Measuring call quality

1. A method for estimating a quality of a call in which a first user terminal will comprise an end point, the method comprising:

establishing an end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and a node, the end-to-end connection via an access point of a network by which the first user terminal is connected to the network;

determining information indicative of a quality of the end-to-end connection by:

determining a transmission time for each of a plurality of packets in a queue received at the first user terminal based on information received with the packets;

determining a reception time for each of the plurality of packets;

receiving, at an estimation function, successive sets of observations, each set of observations including transmission time, reception time, and packet size; and

determining the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection using a relationship between the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection, an amount of data in the queue, packet size, and an interval between packet transmissions;

displaying a score that indicates an expected quality of a call in which the first user terminal will comprise the end point based on the information indicative of a quality of the end-to-end connection; and

providing call initiation means for enabling a user to selectively establish a call between the first user terminal and a callee.

2. A method according to claim 1 further comprising sending, from the first user terminal to another user terminal, the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and the node.

3. A method according to claim 1 further comprising receiving, at the first user terminal from another user terminal, additional information indicative of a quality of a second end-to-end connection between the another user terminal and a node.

4. A method according to claim 3 , further comprising displaying an additional score that indicates an expected quality of a call in which the first user terminal and the another user terminal will comprise the end points based on the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and the node and the additional information indicative of the quality of the second end-to-end connection.

5. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the node comprises one of a server and a user terminal other than a user terminal of the callee.

6. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising establishing plural respective end-to-end connections between the first user terminal and a plurality of respective nodes via the access point;

wherein the score that indicates the expected quality of the call in which the first user terminal will comprise the end point is determined based on information indicative of a quality of the respective end-to-end connections.

7. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, at the first user terminal, information relating to a potential callee;

wherein the end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and the node is established based on the information relating to the potential callee;

wherein the displaying the score further comprises displaying information indicative of an expected quality of a call between the first user terminal and the potential callee; and

wherein the providing call initiation means comprises providing call initiation means for enabling the user to selectively establish a call with the potential callee.

8. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining, at the first user terminal, the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and the node.

9. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising receiving, at the first user terminal, the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and the node.

10. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and the node comprises information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection in an uplink direction from the first user terminal to the node.

11. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and the node comprises information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection in a downlink direction towards the first user terminal from the node.

12. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and the node is determined using a method that determines the round trip time over the end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and the node.

13. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the call comprises one or both of a voice over internet protocol call and a video over internet protocol call.

14. A method according to claim 6 , wherein the plurality of respective nodes comprises a plurality of user terminals.

15. A method according to claim 6 , wherein the plurality of respective nodes comprises a plurality of servers.

16. A method according to claim 7 , wherein the node comprises a user terminal of the potential callee.

17. A method according to claim 7 , wherein the node comprises one of a server and a user terminal other than a user terminal of the potential callee.

18. A method according to claim 7 , further comprising receiving, at the first user terminal, the information relating to the potential callee.

19. A method according to claim 7 , wherein the information relating to the potential callee comprises an indication of an identity of the potential callee.

20. A method according to claim 7 , further comprising selecting the node based on the information relating to the potential callee.

21. A method for estimating a quality of a call between a first user terminal and a potential callee, the method comprising:

determining an indication of a quality of the end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and the potential callee by:

determining a transmission time for each of a plurality of packets in a queue received at the first user terminal based on information received with the packets;

determining a reception time for each of the plurality of packets;

receiving, at an estimation function, successive sets of observations, each set of observations including transmission time, reception time, and packet size; and

determining the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection using a relationship between the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection, an amount of data in the queue, packet size, and an interval between packet transmissions;

displaying a score that indicates an expected quality of a call between the first user terminal and the potential callee based on the indication of the quality of the end-to-end connection; and

providing call initiation means for enabling a user to selectively establish a call with the potential callee.

22. A method according to claim 21 , further comprising receiving, at the first user terminal, the indication of the quality of an end-to-end connection.

23. A method according to claim 21 , further comprising sending, from the first user terminal, information indicative of a quality of a local connection by which the first user terminal is connected to a network.

24. A method according to claim 21 , comprising receiving, at the first user terminal, information indicative of a quality of a local connection by which a second user terminal of the potential callee is connected to a network.

25. A method according to claim 21 , wherein said determining the indication of the quality of the end-to-end connection is determined based on one or both of information indicative of a quality of a local connection by which the first user terminal is connected to a network, and information indicative of a quality of a local connection by which the second user terminal is connected to a network.

26. A computer program product for estimating the quality of a call in which a first user terminal will comprise an end point, the program comprising code embodied on a computer-readable medium arranged so as, when executed on a processor, to implement a method as in claim 1 , the computer-readable medium not comprising a signal.

27. A computer program product for estimating the quality of a call between a first user terminal and a potential callee, the program comprising code embodied on a computer-readable medium arranged so as, when executed on a processor, to implement a method as in claim 21 , the computer-readable medium not comprising a signal.

28. An apparatus for estimating a quality of a call in which a first user terminal will comprise an end point, the apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium, the computer-readable medium not comprising a signal and having stored thereon code that, when executed by the processor, is configured to:

establish an end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and a node, the end-to-end connection via an access point of a network by which the first user terminal is connected to the network;

determine information indicative of a quality of the end-to-end connection by:

determining a transmission time for each of a plurality of packets in a queue received at the first user terminal based on information received with the packets;

determining a reception time for each of the plurality of packets;

receiving, at an estimation function, successive sets of observations, each set of observations including transmission time, reception time, and packet; and

determining the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection using a relationship between the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection, an amount of data in the queue, packet size, and an interval between packet transmissions;

cause a score that indicates an expected quality of a call in which the first user terminal will comprise the end point to be displayed based on the information indicative of a quality of the end-to-end connection; and

enable a user to selectively establish a call between the first user terminal and a callee.

29. An apparatus according to claim 28 , wherein the code, when executed by the processor, is further configured to determine, at the first user terminal, information relating to a potential callee;

wherein the establishing the end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and the node further comprises establishing the end-to-end connection based on the information relating to a potential callee;

wherein the causing the score to be displayed comprises causing information indicative of an expected quality of a call between the first user terminal and the potential callee to be displayed; and

wherein the enabling comprises enabling a user to selectively establish a call with the potential callee.

30. An apparatus for estimating a quality of a call between a first user terminal and a potential callee, the apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium, the computer-readable medium not comprising a signal and having stored thereon code that, when executed by the processor, is configured to:

determine information indicative of a quality of the end-to-end connection by:

determining a transmission time for each of a plurality of packets in a queue received at the first user terminal based on information received with the packets;

determining a reception time for each of the plurality of packets;

receiving, at an estimation function, successive sets of observations, each set of observations including transmission time, reception time, and packet size; and

determining the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection using a relationship between the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection, an amount of data in the queue, packet size, and an interval between packet transmissions;

determine an indication of a quality of the end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and the potential callee based on the determined information;

cause a score that indicates an expected quality of a call between the first user terminal and the potential callee to be displayed based on the indication of the quality of the end-to-end connection; and

enable a user to selectively establish a call with the potential callee.

31. A method for estimating a quality of a call in which a first user terminal will comprise an end point, the method comprising:

establishing an end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and a node, the end-to-end connection via an access point of a network by which the first user terminal is connected to the network;

displaying information indicative of an expected quality of a call in which the first user terminal will comprise the end point based on information indicative of a quality of the end-to-end connection, the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection determined by:

determining a transmission time for each of a plurality of packets in a queue received at the first user terminal based on information received with the packets;

determining a reception time for each of the plurality of packets;

receiving, at an estimation function, successive sets of observations including in each set transmission time, reception time and packet size; and

determining the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection by using a relationship between the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection, an amount of data in the queue, packet size, and an interval between packet transmissions; and

providing call initiation means for enabling a user to selectively establish a call between the first user terminal and a callee.

32. A method for estimating a quality of a call in which a first user terminal will comprise an end point, the method comprising:

establishing an end-to-end connection between the first user terminal and a node, the end-to-end connection via an access point of a network by which the first user terminal is connected to the network;

displaying information indicative of an expected quality of a call in which the first user terminal will comprise the end point based on information indicative of a quality of the end-to-end connection, the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection determined by:

determining a transmission time for each of a plurality of packets in a queue, each packet having a packet size based on data in the packet;

receiving a reception time for each packet, based on a reception clock located at the node;

receiving, at an estimation function, successive sets of observations including in each set transmission time, reception time and packet size; and

determining the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection by using a relationship between the information indicative of the quality of the end-to-end connection, an amount of data in the queue, packet size, and an interval between packet transmissions; and

providing call initiation means for enabling a user to selectively establish a call between the first user terminal and a callee.