Access Network Metrics

TRENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Determining the Quality of Experience (QoE) on a given Access Network Provider (ANP) location has always been a challenge.  Identity Providers (IdPs) often want insight into QoE to help decide if a roamer should attach to a given location.

A reliable way to offer insight into a network’s QoE can help further the adoption of Passpoint®, by giving IdPs greater confidence in the quality of the networks their users are attaching onto.

The need for QoE metrics also plays a role in the WBA OpenRoaming™.  There is the possibility of many different networks offering roaming, operated by a variety of network operators both small and large.

BUSINESS & MARKET BENEFITS

The 1st phase of ‘Access Network Metrics‘ report initiates the first phase, assessing the need for access network metrics and proposing methods essential for capturing data to evaluate networks, leveraging key indicators to quantify network performance.

The final guidelines will likely be a set of specifications explaining how this information should be shared.  Some examples may be through an ANQP exchange, a RADIUS exchange, or through a real-time query mechanism similar to OCSP.

The final output may also require liaising with other groups – such as the Wi-Fi Alliance Data Elements group, for example – if changes are required to facilitate this new way of using existing KPIs.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

• Phase 2 of the work has been around developing a way to transmit the KPI metrics (QoE) back to the Identity Providers (IdPs).
  • This solution has been explored northbound through RADIUS using an attribute called Connect-Info. WBA has, in fact, contributed to the definition of an Information Draft RFC in the IETF to standardize the applicability of Connect-Info for QoE metrics transmission.
  • Phase 3 will be about demonstrating and trialing how all that can work. The team is collecting interest from members to be involved and will move along with a POC, collect data from real live networks, see how the metrics are exchanged back to the IdPs and what type of scoring or metrics aggregation can be done through the raw outputs that we’ll retrieve.