# US 12,184,517 B2 · Monitoring network connections

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- Number: US 12,184,517 B2
- Document ID: US12184517B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/041,464
- Filed: 2021-08-11
- Published: 2023-09-21
- Granted: 2024-12-31
- Earliest claimed: 2020-08-13
- Assignees: British Telecommunications public limited company
- Applicants: British Telecommunications Public Limited Company
- Inventors: Nicola Bull
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12184517B2

## CPC

- H04L 43/022: by sampling
- H04L 43/024: by adaptive sampling
- H04L 43/16: Threshold monitoring
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)

## Abstract

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for monitoring a network connection (13) at a first sampling rate to generate monitoring data for the network connection for determining a performance issue in the network. The method involves identifying a communication occurring via the network connection (13), wherein performance metrics are available for the communication; and responsive to a trigger in respect of the communication, adapting the sampling rate to a second sampling rate greater than the first sampling rate so as to determine whether a performance degradation in the communication is attributable to the network connection (13). The adapting of the sampling rate to a second sampling rate is triggered by comparison of one or more of the available performance metrics for the communication with an adjustable threshold.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A computer implemented method for monitoring a network connection at a first sampling rate to generate monitoring data for the network connection for determining a performance issue in a network, the method comprising:
identifying a communication occurring via the network connection, wherein performance metrics for determining the performance issue in the network are available for the communication; and
responsive to a trigger in respect of the communication, adapting the first sampling rate to a second sampling rate greater than the first sampling rate so as to determine whether a performance degradation in the communication is attributable to the network connection;
wherein the adapting of the first sampling rate to the second sampling rate is triggered by comparison of one or more of the available performance metrics for the communication with one or more corresponding adjustable performance metric thresholds.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the communication occurs at an application layer, and wherein the trigger is in respect of the communication at the application layer.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the trigger is dependent on the available performance metrics for the communication.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the trigger is based on one or more of: a packet loss measure; a measure of delay; a measure of jitter; or a mean opinion score.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the network connection is a digital subscriber line.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein sampling is of one or more parameters of the network connection.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein sampling is of one or more network layer parameters.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The method according to claim 6, wherein the parameters include counts of one or more of code violations (CV); Errored Seconds (ES); or Severely Errored Seconds (SES).

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the adapting of the sampling rate further includes adapting a set of sampled parameters.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the communication is one of:
a streamed communication occurring via the network connection,
a communication occurring via the network connection in accordance with a version of the Internet Protocol (IP), or
a Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VOIP) communication occurring via the network connection.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein:
the threshold is adjusted in dependence on past performance metrics available for the network connection,
the threshold is adjusted during a communication, or
the threshold is adjusted for use in determining whether to adapt the sampling rate during a subsequent communication.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

An apparatus for monitoring a network connection at a first sampling rate to generate monitoring data for the network connection for determining a performance issue in a network, the apparatus comprising one or more computing devices configured to perform the method of claim 1.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer program element comprising computer program code to, when loaded into a computer system and executed thereon, cause the computer system to perform the method as claimed in claim 1.

### Claim 14

A computer implemented method for monitoring a network connection for determining a performance issue in a network, the method comprising:
setting a default sampling rate for monitoring the network connection;
continuously monitoring the network connection at the default sampling rate;
identifying a new communication occurring via the network connection;
obtaining performance metrics for the new communication;
comparing the performance metrics for the new communication with a threshold;
if the comparing indicates a possible performance degradation in the new communication, adapting the first sampling rate to a second sampling rate greater than the first sampling rate so as to determine whether the performance degradation in the new communication is attributable to the network connection; and
if the comparing indicates no current performance degradation in the new communication, adjusting the threshold to a raised threshold to reduce a likelihood of false positives in future comparisons.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method according to claim 14, wherein determining whether the performance degradation in the new communication is attributable to the network connection comprises:
continuously monitoring the network connection at the second sampling rate to obtain higher-resolution network connection data,
obtaining new performance metrics for the new communication occurring via the network connection, and
comparing the new performance metrics with the higher-resolution network connection data; and
if comparing the new performance metrics indicates that the obtained new performance metrics correlate with the higher-resolution network connection data, attributing the possible performance degradation in the new communication to a performance issue in the network connection; and
if comparing the new performance metrics indicates that the obtained new performance metrics do not correlate with the higher-resolution network connection data, adjusting the threshold to the raised threshold to reduce a likelihood of false positives in future comparisons.

### Claim 16

A computer implemented method for determining a performance issue in a communication over a network connection in a network, the method comprising:
establishing a threshold for quality of communication via the network connection;
identifying a new communication occurring via the network connection;
sampling a parameter of the new communication at a first sampling rate;
comparing the sampled parameter with the threshold and marking the sampled parameter as either acceptable or not acceptable based on the comparing;
storing the sampled parameter in a call log and adding the marking of the sampled parameter to a buffer;
analyzing contents of the buffer to determine if a quality issue exists in respect of the new communication:
if a quality issue exists, sampling the parameter at a second sampling rate higher than the first sampling rate, and
if no quality issue exists, continuing to sample the parameter at the first sampling rate;
after the new communication ends, aggregating sampled parameters stored in the call log and using the aggregated sampled parameters to update the threshold for quality of communications via the network connection.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the buffer is a rolling first in first out (FIFO) buffer.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the threshold for quality of communication via the network connection is unique to the network connection.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, wherein the parameter is at least one of jitter, mean opinion score (MOS), or packet loss (PL).