Determine service impacts due to device software upgrades

Abstract

Systems and methods for identifying communication devices in telecommunication networks are described. In some embodiments, a method may include performing, by a telecommunications monitoring system, determining occurrence of a device software upgrade on a device operating in a telecommunications network controlled at least in part by a telecommunications operator. Determining occurrence of performance degradation on either a device or the telecommunications network attributable to the determined occurrence of a device software upgrade. Initiating proactive actions to thwart further deployment of the device software upgrade determined to affect performance degradation on either a device or the telecommunications system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 performing, by a telecommunications monitoring system:
 determining occurrence of a device software upgrade on a device operating in a telecommunications network controlled at least in part by a telecommunications operator; 
 determining occurrence of performance degradation on either a said device or the telecommunications network attributable to said determined occurrence of a device software upgrade; and 
 initiating proactive actions to thwart further deployment of said device software upgrade determined to affect performance degradation on either a said device or the telecommunications system. 
   
     
     
         2 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein determining occurrence of a device software upgrade includes analyzing by a computer processor performance of a said device and/or the telecommunications network over a predetermined period of time to detect occurrence of said software upgrade. 
     
     
         3 . A method as recited in  claim 2 , wherein determining occurrence of a device software upgrade further includes analyzing by the computer processor Key Performance Indicators maintained for devices operating in the telecommunications network. 
     
     
         4 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein initiating proactive actions to thwart further deployment of said device software upgrades includes providing electronic notifications to device users. 
     
     
         5 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein initiating proactive actions to thwart further deployment of said device software upgrades includes providing notifications to device manufactures indicating the determined occurrence of performance degradation on either a said device or the telecommunications network attributable to said determined occurrence of a device software upgrade. 
     
     
         6 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein initiating proactive actions to thwart further deployment of said device software upgrades includes preventing deployment of the device software upgrade to devices operating in the telecommunications network. 
     
     
         7 . A method as recited in  claim 6 , wherein initiating proactive actions to thwart further deployment of said device software upgrades consist of at least adjusting firewall settings/configurations, DNS or proxy rules, or CDN configurations. 
     
     
         8 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising
 receiving an identification code of a device operating in the telecommunications network, the device having at least one of: a model or a manufacturer;   obtaining user-plane information within one or more communications made by the device; and   correlating the identification code with the user-plane information; and determining, based upon the correlation, at least one of: the model or the manufacturer of the device.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the identification code is an International Mobile Equipment Identity-Type Allocation Code (IMEI-TAC) or a Mobile Equipment Identifier-Manufacturer Code (MEID-MC). 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein prior to the determination, at least one of the model or the manufacturer: (i) has not been provided to the telecommunications monitoring system by the telecommunications operator, or (ii) has been incorrectly provided to the telecommunications monitoring system by the telecommunications operator. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the user-plane information includes a User Agent (UA) Profile Resource Description Framework (RDF) value. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the UA Profile RDF includes at least one of the model or the manufacturer of the device. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the UA Profile RDF includes a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), and wherein at least one of the model or the manufacturer is determined based upon the URI. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the user-plane information includes a User Agent (UA) value of a web browser executed by the device. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein at least one of the model or the manufacturer is determined based upon the User Agent (UA) value of the web browser. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the user-plane information includes a User Agent (UA) Profile Resource Description Framework (RDF) information, the method further comprising:
 storing data associated with the device, the data including an indication of:   the model and the manufacturer, in response to the UA Profile RDF information including the model and manufacturer of the device;   the manufacturer and a generic identification of the model, in response to the UA Profile RDF information including a domain name but not the model; or   at least one of the model or the manufacturer obtained from the UA value of a web browser executed by the device, in response to the UA Profile RDF information not including: the domain name, the model, and the manufacturer.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising: performing, by the telecommunications monitoring system: determining, based upon the correlation, a Software Version (SVN) of the device. 
     
     
         18 . A computer system for use in a telecommunications system comprising:
 a memory configured to store instructions;   a processor disposed in communication with said memory, wherein said processor upon execution of the instructions is configured to:
 determine occurrence of a device software upgrade on a device operating in a telecommunications network controlled at least in part by a telecommunications operator; 
 determine occurrence of performance degradation on either a said device or the telecommunications network attributable to said determined occurrence of a device software upgrade; and 
 initiate proactive actions to thwart further deployment of said device software upgrade determined to affect performance degradation on either a said device or the telecommunications system. 
   
     
     
         19 . A computer system as recited in  claim 18 , wherein determining occurrence of a device software upgrade includes analyzing by a computer processor:
 performance of a said device and/or the telecommunications network over a predetermined period of time to detect occurrence of said software upgrade; and   Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) maintained for devices operating in the telecommunications network.   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium and one or more computer programs embedded therein, the computer programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to:
 determine occurrence of a device software upgrade on a device operating in a telecommunications network controlled at least in part by a telecommunications operator;   determine occurrence of performance degradation on either a said device or the telecommunications network attributable to said determined occurrence of a device software upgrade; and   initiate proactive actions to thwart further deployment of said device software upgrade determined to affect performance degradation on either a said device or the telecommunications system.