A generic end-to-end monitoring architecture for multimedia services

This paper describes a generic architecture for monitoring multimedia services, such as IPTV, MobileTV or VoIP, by analyzing the traffic of real users from an end-to-end perspective. The main data source is the information gathered by different types of probes deployed all over the monitored network. In addition, these detailed records are correlated inside the core of the architecture in order to generate quality of service figures from a centralized point. Passive probes monitor users' services; meanwhile active probes emulate users to offer an end-to-end vision of the services. Furthermore, the information from the network is enriched with external databases, as inventory tools, service model and CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Additionally, main use cases are shown for monitoring the quality of service of an IPTV platform, using the proposed architecture under the designation of OMEGAQ.