Measuring a network performance characteristic

A user equipment (UE) for use with a communications network, the UE comprising:

• a transmitter for communicating with the communications network;
• and
• a processor configured to perform the following:
• recording, over a measurement period, measurement data from the UE, the measurement data relating to a network performance characteristic of the communications network associated with the measurement period, wherein the network performance characteristic is a characteristic associated with the performance of the communication network;
• determining a data usage level for the UE for the measurement period, the data usage level being an indication of the amount of data transmitted and/or received by the UE from the communications network during the measurement period;
• receiving a plurality of data usage profiles, each data usage profile being associated with a different application of a plurality of applications on the UE and comprising an expected data usage from prior periods in which the application is known to have been in use either on the UE or another device;
• comparing the data usage level for the UE for the measurement period with each of the plurality of data usage profiles, and determining which of the plurality of applications on the UE has an associated data usage profile that corresponds to the determined data usage level for the UE over the measurement period;
• and
• associating the determined application with the network performance characteristic, wherein associating the determined application with the network performance characteristic comprises assessing the performance of the communications network using the network performance characteristic and the associated data usage profile of the determined application;
• and
• determining, based on the associated data usage profile of the determined application, whether the assessed performance of the communications network is a consequence of a possible fault in the communications network.

A non-transitory storage medium comprising program code thereon, the program code, when executed by compatible data processing hardware, causing the hardware to:

• record, over a measurement period, measurement data from a UE, the measurement data relating to a network performance characteristic of a communications network associated with the measurement period, wherein the network performance characteristic is a characteristic associated with the performance of the communication network;
• determine a data usage level for the UE for the measurement period, the data usage level being an indication of the amount of data transmitted and/or received by the UE from the communications network during the measurement period;
• receive a plurality of data usage profiles, each data usage profile being associated with a different application of a plurality of applications on the UE and comprising an expected data usage from prior periods in which the application is known to have been in use either on the UE or another device;
• comparing the data usage level for the UE for the measurement period with each of the plurality of data usage profiles, and determine which of the plurality of applications on the UE has an associated data usage profile that corresponds to the determined data usage level for the UE over the measurement period;
• and
• associate the determined application with the network performance characteristic, wherein associating the determined application with the network performance characteristic comprises assessing the performance of the communications network using the network performance characteristic and the associated data usage profile of the determined application;
• and
• determining, based on the associated data usage profile of the determined application, whether the assessed performance of the communications network is a consequence of a possible fault in the communications network.