JP2004048565A - Network quality estimation control method - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus for real network quality estimation and server access control in a content delivery network.
A content delivery network has a network quality estimation control function, the quality estimation control function has a user status management table and a network status management table, the user status management table is a user ID, and a station to which a user is connected. Alternatively, it has an area for holding a user station / system ID for identifying a network system, a user address, and a quality state. The quality estimation control function determines a quality state such as a transport layer quality and an application layer quality of the delivery session, describes the quality state in the quality state area of the user state management table, and further, the user station / system ID becomes the same. The data of the quality status area is totaled for each user to estimate the status as a user station / system, and described and held in a network status management table.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 4

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a quality control method for maintaining and improving the distribution quality between content servers and between a content server and a user terminal in a content distribution / delivery service on the Internet.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Internet users have continued to increase rapidly since the start of the service. In 2000, the number of domestic users exceeded 20 million for fixed terminals only, and major domestic ISPs (Internet Service Providers) such as OCN and IIJ Each has gained millions of end users [1]. Content transmitted and received on the Internet and applications to be executed were initially mainly downloads such as Web pages / files / mails. In the case of a townload type application, although there is a problem that the user's dissatisfaction increases due to a prolonged download time when network congestion occurs, the quality of the content itself is reduced by using a reliable transport such as TCP. There is no loss. Therefore, even if the content is charged, the network congestion does not seriously affect the chargeability. On the other hand, in recent years, businesses that use video and audio streaming techniques, such as delivering concert live videos of major artists and famous movies to a large number of users, and companies promoting their products using videos, etc. Is being activated. In a streaming application, the user terminal buffers the video signal for several seconds, starts playback before all the files have been received, absorbs variations in the packet arrival times on the network, and uses the buffering time. In order to maintain quality by performing retransmission of lost packets, etc. In the case of streaming applications, the quality of the content itself is not impaired if the network is lightly congested enough to maintain the quality by retransmission, but in the case of severe congestion, the reception quality of the content itself cannot be maintained Then, the delivery band is suppressed by the rate control in the application layer to continue the delivery. This is realized, for example, by applying a method of differential coding between video frames as a video coding rule, by thinning out differentially encoded data between frames and delivering only intra-frame encoded data [2]. . If the congestion state still cannot be avoided, the delivery band is further suppressed by, for example, delivering only voice data. As a result, the quality of the content itself received by the user is significantly impaired, and the business itself may be seriously affected, especially when the content is paid.
FIG. 1 shows the influence of network congestion in the case of the download application and the case of the streaming application described above.
[0003]
FIG. 2 shows a typical network configuration example in the current Internet connection service. The Internet connection service network is generally composed of a backbone network and an access network. The backbone network is a wide-area IP network owned by ISPs such as OCN and IIJ, and the access network is owned by ISP itself. In some cases, such as the ISDN / ADSL service, owned by a different company from the ISP. ISPs
A user management function for managing a user ID and an IP address assigned to the user;
・ Topology information of network systems and transmission lines owned by the network, network management function for managing failures and performance status of each system and transmission line, etc.
A server management function for holding the content server ID, server IP address, failure / performance state of each server, etc.
It manages its own resources.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Hereinafter, a first problem in the case where contents having high real-time properties such as video streaming are transferred to an end user via the wide area IP network of FIG. 2 will be described. The network transfers various application traffic and control traffic generated by a content server managed by the ISP itself, a content server of another ISP, and another server operator using an autonomous routing protocol such as OSPF (Open Shortest Path First). Since the ISP cannot manage the start / end of all applications passing through its own network, the generated traffic patterns, and the like, there is a possibility that congestion may potentially occur in each part of the network. In the backbone part between Tokyo 23 wards and between Tokyo and Osaka, each system is connected by a high-speed link of Gbit / s or more, but the branch line that branches off traffic to each prefecture / city spreads widely. Since the equipment cost of the branch line accounts for a very large proportion of the total, the connection is to be made with a low-speed link as much as possible. Regardless of file transfer or video streaming, since the traffic generated by the content server has a strong burst property, in a system with a large difference between the input and output link speeds, packets can be easily transferred depending on the packet buffer capacity and the write / read performance of the system. Losses can occur. That is, in an access network in which the link speed is greatly reduced, there is a high possibility that packet loss and congestion will occur due to the burstiness of traffic.
[0005]
When congestion occurs, the streaming application performs the above-described rate control. However, if congestion is avoided by the rate control, the occurrence of congestion cannot be recognized by the network management function of the ISP. In other words, there is a second problem that the point of occurrence of congestion on the network, which is the cause, cannot be evaluated even though the quality of the video content is significantly deteriorated.
[0006]
In addition, there is a case where one carrier owns a packbone network and an access network at the end end, but at present, the packbone network is owned by an ISP company and the access network is sometimes owned by a DSL company and the like. . In the case of a content distribution / delivery service provider, a plurality of access network (DSL) providers are interconnected as shown in FIG. 3 in order to enclose content holders and the like with a wide area that can be distributed to many end users distributed over a wide area. It seems to be common to provide services. At this time, there is a third problem that the ISP cannot grasp the entire resources of each access network serving as another operator, and cannot grasp the congestion state because the access network is shared with the other ISP. For this reason, even though congestion has occurred in the access network, a new delivery request from an end user under the congestion point may be accepted, resulting in a more severe congestion state.
[0007]
Especially in the case of real-time content such as video streaming, network congestion is directly linked to the quality degradation of the content itself as described above. Could be a major barrier to progress.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention provides a method for estimating a true network quality state including an application layer quality including an access network owned by another carrier, and a delivery method for restricting delivery for a new delivery request according to the quality state. We propose an advanced server access control method such as selecting a content server that can obtain quality and navigating the user.
[0009]
The outline of the network quality estimation method according to the present invention will be sharpened with reference to FIG. The backbone network has a network (NW) quality estimation control function in addition to the functions of FIG. 2, that is, a user management function, a network management function, and a server management function.
The NW quality estimation control function generally has two databases, a user state management table and an NW state management table. The user status management table holds four types of data: a user ID for each end user, a user station / system ID for identifying a station or system to which the user is connected, a user address, and a quality status. Of these data, the user ID and the user station / system ID are input simultaneously by the service manager when the user subscribes to the service, that is, when registering the user management function, or the quality estimation control function is automatically input by the service manager. Enter with. When the user accesses the user management function, the user management function assigns the address and registers the address of the user who receives the content delivery service in its database, the user management function automatically enters the result (Flow (1)). Here, the type of the user management function is not limited as long as it has a correspondence relationship between a user ID capable of uniquely identifying a user who receives the content delivery service and an assigned address. For example, a RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service) authentication server [3] that manages an IP address assigned to a user, a service authentication server that performs authentication as a service when providing a content delivery service, and the like are used as a user management function. be able to.
[0010]
When the content server delivers content to each user, the NW quality estimation control function collects the transport layer quality, the application layer quality, or both of the delivery session and determines the quality state such as good, caution, or abnormality. It is determined and described in the quality status area of the user status management table (flow (2)).
The NW quality estimation control function further sums up data in the quality status area for each user having the same user station / system ID to estimate the status of the user station / system such as good / caution / abnormal, and the like. The result is described and stored in the network state management table (flow (3))
[0011]
In the above-described collection of quality information, for the collection target users, information on all users who subscribe to the service is collected, sample users are selected and collected for each user station / system ID, and similarities are collected for each user station / system ID. Any method of arranging and collecting user terminals may be used, or a combination thereof. The collection position of the transport layer quality may be collected by a traffic monitor at the exit of the data center or collected by a traffic monitor in the network. As the transport quality, packet loss, end-to-end delay, delay variation, and the like are collected.
[0012]
The application layer quality is an important parameter for grasping the quality state of the video streaming or the like. For the collection, it is necessary to extract quality information monitored by server software and player software in the user terminal. Many of commercially available player software such as Windows Media Technology, Real Networks, and the like have released an SDK in order to enable customization in various forms of players, and can use this to extract application layer quality [ 4]. For example, in the case of a player of Windows Media Technology, various information such as a video frame rate, a reception band, the number of loss / repair packets, a reception buffer state of the player, and the like, which can be confirmed on a screen during reproduction, can be acquired. Although the quality state determination method is also arbitrary, for example, a certain threshold is set for performance information such as the amount of lost packets in the transport layer, end-to-end delay, delay variation, etc. There is a method in which, when one or a plurality of pieces of performance information is deteriorated below a threshold, the quality state of the user is determined to be abnormal.
[0013]
The NW state management table holds the user station / system ID and the quality state data of the station / system. As for this quality status, the quality status of users having the same user station / system ID on the user status management table, that is, the users accommodated in the same user station / system is counted, and a certain number of users or a certain number or more users are collected. Is abnormal, it is determined that the user station / system ID is abnormal. By providing a plurality of thresholds, it is possible to manage the quality state of the station / user ID in detail, such as abnormal, cautionary, and normal.
[0014]
FIG. 5 shows a method of estimating the network quality state by summing the reception quality of each user in two dimensions of the transport layer and the application layer as an example of a detailed determination method of the network state. If the network load is gradually increased while a certain video streaming application is being executed, it is considered that the quality state changes as shown by a dotted line curve on the two-dimensional graph in the figure. Here, for example, it is assumed that the rate control is performed in the application layer, and the index is a thinned delivery state between frame difference data, a delivery state of voice only, and the like. This is because the frame rate greatly changes when the inter-frame difference data or the like is thinned out, so that the rate control state can be grasped by monitoring the frame rate. For example, when referring to the quality information of only the transport layer, it cannot be determined whether the state is the normal state or the terminal state of only audio. Also, referring to only the application layer may miss a slight sign of deterioration, and may not be able to perform timely quality control.
[0015]
From the above, in this example, the quality state of each accommodation station / system is estimated based on the quality of both the application layer and the transport layer. In FIG. 5, the application layer quality (frame rate) is also determined for a large number of users by the transport. Area A, where the layer quality is also normal, is normal, and area B, where the frame rate is normal for many users but packet loss occurs, is monitored, and frame rate fluctuation occurs for many users and packet loss occurs. Is in a caution state, and an area D in which transport layer quality is normal for a large number of users but only audio is delivered is in a terminal state (abnormal).
As described above, it is possible to grasp the true network state in consideration of the quality of the application layer in units of the accommodating stations / systems of the access network.
[0016]
FIG. 6 shows an example of implementing server access control based on the network quality estimation result. It is assumed that there is already a user such as user 1 and the quality estimation control function has been able to estimate the network state of each of the accommodation stations / systems n1, n2 and n3 (flow {circle around (1)}). When the user 2 accesses the user management function and obtains an address (flow {circle over (2)}), the address is input to the user status management table of the network quality estimation control function (flow {circle around (3)}). This user address is generally assigned by user authentication or service authentication performed at the time of access. When the user 2 selects a certain content from the program guide (flow <4>), the address of the NW quality estimation control server is notified from the program guide (flow <5>). In response to this, the user 2 inquires of the quality estimation control function about the network status (flow (6)), and the quality estimation control function determines the user address from the source address information (user address c2) included in the inquiry. The user station / system n2 accommodating the request is identified and its quality state is referred to to determine whether or not delivery is possible based on the quality state, and the result is notified to the user 2 (flow {circle around (7)}). For example, if the user station / system is in a state requiring caution or abnormality, the user 2 is notified that delivery cannot be performed because the network is currently in a congested state. If the content is normal, the address of the content server accommodating the content, the content identifier, etc. are notified, and the user 2 sends a program viewing request to the content server using the received content server address and content identifier (flow (8)), the contents are delivered (flow (9)).
[0017]
Several alternatives for server access control are described below.
When the user 2 selects content from the program guide, the program guide directly inquires of the network state to the quality estimation control function, and the quality estimation control function responds the estimation result to the program guide. It is also possible to provide a configuration for responding to whether or not delivery is possible, including the network status. This can reduce the number of server accesses from the user.
[0018]
In the response sequence from the quality estimation control function to the user, the quality estimation control function is required for the user station / system in addition to the caution / abnormality when the user station / system is in the caution / abnormal state. The address and the content identifier of the content server accommodating the received content are returned. The software in the user terminal that has received it connects to the content server on a trial basis and starts reception, monitors the playback status such as the accumulation status of the reception buffer, and if the threshold value is not reached after a certain period of time, the content server access It is also possible to use a method such as stopping. Further, instead of the software of the user terminal activating the test delivery, the content server may perform the test delivery to the user, and if the reproduction state is bad, the user may be notified that the delivery is impossible. According to this method, more accurate server access control including test delivery results can be performed.
[0019]
FIG. 7 shows a method for estimating the quality of a wider area in the access network. The present invention can be applied to a case in which a part of the access network is not provided with a redundant route and has a star topology in which a higher-ranking trunk station, a regional representative station, and the like are uniquely determined for a user station / system. In this case, when the user subscribes to the service, in addition to the user ID and the user station / system ID, the uniquely determined IDs of the trunk line station, the representative station, and the like are also input to the user state management table. The NW state management table has a configuration capable of managing the state in units of user stations, trunk stations, and representative stations. The quality estimation control function includes a user state management table in which a user is managed for each user station, trunk station, and representative station. The quality state of the NW is collected, threshold processing is performed to determine whether the state is normal, cautionary, abnormal, etc., and the state is described and stored in the NW state management table. This makes it possible to estimate the network status of an access network in which packet loss and congestion are likely to occur due to rapid link speed deceleration, over a wider range. Can be regulated in response to a new content delivery request from an end user passing through.
[0020]
FIG. 8 shows an example of realizing network state estimation near a data center where a content server is located, and access control based thereon. First, the server management function holds the correspondence information between the address of each content server and the server station / system ID to which the server is connected. This is information that must be managed when operating the content server by itself. Since one user may access a plurality of servers at the same time, a plurality of server addresses and a plurality of server stations / system IDs can be held.
Also in this example, as in the implementation example of FIG. 4, the user ID, user station / system ID, and user address given from the user management function are described and held in the user state management table of the NW quality estimation control function (flow (1)), and describe and hold the transport layer quality and application layer quality collected for each end user (flow (2)). In this example, at the same time, the server address accessed by the user is also collected and written into the user status management table, and the server station / system ID corresponding to the server address is searched from the server management function. Is written in (flow (3)). The network status management table is configured to manage the quality status for each server station / system ID, and the NW quality estimation control function collects the user quality status for each server station / system ID in the user status management table, and sets a threshold value. Excess judgment processing is performed to judge the state such as normal, caution, abnormality, etc., and the result is described in the network state management table (flow (4)). This makes it possible to estimate the true quality state of the network near the exit of the data center where the content server of the backbone network is located, in consideration of the application layer quality.
[0021]
FIG. 9 shows an example of implementing server access control using the quality estimation technique of the network near the data center exit according to the present invention. In a wide area server network in which content servers are distributed and arranged in the data centers 1 and 2, the quality control estimation control estimates that the vicinity of the data center 1 exit is in a cautionary or abnormal state from a user state in which contents are already being delivered. Consider the case (flow (1)). When the user 2 accesses the user management function and acquires an address (flow (2)), the address information is described in a user state management table of the network quality estimation control function (flow (3)). This user address is generally given by network authentication or service authentication performed at the time of access. When the user 2 requests a certain content from the program guide (flow 4), the address of the NW quality estimation control server is notified from the program guide (flow 4). In response, the user 2 inquires of the quality estimation control function about the network state (flow (6)). The quality estimation control function that has received the network status inquiry request inquires the server management function of the content position, and the server management function notifies the content servers 1 and 2 as the optimal server candidates (flow {circle around (7)}). The quality estimation control function refers to the network state management table, and here notifies the user 2 of the address of the content server 2 based on the estimation that the vicinity of the exit of the data center 1 is congested (flow (8)). The user 2 sends a program viewing request to the content server 2 based on this notification (flow (9)), and receives delivery of the content (flow 10). As a result, it is possible to achieve wide area server load distribution based on network state estimation including the application layer.
[0022]
FIG. 10 shows an example of implementing network quality estimation and server access control according to the present invention in a network having a complicated topology. In a wide-area IP network having a redundant route, when the route is controlled by autonomous routing and the route load distribution in the network is applied in a non-limiting manner, it is necessary to completely grasp the passing route for each flow and to specify the congestion occurrence position. difficult. In FIG. 10, the network status management table configuration is a two-dimensional matrix of the server station / system ID and the user station / system ID, and the quality status of each user on the user status management table is represented by the server station / system ID and the user station. / Aggregate for each group with the same system ID, perform threshold excess determination processing and the like, and describe and hold the result in the network state management table. The quality estimation control function determines a user station / system ID when a new content delivery request is received from a user, and inquires a server management function to acquire a plurality of server stations / system IDs of candidate servers. Next, referring to the network status management table, it is determined from which server station / system ID the delivery status is the best, and the user is navigated to the content server connected to the server station / system ID. In the case of a complicated topology, it is difficult to completely grasp the bottleneck location.However, state management of flows with the same start point and end point as a virtual bundle connection, rough state estimation including the backbone, server access Control becomes possible.
[0023]
There are no other restrictions on the addresses assigned to the server and the user used in the present invention as long as the server and the user can be uniquely identified. A Layer 3 IP (Internet Protocol) address is also applicable, and higher layer information such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and a Cookie can also be used as the address. In the case of information that can be constantly stored in the user terminal, such as a cookie, by simultaneously storing the user addresses on the user management table, address assignment by the user management function, automatic input to the user status management table, and the like are performed. 4 has a merit that the part relating to the flow (1) in FIG. 4 can be omitted after the initial registration to the user management function. Furthermore, by using the higher layer information, for example, when a 1SP subscriber connects a plurality of user terminals via a NAT (Network Address Translator) or the like, it is possible to manage user reception quality in fine units such as for each user terminal. It becomes.
[0024]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
【Example】
[Example 1]
In FIG. 11, the ISP employs a DSL network, such as a regional IP network [5] of NTT East / West Regional Company or Atsuka Networks [6], as an access network to provide a content delivery service to end users. An application example of the present invention in such a case will be described. In this embodiment, a RADIUS authentication server for the ISP to perform user authentication and IP address assignment is used as a user management function.
With respect to the information on the user state management table of the NW quality estimation control function, the user ID and the access provider ID information are acquired and input when joining the ISP. The ISP cannot directly grasp the topology information of the regional IP network that is the other carrier, while the NTT East / West Regional Company provides the correspondence between the user address / telephone number and the user accommodation station as disclosure information. . The user station / system ID information can be input when joining the ISP based on the present disclosure information. In most cases, other DSL carriers also provide services using the access lines and office space of NTT East / West Regional Company [7]. Similarly, the user ID and the user station / system ID correspond from this disclosure information. It can be attached.
[0025]
In this example, each user is authenticated by the RADIUS server when connecting to the ISP, and at this time, the IP address assigned to the user by the server is automatically input as the user IP access information in the user status management table (flow ▲). 1 ▼).
When the content server delivers content to each user, the NW quality estimation control function collects the transport layer quality, the application layer quality, or both of the delivery session and determines the quality state such as good, caution, or abnormality. Judgment is made and described in the quality status area of the user status management table (flow {circle over (2)}). Further, the data of the quality status area is totaled for each user having the same user station / system ID, and the data is good / caution / abnormal And the like as the user station / system, and the result is described and stored in the network state management table (flow (3)). As a result, a true network quality state can be grasped for each user station / system.
[0026]
[Example 2]
FIG. 12 shows an embodiment of the present invention when the service authentication function of the content delivery service is used as the user management function.
In the present embodiment, after connecting to the OCN via RADIUS authentication, the user accesses the service authentication server and receives authentication as a service. At this time, the service authentication server can grasp the correspondence between the user ID and the IP address, and inputs the result to the user status management table (flow (1)). The subsequent estimation of the network quality state for each user (flow (2)) and the estimation of the quality state for each user station / system (flow (3)) are the same as in the above embodiment.
If the content delivery service provider is a different entity from the ISP, it is unlikely that ISP internal information such as RADIUS will be disclosed. However, by cooperating with the service authentication function in this way, the same as in the first embodiment can be achieved. Network quality estimation control becomes possible. However, in the case of a separate entity from the ISP, it is considered difficult for the content delivery service operator to obtain the user's access network operator information. It is necessary to obtain the access network operator information used when making a service contract.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, it is possible to estimate the true network quality including the application layer quality, and to perform server access control based on the estimation, particularly for an access network in which packet loss and congestion are likely to occur. Even when another carrier owns the access network, for example, if the other carrier discloses information on the user station to which the user is connected, the true network quality per user station is used. Estimation and control based on the estimation become possible.
[0028]
In the quality status management for each user of this method, the location of the content server accessed by the user on the network is also managed, and the quality of each virtual resource for which the server station and the user station are the same is specified. It is possible to control the selection of the optimal content server in consideration of the state.
Further, for example, when only one user is in an abnormal state among the users connected to the same user station, the possibility of network congestion is low, and it is estimated that an access line, a user terminal, or the like has a cause of abnormality. . As described above, the present method can be applied to determining whether there is a problem on the network side or the access line / user terminal side.
[0029]
As described above, in a wide-area backbone network, content whose quality is directly affected by quality deterioration of the network, such as video streaming, can be delivered to end users while maintaining high quality and reliability. Content distribution and delivery companies can enclose content holders, CM sponsors, etc., and improve profitability by achieving both wide-area properties that can be distributed to many end users distributed over a wide area and high quality and high reliability of distribution. It becomes.
[0030]
References:
[1] National Institute of Information and Communications Technology “Information and Communication Handbook” ISBN4-915724-61-1
[2] Hiroshi Yasuda Supervised Future Net Series "Digital Visual Technology" Telecommunications Association ISBN4-88549-907-0
[3] Saigo, Wilderness, Okada, Kawaguchi "Easy OCN" ISBN 4-88549-410-9
[4] www. Microsoft. com / japan / sindows / windowsmedia / developers / wmpsdk / default. asp
[5] “FLET'S ASDL vs. Yahoo BB” Nikkei Communication 5-20, pp. 146-53 104-111, 2002
[6] www. acca. ne. jp
[7] “DSL spread status public page”,
www. soumu. go. jp / joho_tsusin / watsnew / dsl / index. html
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the influence of network congestion in the case of a download application and the case of a streaming application.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a typical Internet connection service network.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a typical Internet connection service network.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an implementation example of a network quality estimation method according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a network quality estimation method based on application layer quality and transport layer quality according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of implementing server access control based on network quality estimation according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 illustrates a method for performing quality estimation of a wider area in a network according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a network quality estimation method near a data center exit according to the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of implementing server access control based on network quality estimation near a data center exit according to the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of implementing quality estimation and server access control of a network having a complicated topology according to the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention in which a RADIUS authentication server is used as a user management server.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention in which a service authentication server is used as a user management server.

Claims (13)

For the content delivery network consisting of the network, content server, end-user terminal, content server management function, network management function, user management function, and quality estimation control function, grasp the congestion bottleneck situation of each part of the network, and if necessary, In the network quality estimation control method that performs various quality controls to maintain and improve the overall delivery quality,
The quality estimation control function has a user status management table and a network status management table. The user status management table includes a user ID, a user station / system ID for identifying a station or a network system to which the user is connected, a user address, and A user ID and a user station / system ID among these pieces of information are input by a service manager when each user subscribes to the content delivery network service, or the quality information is stored. Estimation control function automatically inputs,
The user management function includes a user management table indicating a correspondence between a user ID and a user address. When each user accesses the user management function, the user management table updates the user address in the user management table, and updates the user address. Fill in the user address area of the user status management table,
When the content server delivers content to each user, the quality estimation control function monitors the transport layer quality, the application layer quality, or both of the delivery session and determines a quality state such as good / caution / abnormal. Determine, describe the quality state for each user in the quality state area of the user state management table,
The quality estimation control function aggregates data in the quality state area for each user having the same user station / system ID, estimates the state as a user station / system such as good / caution / abnormal, and A network quality estimation control method characterized by being described and stored in a management table. The quality estimation control function, when the content server delivers streaming content to each user,
Video frame rate monitored by the player software of the user terminal, the number of lost packets, information such as reception buffer status is collected as the application layer quality,
2. The network quality estimation control method according to claim 1, wherein when a part or all of the quality information exceeds a predetermined threshold, the quality state of the user is determined to be abnormal. The quality estimation control function, when the content server delivers streaming content to each user,
Monitor TCP (Transport Control Protocol) and RTCP (Real Time Control Protocol) of the delivery session and collect packet loss, end-end delay, delay variation, etc. as the transport layer quality,
3. The network quality estimation control method according to claim 1, wherein when a part or all of the quality information exceeds a predetermined threshold, the quality state of the user is determined to be abnormal. If there is a new content delivery request from a user,
The quality estimation control function specifies a user station / system ID of the end user from a user address included in the delivery request packet and refers to a network state management table,
If the quality status of the specified user station / system ID is cautionary / abnormal, etc., the new content delivery request is notified that delivery is impossible, and if the status is normal, the content containing the content is stored. The network quality estimation control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a server address, a content identifier, and the like are notified. If there is a new content delivery request from a user,
When the specified user station / system ID is in a state requiring caution / abnormality, the quality estimation control function indicates that the user needs caution / abnormality, an address of a content server in which the content is stored, Notify the content identifier,
5. The network according to claim 4, wherein the software in the user terminal connects to the content server on a trial basis and starts reception, and disconnects the connection if the reception state is abnormal after a certain period of time. Quality estimation control method. If the access network portion of the network is in a star topology where the upper station is uniquely determined for each user station / system,
The quality estimation control function also holds the upper station / system ID in the user status management table,
The quality estimation connection function aggregates data in the quality status area of the user status management table for each user having the same upper station / system ID, and determines the status of the upper station / system such as good / caution / abnormal. Described in the network status management table,
6. A delivery control process according to claim 1, wherein when a certain upper station / system is in a state requiring caution or abnormality, delivery control processing is performed in response to a new content delivery request from an end user passing therethrough. Network quality estimation control method. The content server management function holds the correspondence information of the address of each content server and the server station / system ID for identifying the station or system to which the content server is connected,
The quality estimation control function also holds, in the user status management table, a server address and a server station / system ID accessed by the user,
The quality estimation control function collects the server address in addition to the transport layer quality and the application layer quality of the delivery session, and also writes this in the user state management table,
The quality estimation control function refers to the server station / system ID corresponding to the server address in the content server management function, and also writes the server station / system ID in the user state management table,
The quality estimation control function collects data in the quality status area for each user having the same server station / system ID on the user status management table, and estimates the status such as good, caution, abnormality, and the like. 7. The network quality estimation control method according to claim 1, wherein the quality status for each system ID is also described and held in a network status management table. The server management function manages the arrangement status of each content distributed and arranged on a plurality of servers,
The quality estimation control function, when a new content delivery request is received from a user, queries the server management function for a server station / system ID and a server address where the content is located,
The quality estimating function refers to a network management table, and when all the quality statuses of the queried server station / system ID are in need of attention, abnormalities, etc., notifies the user of delivery failure in response to the new content delivery request, The network quality estimation control method according to claim 7, wherein when there is one or more server stations / system IDs having good quality states, a good server address is notified to a user. The network status management table holds a quality status for each virtual resource having the same server station / system ID and user station / system ID,
The quality estimation control function aggregates the quality status of the user status management table for each user having the same server station / system ID and the same user station / system ID, and determines the status such as good / caution / abnormal. Write to the network state management table,
The quality estimation control function, when a new content delivery request is received from a user, queries the server management function for a server station / system ID and a server address where the content is located,
The quality estimation control function refers to a network management table, determines a server station / system ID and a user station / system ID having the best quality state, and notifies a user of a corresponding server address. 9. The network quality estimation control method according to 8. The network quality estimation control method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein an IP (Internet Protocol) address is used as the user address and the server address. 10. The network quality estimation control method according to claim 1, wherein an application layer identifier including a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) or Cookie information is used as the user address and the server address. 12. The network quality estimation control method according to claim 1, wherein a RADIUS authentication server is used as the user management function. 12. The network quality estimation control method according to claim 1, wherein a content delivery service authentication server is used as the user management function.

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