Speech Processing@ Transmission and Quality Aspects (STQ); User related QoS parameter definitions and measurements; Part 3: QoS parameters specific to Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) (V1.1.1)
The present document contains definitions and measurement methods for a range of user perceivable Quality of Service (QoS) parameters. The purpose of these parameters is to define objective and comparable measures of the QoS delivered to users/customers for use by users/customers. The present document applies to any telecommunication service however some parameters may have a limited application. The Guide is intended to provide a menu from which individual items can be selected. There is no obligation to use any or all of the parameters. The QoS parameters are related primarily to services and service features and not to the technology used to provide the services. Therefore the parameters should be capable of use when the services are provided on new technologies such as packet switched technologies as well as on circuit switched technologies. The establishment of target values for QoS is outside the scope of the present document. The QoS parameters listed in the present document are also not intended to assess the complete QoS of a telecommunication service. The present document provides a set of QoS parameters that covers specific user related QoS aspects rather than a complete list of QoS parameters. This set has been chosen to address areas where monitoring of QoS is likely to be most worthwhile@ i.e. the areas that are most likely to be affected by any QoS problems. If stakeholders wish to examine other QoS aspects they are recommended to follow the general approach of the present document - as far as practicable - as a basis for the development of definitions and measurement methods for new specific QoS parameters. The set of QoS parameters is designed to be understood by the users of various telecommunications services. Sub-sets of these parameters can be selected for use in different circumstances. For example a specific parameter might be relevant for many users in some countries or markets but the same parameter might not be of relevance in others. Therefore stakeholders - users@ customers@ regulators@ service providers@ network operators and other parties interested in the use of QoS parameters - should decide in co-operation@ which parameters should be used in their particular situation. This decision should take account of: - The precise purpose for which they will be used. - The general level of quality achieved by most operators. - The degree to which the parameters will provide a reliable comparison of performance. - The cost of measuring and reporting each parameter. Part 1 contains general user related QoS parameter definitions and measurement methods that can be applied to any telecommunications service. The QoS parameters in part 1 are focused on non call related QoS aspects. Additional parts of the present document will contain service specific user related QoS parameter definitions and measurement methods. Part 2 contains user related QoS parameter definitions and measurement methods for voice@ data and fax services accessed via public telecommunication networks. The QoS parameters in part 2 are focused on call related QoS aspects. The data parameters are specified for the case where a V.9x series modem is used. Part 3 (the present document) contains user related QoS parameter definitions and measurement methods specific to Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMN). The present document includes the parameters unsuccessful call ratio and dropped call ratio even though they would logically be covered in part 2. The reasons for their inclusion in the present document are: - These parameters are more important for mobile networks than the other call related parameters covered in part 2 and their inclusion makes the present document more self contained. - Dropped call ratio is not included in part 2 because when part 2 was written the main focus was on fixed networks where this parameter is much less important than in mobile networks. The parameters in the present document apply to call related services but not to Internet access provided by GPRS or later technologies. For some of the parameters in the present document@ alternative measurement methods are given based either on drive round tests and or on network element counters. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages and the results of one approach are not comparable with the results of the other approach@ and therefore@ if comparability is needed@ operators and regulators should decide which approach should be used in their country and all network operators should use the same approach.