Network-quality determining method and apparatus for use therewith

1. A method for determining the quality of a network by an apparatus connected to said network, said method comprising:

receiving data being communicated between terminals which belong to said network; and

determining whether data loss has occurred, comprising:

deciding whether or not a receiving terminal is at a re-transmission requiring state where it is requiring data retransmission; and

making a comparison between transmission-sequence-number information of said received data and transmission-sequence-number information of data which has been received up to previous reception;

wherein, determining whether data loss has occurred further comprises determining that no data loss has occurred:

when a result of said comparison shows that value of the transmission-sequence-number information of the data which has been received up to the previous reception is greater than a value of the transmission-sequence-number information of said received data, and

when the receiving terminal is not at the re-transmission requiring state.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein deciding whether or not a receiving terminal is at a re-transmission requiring state comprises:

deciding that the receiving terminal is at said re-transmission requiring state when data with the same reception-acknowledgment information is received predetermined times or more or when data indicating the reception-acknowledgement information which corresponds to the transmission-sequence-number information is not received within a certain time.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining whether data loss has occurred further comprises creating a history of the transmission-sequence-number information of said received data and detecting a data loss or the position of the occurrence of data loss.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein determining whether data loss has occurred further comprises:

determining that a data loss has occurred between a measuring apparatus and the receiving terminal when the value of said transmission-sequence-number information is not greater than that of the transmission-sequence-number information of data which has been determined up to the previous reception and also data with said transmission-sequence-number information has been received in the past, and

determining that a data loss has occurred between the transmission terminal and the measuring apparatus when said receiving terminal has not received data with said transmission-sequence-number information in the past.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising calculating goodput based on an increase in ACK number per unit time of received data indicating reception-acknowledgement information.

6. A method for determining the quality of a network by an apparatus connected to said network, said method comprising:

receiving data being communicated between terminals which belong to said network; and

determining whether a data loss has occurred, comprising:

deciding whether or not a receiving terminal is at a re-transmission requiring state where it is requiring data retransmission;

making a comparison between transmission-sequence-number information of said received data and transmission-sequence-number information of data which has been received up to previous reception;

wherein determining whether a data loss has occurred further comprises determining that a data loss has occurred:

when a result of said comparison shows that value of the transmission-sequence- number information of the data which has been received up to the previous reception is greater than a value of the transmission-sequence-number information of said received data, and

when the receiving terminal is at the re-transmission requiring state.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein deciding whether or not a receiving terminal is at a re-transmission requiring state comprises:

deciding that the receiving terminal is at said re-transmission requiring state when data with the same reception-acknowledgment information is received predetermined times or more or when data indicating the reception-acknowledgement information which corresponds to the transmission-sequence-number information is not received within a certain time.

8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein determining whether a data loss has occurred further comprises creating a history of the transmission-sequence-number information of said received data and detecting a data loss or the position of the occurrence of data loss.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein determining whether a data loss has occurred further comprises:

determining that a data loss has occurred between a measuring apparatus and the receiving terminal when the value of said transmission-sequence-number information is not greater than that of the transmission-sequence-number information of data which has been determined up to the previous reception and also data with said transmission-sequence-number information has been received in the past, and

determining that a data loss has occurred between the transmission terminal and the measuring apparatus when said receiving terminal has not received data with said transmission- sequence-number information in the past.

10. A method for determining the quality of a network by an apparatus connected to said network, said method comprising:

receiving data being communicated between terminals which belong to said network, including transmission-sequence-number information; and

deciding whether the receiving terminal is at a re-transmission requiring state comprising deciding that the receiving terminal is at said re-transmission requiring state when data with the same reception-acknowledgement information is received predetermined times or more or when data indicating the reception-acknowledgement information which corresponds to the transmission-sequence-number information is not received within a certain time; and

determining the quality of said network on basis of at least two of:

said transmission-sequence-number information indicating one or more data-transmission sequence numbers included in said received data,

the reception-acknowledgment information indicating information about data which has been received by said terminal, and

whether the receiving terminal is at said re-transmission requiring state.

11. A method for determining the quality of a network by an apparatus connected to said network, said method comprising:

receiving data being communicated between terminals which belong to said network; and

determining whether a data loss has occurred, comprising:

deciding whether or not the receiving terminal is at a re-transmission requiring state where it is requiring data retransmission, and

creating a history of a transmission-sequence-number information of said received data,

wherein determining whether a data loss has occurred comprises determining that a data loss has occurred between a measuring apparatus and the receiving terminal:

when value of said transmission-sequence-number information is not greater than that of transmission-sequence-number information of data which has been determined up to previous reception and

when data with said transmission-sequence-number information exists in said history, and

wherein determining whether a data loss has occurred comprises determining that a data loss has occurred between the transmission terminal and the measuring apparatus:

when data with said transmission-sequence-number information does not exist in said history.

12. An apparatus for determining the quality of a network comprising:

receiving means for receiving data being communicated between terminals which belong to said network; and

determining means for determining whether a data loss has occurred, comprising:

deciding means for deciding whether or not the receiving terminal is at a re-transmission requiring state where it is requiring data retransmission, and

comparison means for comparing a value of transmission-sequence-number information of said received data and transmission-sequence-number information of data which has been received up to a previous reception, wherein

the determining means determines that no data loss has occurred:

when the value of the transmission-sequence-number information of said received data is not greater than that of transmission-sequence-number information of data which has been received up to previous reception, and

when the receiving terminal is not at the re-transmission requiring state.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein said deciding means decides that the receiving terminal is at said re-transmission requiring state when data with the same reception-acknowledgment information is received predetermined times or more by said receiving means or when data indicating the reception-acknowledgment information which corresponds to the transmission-sequence-number information is not received within a certain time by said receiving means.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein

said determining means creates a history of the transmission-sequence-number information of said received data and detects a data loss or the position of the occurrence of data loss.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein

said determining means determines that a data loss has occurred between a measuring apparatus and the receiving terminal:

when the value of said transmission-sequence-number information is not greater than that of the transmission-sequence-number information of data which has been determined up to the previous reception and

data with said transmission-sequence-number information has been received in the past, and

said determining means determines that a data loss has occurred between the transmission terminal and the measuring apparatus:

when said receiving means has not received data with said transmission-sequence-number information in the past.

16. An apparatus for determining the quality of a network comprising:

receiving means for receiving data being communicated between terminals which belong to said network; and

determining means for determining whether a data loss has occurred, comprising:

deciding means for deciding whether or not the receiving terminal is at a re-transmission requiring state where it is requiring data retransmission, and

comparison means for comparing a value of transmission-sequence-number information of said received data and transmission-sequence-number information of data which has been received up to a previous reception;

wherein the determining means determines that a data loss has occurred when:

the value of transmission-sequence-number information of said received data is not greater that of transmission-sequence-number information of data which has been received up to previous reception, and

when the receiving terminal is at the re-transmission requiring state.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein said deciding means decides that the receiving terminal is at said re-transmission requiring state when:

data with the same reception-acknowledgment information is received predetermined times or more by said receiving means or

when data indicating the reception-acknowledgment information which corresponds to the transmission-sequence-number information is not received within a certain time by said receiving means.

18. The apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein

said determining means creates a history of the transmission-sequence-number information of said received data and detects a data loss or the position of the occurrence of data loss.

19. The apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein

said determining means determines that a data loss has occurred between a measuring apparatus and the receiving terminal when:

the value of said transmission-sequence-number information is not greater than that of the transmission-sequence-number information of data which has been determined up to the previous reception, and

data with said transmission-sequence-number information has been received in the past, and

said determining means determines that a data loss has occurred between the transmission terminal and the measuring apparatus when:

said receiving means has not received data with said transmission-sequence- number information in the past.

20. An apparatus for determining quality of a network comprising:

receiving means for receiving data being communicated between terminals which belong to said network, including transmission-sequence-number information; and

deciding means for deciding whether the receiving terminal is at a re-transmission requiring state comprising deciding that the receiving terminal is at said re-transmission requiring state when data with the same reception-acknowledgement information is received predetermined times or more by said receiving means or when data indicating the reception-acknowledgement information which corresponds to the transmission-sequence-number information is not received within a certain time by said receiving means; and

determining means for determining the quality of said network on basis of at least two of:

said transmission-sequence-number information indicating one or more data transmission sequence numbers included in said received data,

the reception-acknowledgment information indicating information about data which has been received by said terminal, and

whether the receiving terminal is at said re-transmission requiring state.

21. An apparatus for determining the quality of a network comprising:

receiving means for receiving data being communicated between terminals which belong to said network; and

determining means for determining whether a data loss has occurred, comprising:

deciding means for deciding whether or not the receiving terminal is at a re-transmission requiring state where it is requiring data retransmission; and

means for creating a history of a transmission-sequence-number information of said received data, and

said determining means determines that a data loss has occurred between a measuring apparatus and the receiving terminal when:

value of said transmission-sequence-number information is not greater than that of transmission-sequence-number information of data which has been determined up to previous reception, and

when data with said transmission-sequence-number information exists in said history, and

said determining means determines that the data loss has occurred between the transmission terminal and the measuring apparatus:

when data with said transmission-sequence-number information does not exist in said history.