Discerning user-perceived media stream quality through application-layer measurements

The design of access networks for proper support of multimedia applications requires an understanding of how the conditions of the underlying network (packet loss and delays, for instance) affect the performance of a media stream. In particular, network congestion can affect the user-perceived quality of a media stream. By choosing metrics that indicate and/or predict the quality ranking that a user would assign to a media stream, we can deduce the performance of a media stream without polling users directly. We describe a measurement mechanism utilizing objective measurements taken from a media player application that strongly correlate with user rankings of stream quality. Experimental results demonstrate the viability of the chosen metrics as predictors or indicators of user quality rankings, and suggest a new mechanism for evaluating the present and future quality of a media stream.