scope:

The present document provides the umbrella for the different parts of this multi-part document as these are service specific (e.g. Internet access, voice, IPTV and VoD) on the one hand and transport network specific (e.g. IP) on the other hand.

The service specific part(s) are considered to be suitable for the quantitatively characterization of the dominant technical QoS aspects that have a direct influence on the QoS as experienced by the end-user. Thus these technical parameters can be taken as a measure to estimate the end-user quality perception and to benchmark services subsequently.

The transport network specific(s) are considered to be suitable for the quantitatively characterization of the performance of the network as a whole and single network elements/functions. These parameters are used by the network operator to monitor the network performance, make a fault analysis and decide whether network upgrading/reconstruction, etc. needs to be undertaken.

The quality of modern terminals and network equipment is characterized by numerous quality parameters. A subset of them, those which are found to be the most important ones (KPI _ Key Performance Indicator) are measured during their lifetime and under real traffic conditions. These measurements guarantee the best possible assessment of quality problems that may occur during real use of the corresponding telecommunication device.