Quality of Service (QoS) Measurement System for Internet Access

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WHITE PAPER:
Quality of Service (QoS) Measurement System for Internet Access

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INTRODUCTION
Quality of Service (QoS) for Internet Access Overview
When the Internet arose there was not the perception of the need for Quality of Service (QoS), and it was considered as a "best effort" service. In the most recent years we have been observed an increasing use of new technologies and the countries that are part of Europe are no exception. Today the situation changed and the Internet became an integral and essential part of our lives and it is impossible to think of the world and the future without it.
Staying connected has become a necessity, allowing more than the simple exchange of messages, emails or browsing static pages. Real-time applications such as video streaming, VoIP, intensive bandwidth services, as it happens with P2P file sharing, require ISPs to make available to its customers an Internet access that gives them real guarantees that the contracted service allows them to have a good user experience in various occasions and services.
Europe is considered a region with a large number of users and broadband penetration, which has increased in recent years. Eurostat follows this development, looking very closely for the EU. More and more people use the Internet and online platforms to search for information of all kinds, according to the needs. The most popular Internet services for European users are:
QUALITY OF SERVICE (QoS)
Russia is the country with most Internet users (67.982,547 million), followed by Germany (67.483,860 million) the UK (52.731,209 million), and France (52,228,905 million). Regarding download speed, the best performing countries are Romania (57.3 Mbps), Sweden (41.7 Mbps), Lithuania (40.4 Mbps), and Netherlands (40.1 Mbps).
In Networks and Communications Services, QoS translates the performance and guarantee a network element must meet regarding traffic and service requirements. The goal of QoS is to provide preferential delivery service for the applications that need it by ensuring sufficient bandwidth, controlling latency and jitter, reducing data loss, and more.
79%
58%
56%
54%
53%
52%
46%
41%
General
Research
E-Commerce
News
Information
(health)
Social Networks
Net-Banking
E-Government
Content
Download

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Currently modern IP networks have infrastructure problems, such as the lack of control of errors and delays, congestion of the networks, the lack of priority services, etc. Taking that in consideration, it is necessary to have traffic information, enabling the development of more accurate and richer diagnostics, facilitating the process of decision making.
The monitoring of QoS is defined/identified by the regulator in each country, in collaboration with operators and end-users. However, the end-users QoS expectations of the Internet vary from service to service. Web browsing, file transfer, video streaming and VoIP are the most popular Internet services worldwide. Taking this into consideration, and in order to measure the quality of service experience by users of the Internet, the QoS parameters of each service based on the Internet must be identified and measured separately.
There are two types of methodology for measuring the QoS for the Internet access, as follows:
 Passive Tests | Inspects the traffic (user data), since the traffic is routed through a device and performs an analysis based on network traffic between two destinations;
 Active Tests | Performs an analysis based on sending traffic (probes) between two destinations and these probes are injected into the network connection in order to measure the QoS for different services (web browsing, file transfer, VoIP, etc.) through Internet connections.
Most regulators are using the methodology of active tests, in order to measure the QoS of Internet bandwidth provided by the operators.
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
The end-user is receiving the internet speed he has paid for? The regulator has any way to measure and regulate this situation? Disappointment with the service the end-users are using generates lack of confidence, security and autonomy? There is a lack of transparency from the service providers?
When an Internet application does not work as expected, how can the end user tell if the problem is caused by its own connection, application or other problem? Transparency has always been and will continue to be an essential component to the success of the Internet and its users deserve to be well informed about the performance of their broadband connections.
The QoS for Internet access in Europe has been one of the priorities of the European Commission. Several studies that are very important to measure the QoS in residential environments have been carried out. The ultimate goal is that all European countries are at the same level in terms of quality and Internet access, neutrality, safety and other important points.
Both providers of telecommunications services, communication and telecommunication regulators and telecom operators have been facing a growing need for increased bandwidth for the end-users. At this time, particularly in Portugal, the problem focuses on Internet service providers (ISPs), that advertise their service packages based on the maximum throughput that can reach their connections (access speed). However, there are many other factors that can

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influence a user experience as being a good quality of service, as is the case of net neutrality. Progressively we have to look for new ways to ensure quality of service to ensure that it is appropriate to each type of traffic and that customers are satisfied with the services provided.
The implementation of the QoS Measurement System enables the answers to those and other related questions – the uMETER QoS will implement a platform for monitoring the QoS for Internet access, based on a system of open participation, able to extract metrics based on a set of tests performed by common access to the end-users Internet connection.
With the new platform we intend to measure a set of QoS parameters, including net neutrality, web page load time, download/upload speed and so on, increase the end-users confidence, liability, autonomy and satisfaction when talking about Internet services, ensure that the contracted services are respected, and apply the appropriate penalties on suppliers who violate the rules of the contract.
SOLUTION BENEFITS
QoS Measurement System
Quality of Service (Q0S) Measurement System for Internet access provided by an ISP in a region or country.
The platform is based on a system of open participation that allows any citizen with Internet access to evaluate in a simple, safely and accurately way a set of technical parameters related to the service provided by the end-user ISP.
The proposed solution is an application that will run on the end user computer or smartphone, one or more servers for the achievement of various parameters of the measures and a Web portal where all data is stored and end users can obtain the results of their actions. The solution will be tailored according to the specific needs of each customer.
The key features for this solution are as follows:
 Customer Self-care and Administration Web platform:
o Differential access profiles;
o User connection history (with KPI);
o Comparison between customer’s Internet connections and equivalent ISP services in their area;
 Proprietary mechanism to identify the uniqueness of an Internet access;
 Generation of statistical reports;
 Application for desktop (Windows, MAC OS and Linux) and mobile devices (Android and iOS);
 Real time measure of the following network indicators:
o Latency, jitter (packet delay variation) and pack loss;
o Download/Upload speed;
o Net neutrality;
o Web page load time.

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More performed activities are the aggregation of test results for statistical analysis and the unambiguous identification of the type of access (3G, LTE, DSL, etc.).
The platform access to regulatory authorities provides a valuable and transparent tool to defend the end users interests, apply the appropriate penalties to suppliers that are breaching the contractual rules and help users make more assertive choices when choosing an Internet service.
The platform increases the reliability of the measurement data, gives greater control over Internet access in residential environments and ensures users that the contracted services are respected.
For the end user accessing the platform enables support decision, the choice of an Internet provider, offers greater transparency by the leading operators making a decision based on the real information announced, have more security, greater satisfaction, confidence and autonomy in telecommunications operators and regulators.
Platform architecture:

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CASE STUDY | Net.mede Pro
Organisation: ICP - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ICP - ANACOM)
Country: Portugal | Industry: Public Entity
Problem
 ICP - ANACOM wants to ensure that every end user is well informed about the performance of his broadband connections and takes full advantage of the contracted service;
 The entity needed to take a major commitment of implementing an effective tool to measure the QoS for Internet access, which requires a very specific infrastructure.
Solution
 Development of a platform for monitoring the QoS for Internet access provided by an ISP in a region or country, based on a system of open participation, able to extract metrics based on a set of tests performed by the end users in residential environment;
 Allows any citizen with Internet access to evaluate in a simple, safely and accurately way a set of technical parameters in a real time basis:
o Latency, jitter (packet delay variation) and pack loss; Download/Upload speed; Net neutrality; Web page load time.
Results
 The regulatory authority has the necessary tools to apply the appropriate penalties to suppliers that are breaching the contractual rules;
 Helps end users make more assertive choices when choosing an Internet service;
 Increase the end users confidence and satisfaction with the operators, ensuring that the contacted services are respected.

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