Application quality management in a cooperative communication system

A terminal node in a communication network having an access node, comprising:

• a transceiver module configured to send data packets to, and receive data packets from, the access node via the communication network;
• and
• a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to:
• detect at least one application data stream by monitoring the data packets sent to, and received from, the access node via the communication network,
• determine, for each of the detected at least one application data stream, application information related to an application operating in the terminal node that is associated with the respective application data stream, the application information including a data stream quality metric for each respective application data stream,
• send, via the communication network, the application information for each of the detected at least one application data stream,
• receive, via the communication network, at least one mitigation instruction associated with one or more of the at least one application data stream, and
• implement the at least one mitigation instruction for the associated one or more of the at least one application data stream.

A method for management of application quality in a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving, from at least one terminal node, application information related to at least one application data stream associated with at least one application operating in the at least one terminal node;
• updating, based on the application information, a relationship map that includes a relationship between each of the at least one application data stream and an access node;
• determining an overall quality metric value based at least in part on the application information received from one or more of the at least one terminal node;
• and
• selecting, based on the overall quality metric value, at least one mitigation option for one or more of the at least one application data stream.

A method for managing application quality in a terminal node within a communication network, the method comprising:

• detecting at least one application data stream by monitoring data packets sent to, and received from, an access node in the communication network;
• determining, for each of the detected at least one application data stream, application information related to an application operating in the terminal node that is associated with the respective application data stream, the application information including a data stream quality metric for each respective application data stream;
• sending, via the communication network, the application information for each of the detected at least one application data stream;
• receiving, via the communication network, at least one mitigation instruction associated with one or more of the at least one application data stream;
• and
• implementing the at least one mitigation instruction for the associated one or more of the at least one application data stream.