VoIP quality monitoring in LTE femtocells

Abstract

The increasing number of users demanding voice and data communication through cellular networks has driven the need for higher network throughput rates and lower latency. LTE femtocells address this pressing problem by offloading cellular service providers networks and increase both coverage and capacity for their users. Assuming a wired DSL backhaul for these femtocells, this paper shows simulations exploring a case where the DSLAM represents the main bottleneck when the cellular network operator and the DSL provider do not collaborate. This paper introduces the concept of Intermediary Mean Opinion Score which may be employed at femtocell gateways to isolate network problems and feed into customer experience management. We also propose and investigate a technique of mapping the human audio recency into the MOS calculation. Results are presented to illustrate the information that can be extracted from a lightweight monitor in the network.