MDFs of Tp/Mp RS codewords form an OH sub-frame. The combination of Up OH sub-frames (one for each “group of codewords”) gives an OH frame. The format of an OH frame can be seen to contain a CRC byte. This CRC byte is computed based on the PERBp bytes of a “super-group” of RS codewords.
- The “message” over which the CRC byte is computed has variable length, which is expressed as shown below.
-
PERBp PERp - Thus, a CV count means that there is an error within a “data block” equal to PERBp bytes. This data block includes overhead bytes and RS parity bytes. It can be seen that for practical total data rates, PERBp is lower-bounded by 17,000 bytes. Calculating the exact duration of this “data block” requires knowledge of parameters (Tp, Mp and Up). If this data is not available, then assuming knowledge of such a duration period, then the Ethernet frame loss rate calculations would use similar derivations as for VDSL1.
- As shown in
optional bock 230, theDSL configurator 120 receives the generatedmetric information 150 and in response is operative to change at least one DSL configuration, according to one embodiment. TheDSL configurator 120 producesDSL configuration data 160 to characterize the performance of the video stream, correct problem(s) or any combination thereof. According to one embodiment, in response to theDSL configuration data 160, the videostream DSL analyzer 100 changes one or more DSL configuration(s) in order to improve performance. The videostream DSL analyzer 100 performs DSL diagnosis on any two of the seven layers. For example, diagnosis is performed in response to both the physicallayer management data 140 and the non-physical layer management data 130 (i.e. link, network, transport, session, presentation and application layers). According to one embodiment, the physical and applications layers are diagnosed; however any combination of physical and non-physical layers may be diagnosed. -
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of aDSL system 300 according to one embodiment. TheDSL system 300 includes equipment at aservice provider location 305 coupled to a customer premises 310 viaPSTN 320. In the illustrated example, the DSL services are, or may be, provided to the example customer premises 310 via a conventional twisted-paircopper telephone line 315. Theexample telephone line 315 ofFIG. 3 is a part of a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 320. Theservice provider location 305 includes videostream content delivery 302, videostreaming delivery servers 306,Ethernet switch 308 and non-videoservice delivery server 392. The videostream content delivery 302 may be for example, a television station, a provider of video stream content or any other suitable video stream content provider to produce avideo stream 304. The video streaming delivery server(s) 306 receives avideo stream 304 and in response formats thevideo stream 304, for example according to the Internet Protocol (IP), and provides a deliveredvideo stream 307 to theservice delivery system 365. Similarly, the non-videoservice delivery server 392 receives non-video content from, for example, an Internet service provider (ISP) or any suitable server, formats the non-video content according to the Internet Protocol and producesnon-video stream 394. Theservice delivery system 365 receives at least thenon-video stream 394 and the deliveredvideo stream 307 and in response producesInternet data 368. TheEthernet switch 308 receives theInternet data 368 and transmits routed or switchedInternet data 309 for transmission ultimately to theappropriate subscriber equipment 332. - The customer premises 310 include for example a
DSL modem 330 connected tosubscriber equipment 332 andloop test equipment 340. The term “customer premises” refers to the location to which communication services are being provided by a service provider. For an example public switched telephone network (PSTN) used to provide DSL services, customer premises are located at the network termination (NT) side of the telephone lines. As used herein, the terms “user”, “subscriber” or “customer” refer to a person, business or organization to which communication services or equipment are or may potentially be provided by any of a variety of service provider(s).Example subscriber equipment 332 includes a personal computer (PC), a set-top box (STB), a residential gateway or a television located at a subscriber's residence by which the subscriber receives or utilizes a DSL service or Internet services. - The
service provider location 305 includes DSLAM(s) 325, adistribution frame 335 that implements a metallic cross-connect,loop test equipment 345 andline tester 350. According to one embodiment, the exampleloop test equipment 345 may be implemented by or within theDSLAM 325 or any suitable component. The term “service provider location” refers to a location from which DSL services are provided or a location in which systems or equipment related to the providing of DSL services are located. Example service providers include a telephone operating company, a cable operating company, a wireless operating company, or an Internet service provider to provide, sell, provision, troubleshoot or maintain communication services or communication equipment. The example DSLAM(s) 325 implements, among other things, any of a variety or number of DSL modem(s), one of which is, or may be, used to provide DSL service to the example customer premises 310 via thetelephone line 315. Theservice provider location 305 also includes an auto-configuration server (ACS) 360, element management system (EMS) 355, service assurance system (SAS) 370,service delivery system 365, data collector combiner (not shown) and network management system (NMS) 390.FIG. 3 shows these elements according to one embodiment, however these elements can be reallocated in any desired manner. - Any combination of the
loop test equipment 340 orline tester 350 measure, compute or otherwise determine any number or any of a variety of signals,management data telephone line 315. In the illustrated example ofFIG. 3 , the exampleloop test equipment 345 is connected to thetelephone line 315 via thedistribution frame 335, and the exampleloop test equipment 340 is connected to the telephone wiring located in the customer premises 310 (i.e., an in-home distribution network). Additionally or alternatively, the exampleloop test equipment 345 may be implemented by or within theDSLAM 325 or any suitable component. -
EMS 355 monitors, measures or records physicallayer management data 140 such as current or historical DSL performance characteristics for DSL communications occurring between theexample DSLAM 325 and theDSL modem 330. Physicallayer management data 140 such as DSL performance data, statistics or information for ongoing DSL services can be measured or reported to theEMS 355 by theexample DSL modem 330 or theDSLAM 325 using any of a variety of well known techniques. For example, they can be measured based on the ITU G.992.1 (a.k.a. G.dmt) standard or based on the ITU G.997.1 (a.k.a. G.ploam) standard for management of DSL modems. Example performance data, statistics and information include, but are not limited to any combination of: EMS data, EMS status, HLOG, HLIN, QLN (quiet line noise), SNR, LATN (line attenuation), SATN (signal attenuation), noise, channel attenuation, data rate, ATTNDR (attainable data rate), margin, CV (code violations), FEC (forward-error-correction) counts, ES (errored seconds), SES (severely errored seconds), UAS (unavailable seconds), BITS (bit distribution), GAINS (fine gains), TSS1 (transmit spectral shaping), MREFPSD (reference PSD), transmitted power, transmitted PSD, failures, initialization counts, actual delay, actual impulse noise protection, forward error correction (FEC) and interleaving data, impulse noise sensor data, a number of FEC errors, margin information, data rate information, a channel transfer function, loop attenuation information, bit allocation information, or any other suitable performance information. Physicallayer management data 140 includes performance information related to DSL physical layer characteristics, or DSL-PHY-characterizing data including SNR, bit distribution, data rate, margin, attainable data rate, or any suitable information. In the example ofFIG. 3 , physicallayer management data 140 such as DSL performance data, statistics or information is sent by theexample DSL modem 330 via the DSL service using, for example, the exchange protocol defined in the ITU G.994.1 (a.k.a. G.hs) standard. Additionally or alternatively, the DSL performance data, statistics or information may be sent by theDSL modem 330 via a transmission control protocol (TCP)/Internet protocol (IP) connection to theACS 360 as defined in the DSL Forum document TR-069. - The service delivery system(s) 365 produces
Internet data 368 to provide any of a variety of services such as, for example, video streaming, IP television (IPTV), video-on-demand (VoD), voice-over-IP (VoIP) or any combination thereof of service to the example customer premises 310.SAS 370 monitors the quality, performance or characteristics of services provided by the exampleservice delivery system 365. For example, theservice delivery systems 365 combine and format theInternet data 394 and the deliveredvideo stream 307 for distribution according to the Internet Protocol to the appropriate subscriber equipment. For example, theSAS 370 monitors, for example, motion picture experts group (MPEG) statistics (e.g., frame losses, etc.), a packet loss rate, etc of thevideo stream 304. - As described above, the
example ACS 360, theexample line tester 350, theexample EMS 355, theexample SAS 370, or any combination thereof represent sources of data indicative of past, ongoing or possible future DSL services provided or provide-able by theservice delivery system 365, theDSLAM 325 or theDSL modem 330 via thetelephone line 315. As described above, theexample data sources example telephone line 315. Theexample data sources FIG. 3 may collect and report data on a periodic or aperiodic basis. Additionally or alternatively, data may be collected and reported in response to a request for data or information. Data or information collected by thedata sources FIG. 3 . - Note that data formats used by the different data collection sources may differ substantially. For example, the
EMS 355 may report physicallayer management data 140 such as 15-min DSL error counters, theACS 360 may report DSL errors since Showtime, and theService Assurance Server 370 may report MPEG frame statistics. Accordingly, methods to “translate” from one type to another type vary widely depending on many factors and may be applied. Further, the data collected from multiple sources may not be synchronized, and steps must be taken to make sure that data comparisons are made for the appropriate time periods. -
Management data example data sources example data sources FIG. 3 . For example, TDR data contained in theexample line tester 350 may be more accurate or more useful for detecting or parameterization of a bridged tap than channel attenuation data or a channel transfer function available in theEMS 355. - In the illustrated example, two of the
data sources incomplete management data example ACS 360 may contain ACStype management data EMS 355 contains EMStype management data ACS 360 or a TDR response contained in theline tester 350. Further, while theACS 360 and theEMS 355 may both contain channel attenuationtype management data management data type management data EMS 355ACS 360 or any suitable network element depending on for example the particular equipment and relevant DSL standard; wherever it might be located. HLOG is another example of physicallayer management data 140.Management data DSLAM 325 can be collected viaEMS 355 andmanagement data DSL modem 330 can be collected viaACS 360. Other examples will abound to persons of ordinary skill in the art. - Using any of a variety of method(s), protocol(s), communication path(s) or communication technology(ies), the
example line tester 350 ofFIG. 3 can configure, command or request that the exampleloop test equipment telephone line 315, or receive or measure signals present on thetelephone line 315 with or without injecting a line probing signal. Any combination of signal probing, signal receiving, or measuring can be utilized by theexample line tester 350, or theloop test equipment telephone line 315 are described in U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/796,371, filed on May 1, 2006, and U.S. patent application Serial No. (Attorney Docket #20103/0728), which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. - While the following disclosure references the example digital subscriber line (DSL)
system 300 or the example devices ofFIG. 3 , the methods and apparatus described herein may be used to estimate, determine or infermetric information 150 including characteristics or parameters fortelephone lines 315 or DSL equipment for any variety, any size or any topology ofDSL system 300 or network. For example, theDSL system 300 may include any number of customer premises, more than one DSL access multiplexer DSLAM(s) 325 located in more than one location, or may include any number and combination of telephone lines, DSL modems, servers, systems, data sources, data collectors, data stores, data combiners or data collector combiners. - Although the following disclosure is made with respect to example digital subscriber line (DSL) equipment, DSL services, DSL systems or the use of ordinary twisted-pair copper telephone lines for distribution of DSL services, it should be understood that the disclosed methods and apparatus to infer characteristics of communication systems or networks using data collected from multiple data sources disclosed herein are applicable to many other types or varieties of communication equipment, services, technologies or systems. For example, the disclosed methods and apparatus may also be applicable to wireless distribution systems, wired or cable distribution systems, coaxial cable distribution systems, Ultra High Frequency (UHF)/Very High Frequency (VHF) radio frequency systems, satellite or other extra-terrestrial systems, cellular distribution systems, power-line broadcast systems, WiMAX, WiFi, fiber optic networks or any suitable network or system. Additionally, combinations of these devices, systems or networks may also be used. For example, a combination of twisted-pair and coaxial cable connected by a balun, or any other physical-channel-continuing combination such as an analog fiber to copper connection with linear optical-to-electrical connection at an optical network unit (ONU) may be used.
- Alternatively or additionally, a computing device communicatively coupled or couple-able to the
loop test equipment metric information 150. For example, theexample line tester 350 may obtain the received or measured signals from theloop test equipment metric information 150. Alternatively or additionally, subscriber equipment (e.g., a subscriber's personal computer (PC) or set-top box (STB)) may be used to estimate or determine themetric information 150. - According to one embodiment as shown in the illustrated example of
FIG. 3 , the videostream DSL analyzer 100 receives non-physicallayer management data 130 and physicallayer management data 140 from theexample loop tester example line tester 350, DSLAM(s) 325,ACS 360,EMS 355,SAS 370 or any suitable device via any of a variety of method(s), network(s), protocol(s), or any combination thereof. Any other device or system used to receive, measure, compute or estimatemetric information 150 may, such as videostreaming delivery servers 306,Ethernet switch 308 andsubscriber equipment 332 additionally or alternatively, provide the same to theexample line tester 350. - While
example data sources FIG. 3 , persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that a DSL system may include additional or alternative data sources than those illustrated inFIG. 3 or may include more than one of any or all of the illustrated data sources. Further, while this disclosure describes particular pieces of data or information being contained or available via particular ones of theexample data sources FIG. 3 , persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that a DSL service provider may utilize any of a variety of combinations of data or information and data sources. - For a DSL system or network containing more than one telephone line,
DSLAM 325 orDSL modem 330, theexample data sources FIG. 3 contain data associated with eachtelephone line 315,DSLAM 325 orDSL modem 330. However, the set of data contained in thedata sources - Video
stream DSL analyzer 100 receives any of a variety of parameter(s),management data example data sources metric information 150 and also to check the integrity of themanagement data management data management data data sources stream DSL analyzer 100 heuristically, logically, statistically or probabilistically combines the checkeddata - According to one embodiment, the video
stream DSL analyzer 100 stores the non-physicallayer management data 130, physicallayer management data 140,metric information 150 or theDSL configuration data 160 in anexample database 372 using any of a variety of data structure(s), data table(s), data array(s), etc. Theexample database 372 is stored in a machine accessible file or in any of a variety ofmemory 375. - Network Management System (NMS) 390 controls, monitors, maintains or provisions the
example DSL system 300 to allow the videostream DSL analyzer 100 and a person such as a customer service representative, a sales person or a technician to control, monitor, maintain or provision theexample DSL system 300. Theexample NMS 390 uses, provides or makes available to the videostream DSL analyzer 100 or a person the parameter(s), data or information stored in theexample database 372. Alternately or additionally, theexample NMS 390 ofFIG. 3 may directly provide or make available the parameter(s), data or information inferred, estimated, computed or determined by the example videostream DSL analyzer 100. For example, theNMS 390 can provide a GUI by which a technician can retrieve any combination of the non-physicallayer management data 130, physicallayer management data 140,metric information 150 or theDSL configuration data 160. -
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of implementing the videostream DSL analyzer 100 according to another embodiment. TheDSL configurator 120 further includes aperformance deficiency identifier 410, a physicallayer problem identifier 420, aDSL setting selector 430, a DSL settingrealization checker 440 and aDSL setting configurator 450. Theperformance deficiency identifier 410 is operatively coupled to themetric information generator 110 and the physicallayer problem identifier 420. TheDSL setting selector 430 is operatively coupled to the physicallayer problem identifier 420 and the DSL settingrealization checker 440. TheDSL setting configurator 450 is operatively coupled to the DSL settingrealization checker 440. According to an alternative embodiment, theDSL setting selector 430 is operatively coupled to theperformance deficiency identifier 410. -
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method to diagnose video streaming performance over theDSL system 300 according to one embodiment. The method may be carried out by the videostream DSL analyzer 100 shown inFIG. 1 , 3 orFIG. 4 . However, any other suitable structure may also be used. It will be recognized that the method beginning withstep 210 will be described as a series of operations, but the operations may be performed in any suitable order and may be repeated in any suitable combination. - As shown in
block 510 ofFIG. 5 and inFIG. 4 , theperformance deficiency identifier 410 is operative to compare the generatedmetric information 150 withperformance threshold information 412. In response, theperformance deficiency identifier 410 determines if there is a performance deficiency and optionally produces corresponding performance deficiency information 414. The determination of a performance deficiency has a direct affect on the quality of experience (QoE) or quality of service (QOS). For example, video streaming, such as IPTV, is affected by network effects such as delay, jitter, and loss. Thesubscriber equipment 332 such as the Set-Top Box (STB) can partially compensate for these effects through the mechanisms of buffering (to compensate for jitter) and error concealment algorithms (to compensate for loss). However, the solution of buffering exacerbates the delay issue, because an increased buffer size affects negatively the channel change time. Thus, performance thresholds may be established in order to determine if a performance deficiency occurs. - The table at the bottom of
FIG. 6 lists some exemplary performance objectives that may be used directly or indirectly asperformance threshold information 412. For example, the maximum recommended delay may correspond to theperformance threshold information 412 and the measured delay may correspond to the generatedmetric information 150. The maximum recommended delays listed inFIG. 6 are examples only and thus the specific maximum recommended delays orperformance threshold information 412 may be any suitable amount depending on the specific requirements, equipment, standards or application. Other information correlating user experience with measures of dropped, repeated and out-of-sequence video frames may be used as well. Examples of minimum application layer bit rate requirements for video and audio are also shown inFIG. 6 . The examples of maximum delay in the tables and the examples of minimum bit rate requirements inFIG. 6 are examples ofperformance threshold information 412 used to determine if there is a performance deficiency, however, any suitable performance requirements and specific requirements levels may be used. - According to yet another embodiment, the
performance threshold information 412 is adjusted based on pre-collected data. For example, if the performance threshold proves to be too rigid then theperformance threshold information 412 may be relaxed, either automatically without human intervention, or with human interaction, in order to, for example, release system resources, reduce processing burdens or otherwise increase performance speed. According to another embodiment, the performance threshold information is adjusted based on bandwidth usage information. For example, if bandwidth usage is relatively high then the performance threshold criteria may be adjusted in order to increase the quality of service. The user who watches streaming video, such as IPTV twenty-four hours a day, might need a higher quality of service. Alternatively, the videostream DSL analyzer 100 can adjust themetric information 150 depending on the bandwidth usage. Some metrics may be accumulated from the equipment if and if only the user is actively using the bandwidth. For example, if the error in the video signal is counted only if the user is actively using the video channel, then the impact of the error count varies depending on the bandwidth. According to one embodiment, if theperformance threshold information 412 is not adequate to meet the desired QOE or QOS requirements, or if the QOE or QOS requirements change, then theperformance threshold information 412 may be adjusted accordingly. For example, theperformance threshold information 412 may be related to the QOE or QOS by a mathematical function, or simply by a relational table so that if, for example the QOE or QOS requirement changes, or if the function or relational table itself changes, then theperformance threshold information 412 changes automatically without human intervention. If there is no performance deficiency, then processing returns to block 230, otherwise processing proceeds to block 520. - As shown in
block 520 and inFIG. 4 , the physicallayer problem identifier 420 is operative to receive the performance deficiency information 414 and in response determine if there is a problem in the physical layer. The physicallayer problem identifier 420 may produce physicallayer problem information 422. -
FIG. 7 illustrates exemplary DSL error metrics available for VDSL2 according to one embodiment, however any other metrics may be used as well. For example, DSL error metrics, such as one or more of the DSL performance monitoring parameters inFIG. 7 ormanagement data metric information 150 with respect to block 510 in order to determine if there is a problem in the physical layer. These DSL error metrics may be reported in intervals of, for example, 15 minutes, and also for the current and previous 1 day interval, or for any suitable intervals. Examples of time-varying noise include crosstalk from other DSL lines, crosstalk from home networking systems, and interference from other customer premises devices. Any of the above parameters DSL error metrics can aid with detecting video streaming problems at the physical or DSL layer. According to one embodiment, the parameters of CV-C and CV-CFE may be used for the purpose of estimating a quality metric at the DSL layer. Additionally, the ES-L and ES-LFE parameters (counting seconds), may be useful as well. - According to one embodiment, one or more of the parameters listed in
FIG. 7 or any other suitable parameters may be combined and compared to the performance criteria provided inFIG. 6 . Further, the physical layer threshold may be adjusted in a manner similar to that described above with respect to block 510. If there is no performance deficiency in the physical layer, then a report is made to other modules atblock 530, otherwise processing proceeds to block 540. - As shown in
block 540 and inFIG. 4 , theDSL setting selector 430 is operative to receive the physical layerperformance deficiency information 422 and in response select at least one DSL setting to produceDSL setting information 432. The physical layerperformance deficiency information 422 and any other suitable metrics obtained using the estimation procedures previously described can help reveal the cases where IPTV degradation is due to the DSL physical layer. After diagnosing the IPTV problem, actions can be recommended to correct the problem, such as by changingDSL setting information 432. According to an alternative embodiment, theDSL setting selector 430 is operative to receive performance deficiency information 414 from theperformance deficiency identifier 410. - According to one embodiment, there are two cases for IPTV degradation that should be treated separately. In one case, the DSL problems may be due to time-varying stationary noise. As a response, the provisioned data rate must be adjusted to a setting that prevents a retrain due to the stationary noise.
- The second case is the one where the DSL problems emanate from impulse noise on the line. This problem must be handled by adjusting the configuration parameters to increase the impulse noise protection on the line. The configuration parameters may include min/max data rate, maximum delay and minimum impulse noise protection.
- A significant difference between ADSL high-speed Internet service and VDSL supporting an IPTV service is that the IPTV service may include a data rate guarantee as opposed to the high-speed Internet service. Thus, any change to the configuration parameters to increase the impulse noise protection must be such that the data rate does not degrade below the guaranteed levels. Alternately, if the impulse noise protection increase inevitably leads to a significantly degraded data rate, then the offered service must be assigned to a different category. The
DSL setting selector 430 provides the proposedDSL setting information 432 to the DSL settingrealization checker 440 to determine if the DSL settings are valid. - As shown in
block 550 and inFIG. 4 , the DSL settingrealization checker 440 checks to proposed DSL settings. The DSL settingrealization checker 440 is operative to receive theDSL setting information 432 and in response, check if the selected at least one DSL setting is realizable and produce DSL settingrealization information 442. The DSL settingrealization checker 440 may predict the data rate performance that results from different configuration settings related to the impulse noise protection. However, an arbitrary choice of these parameters is not possible, and may lead to configuration errors, an invalid configuration or initialization failures. There are two reasons for such errors/failures: - 1. Equipment limitations—Certain configurations settings are impossible to achieve because of resource limitations such as the interleaver (deinterleaver) memory, and the maximum number of RS codewords that can be decoded per unit of time. Such limitations, for example, are described in the ADSL2 and ADSL2+ recommendations. Limitations of the same kind exist in VDSL1 and VDSL2 systems. The corresponding recommendations do not explicitly provide these limitations, however, the known constraints on aggregate interleaver-deinterleaver delay, interleaver depth and (1/S) parameter (see
FIGS. 8-9 ). - 2. Performance objectives: Loss of data rate—Note that if the equipment permits a particular setting, the performance objectives may not be realizable and as a result new
DSL setting information 432 is required. For example, increasing the impulse noise protection capability often requires increasing the number of parity bytes per RS codeword. Such an increase leads to additional redundancy, which implies that the net available data rate is correspondingly decreased. In other words, the extra offered protection may come at a price of a smaller net coding gain. - The DSL setting
realization checker 440 may check any combination of 1) equipment and 2) performance objectives according to this embodiment. Using the above observations and the corresponding DSL settingrealization information 442, theDSL setting selector 430 recommends a new configuration with, according to this example, increased impulse noise protection at block 560: - For a given desired data rate, choose an INP_min and delay_max combination satisfying the following conditions:
- a) The new INP_min must be higher than the previous INP_min.
- b) The INP_min and delay_max combination must be such that they are achievable for the desired data rate and for the given equipment. This can be accomplished using tables such as the ones in
FIGS. 8 and 9 . - For a given desired data rate and the chosen INP_min and delay_max combination estimate the difference between the current net coding gain and the previous net coding gain. This difference provides a measure of the “loss” due to increased protection. If the current SNR margin is insufficient compared to this “loss”, then this choice of INP_min and delay_max would lead to the line failing to initialize. Knowing the difference in the net coding gain can prevent this situation. Methods to compute the net coding gain are described next.
- Estimating the Net Coding Gain
-
FIG. 10 is a block diagram of DSL concatenated coder anddecoder 1000 for calculating net coding gain according to one embodiment. An example calculation of the net coding gain to check theDSL setting information 432 is provided. The net coding gain may be used by the videostream DSL analyzer 100 or any suitable DSL Optimizer or DSL management center to check theDSL setting information 432. - As shown in
FIG. 10 , in ADSL1, ADSL2, ADSL2+, and VDSL2, the concatenated coder and decoder consists of anouter RS coder 1010, anRS decoder 1020 and a concatenation of aninner trellis coder 1030, 1040 (for example, a 16-state, 4-dimensional code, developed by Wei). Aninterleaver 1030 is placed between theRS encoder 1010 and atrellis encoder 1050, and adeinterleaver 1040 is placed between thetrellis decoder 1060 and theRS decoder 1020. - It is assumed that the codeword size, N, and the number of payload bytes, K, of the RS code are known. (These can be obtained from reported values, or from assembled tables, or from algorithm descriptions for a particular implementation.) It is also assumed that the errors occurring at the
RS decoder 1020 are random. It is also assumed that the desired data rate is R. The coding gain can be expressed in dB as the addition of three terms: -
γc,dB=γtc,dB+γ rs,dB−γloss,dB -
- γtc,dB is the net coding gain from the use of the trellis code.
-
γ rs,dB is the gross coding gain from the use of the RS code. - γloss,dB the coding gain loss (due to redundancy) from the use of the RS code.
- The coding gain loss can be expressed as:
-
- If the
DSL setting information 432 is not realizable based on for example any combination of 1) the equipment configuration, 2) performance objectives, or 3) the required coding gain, then processing proceeds to block 560 to classify the selected at least one DSL setting as unavailable and another DSL setting with newDSL setting information 432 is selected atblock 540. If theDSL setting information 442 is realizable, then processing proceeds to block 570. - As shown in
block 570 andFIG. 4 , theDSL setting configurator 450 according to this embodiment, receives the DSL settingrealization information 442 and in response produces theDSL configuration data 160. TheNMS 390 receives theDSL configuration data 160 and performs the requested configuration change. -
FIG. 11 is a block diagram of anexample processor platform 1100 that may be used or programmed to implement the example videostream DSL analyzer 100. For example, theprocessor platform 1100 can be implemented by one or more general purpose processors, cores, microcontrollers, 1105 etc. Theprocessor 1105 executes videoDSL analyzer instructions 1110 contained in main memory 1115 (e.g., within a random access memory (RAM)) to implement the example videostream DSL analyzer 100. Theprocessor 1105 may be any type of processing unit, such as a DSP, a RISC processor, or a general purpose or customized processor from the INTEL®, AMD®, SUN®, IBM® families of cores, processors or microcontrollers. - The
processor 1105 is in communication with the main memory 1115 (such as a read only memory (ROM) 1120 or hard drive) via abus 1125. TheRAM 1115 may be implemented by dynamic random access memory (DRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), or any other type of RAM device, andROM 1120 may be implemented by flash memory or any other desired type of memory device. Theoutput devices 1140 may be used, for example, to display or provide a GUI. - It should also be noted that the example software or firmware implementations described herein are may be stored on an optional tangible storage medium, such as: a magnetic medium (e.g., a disk or tape); a magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk; or a solid state medium such as a memory card or other package that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile) memories, random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile) memories; or a signal containing computer instructions. A digital file attachment to e-mail or other self-contained information archive or set of archives is considered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, the example software or firmware described herein can be stored on a tangible storage medium or distribution medium such as those described above or equivalents and successor media. According to an alternative embodiment, the video
DSL analyzer instructions 1110 may be wirelessly transmitted to thememory 1115 for example, via a wide area wireless access network (WWAN), such as a wireless communication or WiMax network, or a local wireless access network (LWAN) such as WiFi network. - Of course, persons of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the order, size, and proportions of the
memory 1115 illustrated in the example systems may vary. It is contemplated that any or all of these hardware and software components could be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software, exclusively in firmware or in some combination of hardware, firmware or software. Accordingly, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the above described examples are not the only way to implement such systems. - According to one embodiment, dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to, an ASIC, programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement some or all of the example methods or apparatus described herein, either in whole or in part. Furthermore, alternative software implementations including, but not limited to, distributed processing or component/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also be constructed to implement the example methods or apparatus described herein.
-
FIG. 12 illustrates three exemplary alternative network layering schemes for IPTV: MPEG-TS/UP 1210, MPEG-TS/RTP/UDP 1220, andNative RTP 1230.FIG. 12 shows examples of non-physicallayer management data 130 and physicallayer management data 140 are provided. There is no single unique specification for the delivery of video streaming such as IPTV streaming, and thus other suitable layer schemes may be used. Thus, the videostream DSL analyzer 100 may support any other suitable video streaming schemes and any other future video streaming schemes. - The
physical layer 1232 protocol depends on the underlying physical medium. There are at least three segments with different technologies that may be used: - i. Backbone
- Backbone optical links are characterized by probabilities of bit error lower than 10−1 (10̂{−10}).
- ii. Last (First) Mile
- Some examples of VDSL transmission over copper pairs with the Ethernet layer are provided below:
-
- VDSL1
- VDSL2
- VDSL for EFM (Ethernet-in-the-First-Mile)
- The interface between the VDSL transceiver and the
Ethernet layer 1234 is typically called the γ-interface. This is an interface between the TPS-TC (Transmission Protocol Specific—Transmission Convergence) function and the “User application I/F”. VDSL1 defines a TPS-TC for Packet Transfer Mode (called PTM-TC) based on HDLC encapsulation. This mode can be used to transport Ethernet traffic. VDSL2 defines a TPS-TC for Ethernet and generic packet transport (PTM-TC). This mode uses 64/65 encapsulation. The EFM standard for VDSL (called 10PASS-TS) is an IEEE specification for an Ethernet system based on the VDSL1 standards. -
FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary architecture of EFM (Ethernet-in-the-First-Mile) over atelephone line 315. EFM uses slightly different naming for the various functions. The γ-interface is positioned between the Transmission Convergence (TC) and the Physical Coding SubLayer (PCS) functions. - The
Ethernet layer 1234 includes the Media Access Control (MAC) layer and has the frame format as described in IEEE Standard 802.3-2002, Local and metropolitan area networks, Part 3: Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) Access Method and Physical Layer Specifications, Mar. 8, 2002. The payload (MAC client) data can vary between 46 and 1500 bytes. Ethernet frames have a Frame Check Sequence, which can be used for detecting errors. For video streaming applications, such as IPTV, the payload data contain IP packets. - The
IP layer 1240 provides two basic functions: addressing and fragmentation/reassembly. Flow control, error control for data, and connection or virtual circuits may be provided. According to one embodiment, the Internet Group Management Protocol, is used for IP multicasting, where an IP packet is transmitted to multiple destination hosts by using a single IP destination address. A group of destination hosts is defined as a multicast host group, and the membership of a host group is dynamic. The IGMP protocol is used by IP hosts to report their multicast group memberships to immediately neighboring multicast routers. - The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) 1250 provides a means for application programs to send messages to other programs with a minimum of protocol mechanism. Delivery and duplicate protection may or may not be guaranteed.
- The Real Time Protocol (RTP) 1260 provides end-to-end network transport functions for applications transmitting real-time data such as audio and video. According to one embodiment, resource reservation may be available. Each RTP stream must carry timing information used at the client side to synchronize multiple streams if needed. An RTP header carries a sequence number that may be used by the receiver to detect packet loss and to restore the packet sequence. According to an alternative embodiment, the
RTP 1260 also includes a control protocol (Real Time Control Protocol, RTCP) for monitoring the data delivery. Its primary function is to provide feedback on the quality of the data delivery, and is considered to be an integral part of the protocol. TheNative RTP method 1230 carries AVC video and AAC audio over RTP. In contrast to MPEG-TS - The MPEG-2 Transport Streams (MPEG-TS) 1270 are described in ISO/IEC 13818-1:2000 (ITU Recommendation H.222.0), Generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information: Systems, October 2000. According to this embodiment, the MPEG-
TS 1270 is composed of packets with 188 bytes, containing a 4 byte header, however any suitable packet format may be used. The packet payloads contain program information and Packetized Elementary Streams (PES), which transport the video and audio information. Thus, a transport stream contains multiplexed data: audio, video and program information. Regarding the MPEG-TS/UDP approach 1210 for IPTV streaming, the MPEG Transport Streams are carried directly as the payload of the UDP datagram. As shown inFIG. 12 , the MPEG-TS/RTP/UDP method 1220 uses the RTP payload to carry a number of MPEG-TS packets. - Regarding the
MPEG payload layer 1280, an Advanced Video Codec (AVC) has been developed by the MPEG group, and has been published as the ITU Recommendation H.264 in ITU-T Recommendation H.264, Advanced video coding for generic audiovisual services, May 2005. It is also known as MPEG-4part 10, and is adopted by the DVD forum, Blue-ray Disk Association, DVB, 3GPP and ISMA. According to one embodiment, AVC segments each picture into slices. A picture slice contains a number of macroblocks. A macroblock corresponds to 16×16 pixels of the picture. Macroblocks are encoded in intra or inter mode. The output of the encoder is encapsulated in Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) units. The Advanced Audio Codec has been standardized by the MPEG group in ISO/IEC 14496-3:1999, “Coding of Audio-Visual Objects—Part 3: Audio, 1999”, and is currently used by iTunes and XM satellite radio, and is adopted by 3GPP, ISMA and DVB. -
FIG. 14 is a flowchart for diagnosing multiple communication layers according to one exemplary embodiment. According to this embodiment, the non-physicallayer management data 130 corresponds to network layer and application layer data. However, this data may conform to all or part of the Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model (OSI). Further, diagnosis and management of the physical layer is performed inblock 1410, diagnosis of the network layer is performed inblock 1420 and diagnosis of the application layer is performed inblock 1430. However, diagnosis for any combination of physical and non-physical layers may be performed. For example, diagnosis of the physical layer atblock 420 and the application layer atblock 1430 is performed in response to the physicallayer management data 140 and the non-physicallayer management data 130. - To the extent the above specification describes example components and functions with reference to particular devices, standards or protocols, it is understood that the teachings of the invention are not limited to such devices, standards or protocols. For instance, DSL, ADSL, VDSL, HDSL, G.dmt, G.hs, G.ploam, TR-069, Ethernet, DSPs, IEEE 802.11x, and IEEE 802.3x represent examples of the current state of the art. Such systems are periodically superseded by faster or more efficient systems having the same general purpose. Accordingly, replacement or future devices, standards or protocols having the same general functions are equivalents which are intended to be included within the scope of the accompanying claims.
- It is understood that the implementation of other variations and modifications of the present invention in its various aspects will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and that the invention is not limited by the specific embodiments described. It is therefore contemplated to cover by the present invention any and all modifications, variations or equivalents that fall within the spirit and scope of the basic underlying principles disclosed and claimed herein.
Claims (27)
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US12/226,911 US20100166051A1 (en) | 2006-05-01 | 2007-04-27 | Video Streaming Diagnostics |
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US79637106P | 2006-05-01 | 2006-05-01 | |
PCT/US2007/067720 WO2007130879A2 (en) | 2006-05-01 | 2007-04-27 | Video streaming diagnostics |
US12/226,911 US20100166051A1 (en) | 2006-05-01 | 2007-04-27 | Video Streaming Diagnostics |
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2007/067720 A-371-Of-International WO2007130879A2 (en) | 2006-05-01 | 2007-04-27 | Video streaming diagnostics |
Related Child Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US14/952,635 Continuation US10356151B2 (en) | 2006-05-01 | 2015-11-25 | Video streaming diagnostics |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20100166051A1 true US20100166051A1 (en) | 2010-07-01 |
Family
ID=38632146
Family Applications (4)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US12/226,911 Abandoned US20100166051A1 (en) | 2006-05-01 | 2007-04-27 | Video Streaming Diagnostics |
US12/226,910 Active 2029-09-05 US8902958B2 (en) | 2006-05-01 | 2007-04-27 | Methods and apparatus to combine data from multiple source to characterize communication systems |
US12/226,939 Active 2030-03-28 US8644169B2 (en) | 2006-05-01 | 2007-04-27 | Methods and apparatus to perform line testing at customer premises |
US14/952,635 Expired - Fee Related US10356151B2 (en) | 2006-05-01 | 2015-11-25 | Video streaming diagnostics |
Family Applications After (3)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US12/226,910 Active 2029-09-05 US8902958B2 (en) | 2006-05-01 | 2007-04-27 | Methods and apparatus to combine data from multiple source to characterize communication systems |
US12/226,939 Active 2030-03-28 US8644169B2 (en) | 2006-05-01 | 2007-04-27 | Methods and apparatus to perform line testing at customer premises |
US14/952,635 Expired - Fee Related US10356151B2 (en) | 2006-05-01 | 2015-11-25 | Video streaming diagnostics |
Country Status (8)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (4) | US20100166051A1 (en) |
EP (4) | EP2033368A2 (en) |
JP (3) | JP5023144B2 (en) |
CN (3) | CN101517965B (en) |
AU (1) | AU2007248256B2 (en) |
BR (1) | BRPI0709756A2 (en) |
CA (1) | CA2651247A1 (en) |
WO (3) | WO2007130877A2 (en) |
Cited By (15)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20080288995A1 (en) * | 2007-05-14 | 2008-11-20 | Wael Diab | Method And System For Enabling Video Communication Via Ethernet Utilizing Asymmetrical Physical Layer Operations |
US20080292021A1 (en) * | 2007-05-23 | 2008-11-27 | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | Method And Module For Acquiring Digital Subscriber Line Parameter, And Line Management System |
US20090180464A1 (en) * | 2008-01-11 | 2009-07-16 | John Walley | Method and system for bluetooth conditional synchronization |
US20090316730A1 (en) * | 2007-06-13 | 2009-12-24 | Ruzhou Feng | Method, Adjusting Apparatus and System for Improving Line Stability |
US20110106915A1 (en) * | 2009-11-05 | 2011-05-05 | Electronics And Telecommunications Research Institute | Channel server, channel prediction server, terminal, and method for fast channel switching using plurality of multicasts interoperating with program rating prediction |
WO2013056123A3 (en) * | 2011-10-14 | 2013-06-20 | T-Mobile USA, Inc | Quality of user experience testing for video transmissions |
US20130159457A1 (en) * | 2011-12-15 | 2013-06-20 | Ralph A. Gholmieh | Systems and methods for pre-fec metrics and reception reports |
US9083989B2 (en) | 2011-05-12 | 2015-07-14 | Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha | Output system and display system |
US9407956B2 (en) | 2013-06-14 | 2016-08-02 | Telus Communications Company | IPTV diagnostics system |
US10015543B1 (en) * | 2010-03-08 | 2018-07-03 | Citrix Systems, Inc. | Video traffic, quality of service and engagement analytics system and method |
US10146395B2 (en) * | 2014-05-06 | 2018-12-04 | T-Mobile Usa, Inc. | Quality of experience diagnosis and analysis in wireless communications |
US10833967B2 (en) | 2012-10-09 | 2020-11-10 | Assia Spe, Llc | Method and system for latency measurement in communication systems |
US11133996B2 (en) * | 2012-10-09 | 2021-09-28 | Assia Spe, Llc | Method and system for connectivity diagnostics in communication systems |
US11689763B2 (en) | 2020-09-28 | 2023-06-27 | T-Mobile Usa, Inc. | Cross-party diagnostics |
US12021721B2 (en) * | 2020-11-06 | 2024-06-25 | Assia Spe, Llc | Method and system for latency measurement in communication systems |
Families Citing this family (77)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7756134B2 (en) | 2006-05-02 | 2010-07-13 | Harris Corporation | Systems and methods for close queuing to support quality of service |
US7894509B2 (en) * | 2006-05-18 | 2011-02-22 | Harris Corporation | Method and system for functional redundancy based quality of service |
US8064464B2 (en) | 2006-06-16 | 2011-11-22 | Harris Corporation | Method and system for inbound content-based QoS |
US7856012B2 (en) | 2006-06-16 | 2010-12-21 | Harris Corporation | System and methods for generic data transparent rules to support quality of service |
US8516153B2 (en) | 2006-06-16 | 2013-08-20 | Harris Corporation | Method and system for network-independent QoS |
US7990860B2 (en) | 2006-06-16 | 2011-08-02 | Harris Corporation | Method and system for rule-based sequencing for QoS |
US7916626B2 (en) | 2006-06-19 | 2011-03-29 | Harris Corporation | Method and system for fault-tolerant quality of service |
US8730981B2 (en) | 2006-06-20 | 2014-05-20 | Harris Corporation | Method and system for compression based quality of service |
US7769028B2 (en) | 2006-06-21 | 2010-08-03 | Harris Corporation | Systems and methods for adaptive throughput management for event-driven message-based data |
US20100241759A1 (en) * | 2006-07-31 | 2010-09-23 | Smith Donald L | Systems and methods for sar-capable quality of service |
US8300653B2 (en) | 2006-07-31 | 2012-10-30 | Harris Corporation | Systems and methods for assured communications with quality of service |
CN1909394A (en) * | 2006-08-11 | 2007-02-07 | 华为技术有限公司 | System and method for inter-communicating problem of diagnosing digital user wire transceiver |
US8046103B2 (en) * | 2006-09-29 | 2011-10-25 | F Robotics Acquisitions Ltd. | System and method for determining the location of a machine |
BRPI0622058A2 (en) * | 2006-10-20 | 2014-05-06 | Ericsson Telefon Ab L M | METHOD AND TIE QUALIFICATION UNIT FOR DETERMINING TIE PARAMETERS DESCRIBING A TORQUE PART TIE TOPOLOGY |
CN101247297B (en) * | 2007-02-16 | 2010-07-14 | 华为技术有限公司 | Device, system and method for automatically configuring application terminal in family network |
US20080292064A1 (en) * | 2007-05-21 | 2008-11-27 | Xidong Wu | Methods and apparatus to characterize a digital subscriber line (dsl) subscriber loop |
US8976785B2 (en) * | 2007-06-28 | 2015-03-10 | Centurylink Intellectual Property Llc | System and method for voice redundancy service |
US8144835B2 (en) * | 2007-09-19 | 2012-03-27 | At&T Intellectual Property I, Lp | Digital subscriber line (DSL) diagnostic tools and methods to use the same |
US8369484B2 (en) | 2007-09-19 | 2013-02-05 | At&T Intellectual Property I, Lp | Methods and apparatus to test a subscriber line for a broadband access service |
EP2263351B1 (en) * | 2008-04-15 | 2014-11-05 | Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) | Method and node for decentralized embedded self-optimization in a broadband access network |
EP2282409A4 (en) | 2008-06-20 | 2012-01-11 | Huawei Tech Co Ltd | Method, equipment and system for channel estimation |
EP2297912A4 (en) | 2008-07-01 | 2016-11-30 | Ikanos Communications Inc | Reduced memory vectored dsl |
CA2744040A1 (en) | 2008-11-24 | 2010-05-27 | Aware, Inc. | Detecting faults affecting communications links |
US8385510B2 (en) * | 2008-12-01 | 2013-02-26 | Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) | Method for transmission line analysis |
EP2244400A1 (en) * | 2009-04-23 | 2010-10-27 | Thomson Telecom Belgium | Device and method at the device for optimizing network parameters |
JP4807436B2 (en) * | 2009-05-29 | 2011-11-02 | ブラザー工業株式会社 | Communication device |
WO2010140945A1 (en) * | 2009-06-04 | 2010-12-09 | Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) | Passive selt |
JP5612089B2 (en) * | 2009-07-01 | 2014-10-22 | アダプティブ スペクトラム アンド シグナル アラインメント インコーポレイテッド | Method and apparatus for enhancing DSL performance in a DSL network |
US8619602B2 (en) * | 2009-08-31 | 2013-12-31 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | Capacity/available bandwidth estimation with packet dispersion |
ES2384249B1 (en) * | 2009-11-12 | 2013-06-11 | Telefónica, S.A. | FLOW PREDICTION METHOD IN ACCESSES ON ASYMMETRIC DIGITAL LINE |
BR112012012628A2 (en) * | 2009-11-25 | 2019-09-24 | At&T Intelectual Property I L P | method and apparatus for detecting wiring defects in a digital subscriber line. |
DE102010004745B4 (en) * | 2010-01-14 | 2013-10-10 | Phoenix Contact Gmbh & Co. Kg | Method, electronic component and system for the diagnosis of communication connections |
WO2011122997A1 (en) * | 2010-04-01 | 2011-10-06 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Parameter prediction for autonomous dsl system configuration profile selection |
US8792620B2 (en) * | 2010-05-10 | 2014-07-29 | Adaptive Spectrum And Signal Alignment, Inc. | Non-invasive diagnostic transmission line testing |
US9025438B1 (en) | 2010-06-29 | 2015-05-05 | Century Link Intellectual Property LLC | System and method for communication failover |
US8558552B2 (en) * | 2010-09-24 | 2013-10-15 | Jds Uniphase Corporation | Home network characterization method and system |
CN102149012A (en) * | 2010-11-30 | 2011-08-10 | 广东星海数字家庭产业技术研究院有限公司 | Data statistical method of multi-compatible hardware drive of digital television |
EP2464089A1 (en) * | 2010-12-07 | 2012-06-13 | Alcatel Lucent | Diagnostic engine for determining global line characteristics of a DSL telecommunication line and method using same |
CN102065185B (en) * | 2011-01-07 | 2015-01-28 | 中兴通讯股份有限公司 | Method and device for detecting link fault of digital subscriber line DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) circuit board |
EP2485435A1 (en) * | 2011-01-31 | 2012-08-08 | Alcatel Lucent | A home network physical layer configuration platform and method |
US8749248B2 (en) | 2011-04-06 | 2014-06-10 | ConSonics, Inc. | Shielding flaw detection and measurement in quadrature amplitude modulated cable telecommunications environment |
US9491027B2 (en) | 2011-04-06 | 2016-11-08 | Comsonics, Inc. | Miniature mobile marker system and method |
US8737573B2 (en) | 2011-05-09 | 2014-05-27 | Intelligent Decisions, Inc. | Systems, methods, and devices for testing communication lines |
US9686594B2 (en) * | 2011-11-11 | 2017-06-20 | Avago Technologies General Ip (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Spectrum analysis and plant diagnostic tool for communications systems |
WO2013137852A1 (en) * | 2012-03-12 | 2013-09-19 | Adaptive Spectrum And Signal Alignment, Inc. | Apparatus, systems and methods of common-mode rejection ratio based diagnostics |
EP2826232A1 (en) * | 2012-03-12 | 2015-01-21 | Adaptive Spectrum and Signal Alignment, Inc. | Common-mode based diagnostics |
JP2015515784A (en) * | 2012-03-12 | 2015-05-28 | アダプティブ スペクトラム アンド シグナル アラインメント インコーポレイテッド | Method and system for characterizing line microfilter states and locating line faults for network interface devices |
WO2013154568A1 (en) * | 2012-04-12 | 2013-10-17 | Adaptive Spectrum And Signal Alignment, Inc. | Selt and delt based diagnostic methods & systems for twisted pair telephone lines |
US8661004B2 (en) | 2012-05-21 | 2014-02-25 | International Business Machines Corporation | Representing incomplete and uncertain information in graph data |
KR101677404B1 (en) * | 2012-07-13 | 2016-11-17 | 어댑티브 스펙트럼 앤드 시그널 얼라인먼트, 인크. | Method and system for performance estimation of a communication link |
DE102012224193A1 (en) * | 2012-12-21 | 2014-06-26 | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | anti-climbing |
US9264299B1 (en) | 2013-03-14 | 2016-02-16 | Centurylink Intellectual Property Llc | Transparent PSTN failover |
US20160038673A1 (en) | 2013-03-15 | 2016-02-11 | Animas Corporation | Insulin time-action model |
EP3020138B1 (en) * | 2013-04-23 | 2018-06-06 | Assia Spe, Llc | Methods systems, and apparatuses for implementing upstream power control for dsl |
CN105474578A (en) * | 2013-08-23 | 2016-04-06 | 伊肯诺斯通讯股份有限公司 | Method and apparatus for initiating and data collection of single ended line test on customer premises equipment |
WO2015057114A1 (en) * | 2013-10-14 | 2015-04-23 | Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) | Method and system for single-ended line testing |
EP2879302A1 (en) * | 2013-11-29 | 2015-06-03 | Alcatel Lucent | Non-service-intrusive methods for performance estimation of multi-channel communication systems |
TWI657677B (en) * | 2014-03-03 | 2019-04-21 | 德商領特公司 | Communication line simulation device and method for providing communication line simulation device |
US10069731B2 (en) | 2014-03-14 | 2018-09-04 | Lantiq Beteiligungs-GmbH & Co. KG | Flow control on wireline network |
WO2016014820A2 (en) * | 2014-07-24 | 2016-01-28 | Ikanos Communications, Inc. | Method and apparatus for gauge identification based on single ended line testing (selt) |
US9912707B2 (en) | 2014-07-31 | 2018-03-06 | Istreamplanet Co. | Method and system for ensuring reliability of unicast video streaming at a video streaming platform |
US9826011B2 (en) | 2014-07-31 | 2017-11-21 | Istreamplanet Co. | Method and system for coordinating stream processing at a video streaming platform |
CN105577872A (en) * | 2014-10-17 | 2016-05-11 | 中兴通讯股份有限公司 | Voice chip detection method and device |
EP3070917A1 (en) * | 2015-03-17 | 2016-09-21 | Alcatel Lucent | Method for estimating a location of a bridge tap |
US9686576B2 (en) | 2015-05-08 | 2017-06-20 | Istreamplanet Co. | Coordination of video stream timing in cloud-based video streaming system |
US10164853B2 (en) * | 2015-05-29 | 2018-12-25 | Istreamplanet Co., Llc | Real-time anomaly mitigation in a cloud-based video streaming system |
EP3357224B1 (en) * | 2015-09-30 | 2020-05-20 | British Telecommunications public limited company | Line fault localisation |
US10033621B2 (en) * | 2015-12-15 | 2018-07-24 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Method and apparatus for initiating internet connection speed testing on a residential gateway |
CN105591668B (en) * | 2015-12-18 | 2018-04-10 | 中国电子科技集团公司第二十八研究所 | A kind of generic cognitive line transmission system based on twisted-pair feeder |
US10708795B2 (en) * | 2016-06-07 | 2020-07-07 | TUPL, Inc. | Artificial intelligence-based network advisor |
US10462036B2 (en) * | 2016-08-24 | 2019-10-29 | Google Llc | Line rate ethernet traffic testing |
US10666540B2 (en) * | 2017-07-17 | 2020-05-26 | International Business Machines Corporation | Dynamic time-domain reflectometry analysis for field replaceable unit isolation in a running system |
RU2699062C1 (en) * | 2018-10-22 | 2019-09-03 | Константин Евгениевич Легков | Method of multi-level flow control in info-communication systems in conditions of destructive changes based on probabilistic-game method |
US10880430B2 (en) | 2018-11-16 | 2020-12-29 | Level 3 Communications, Llc | Systems, methods, and storage media for testing local loops of telecommunications networks |
KR101988918B1 (en) * | 2018-11-16 | 2019-06-13 | (주)자람테크놀로지 | Cable connecting device of terminal box for broadband communication |
US11520602B2 (en) * | 2020-01-27 | 2022-12-06 | Red Hat, Inc. | Generating configuration corrections for applications using a classifier model |
US11632413B1 (en) * | 2022-07-18 | 2023-04-18 | Rovi Guides, Inc. | Methods and systems for streaming media content |
Citations (6)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2002010944A1 (en) * | 2000-08-01 | 2002-02-07 | Qwest Communications International Inc. | Performance modeling, fault management and repair in a xdsl network |
WO2005057837A1 (en) * | 2003-12-07 | 2005-06-23 | Adaptive Spectrum And Signal Alignment, Incorporated | Adaptive fec codeword management |
US20060072722A1 (en) * | 2004-10-05 | 2006-04-06 | Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P. | System and method for optimizing digital subscriber line based services |
US7173947B1 (en) * | 2001-11-28 | 2007-02-06 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | Methods and apparatus to evaluate statistical remultiplexer performance |
US20070234135A1 (en) * | 2006-03-03 | 2007-10-04 | Boyes David J | Systems and methods for visualizing bit errors |
US20090175199A1 (en) * | 2006-04-13 | 2009-07-09 | Elmar Trojer | Arrangement and Method of Configuring Digital Subscriber Lines |
Family Cites Families (37)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
FI956358A (en) * | 1995-12-29 | 1997-06-30 | Nokia Telecommunications Oy | Method for detecting data transfer rate and receiver |
US6091713A (en) * | 1998-04-13 | 2000-07-18 | Telcordia Technologies, Inc. | Method and system for estimating the ability of a subscriber loop to support broadband services |
JP2000049825A (en) * | 1998-07-27 | 2000-02-18 | Nec Corp | Multiplex system and its control method |
US6891803B1 (en) * | 1998-12-18 | 2005-05-10 | Sunrise Telecom, Inc. | Telecommunications transmission test set |
US6292468B1 (en) * | 1998-12-31 | 2001-09-18 | Qwest Communications International Inc. | Method for qualifying a loop for DSL service |
US6177801B1 (en) * | 1999-04-21 | 2001-01-23 | Sunrise Telecom, Inc. | Detection of bridge tap using frequency domain analysis |
US6826155B1 (en) * | 1999-07-28 | 2004-11-30 | Legerity, Inc. | Apparatus and method for facilitating standardized testing of signal lines |
EP1232636B1 (en) | 1999-11-11 | 2010-06-02 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Method and apparatus for impairment diagnosis in communication systems |
US6970560B1 (en) * | 1999-11-11 | 2005-11-29 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Method and apparatus for impairment diagnosis in communication systems |
US7047313B1 (en) * | 2000-01-05 | 2006-05-16 | Thomas Licensing | Method for redirecting packetized data associated with a destination address in a communication protocol layer to a different destination address in a different protocol layer |
EP2267914A3 (en) * | 2000-01-07 | 2012-09-26 | Aware, Inc. | Systems and methods for loop length and bridged tap length determination of a transmission line |
US6735234B1 (en) | 2000-02-11 | 2004-05-11 | Giga Tera Ag | Passively mode-locked optically pumped semiconductor external-cavity surface-emitting laser |
US6534996B1 (en) * | 2000-03-27 | 2003-03-18 | Globespanvirata, Inc. | System and method for phone line characterization by time domain reflectometry |
GB0008117D0 (en) * | 2000-04-03 | 2000-05-24 | Nokia Networks Oy | Estimating communication quality |
US6934655B2 (en) * | 2001-03-16 | 2005-08-23 | Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. | Method and apparatus for transmission line analysis |
JP2005512350A (en) * | 2001-04-26 | 2005-04-28 | アウェア, インコーポレイテッド | System and method for loop characteristics from double-ended measurements |
US20030147506A1 (en) * | 2001-05-09 | 2003-08-07 | Jalil Kamali | Single ended line probing in DSL system using combined FDR-TDR approach |
CA2354298A1 (en) * | 2001-07-30 | 2003-01-30 | Catena Networks Canada Inc. | G.gen: g.dmt.bis: g.lite.bis: loop diagnostic mode of the initialization procedure |
CZ302246B6 (en) * | 2001-11-15 | 2011-01-12 | Swisscom Ag | Method and system for determining data transfer margins for network connections |
EP1449310B1 (en) * | 2001-11-21 | 2010-04-21 | Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) | Dynamic allocation of frequency spectrum |
US6847682B2 (en) * | 2002-02-01 | 2005-01-25 | Hughes Electronics Corporation | Method, system, device and computer program product for MPEG variable bit rate (VBR) video traffic classification using a nearest neighbor classifier |
US7106833B2 (en) * | 2002-11-19 | 2006-09-12 | Telcordia Technologies, Inc. | Automated system and method for management of digital subscriber lines |
JP4144368B2 (en) * | 2003-02-13 | 2008-09-03 | 住友電気工業株式会社 | Transmission equipment |
WO2004085161A1 (en) * | 2003-03-24 | 2004-10-07 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Recording head, carriage and image forming apparatus |
JP4317873B2 (en) * | 2003-05-15 | 2009-08-19 | テルコーディア テクノロジーズ インコーポレイテッド | Method and system for improved single-ended line configuration identification |
US7302379B2 (en) * | 2003-12-07 | 2007-11-27 | Adaptive Spectrum And Signal Alignment, Inc. | DSL system estimation and parameter recommendation |
DE102004027043A1 (en) * | 2004-06-02 | 2005-12-29 | Vierling Communications Gmbh | Service e.g. asymmetric digital subscriber line service, provision testing device for use over telecommunication network, has display device connected with program controlled control unit for program and/or operating status indication |
GB2415863A (en) * | 2004-07-01 | 2006-01-04 | British Sky Broadcasting Ltd | Wireless network system and devices with redundancy between orthogonally polarised beams |
JP2006033012A (en) * | 2004-07-12 | 2006-02-02 | Nec Tokin Corp | Remote control system and method |
US7688884B2 (en) | 2005-06-10 | 2010-03-30 | Adaptive Spectrum And Signal Alignment, Inc. | Vectored DSL nesting |
US8948026B2 (en) | 2005-06-10 | 2015-02-03 | Adaptive Spectrum And Signal Alignment, Inc. | User-preference-based DSL system |
US7432483B2 (en) * | 2005-07-26 | 2008-10-07 | Flint Hills Foods, Llc | Continuous feed volumetric heating and convection oven |
DE602005000993T2 (en) | 2005-09-16 | 2007-09-06 | Alcatel Lucent | Method and module for network analysis |
US7536595B1 (en) * | 2005-10-19 | 2009-05-19 | At&T Intellectual Property, Ii, L.P. | Systems, devices, and methods for initiating recovery |
US7844877B2 (en) * | 2005-11-15 | 2010-11-30 | Ramot At Tel Aviv University Ltd. | Method and device for multi phase error-correction |
US7529484B2 (en) * | 2005-12-14 | 2009-05-05 | Nec Laboratories America, Inc. | Triplexer transceiver using parallel signal detection |
US7940870B2 (en) * | 2006-03-17 | 2011-05-10 | Broadcom Corporation | Digital subscriber line noise mitigation techniques, and applications thereof |
-
2007
- 2007-04-27 US US12/226,911 patent/US20100166051A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2007-04-27 JP JP2009509981A patent/JP5023144B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2007-04-27 EP EP07782847A patent/EP2033368A2/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2007-04-27 US US12/226,910 patent/US8902958B2/en active Active
- 2007-04-27 JP JP2009509979A patent/JP5555488B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2007-04-27 WO PCT/US2007/067717 patent/WO2007130877A2/en active Application Filing
- 2007-04-27 CN CN2007800214988A patent/CN101517965B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2007-04-27 WO PCT/US2007/067720 patent/WO2007130879A2/en active Application Filing
- 2007-04-27 US US12/226,939 patent/US8644169B2/en active Active
- 2007-04-27 CN CN200780021490.1A patent/CN101523882B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2007-04-27 JP JP2009509980A patent/JP5486923B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2007-04-27 CA CA002651247A patent/CA2651247A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2007-04-27 EP EP07761535A patent/EP2025115A2/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2007-04-27 WO PCT/US2007/067718 patent/WO2007130878A2/en active Application Filing
- 2007-04-27 AU AU2007248256A patent/AU2007248256B2/en not_active Ceased
- 2007-04-27 CN CN2007800193093A patent/CN101523804B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2007-04-27 EP EP11165195A patent/EP2388984A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2007-04-27 EP EP07761536A patent/EP2036249A2/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2007-04-27 BR BRPI0709756-5A patent/BRPI0709756A2/en not_active IP Right Cessation
-
2015
- 2015-11-25 US US14/952,635 patent/US10356151B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Patent Citations (6)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2002010944A1 (en) * | 2000-08-01 | 2002-02-07 | Qwest Communications International Inc. | Performance modeling, fault management and repair in a xdsl network |
US7173947B1 (en) * | 2001-11-28 | 2007-02-06 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | Methods and apparatus to evaluate statistical remultiplexer performance |
WO2005057837A1 (en) * | 2003-12-07 | 2005-06-23 | Adaptive Spectrum And Signal Alignment, Incorporated | Adaptive fec codeword management |
US20060072722A1 (en) * | 2004-10-05 | 2006-04-06 | Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P. | System and method for optimizing digital subscriber line based services |
US20070234135A1 (en) * | 2006-03-03 | 2007-10-04 | Boyes David J | Systems and methods for visualizing bit errors |
US20090175199A1 (en) * | 2006-04-13 | 2009-07-09 | Elmar Trojer | Arrangement and Method of Configuring Digital Subscriber Lines |
Cited By (27)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20080288995A1 (en) * | 2007-05-14 | 2008-11-20 | Wael Diab | Method And System For Enabling Video Communication Via Ethernet Utilizing Asymmetrical Physical Layer Operations |
US9374614B2 (en) | 2007-05-14 | 2016-06-21 | Broadcom Corporation | Method and system for enabling video communication via ethernet utilizing asymmetrical physical layer operations |
US8116218B2 (en) * | 2007-05-23 | 2012-02-14 | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | Method and module for acquiring digital subscriber line parameter, and line management system |
US20080292021A1 (en) * | 2007-05-23 | 2008-11-27 | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | Method And Module For Acquiring Digital Subscriber Line Parameter, And Line Management System |
US20090316730A1 (en) * | 2007-06-13 | 2009-12-24 | Ruzhou Feng | Method, Adjusting Apparatus and System for Improving Line Stability |
US8005007B2 (en) * | 2007-06-13 | 2011-08-23 | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | Method, adjusting apparatus and system for improving line stability |
US8599824B2 (en) * | 2008-01-11 | 2013-12-03 | Broadcom Corporation | Method and system for bluetooth conditional synchronization |
US20090180464A1 (en) * | 2008-01-11 | 2009-07-16 | John Walley | Method and system for bluetooth conditional synchronization |
US20110106915A1 (en) * | 2009-11-05 | 2011-05-05 | Electronics And Telecommunications Research Institute | Channel server, channel prediction server, terminal, and method for fast channel switching using plurality of multicasts interoperating with program rating prediction |
US8856282B2 (en) * | 2009-11-05 | 2014-10-07 | Electronics And Telecommunications Research Institute | Channel server, channel prediction server, terminal, and method for fast channel switching using plurality of multicasts interoperating with program rating prediction |
US10555038B2 (en) * | 2010-03-08 | 2020-02-04 | Citrix Systems, Inc. | Video traffic, quality of service and engagement analytics system and method |
US20180295418A1 (en) * | 2010-03-08 | 2018-10-11 | Citrix Systems, Inc. | Video traffic, quality of service and engagement analytics system and method |
US10015543B1 (en) * | 2010-03-08 | 2018-07-03 | Citrix Systems, Inc. | Video traffic, quality of service and engagement analytics system and method |
US9083989B2 (en) | 2011-05-12 | 2015-07-14 | Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha | Output system and display system |
WO2013056123A3 (en) * | 2011-10-14 | 2013-06-20 | T-Mobile USA, Inc | Quality of user experience testing for video transmissions |
US8897144B2 (en) | 2011-10-14 | 2014-11-25 | T-Mobile Usa, Inc. | Quality of user experience testing for video transmissions |
US10009144B2 (en) * | 2011-12-15 | 2018-06-26 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Systems and methods for pre-FEC metrics and reception reports |
US20130159457A1 (en) * | 2011-12-15 | 2013-06-20 | Ralph A. Gholmieh | Systems and methods for pre-fec metrics and reception reports |
US10833967B2 (en) | 2012-10-09 | 2020-11-10 | Assia Spe, Llc | Method and system for latency measurement in communication systems |
US11133996B2 (en) * | 2012-10-09 | 2021-09-28 | Assia Spe, Llc | Method and system for connectivity diagnostics in communication systems |
AU2021200809B2 (en) * | 2012-10-09 | 2023-02-16 | Assia Spe, Llc | Method and system for latency measurement in communication systems |
US11595279B2 (en) | 2012-10-09 | 2023-02-28 | Assia Spe, Llc | Method and system for connectivity diagnostics in communication systems |
US20230239228A1 (en) * | 2012-10-09 | 2023-07-27 | Assia Spe, Llc | Method and system for connectivity diagnostics in communication systems |
US9407956B2 (en) | 2013-06-14 | 2016-08-02 | Telus Communications Company | IPTV diagnostics system |
US10146395B2 (en) * | 2014-05-06 | 2018-12-04 | T-Mobile Usa, Inc. | Quality of experience diagnosis and analysis in wireless communications |
US11689763B2 (en) | 2020-09-28 | 2023-06-27 | T-Mobile Usa, Inc. | Cross-party diagnostics |
US12021721B2 (en) * | 2020-11-06 | 2024-06-25 | Assia Spe, Llc | Method and system for latency measurement in communication systems |
Also Published As
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US10356151B2 (en) | Video streaming diagnostics | |
US7400720B2 (en) | System and method for optimizing digital subscriber line based services | |
US8625455B2 (en) | System and method for handling streaming media | |
CN101416443B (en) | Apparatus and method for configuring digital customer line | |
US20090316730A1 (en) | Method, Adjusting Apparatus and System for Improving Line Stability | |
Oksman et al. | MGFAST: A new generation of copper broadband access | |
KR20090090377A (en) | A method for impulse noise monitoring, related network terminal, network node and network manager | |
US8159942B2 (en) | Method of selecting a profile of a broadband communication line | |
US20130201844A1 (en) | Parameter prediction for autonomous dsl system configuration profile selection | |
EP2312783B1 (en) | Method and device for monitoring data transmission errors of a digital subscriber line | |
CN101087228B (en) | Application adapted access device and a method to adapt resynchronization | |
Ellis et al. | Packet loss characteristics of IPTV-like traffic on residential links | |
EP3123670B1 (en) | Dynamic line management | |
Andersson et al. | Impact of DSL link impairments on higher layer QoS parameters | |
WO2010122037A1 (en) | Device and method at the device for optimizing network parameters | |
EP2882125B1 (en) | Method and device for dynamically configuring either FEC or ARQ as impulse noise protection on a communication line | |
Goncalves et al. | On the use of an ADSL2+ testbed for video quality assessment | |
Μαυροειδής | Cognitive copper management |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: ADAPTIVE SPECTRUM AND SIGNAL ALIGNMENT, INC.,CALIF Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:CHUNG, SEONG TAEK;GINIS, GEORGE;SILVERMAN, PETER J.;AND OTHERS;SIGNING DATES FROM 20090213 TO 20090313;REEL/FRAME:022395/0281 Owner name: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P.,NEVADA Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:CHUNG, SEONG TAEK;GINIS, GEORGE;SILVERMAN, PETER J.;AND OTHERS;SIGNING DATES FROM 20090213 TO 20090313;REEL/FRAME:022395/0281 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P.,NEVADA Free format text: CHANGE OF NAME;ASSIGNOR:AT&T KNOWLEDGE VENTURES, L.P.;REEL/FRAME:022556/0065 Effective date: 20071001 Owner name: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P., NEVADA Free format text: CHANGE OF NAME;ASSIGNOR:AT&T KNOWLEDGE VENTURES, L.P.;REEL/FRAME:022556/0065 Effective date: 20071001 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: PARTNERS FOR GROWTH IV, L.P., CALIFORNIA Free format text: SECURITY INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:ADAPTIVE SPECTRUM AND SIGNAL ALIGNMENT, INCORPORATED;REEL/FRAME:034760/0220 Effective date: 20150112 |
|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: ADAPTIVE SPECTRUM AND SIGNAL ALIGNMENT, INC., CALIFORNIA Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:PARTNERS FOR GROWTH;REEL/FRAME:040212/0569 Effective date: 20160915 Owner name: ADAPTIVE SPECTRUM AND SIGNAL ALIGNMENT, INC., CALI Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:PARTNERS FOR GROWTH;REEL/FRAME:040212/0569 Effective date: 20160915 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: ASSIA SPE LLC, C/O THE CORPORATION TRUST COMPANY, DELAWARE Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:ADAPTIVE SPECTRUM AND SIGNAL ALIGNMENT;REEL/FRAME:040631/0088 Effective date: 20160919 Owner name: ASSIA SPE LLC, C/O THE CORPORATION TRUST COMPANY, Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:ADAPTIVE SPECTRUM AND SIGNAL ALIGNMENT;REEL/FRAME:040631/0088 Effective date: 20160919 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: ADAPTIVE SPECTRUM AND SIGNAL ALIGNMENT, INCORPORAT Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:PARTNERS FOR GROWTH IV, L.P.;REEL/FRAME:040766/0202 Effective date: 20161129 Owner name: ADAPTIVE SPECTRUM AND SIGNAL ALIGNMENT, INCORPORATED, CALIFORNIA Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:PARTNERS FOR GROWTH IV, L.P.;REEL/FRAME:040766/0202 Effective date: 20161129 |