Service Solution

QoE-Based E2E Data Service Quality Improvement (SQI)

By Kevin Wu

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Editor: Vivian Zhu Email: zhuxiaoling@huawei.com

Quality of experience (QoE) over data services determines operators' competitiveness

s mobile end-users' needs increasingly become personalized and mobile communication technologies evolve rapidly, various data services and applications are made available by operators instead of basic voice service. Of recent, 3G data services now become the crucial part of operators service offering, contributing to a large percentage of revenue growth. The compound annual growth rate of global mobile data service from 2009 to 2014 is estimated at 9%.The number of 3G subscribers in China grew rapidly. By end of 2009, there are more than 10 million 3G subscribers in China. By 2011, the number of 3G subscribers in China is anticipated to reach 165 million. In Japan, data services and applications contribute to the majority of operators revenue. Mobile Internet service is a dispensable business for Operators.

Nowadays, mobile data services, such as WAP, IM, MMS, real-time multimedia and mobile email are widely used. QoE over mobile data services is a key factor for mobile operators to win more subscribers. As these services growing, problems such as low download speeds, delays, and wrong billing occur more frequently. To maintain competitiveness, mobile operators must improve the quality of subscriber experience. According to statistics, 82% of end users who choose to switch operators, do so because they are not satisfied with the product or service experience and operators are not doing enough to handle their complaints. On average, each unsatisfied end user tells their problem to another 13 users, while only less than 10% of end users actually report to operators customer service centers. The rest switch service providers some time in the future.

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Service Solution
Mobile data services E2E SQI solution
Huawei provides its E2E Service Quality Improvement solution to help operators improve service quality of 3G data and voice services, and attract more subscribers to new services, thus build up its competitiveness advantage. This solution includes four parts: customer experience indicator system, service quality monitoring, E2E assessment and delimitation, and E2E network optimization. Through operations such as crucial 3G services monitoring, quality assessment, simulated tests, problem delimitation and optimization, this solution helps operators reduce user complaints, improve QoE and raise the user loyalty, especially the high value users.
Customer experience indicator
Service experience assessment indicator system: QoE/KQI/KPI KQI-Associated KPI modeling QoE-KQI mappings KQI/KPI baselines* Optimization QoS presetting Monitoring QoS and QoE monitoring Indices

Service quality monitoring

Data service quality monitoring system Network performance indicator monitoring tools

Customer Experience (QoE)

Network optimization
RF optimization Core network optimization Carrier network optimization Service network optimization Terminal problem suggestions Service quality optimization Delimitation

E2E assessment and delimitation

Expert experience Case referencing/knowledge sharing Tool support

1. Customer experience indicator system

The first task of this solution is to establish a QoEbased service quality indicator system. The key is to map QoE, KQI (Key Quality Indicator ), and KPI (Key Performance Indicator ) together. For example, define the MMS sending success rate as a KQI. By improving the associated KPIs (wireless Packet Data Channel (PDCH) assignment success

rate and Packet Switched (PS) attachment success rate/activation success rate), we can improve the overall MMS sending success rate.

2. Service quality monitoring

The Service Quality Management System (SQM) can monitor E2E service KPIs in real time and indicate the actual subscriber experience.
SQM
(Service Quality Management)

NodeB Terminal RNC NodeB

WAPGW GGSN SGSN IP IP

MMS

SP

BTS Terminal BTS PCU BSC

Terminal

Wireless network

Core network

Service network

CP/SP

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3. E2E assessment and delimitation

To improve service quality, monitoring service KQIs is not enough. Operators often have difficulties in identifying from which network the data services problems reported by end users come, wireless network, core network, or service network. SQM can monitor and assess through active testing and passive monitoring. When service quality deteriorates, it can analyze the problem from the service layer down to the bottom layer, thus locating the root cause of service quality. Both the advanced system and more than 3,000 experienced experts are well-knit in this solution. Experts conduct E2E service quality detection, assessment, and delimitation with the system, and build a network assessment and optimization experience library, therefore, help the operators quickly solve problems in 3G networks.

4. E2E network optimization

After QoE problems are delimited and located, operators can perform network optimization tasks according to relevant service features, including their wireless network, core network, bearer network, and service network. This improves network and service quality, thus attracting more users to data services.

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