Passive Estimation of Quality of Experience

Quality of Experience (QoE) is a promising method to take into account the users' needs in design ing, monitoring and manag ing networks. However, there is a challenge in finding a quick and simple way to estimate th e QoE due to the diversity of needs , habits and customs. We propose a new empirical method to approximate it automatically from passive network measurements and we compare its pros and cons with usual techniques. We apply it, as an example , on ADSL traffic traces to estimate the QoE dependence on the loss rate for the most used applications . We analyze more precisely the correlations between packet losses and some traffic characteristics of TCP connections, the duration, the sizes and the inter-arrival. We define different thresholds on the loss rate for network management. A nd we propose a notion of sensitiveness to compare these correlations on different applications.