Patent Publication Number: US-9900225-B2

Title: Collecting and using quality of experience information

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/687,462, entitled “Collecting and Using Quality of Experience Information,” filed Nov. 28, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,584,382, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This application relates generally to quality of experience. More particularly, the disclosure provided herein relates to collecting and using quality of experience information. 
     Over the past several years, the prevalence of smartphones and other portable Internet-enabled devices has increased rapidly. More recently, users have begun to rely upon smartphones and/or other portable devices such as tablet computers for activities that previously may have been completed with a desktop computer. Unlike a desktop computer having a dedicated Internet connection, portable computing devices such as smartphones may have a connection quality that deviates greatly in response to movements of the portable devices. 
     For example, a smartphone user may determine that voice quality decreases as the user walks into a restaurant. Similarly, data rates and/or other communication quality metrics may change based upon traffic, location, device characteristics, or the like. In some areas, overlapping cells and/or other interference can result in widely varying connection quality that may be invisible to the user. Thus, a user may attempt a communication multiple times, which may put additional load on the network elements attempting to support the requested communications. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure is directed to collecting and using quality of experience information. A server computer can execute a quality of experience management service configured to provide quality of experience display data to a requestor. In various implementations of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the requestor can correspond to a user device. The user device can execute a quality of experience application for collecting and providing device data to the quality of experience management service for use in generating and providing the quality of experience display data. The device data can include quality of experience information describing device and/or network conditions or availability at or near the user device, and location data specifying a geographic location of the user device. 
     The quality of experience management service can analyze the device data and data stored at a data store. The data stored at the data store can include quality of experience data collected from any number of other devices and/or quality of experience information collected from network devices and/or systems. The quality of experience management service can analyze the data to generate quality of experience display data for presentation at the user device. The quality of experience display data can include data that can be interpreted by the quality of experience application to present various user interfaces at the user device. The user interfaces can include, for example, a map display, an application icon grid display, a location comparison display, other types of displays, or the like. The user interfaces can be displayed to users to allow the users to quickly identify quality of experience information associated with one or more application programs accessed by the user device. 
     The quality of experience management service also can be configured to generate navigation directions based upon the quality of experience information. In addition to specifying route information such as an origin and/or destination, the user device can specify one or more quality of experience constraints that define, for example, a distance or time from the route the user is willing to travel for a specified quality of experience. The quality of experience management service can generate the navigation directions and provide the navigation directions to the user device as the quality of experience display data. 
     According to one aspect of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a method is disclosed. The method can include receiving, at a server computer executing a quality of experience management service, a request for quality of experience display data. The method also can include obtaining, by the server computer, location data defining a geographic location of a user device, analyzing, by the server computer, quality of experience information defining a quality of experience of an application program associated with the user device, generating, by the server computer, the quality of experience display data based upon the quality of experience information, and providing the quality of experience display data to the user device. 
     In some embodiments, obtaining the location data can include obtaining device data from the user device. The device data can include the location data and device quality of experience information collected by the user device. The quality of experience information can include quality of experience information collected by a network device in communication with the server computer and the quality of experience information can include a rule defining a metric and information identifying the application program. In some embodiments, the request can include receiving a request for navigation directions. Obtaining the location data can include obtaining, from the user device, device data including the location data, route information, and a quality of experience constraint to be considered during determination of a navigation route represented by the navigation directions. In some embodiments, the quality of experience constraint can include data specifying a time constraint. In some embodiments, the quality of experience constraint can include data specifying a data rate and a latency for a data session. In some embodiments, the quality of experience constraint can include data specifying a distance from the navigation route. Providing the quality of experience display data to the user device can include providing quality of experience display data including data for application icon display screen to be presented at the user device. 
     According to another aspect of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a system is disclosed. The system can include a processor and a memory storing computer-executable instructions. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by the processor, the processor can perform operations including receiving, from a user device, a request for quality of experience display data, obtaining location data defining a geographic location of the user device, analyzing quality of experience information defining a quality of experience of an application program executed by the user device, generating the quality of experience display data based upon the quality of experience information, and providing the quality of experience display data to the user device. 
     In some embodiments, obtaining the location data can include obtaining device data from the user device, the device data including the location data and device quality of experience information collected by the user device. Analyzing the quality of experience information can include analyzing the device data, a quality of experience rule, and quality of experience data obtained by a network device. The quality of experience information can include a rule defining a metric and information identifying the application program. Receiving the request can include receiving a request for navigation directions, and obtaining the location data can include obtaining, from the user device, device data including the location data, route information, and a quality of experience constraint to be considered during determination of a navigation route represented by the navigation directions. In some embodiments, generating the quality of experience display data can include generating the navigation route. Providing the quality of experience display data to the user device can include providing the navigation directions to the user device. In some embodiments, in response to a determination that the quality of experience constraint cannot be accommodated by the navigation route, the system can generate a request for a further quality of experience constraint from the user device. In some embodiments, generating the quality of experience display data can include generating data for an application icon display screen to be presented at the user device, and the quality of experience display data can define application programs and quality of experience information for each of the application programs. 
     According to yet another aspect, a computer storage medium is disclosed. The computer storage medium can have computer-executable instructions stored thereon. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor can perform operations including receiving, from a user device, a request for quality of experience display data, obtaining location data defining a geographic location of the user device, analyzing quality of experience information defining a quality of experience of an application program executed by the user device, generating the quality of experience display data based upon the quality of experience information, and providing the quality of experience display data to the user device. 
     In some embodiments, receiving the request can include receiving a request for navigation directions, and obtaining the location data can include obtaining, from the user device, device data. The device data can include the location data, route information, and a quality of experience constraint to be considered during determination of a navigation route represented by the navigation directions. In some embodiments, generating the quality of experience display data can include generating the navigation route, and providing the quality of experience display data to the user device can include providing the navigation directions to the user device. In some embodiments, obtaining the location data can include obtaining device data from the user device. The device data can include the location data and device quality of experience information collected by the user device. Analyzing the quality of experience information can include analyzing the device data, a quality of experience rule, and quality of experience data obtained by a network device, and the quality of experience information can include a rule defining a metric and information identifying the application program. 
     Other systems, methods, and/or computer program products according to embodiments will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon review of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, and/or computer program products be included within this description, be within the scope of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a system diagram illustrating an illustrative operating environment for the various embodiments disclosed herein. 
         FIG. 2  is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for displaying quality of experience information at a user device, according to an illustrative embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for generating quality of experience display data, according to another illustrative embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for generating navigation directions based upon quality of experience information, according to another illustrative embodiment. 
         FIGS. 5A-5E  are user interface (“UI”) diagrams showing aspects of UIs for collecting and using quality of experience information, according to some illustrative embodiments. 
         FIG. 6  schematically illustrates a network, according to an illustrative embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating an example computer system configured to collecting and using quality of experience information, according to some illustrative embodiments. 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating an example mobile device configured to interact with a quality of experience management service, according to some illustrative embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description is directed to collecting and using quality of experience information. A server computer can execute a quality of experience management service configured to provide quality of experience display data to a requestor such as a user device operating in communication with the server computer. The user device can execute a quality of experience application to collect device data that includes location data defining a geographic location of the user device and quality of experience information such as device and/or network performance or resource availability information. The user device can provide the device data to the quality of experience management service for use in generating and providing the quality of experience display data. 
     The quality of experience management service can analyze the device data and data stored at a data store that includes, for example, quality of experience data collected from any number of other devices and/or quality of experience information collected from network devices and/or systems. The quality of experience management service can analyze the data to generate quality of experience display data for presentation at the user device. The quality of experience display data can include data that can be interpreted by the quality of experience application to present various user interfaces at the user device. The user interfaces can include, for example, a map display, an application icon grid display, a location comparison display, other types of displays, or the like. 
     The quality of experience management service also can be configured to generate navigation directions based upon the quality of experience information. In addition to specifying route information such as an origin and/or destination, the user device can specify one or more quality of experience constraints that define, for example, a distance or time from the route the user is willing to travel for a specified quality of experience. The quality of experience management service can generate the navigation directions and provide the navigation directions to the user device as the quality of experience display data. 
     While the subject matter described herein is presented in the general context of program modules that execute in conjunction with the execution of an operating system and application programs on a computer system, those skilled in the art will recognize that other implementations may be performed in combination with other types of program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the subject matter described herein may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , aspects of an operating environment  100  for various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein for collecting and using quality of experience information will be described, according to an illustrative embodiment. The operating environment  100  shown in  FIG. 1  includes a user device  102  operating in communication with and/or as part of a communications network (“network”)  104 . According to various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the functionality of the user device  102  can be provided by a smartphone. The functionality of the user device  102  also can be provided by other computing systems such as, for example, server computers, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, set-top boxes, embedded computing systems, in-vehicle computing systems, other computing systems, or the like. For purposes of describing the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the user device  102  is described as a smartphone. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     The user device  102  can execute an operating system  106 , one or more application programs  108 , and a quality of experience management application  110  (labeled as “QoE management application” in  FIG. 1 ). The operating system  106  is a computer program for controlling the operation of the user device  102 . The application programs  108  and the quality of experience management application  110  can include executable programs configured to execute on top of the operating system  106 . The application programs  108  can include almost any type of Web-applications and/or natively executed applications executable to provide various functions. For example, the application programs  108  can include mapping/navigation applications, web browsers, media playback applications, voice and/or data communication applications, email applications, messaging programs, diagnostic applications, video conferencing applications, combinations thereof, or the like. 
     The quality of experience management application  110  can be to generate and/or display a visual representation of quality of experience (“QoE”) information in one or more user interfaces (“UIs”)  112 . The UIs  112  can be generated by the quality of experience management application  110  based upon quality of experience information obtained from various sources. In one contemplated embodiment, shown in  FIG. 1 , the UIs  112  can be based upon quality of experience display data  114  received from a quality of experience management service  118  executing on a computing device such as, for example, a server computer  120 . The quality of experience management service  118  will be described in additional detail below. Because the quality of experience display data  114  can be obtained from additional and/or alternative applications and/or devices, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     The UIs  112  generated by the quality of experience management application  110  can be provided in various visual formats and/or displays. According to various implementations, the quality of experience management application  110  can be configured to provide the quality of experience display data  114  in one or more of map displays, graph displays, histogram displays, density map displays, application display grids that show a known or expected quality of experience associated with each application in the application display grid, numerical data displays, combinations thereof, or the like. The quality of experience management application  110  can also be configured to provide a UI  112  for presenting navigation directions. Thus, the quality of experience display data  114  can correspond to navigation directions generated by the quality of experience management service  118  and/or a routing application based upon quality of experience information. Some example UIs  112  for presenting the quality of experience display data  114  are illustrated and described below, particularly with reference to  FIGS. 5A-5C . 
     The quality of experience management application  110  can be configured to collect quality of experience information indicating operating conditions, network conditions, and/or other information at or near the user device  102 . For example, the quality of experience management application  110  can collect quality of experience information indicating a latency, an available bandwidth, an available amount of memory, a processor utilization and/or availability, frequency utilization and/or availability, channel information, data upload and/or download speeds, voice quality information, standard and/or protocol information, combinations thereof, or the like. The quality of experience management application  110  can collect these and other quality of experience information at the user device  102  and/or obtain these or other quality of experience information from one or more systems, devices, applications, or nodes of the network  104 , and generate device data  116  that includes these and/or other types of data. 
     The quality of experience management application  110  also can collect location data indicating a geographic location of the user device  102 . According to various embodiments, the location data can be generated by a global positioning system (“GPS”) chip, a short range radio of the user device  102 , and/or other components of the user device  102 . The location data also can be generated by a location server operating on the network  104  and communicating with the user device  102 . As such, the geographic location of the user device  102  can be determined using GPS technologies, BLUETOOTH beacons, WIFI signals, network-radio-based technologies such as triangulation, tower information, and/or ping-based location determinations, combinations thereof, or the like. Thus, the location data can indicate a geographic location that is accurate to within about five to fifty meters in the case of GPS data, BLUETOOTH signals, and/or WIFI signals; and/or geographic information that is accurate to within about two hundred meters in the case of network-radio-based location technologies such as triangulation, tower information, or the like. The quality of experience management application  110  also can include the location data in the device data  116 . 
     The device data  116  also can include quality of experience constraints and route information used to provide navigation directions, as will be described in more detail herein, particularly with reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5D . The route information can include at least an address, coordinates, and/or other indications of an origin and a destination. The quality of experience constraints can include various quality of experience considerations specified by a user to modify the navigation directions based upon anticipated quality of experience conditions in the network  104 . As used herein, the phrase “quality of experience constraints” include at least data indicating a size or rate of a data transfer to be completed during a data session, as well as a time constraint indicating a time at which the data session is to occur. The time constraint can be expressed as a date and time, a time range, or as a time at which a countdown timer expires. These and other aspects of the quality of experience constraints are explained in more detail below. 
     The quality of experience management application  110  can collect the location data and the quality of experience information and provide the data to the quality of experience management service  118  as the device data  116 . While referred to herein as “device data,” it should be understood from the above description that the device data  116  can represent network conditions and/or device conditions at or near the user device  102 , a geographic location of the user device  102 , and/or quality of experience constraints as described herein. Thus, as used herein, the phrase “device data” refers to data indicating at least a geographic location of the user device  102  and quality of experience information indicating an available bandwidth and latency of a data connection associated with the user device  102 . The quality of experience management application  110  can provide the device data  116  to the quality of experience management service  118  to provide the quality of experience display data  114  for providing to a user in a UI  112 . 
     To provide the quality of experience display data  114 , the quality of experience management service  118  can be configured to generate, store, modify, access, and/or use the device data  116  in combination with various data  122  available to the quality of experience management service  118 . In the illustrated embodiment, the data  122  is stored at a data storage device such as, for example, a data store  124  that is accessible to the quality of experience management service  118 . According to various embodiments, the functionality of the data store  124  can be provided by one or more real or virtual resources including, but not limited to, databases, server computers, desktop computers, mobile telephones, laptop computers, other computing systems, and the like. In the illustrated embodiments, the functionality of the data store  124  is provided by a database hosted on a server computer. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     The data  122  can include quality of experience data, quality of experience rules, map data, and other data. The quality of experience data can include various quality of experience metrics such as the quality of experience information collected by the user device  102 , as well as quality of experience information collected by various systems or devices operating as a part of and/or in communication with the network  104 . Thus, the quality of experience data can include quality of experience information associated with the network and the user device  102  as well as quality of experience information associated with the network  104 . 
     The quality of experience data can include information collected by network elements and can include, for example, utilization and/or availability of network communication resources; frequency utilization and/or overlap; network traffic; bandwidth usage and/or availability; server traffic, utilization, and/or availability; network latency; other considerations; or the like. These and other types of quality of experience information can be collected for each communications device in the network  104  and can be cross-referenced with and/or can include location information that can be used to determine a geographic location of the communications device with which the data corresponds. Thus, the quality of experience data can include quality of experience information for the network  104  and the user device  102 . 
     The quality of experience rules can define various rules defining quality of experience considerations for particular users, applications, devices, and/or geographic locations. In one embodiment, the quality of experience rules define particular metrics that are to be considered when generating the quality of experience display data  114  indicating quality of experience for a particular application program  108  executing at the user device  102 . Thus, the phrase “quality of experience rule” and variants thereof is used herein to refer to a rule defining a particular type of quality of experience data (“metric”) and/or a number of metrics that are considered to gauge quality of experience of a particular application program  108 . Thus, for example, the quality of experience rules can define a rule that defines a metric for a particular voice conferencing application as being data transfer rate. Another of the quality of experience rule can define a rule that defines a metric for a messaging program as being latency and data transfer rate. Thus, the rules and the quality of experience data can be used to determine a quality of experience of a particular application program  108  executing at the user device  102  based upon the quality of experience data, which as explained above includes quality of experience information collected at the user device and quality of experience information collected at the network  104 . 
     The map data can include maps, road information, address information, routing algorithms, or the like for generating navigation directions for users. The map data can be used by the quality of experience management service  118  or a routing application invoked by the quality of experience management service  118  to generate navigation directions. As mentioned above, the quality of experience management service  118  can generate navigation directions based upon quality of experience considerations. Thus, it can be appreciated that the quality of experience management service  118  can use the quality of experience data, the quality of experience rules, and the map data to provide the navigation directions. The navigation directions also can be based upon one or more quality of experience constraints, which can be obtained from the user device  102  as or in the device data  116 , and included in the data  122  as the other data. 
     The other data can include the quality of experience constraints, as well as other information. The other information can include, for example, user or device preferences, device capabilities, permissions and/or account information, historical network trends and/or other information, and/or other information that can be used by the quality of experience management service  118  to provide the functionality described herein. In some embodiments, the user device  102  can be configured to present a display screen or dashboard to a user for use in configuring various preferences associated with the quality of experience management application  110  and/or the quality of experience management service  118 . For example, the user device  102  can present a dashboard or display screen whereby a user can select a quality of experience metric or combination of metrics to be considered in determining a quality of experience. In some embodiments, the user can specify one or more metrics for one or more of the application programs  108 . Thus, as will be appreciated with reference to  FIG. 5E , quality of experience indicators associated with application programs  108  can be based upon quality of experience metrics specified by the user or other authorized entities. 
     The quality of experience management service  118  can be configured to obtain the device data  116  from the user device  102 , and to store some or all of the device data  116  in the data store  124 . Although not shown in  FIG. 1 , the quality of experience management service  118  can be configured to collect device data  116  from multiple devices operating in communication with the network  104 . In some embodiments, the device data  116  is collected from each device operating in communication with the network  104 . As such, the quality of experience management service  118  can collect network performance and/or other quality of experience information from many, if not all, devices operating in communication with the network  104 , thereby enabling the quality of experience management service  118  to obtain a picture of network performance and quality of experience at a particular time. 
     The quality of experience management service  118  can use these and other data stored as the data  122  to generate quality of experience display data  114  at the user device  102 . As mentioned above, the user device  102  can be configured to generate one or more UIs  112  for presenting the quality of experience display data  114  in a visual representation that shows quality of experience for particular application programs  108  and/or functions at the user device  102 . According to various embodiments, the quality of experience management application  110  obtains the quality of experience display data  114  and generates the UIs  112  at the user device  102 . In some embodiments, the quality of experience management application  110  can apply various user settings and/or preferences to the quality of experience display data  114  during generation of the UIs  112 . These and additional aspects of displaying the quality of experience display data  114  at the user device  102  are illustrated and described in more detail below with reference to  FIGS. 2-5E . 
     In practice, the user device  102  executes a number of application programs  108  and the quality of experience management application  110 . The application programs  108  can include various types of applications that rely upon network communications to provide certain functions and/or information. The quality of experience management application  110  can request quality of experience display data  114  from the quality of experience management service  118  for purposes of generating and presenting one or more UIs  112  that display quality of experience information to a user. 
     The quality of experience management application  110  can collect and send device data  116  including location data and network operating conditions to the quality of experience management service  118 . The quality of experience management service  118  can analyze the device data  116  and the data  122  stored at the data store  124  to determine a quality of experience at various geographic locations including, for example, a geographic location at which the user device  102  is located or will be located at some time. The quality of experience management service  118  can generate quality of experience display data  114  based upon this analysis and provide the quality of experience display data  114  to the user device  102 . 
     In generating the quality of experience display data  114 , the quality of experience management service  118  can define a matrix or table of data. The matrix or table can define, at least, geographic locations, an application program  108  for which quality of experience information applies, the identity of the type of quality of experience information presented, and a value of the quality of experience information. An example table or matrix of data that can correspond to the quality of experience display data  114  is provided below in TABLE 1. 
                                     TABLE 1               Location   Application   Metric   Value   Other                  +40° 40′ 8.46″,   AT&amp;T Video   Latency;   27 ms;   DataA       −73° 56′ 34.27″   Conferencing   Upload;   1567 Mbps;               Download   3734 Mbps       27361   Email   Upload   687 Mbps   DataB           Application                    
It should be understood that the quality of experience display data  114  can have hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of data points, depending upon a geographic location for which quality of experience display data  114  is provided, and that the above example table is therefore merely illustrative of the quality of experience display data  114 .
 
     The quality of experience management application  110  can obtain the quality of experience display data  114  and generate one or more UIs  112  for presenting the quality of experience display data  114  in a visual representation. As noted above, the quality of experience display data  114  can include thousands or more of locations and associated quality of experience information. A map display, for example, can define geographic locations as boundaries and quality of experience information that applies within the defined boundaries. Additionally, or alternatively, a map display can define multiple locations and associated quality of experience information and the quality of experience management application  110  can be configured to generate the UIs  112  to reflect the readings. Some illustrative embodiments of the UIs  112  are illustrated and described in more detail below with reference to  FIG. 5A-5C . 
       FIG. 1  illustrates one user device  102 , one network  104 , one server computer  120 , and one data store  124 . It should be understood, however, that various implementations of the operating environment  100  include multiple user devices  102 , multiple networks  104 , multiple server computers  120 , and/or multiple data stores  124 . As such, the illustrated embodiment should be understood as being illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , aspects of a method  200  for displaying quality of experience information at a user device will be described in detail, according to an illustrative embodiment. It should be understood that the operations of the methods disclosed herein are not necessarily presented in any particular order and that performance of some or all of the operations in an alternative order(s) is possible and is contemplated. The operations have been presented in the demonstrated order for ease of description and illustration. Operations may be added, omitted, and/or performed simultaneously, without departing from the scope of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein. 
     It also should be understood that the methods disclosed herein can be ended at any time and need not be performed in its entirety. Some or all operations of the methods, and/or substantially equivalent operations, can be performed by execution of computer-readable instructions included on a computer storage media, as defined herein. The term “computer-readable instructions,” and variants thereof, as used herein, is used expansively to include routines, applications, application modules, program modules, programs, components, data structures, algorithms, and the like. Computer-readable instructions can be implemented on various system configurations including single-processor or multiprocessor systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, personal computers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based, programmable consumer electronics, combinations thereof, and the like. 
     Thus, it should be appreciated that the logical operations described herein are implemented (1) as a sequence of computer implemented acts or program modules running on a computing system and/or (2) as interconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within the computing system. The implementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance and other requirements of the computing system. Accordingly, the logical operations described herein are referred to variously as states, operations, structural devices, acts, or modules. These states, operations, structural devices, acts, and modules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic, and any combination thereof. As used herein, the phrase “cause a processor to perform operations” and variants thereof is used to refer to causing a processor of a computing system or device, such as the user device  102  and/or the server computer  120  to perform one or more operations and/or causing the processor to direct other components of the computing system or device to perform one or more of the operations. 
     For purposes of illustrating and describing the concepts of the present disclosure, the methods  200  is described as being performed by the user device  102  via execution of one or more software modules such as, for example, the quality of experience management application  110 . It should be understood that additional and/or alternative devices and/or network nodes can provide the functionality described herein via execution of one or more modules, applications, and/or other software including, but not limited to, the quality of experience management application  110 . Thus, the illustrated embodiment of the method  200  is illustrative, and should not be viewed as being limiting in any way. 
     The method  200  begins at operation  202 , wherein the user device  102  detects a request for quality of experience display data  114 . The user device  102  can detect the request for quality of experience display data  114  by detecting a command or other input for accessing a quality of experience display such as one or more of the UIs  112  described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the user device  102  can detect the request for quality of experience display data  114  by detecting activation of the quality of experience management application  110  at the user device  102 . In some embodiments, the quality of experience management application  110  is activated during startup or powering-on of the user device  102 , and the user device  102  can therefore detect the request for quality of experience display data  114  at startup of the device. Because the user device  102  can detect the request for the quality of experience display data  114  at these and other times, the above examples are illustrative and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     From operation  202 , the method  200  proceeds to operation  204 , wherein the user device  102  obtains the device data  116 . As explained above, the device data  116  obtained by the user device  102  can include at least location data and quality of experience information indicating a latency and speed of a data connection. The device data  116  also can include other information such as, for example, device utilization information, trajectory information, orientation information, battery and/or other resource availability information, combinations thereof, or the like. 
     The location data obtained in operation  202  can include information specifying a geographic location of the user device  102  and trajectory information that can be interpreted by the quality of experience management application  110  and/or the quality of experience management service  118  to determine a current location of the user device  102  and/or an expected location of the user device  102  at a particular time. In operation  204 , the user device  102  can obtain a location using a location component of the user device  102  such as, for example, a GPS chip(s), network information, or other resources. The user device  102  also can determine trajectory information such as, for example, a bearing, speed, and/or other information using these or other components of the user device  102  and/or the network  104 . Thus, the device data  116  obtained in operation  204  can be used to determine a location of the user device  102  at a particular time as well as an expected position at some other time, and network and/or device conditions at or near the user device  102 . Because the device data  116  can include additional information, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     From operation  204 , the method  200  proceeds to operation  206 , wherein the user device  102  obtains quality of experience display data  114  from the quality of experience management service  118 . To obtain the quality of experience display data  114 , the user device  102  can generate a request for the quality of experience display data  114  and transmit the request or the quality of experience management service  118  with the device data  116  obtained in operation  204 . Thus, the quality of experience management service  118  can receive the request for the quality of experience display data  114 , location information associated with the user device  102 , and quality of experience information associated with the user device  102 . 
     In some embodiments, the user device  102  can transmit the device data  116  to the quality of experience management service  118 , and the quality of experience management service  118  can be configured to recognize submission of the device data  116  as a request for the quality of experience display data  114 . As such, user device  102  can be configured to “request” the quality of experience display data  114  by submitting the device data  116 . The generation of the quality of experience display data  114  by the quality of experience management service  118  will be explained in more detail below, particularly with reference to  FIGS. 3-4 . It should be understood that operation  206  also can include the user device  102  receiving the quality of experience display data  114  from the quality of experience management service  118 . 
     From operation  206 , the method  200  proceeds to operation  208 , wherein the user device  102  generates one or more UIs  112  for presenting the quality of experience display data  114  obtained in operation  206 . The user device  102  can process the quality of experience display data  114  to generate the UIs  112  by determining a type of display to be generated and generating the display as the UIs  112 . Thus, for example, if the quality of experience display data  114  received in operation  208  corresponds to a quality of experience map (as will be illustrated and described in additional detail below with reference to  FIG. 5A ), the user device  102  can generate a UI  112  for presenting the quality of experience map based upon location information and quality of experience information included in the quality of experience display data  114 . Because functionality of computing devices for rendering and/or displaying visual data is generally understood, these aspects of the quality of experience management application  110  are not discussed in additional detail, though some example UIs  112  are illustrated and described to demonstrate some embodiments of the visual displays disclosed herein. 
     From operation  208 , the method  200  proceeds to operation  210 , wherein the user device  102  presents the quality of experience display data  114  in the one or more UIs  112  generated in operation  208 . The user device  102  can display the UIs  112  at the user device  102 , for example on a display screen, or output the UIs  112  to other devices at or near the user device  102 . For example, the user device  102  can export the UIs  112  to a display screen in communication with the user device  102  via a communications link, if desired. Because presenting user interfaces such as the UIs  112  is generally understood, the presentation of the UIs generated in operation  208  will not be further described herein for the sake of brevity. 
     From operation  210 , the method  200  proceeds to operation  212 . The method  200  ends at operation  212 . 
     Turning now to  FIG. 3 , aspects of a method  300  for generating quality of experience display data will be described in detail, according to an illustrative embodiment. For purposes of illustrating and describing the concepts of the present disclosure, the methods  300 ,  400  are described as being performed by the server computer  120  via execution of one or more software modules such as, for example, the quality of experience management service  118 . It should be understood that additional and/or alternative devices and/or network nodes can provide the functionality described herein via execution of one or more modules, applications, and/or other software including, but not limited to, the quality of experience management service  118 . Thus, the illustrated embodiments are illustrative, and should not be viewed as being limiting in any way. 
     The method  300  begins at operation  302 , wherein the server computer  120  detects a request for quality of experience display data  114 . In some embodiments, the request for the quality of experience display data  114  can be received from the user device  102 , as explained above with reference to  FIG. 2 . In some other embodiments, the request of the quality of experience display data  114  can be received from other devices, applications, and/or nodes. For purposes of illustrating and describing the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the method  300  is described with reference to an embodiment in which the request of the quality of experience display data  114  is received from the user device  102 . 
     From operation  302 , the method  300  proceeds to operation  304 , wherein the server computer  120  obtains device data  116  associated with the user device  102 . As explained above with reference to  FIGS. 1-2 , the device data  116  can include location information associated with the user device  102  and quality of experience information associated with the user device  102 . The device data  116  also can include quality of experience constraints, device resource information, trajectory information, combinations thereof, or the like. In some embodiments, the device data  116  is obtained from the user device  102  and in other embodiments, the device data  116  can be obtained by the server computer  120  from the data  122  stored in the data store  124 . 
     From operation  304 , the method  300  proceeds to operation  306 , wherein the server computer  120  analyzes quality of experience information. In addition to analyzing the quality of experience information included in the device data  116  obtained in operation  304 , the server computer  120  can obtain quality of experience information stored at the data store  124  as the data  122 , which can include quality of experience data, rules, map data, other data, or the like. Thus, operation  306  can include the server computer  120  obtaining and analyzing quality of experience information included in the device data  116 , as well as the data  122 . During the analysis of the quality of experience information, the server computer  120  can identify and/or generate a geographic area, time constraints, and quality of experience findings associated with the quality of experience display data  114  to be generated. Each of these aspects of the quality of experience display data  114  are described in more detail below. 
     The geographic area can be determined by the server computer  120  based upon the location data included in the device data  116  obtained in operation  304 . In some embodiments, the server computer  120  is configured to determine the geographic area as a defined radius around the geographic location of the user device  102 . In some embodiments, the radius is defined as ten feet, fifty meters, one thousand feet, three miles, ten miles, or the like. In some other embodiments, the server computer  120  determines the radius based upon a trajectory of the user device  102  and the time constraints. Thus, for example, if the time constraints specify ten minutes, the server computer  120  can be configured to determine radius based upon determining where the user device  102  can be, based upon a detected trajectory, within a ten minute window. If the trajectory corresponds to sixty miles per hour, and the time constraints specify ten minutes, the server computer  120  can define the radius as ten miles. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     The time constraints, as noted above, can correspond to a time for which or at which the determined quality of experience display data  114  applies or will apply. Because network conditions can change with time, the quality of experience display data  114  can have an effective time that is defined by the time constraints. Thus, the quality of experience display data  114  can specify, for example, that the determined quality of experience information applies for the next thirty seconds, one minute, ten minutes, one hour, one day, or the like. The time constraints can be determined by the server computer  120  based upon location information, traffic patterns, historical trends, combinations thereof, or the like. 
     The quality of experience findings can correspond to actual quality of experience values associated with the particular locations and/or times determined by the server computer  120 . Thus, the server computer  120  can determine, for example, that latency at or near a particular street address is fifteen milliseconds, and that the latency at this location is expected to remain at or near fifteen milliseconds for the next ten minutes. In this example, “a latency of fifteen milliseconds” can correspond to the quality of experience finding, the time constraints can correspond to the next ten minutes, and the geographic area can correspond to at or near the street address. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     In analyzing the various quality of experience information collected by the server computer  120 , the server computer  120  can also consider one or more rules included in the data  122  described herein. As noted above, the rules can define particular quality of experience information that is relevant to a particular application program  108  executing at the user device  102 . The rules can define what quality of experience information is relevant to which application programs  108 , and the server computer  120  can therefore narrow its analysis based upon the rules, if desired. 
     From operation  306 , the method  300  proceeds to operation  308 , wherein the server computer  120  generates the quality of experience display data  114 . The server computer  120  can generate the quality of experience display data  114  to reflect the quality of experience information analysis in operation  306 . In some embodiments, the server computer  120  can generate a table or matrix that defines geographic locations, application programs  108 , quality of experience metrics or considerations relevant to the application programs  108 , quality of experience findings as described above, other information, combinations thereof, or the like. An example of the quality of experience display data  114  is shown in TABLE 1 described above with reference to  FIG. 1 . Because the quality of experience display data  114  can be provided in additional and/or alternative formats, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     From operation  308 , the method  300  proceeds to operation  310 , wherein the server computer  120  provides the quality of experience display data  114  generated in operation  308  to the user device  102 . The server computer  120  therefore can respond to the request received in operation  302  by providing the quality of experience display data  114  in operation  310 . Because the server computer  120  can be called or invoked by other devices in addition to, or instead of, the user device  102 , it should be understood that this example is illustrative and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     From operation  310 , the method  300  proceeds to operation  312 . The method  300  ends at operation  312 . 
     While not illustrated in  FIG. 3 , it should be understood that the server computer  120  can be configured to take various actions in addition to generating the quality of experience display data  114  described herein. In particular, in some embodiments the quality of experience management service  118  can be configured to generate suggestions or instructions for the user device  102  to improve quality of experience and/or to provide ways in which a user can improve quality of experience. For example, the server computer  120  can be configured to instruct a user device  102  operating on a cellular data connection that a wireless local area network (“WLAN”) connection, for example a WIFI network connection, is available at some location. Thus, for example, the server computer  120  can inform the user device  102  that a WIFI connection is available at the geographic location of the user device  102  and generate instructions for switching the user device  102  to the WIFI data connection to improve quality of experience and/or to reduce costs to the user. Because additional and/or alternative actions can be taken by the server computer  120 , it should be understood that this example is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 4 , aspects of a method  400  for generating navigation directions based upon quality of experience information will be described in detail, according to an illustrative embodiment. In some embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, navigation directions can be obtained. The navigation directions can include a location at which a desired or needed quality of experience exists. Thus, users or other entities can obtain a navigation route to accommodate quality of experience needs or desires in accordance with some embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein. 
     The method  400  begins at operation  402 , wherein the server computer  120  receives a request for navigation directions. In various implementations, the request for navigation directions received in operation  402  can be received from a user device such as the user device  102  illustrated in  FIG. 1 , though this is not necessarily the case. The request for quality of experience navigation directions can be received in a number of ways. For example, a device of a requestor, for example the user device  102 , can explicitly request quality of experience navigation directions. In some other embodiments, the server computer  120  can receive a request by receiving the device data  116 , wherein the device data  116  includes one or more quality of experience constraints and route information including an origin and a destination. Because the functionality described herein for generating quality of experience navigation directions can be invoked or requested in a number of ways in addition to, or instead of, the above examples, it should be understood that these examples are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     From operation  402 , the method  400  proceeds to operation  404 , wherein the server computer  120  obtains quality of experience information. In operation  404 , the server computer  120  can obtain device data  116  from the user device  102 , wherein the device data  116  can include location information associated with the user device  102 , quality of experience information associated with the user device  102 , one or more quality of experience constraints, and route information. The server computer  120  also can obtain the data  122  from the data store  124 . 
     As mentioned above, the route information can include data specifying an origin and data specifying a destination. The quality of experience constraints can be used in generating navigation directions between the defined origin and destination based upon quality of experience information. The quality of experience constraints can include, for example, a data size or rate desired or needed and time constraints that define a time window or time during or at which the data size or rate is needed or desired. In some embodiments, the quality of experience constraints further can include a route deviation limit, which can be expressed in terms of time or distance and can define an amount a user is willing to deviate from his or her route to conduct the data session of the size or rate and at the time as defined by the quality of experience constraints. Thus, the quality of experience constraints can be used to determine detours for a navigation route to support specified data communications. 
     From operation  404 , the method  400  proceeds to operation  406 , wherein the server computer  120  determines a navigation route. The server computer  120  can determine, based upon the information obtained in operation  404 , a navigation route for the user. In some embodiments, the quality of experience management service  118  can generate or request generation of a route between the origin and destination included in the route information and identify a location along the route at which a quality of experience meets or exceeds the quality of experience constraints defined. If a location along the route does not meet or exceed the specified quality of experience constraints, the server computer  120  can search within a defined route deviation limit for a location that meets or exceeds the defined quality of experience constraints. 
     If a location meeting or exceeding the quality of experience constraints is identified, the location can be added to the navigation route as a detour or destination. If no location along the route or within the defined route deviation limit meets or exceeds the quality of experience constraints, the server computer  120  can generate instructions for informing the requestor, and the requestor can modify the quality of experience constraints. Thus, the navigation route generated in operation  406  can include a via, detour, or destination at which the quality of experience matches the quality of experience constraints. 
     From operation  406 , the method  400  proceeds to operation  408 , wherein the server computer  120  generates quality of experience display data  114  that includes the navigation route determined in operation  406 . The server computer  120  can generate turn directions for including in the quality of experience display data  114 . Thus, the quality of experience display data  114  generated in operation  408  can specify locations of turns, directions of turns, or the like. 
     From operation  410 , the method  400  proceeds to operation  412 , wherein the server computer  120  provides the quality of experience display data  114  generated in operation  408  to the user device  102 . Thus, the server computer  120  can respond to the request received in operation  402  by providing the quality of experience display data  114  generated in operation  408  to the requestor in operation  410 . 
     From operation  412 , the method  400  proceeds to operation  414 . The method  400  ends at operation  414 . 
       FIGS. 5A-5E  are user interface (“UI”) diagrams showing aspects of UIs for collecting and using quality of experience information, according to some illustrative embodiments.  FIG. 5A  shows an illustrative screen display  500 A generated by a device such as the user device  102 . According to various embodiments, the user device  102  can generate the screen display  500 A and/or other screen displays in conjunction with and/or based upon data received from the quality of experience management service  118  described herein. It should be appreciated that the UI diagram illustrated in  FIG. 5A  is illustrative of one contemplated example of the UIs  112  and therefore should not be construed as being limited in any way. 
     Although not shown in  FIG. 5A , the screen display  500 A can include various menus and/or menu options. The screen display  500 A also can include a quality of experience display map  502 . The quality of experience display map  502  can provide a visual representation of quality of experience information at, near, or remote from the user device  102 . In the illustrated embodiment, the quality of experience display map  502  is illustrated as including a location indicator icon  504 . The location indicator icon  504  can display, on the quality of experience display map  502 , a location of the user device  102 . It should be understood that the location of the user device  102  can be determined by the user device  102  and/or by other systems or devices operating as a part of or in communication with the network  104 . 
     The quality of experience display map  502  also is illustrated as having a number of regions or geographic areas (“regions”)  506 A-F (hereinafter collectively and/or generically referred to as “regions  506 ”). As shown in  FIG. 5A , the regions  506  can be color-coded, pattern coded, and/or otherwise visually distinguishable from one another based upon a quality of experience associated with the geographic area corresponding to the regions  506  on the quality of experience display map  502 . Although not visible in  FIG. 5A , it should be understood that the regions  506  can be configured as translucent or transparent overlays on top of a map or other layer. As such, streets, geographic features, landmarks, or the like can be displayed on the quality of experience display map  502 , if desired. 
     The quality of experience display map  502  also includes a legend  508 . The legend can define what the displayed patterns or colors displayed in the quality of experience display map  502  correspond to in terms of quality of experience. In the illustrated embodiment, the legend  508  defines four grades of quality of experience and associated patterns. It should be understood from the above description, that the legend  508  and the regions  506  can be determined by the quality of experience management service  118  based upon rules, quality of experience information from the user device  102 , quality of experience information from the network  104 , map data, device data  116 , or the like. Because the illustrated example quality of experience display map  502  is merely illustrative of one contemplated embodiment, the quality of experience display map  502  shown in  FIG. 5A  should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5B , a UI diagram showing additional aspects of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein for collecting and using quality of experience information are described in detail. In particular,  FIG. 5B  shows an illustrative screen display  500 B generated by a device such as the user device  102 . It should be appreciated that the UI diagram illustrated in  FIG. 5B  is illustrative of one contemplated example of the UIs  112  and therefore should not be construed as being limited in any way. 
     The screen display  500 B can include a quality of experience comparison display  510 . The quality of experience comparison display  510  can be used to allow users to compare multiple geographic locations and various quality of experience information associated with those geographic locations. In the illustrated example, the quality of experience comparison display  510  includes quality of experience information associated with two geographic locations, Location A and Location B. Because the quality of experience comparison display  510  can include quality of experience information for two and/or more than two geographic locations, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5B , the quality of experience comparison display  510  includes five different quality of experience metrics and relative values of these quality of experience metrics. While bar charts are shown in  FIG. 5B , the quality of experience information can be displayed as numerical values, pie charts, color coding, other visual indicators, combinations thereof, or the like. It can be appreciated from the above description of  FIGS. 1-4 , that the quality of experience metrics can define particularly relevant quality of experience information, and that the relative values can correspond to the quality of experience findings described above. More than five, five, and/or less than five quality of experience metrics can be displayed. As such, the illustrated quality of experience comparison display  510  is illustrative of one example and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     By glancing at the quality of experience comparison display  510 , a user or other entity can determine which of the geographic locations (e.g., Location A and Location B) is associated with a better quality of experience. Based upon the particular quality of experience metrics displayed, the user can decide what quality of experience metric is most important and select a geographic location based upon that determination. In some embodiments, the geographic locations can be within several feet of one another or more than several miles from one another. In case of the former, a user may move to a better location based upon the information included in the quality of experience comparison display  510 . As such, some embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein enable a user to find a location that meets his or her quality of experience needs or desires using the quality of experience display data  114  described herein. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5C , a UI diagram showing additional aspects of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein for collecting and using quality of experience information are described in detail. In particular,  FIG. 5C  shows an illustrative screen display  500 C generated by a device such as the user device  102 . It should be appreciated that the UI diagram illustrated in  FIG. 5C  is illustrative of one contemplated example of the UIs  112  and therefore should not be construed as being limited in any way. 
     The screen display  500 C can include a quality of experience application icon grid display  512 . The quality of experience application icon grid display  512  can be used to allow users to compare a quality of experience metric or metrics associated with each of multiple application programs  108  executing at the user device  102 . Thus, the quality of experience application icon grid display  512  can be used to inform a user or other entity of respective quality of experience information associated with each of multiple application programs  108 . As explained above, one or more rules can be defined for specifying particular quality of experience metrics relevant to a particular application program  108 . As such, quality of experience information for each of multiple application programs  108  may differ at any particular time and/or geographic location. Thus, the quality of experience application icon grid display  512  can be used to quickly determine quality of experience information for each of the application programs  108  represented on the quality of experience application icon grid display  512 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 5C , the quality of experience application icon grid display  512  includes four UI controls  514 A-D (hereinafter collectively and/or generically referred to as “UI controls  514 ”). Selection of one or more of the UI controls  514  can cause the user device  102  to activate an application program  108  corresponding to the selected UI controls  514 . The quality of experience application icon grid display  512  also includes four quality of experience indicators  516 A-D (hereinafter collectively and/or generically referred to as “quality of experience indicators  516 ”). The quality of experience indicators  516  can provide a color-coded, pattern-coded, alphanumeric, and/or otherwise formatted indication of quality of experience associated with the respective application programs  108  represented by the UI controls  514 . 
     As explained above, the user, a network operator, application program developers, and/or other entities can specify what quality of experience metrics are considered when generating the quality of experience indicators  516 . Thus, for example, a user may access a preference screen that lists one or more application programs  108 , and various quality of experience metrics such as latency, uplink speed, downlink speed, a degree of burstiness, reliability of a data connection, voice quality, ping response time, WIFI availability, cellular data availability, 2G/3G/4G signal availability, combinations thereof, or the like. One or more of these metrics can be selected, for example using on/off selectors, checkboxes, or the like, for one or more of the application programs  108 . As such, a user or other entity can specify what quality of experience metrics are considered in determining quality of experience as described herein. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     The quality of experience application icon grid display  512  also includes a legend  508  as described above with reference to  FIG. 5A . Because quality of experience can be represented without a legend  508  and/or because the quality of experience can be defined by more than four grades as shown in  FIG. 5C , it should be understood that the example legend  508  is merely illustrative. It can be appreciated with reference to  FIG. 5C  that a user or other entity can determine, with a glance at the screen display  500 C, a quality of experience associated with each application program  108  represented by one of the UI controls  514  shown in  FIG. 5C . 
     While four UI controls  514  and four quality of experience indicators  516  are shown in  FIG. 5C , it should be understood that that less than four, four, and/or more than four UI controls  514 A-D can be displayed. Furthermore, because selection of the UI controls  514  can cause the user device  102  to perform additional or alternative actions, the illustrated quality of experience application icon grid display  512  is illustrative of one example and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5D , a UI diagram showing additional aspects of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein for collecting and using quality of experience information are described in detail. In particular,  FIG. 5D  shows an illustrative screen display  500 D generated by a device such as the user device  102 . It should be appreciated that the UI diagram illustrated in  FIG. 5D  is illustrative of one contemplated example of the UIs  112  and therefore should not be construed as being limited in any way. 
     The screen display  500 D can include a quality of experience navigation directions display  518 . The quality of experience navigation directions display  518  can be used to allow users to request navigation directions and/or to specify one or more quality of experience constraints associated with the route to be generated. As shown in  FIG. 5D , the screen display  500 D can include a route information area  520  for specifying an origin and/or destination for a navigation route. Although not shown in  FIG. 5D , it should be understood that the route information area  520  can include links to a contact book or other source for addresses or other location information. 
     The screen display  500 D also can include a quality of experience constraints area  522  for specifying quality of experience constraints to apply to the navigation route being requested. As explained herein, particularly with reference to  FIG. 4 , a user or other entity can specify the quality of experience constraints to allow deviation from the navigation route between the origin and destination to accommodate specific requested data sessions and/or other communications within particular specified time constraints. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     The screen display  500 D also includes a UI control  524  for requesting a route. Selection of the UI control  524  can cause the user device  102  to send the route information and the quality of experience constraints entered via the screen display  500 D to the quality of experience management service  118  with a request for navigation directions. The screen display  500 D also includes a UI control  526  for exiting the quality of experience navigation directions display  518 . Because additional and/or alternative information can be obtained via the screen display  500 D, it should be understood that the illustrated example is illustrative and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5E , a UI diagram showing additional aspects of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein for collecting and using quality of experience information are described in detail. In particular,  FIG. 5E  shows an illustrative screen display  500 E generated by a device such as the user device  102 . It should be appreciated that the UI diagram illustrated in  FIG. 5E  is illustrative of one contemplated example of the UIs  112  and therefore should not be construed as being limited in any way. 
     The screen display  500 E can include a quality of experience preferences screen  528 . The quality of experience preferences screen  528  can be used to allow users to configure what quality of experience metrics are to be considered when determining a quality of experience associated with one or more application programs  108 . Thus, a user may specify, for example, that a quality of experience metric to be considered for an email application is download speed, since the user may determine that a quality of experience associated with downloading emails is more important to the user&#39;s notion of quality of experience than an upload speed for sending emails. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5E , the screen display  500 E can include a table for choosing and/or configuring one or more quality of experience metrics to be considered for various device functionality. In the illustrated embodiment, the quality of experience preferences screen  528  displays an application program heading  530  and metric headings  532 . Under the application program heading  530 , the quality of experience preferences screen  528  can include indicators  534  for any number of the application programs  108 . Because the indicators  534  can include other device functionality not provided by application programs (e.g., metric reporting, location services, or the like), it should be understood that the indicators  534  shown in  FIG. 5E  are illustrative and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     The quality of experience preferences screen  528  also can include UI controls  536  under the metric headings  532  for selecting one or more of the quality of experience metrics indicated by the metric headings  532  for one or more of the application programs  108  and/or other device functionality indicated by the indicators  534 . While the metric headings  532  are shown as “M1,” “M2,” and “M3,” it should be understood that the metric headings  532  can specify a particular quality of experience metric such as, for example, uplink speed, downlink speed, latency, 2G, 3G, 4G, WIFI, other quality of experience metrics, or the like. 
     Thus, a user or other entity can select one or more of the UI controls  536  to specify what quality of experience metrics are considered when gauging quality of experience for an associated application program  108  or other functionality associated with the indicators  534 . Of course, any number of quality of experience metrics and/or indicators  534  can be shown on a screen display such as the screen display  500 E. As such, the illustrated embodiment is illustrative and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. It therefore can be appreciated that when quality of experience for an application program  108  or other functionality is described herein, that a user or other entity can specify what quality of experience metrics are considered. It further can be understood that the preferences set via the screen display  500 E can be transmitted to the quality of experience management service  118  and saved as the rules and/or other data in the data  122 , if desired. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 6 , additional details of the network  104  are illustrated, according to an illustrative embodiment. The network  104  includes a cellular network  602 , a packet data network  604 , for example, the Internet, and a circuit switched network  606 , for example, a publicly switched telephone network (“PSTN”). The cellular network  602  includes various components such as, but not limited to, base transceiver stations (“BTSs”), Node-B&#39;s or e-Node-B&#39;s, base station controllers (“BSCs”), radio network controllers (“RNCs”), mobile switching centers (“MSCs”), mobile management entities (“MMEs”), short message service centers (“SMSCs”), multimedia messaging service centers (“MMSCs”), home location registers (“HLRs”), home subscriber servers (“HSSs”), visitor location registers (“VLRs”), charging platforms, billing platforms, voicemail platforms, GPRS core network components, location service nodes, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (“IMS″), and the like. The cellular network  602  also includes radios and nodes for receiving and transmitting voice, data, and combinations thereof” to and from radio transceivers, networks, the packet data network  604 , and the circuit switched network  606 . 
     A mobile communications device  608 , such as, for example, a cellular telephone, a user equipment, a mobile terminal, a PDA, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, and combinations thereof, can be operatively connected to the cellular network  602 . The cellular network  602  can be configured as a 2G GSM network and can provide data communications via GPRS and/or EDGE. Additionally, or alternatively, the cellular network  602  can be configured as a 3G UMTS network and can provide data communications via the HSPA protocol family, for example, HSDPA, EUL (also referred to as HSUPA), and HSPA+. The cellular network  602  also is compatible with 4G mobile communications standards as well as evolved and future mobile standards. 
     The packet data network  604  includes various devices, for example, servers, computers, databases, and other devices in communication with one another, as is generally known. The packet data network  604  devices are accessible via one or more network links. The servers often store various files that are provided to a requesting device such as, for example, a computer, a terminal, a smartphone, or the like. Typically, the requesting device includes software (a “browser”) for executing a web page in a format readable by the browser or other software. Other files and/or data may be accessible via “links” in the retrieved files, as is generally known. In some embodiments, the packet data network  604  includes or is in communication with the Internet. The circuit switched network  606  includes various hardware and software for providing circuit switched communications. The circuit switched network  606  may include, or may be, what is often referred to as a plain old telephone system (POTS). The functionality of a circuit switched network  606  or other circuit-switched network are generally known and will not be described herein in detail. 
     The illustrated cellular network  602  is shown in communication with the packet data network  604  and a circuit switched network  606 , though it should be appreciated that this is not necessarily the case. One or more Internet-capable devices  610 , for example, a PC, a laptop, a portable device, or another suitable device, can communicate with one or more cellular networks  602 , and devices connected thereto, through the packet data network  604 . It also should be appreciated that the Internet-capable device  610  can communicate with the packet data network  604  through the circuit switched network  606 , the cellular network  602 , and/or via other networks (not illustrated). 
     As illustrated, a communications device  612 , for example, a telephone, facsimile machine, modem, computer, or the like, can be in communication with the circuit switched network  606 , and therethrough to the packet data network  604  and/or the cellular network  602 . It should be appreciated that the communications device  612  can be an Internet-capable device, and can be substantially similar to the Internet-capable device  610 . In the specification, the network  104  is used to refer broadly to any combination of the networks  602 ,  604 ,  606 . It should be appreciated that substantially all of the functionality described with reference to the network  104  can be performed by the cellular network  602 , the packet data network  604 , and/or the circuit switched network  606 , alone or in combination with other networks, network elements, and the like. 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating a computer system  700  configured to provide the functionality described herein for collecting and using quality of experience information, in accordance with various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein. The computer system  700  includes a processing unit  702 , a memory  704 , one or more user interface devices  706 , one or more input/output (“I/O”) devices  708 , and one or more network devices  710 , each of which is operatively connected to a system bus  712 . The bus  712  enables bi-directional communication between the processing unit  702 , the memory  704 , the user interface devices  706 , the I/O devices  708 , and the network devices  710 . 
     The processing unit  702  may be a standard central processor that performs arithmetic and logical operations, a more specific purpose programmable logic controller (“PLC”), a programmable gate array, or other type of processor known to those skilled in the art and suitable for controlling the operation of the server computer. Processing units are generally known, and therefore are not described in further detail herein. 
     The memory  704  communicates with the processing unit  702  via the system bus  712 . In some embodiments, the memory  704  is operatively connected to a memory controller (not shown) that enables communication with the processing unit  702  via the system bus  712 . The memory  704  includes an operating system  714  and one or more program modules  716 . The operating system  714  can include, but is not limited to, members of the WINDOWS, WINDOWS CE, and/or WINDOWS MOBILE families of operating systems from MICROSOFT CORPORATION, the LINUX family of operating systems, the SYMBIAN family of operating systems from SYMBIAN LIMITED, the BREW family of operating systems from QUALCOMM CORPORATION, the MAC OS, iOS, and/or LEOPARD families of operating systems from APPLE CORPORATION, the FREEBSD family of operating systems, the SOLARIS family of operating systems from ORACLE CORPORATION, other operating systems, and the like. 
     The program modules  716  may include various software and/or program modules described herein. In some embodiments, for example, the program modules  716  include the quality of experience management service  118 . This and/or other programs can be embodied in computer-readable media containing instructions that, when executed by the processing unit  702 , perform one or more of the methods  300 ,  400  described in detail above with respect to  FIGS. 3-4 . According to embodiments, the program modules  716  may be embodied in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Although not shown in  FIG. 7 , it should be understood that the memory  704  also can be configured to store the device data  116 , the data  122 , the quality of experience display data  114 , and/or other data, if desired. 
     By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may include any available computer storage media or communication media that can be accessed by the computer system  700 . Communication media includes computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics changed or set in a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media. 
     Computer storage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, Erasable Programmable ROM (“EPROM”), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (“EEPROM”), flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (“DVD”), or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computer system  700 . In the claims, the phrase “computer storage medium” and variations thereof does not include waves or signals per se and/or communication media. 
     The user interface devices  706  may include one or more devices with which a user accesses the computer system  700 . The user interface devices  706  may include, but are not limited to, computers, servers, personal digital assistants, cellular phones, or any suitable computing devices. The I/O devices  708  enable a user to interface with the program modules  716 . In one embodiment, the I/O devices  708  are operatively connected to an I/O controller (not shown) that enables communication with the processing unit  702  via the system bus  712 . The I/O devices  708  may include one or more input devices, such as, but not limited to, a keyboard, a mouse, or an electronic stylus. Further, the I/O devices  708  may include one or more output devices, such as, but not limited to, a display screen or a printer. 
     The network devices  710  enable the computer system  700  to communicate with other networks or remote systems via a network, such as the network  104 . Examples of the network devices  710  include, but are not limited to, a modem, a radio frequency (“RF”) or infrared (“IR”) transceiver, a telephonic interface, a bridge, a router, or a network card. The network  104  may include a wireless network such as, but not limited to, a Wireless Local Area Network (“WLAN”) such as a WI-FI network, a Wireless Wide Area Network (“WWAN”), a Wireless Personal Area Network (“WPAN”) such as BLUETOOTH, a Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (“WMAN”) such a WiMAX network, or a cellular network. Alternatively, the network  104  may be a wired network such as, but not limited to, a Wide Area Network (“WAN”) such as the Internet, a Local Area Network (“LAN”) such as the Ethernet, a wired Personal Area Network (“PAN”), or a wired Metropolitan Area Network (“MAN”). 
     Turning now to  FIG. 8 , an illustrative mobile device  800  and components thereof will be described. In some embodiments, the user device  102  described above with reference to  FIGS. 1-7  can be configured as and/or can have an architecture similar or identical to the mobile device  800  described herein in  FIG. 8 . It should be understood, however, that the user device  102  may or may not include the functionality described herein with reference to  FIG. 8 . While connections are not shown between the various components illustrated in  FIG. 8 , it should be understood that some, none, or all of the components illustrated in  FIG. 8  can be configured to interact with one other to carry out various device functions. In some embodiments, the components are arranged so as to communicate via one or more busses (not shown). Thus, it should be understood that  FIG. 8  and the following description are intended to provide a general understanding of a suitable environment in which various aspects of embodiments can be implemented, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 8 , the mobile device  800  can include a display  802  for displaying data. According to various embodiments, the display  802  can be configured to display asset information, asset tag or asset ID information, asset management account information, various graphical user interface (“GUI”) elements, text, images, video, virtual keypads and/or keyboards, messaging data, notification messages, metadata, internet content, device status, time, date, calendar data, device preferences, map and location data, combinations thereof, and/or the like. The mobile device  800  also can include a processor  804  and a memory or other data storage device (“memory”)  806 . The processor  804  can be configured to process data and/or can execute computer-executable instructions stored in the memory  806 . The computer-executable instructions executed by the processor  804  can include, for example, an operating system  808 , one or more applications  810  such as the application programs  108  (not shown in  FIG. 8 ), the quality of experience management application  110 , and/or other computer-executable instructions stored in a memory  806 , or the like. In some embodiments, the applications  810  also can include a UI application (not illustrated in  FIG. 8 ). 
     The UI application can interface with the operating system  808 , such as the operating system  106  shown in  FIG. 1 , to facilitate user interaction with functionality and/or data stored at the mobile device  800  and/or stored elsewhere. In some embodiments, the operating system  808  can include a member of the SYMBIAN OS family of operating systems from SYMBIAN LIMITED, a member of the WINDOWS MOBILE OS and/or WINDOWS PHONE OS families of operating systems from MICROSOFT CORPORATION, a member of the PALM WEBOS family of operating systems from HEWLETT PACKARD CORPORATION, a member of the BLACKBERRY OS family of operating systems from RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED, a member of the IOS family of operating systems from APPLE INC., a member of the ANDROID OS family of operating systems from GOOGLE INC., and/or other operating systems. These operating systems are merely illustrative of some contemplated operating systems that may be used in accordance with various embodiments of the concepts and technologies described herein and therefore should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     The UI application can be executed by the processor  804  to aid a user in entering content, scanning or capturing asset ID or asset tag information, creating new asset tags or asset ID numbers, viewing asset information and/or account information, answering/initiating calls, entering/deleting data, entering and setting user IDs and passwords for device access, configuring settings, manipulating address book content and/or settings, multimode interaction, interacting with other applications  810 , and otherwise facilitating user interaction with the operating system  808 , the applications  810 , and/or other types or instances of data  812  that can be stored at the mobile device  800 . The data  812  can include, for example, asset information, asset tags and/or asset identifiers, and/or other applications or program modules. According to various embodiments, the data  812  can include, for example, presence applications, visual voice mail applications, messaging applications, text-to-speech and speech-to-text applications, add-ons, plug-ins, email applications, music applications, video applications, camera applications, location-based service applications, power conservation applications, game applications, productivity applications, entertainment applications, enterprise applications, combinations thereof, and the like. The applications  810 , the data  812 , and/or portions thereof can be stored in the memory  806  and/or in a firmware  814 , and can be executed by the processor  804 . The firmware  814  also can store code for execution during device power up and power down operations. It can be appreciated that the firmware  814  can be stored in a volatile or non-volatile data storage device including, but not limited to, the memory  806  and/or a portion thereof. 
     The mobile device  800  also can include an input/output (“I/O”) interface  816 . The I/O interface  816  can be configured to support the input/output of data such as location information, asset information, user information, organization information, presence status information, user IDs, passwords, and application initiation (start-up) requests. In some embodiments, the I/O interface  816  can include a hardwire connection such as a universal serial bus (“USB”) port, a mini-USB port, a micro-USB port, an audio jack, a PS2 port, an IEEE 1394 (“FIREWIRE”) port, a serial port, a parallel port, an Ethernet (RJ45) port, an RJ11 port, a proprietary port, combinations thereof, or the like. In some embodiments, the mobile device  800  can be configured to synchronize with another device to transfer content to and/or from the mobile device  800 . In some embodiments, the mobile device  800  can be configured to receive updates to one or more of the applications  810  via the I/O interface  816 , though this is not necessarily the case. In some embodiments, the I/O interface  816  accepts I/O devices such as keyboards, keypads, mice, interface tethers, printers, plotters, external storage, touch/multi-touch screens, touch pads, trackballs, joysticks, microphones, remote control devices, displays, projectors, medical equipment (e.g., stethoscopes, heart monitors, and other health metric monitors), modems, routers, external power sources, docking stations, combinations thereof, and the like. It should be appreciated that the I/O interface  816  may be used for communications between the mobile device  800  and a network device or local device. 
     The mobile device  800  also can include a communications component  818 . The communications component  818  can be configured to interface with the processor  804  to facilitate wired and/or wireless communications with one or more networks such as the network  104  described herein. In some embodiments, other networks include networks that utilize non-cellular wireless technologies such as WI-FI or WIMAX. In some embodiments, the communications component  818  includes a multimode communications subsystem for facilitating communications via the cellular network and one or more other networks. 
     The communications component  818 , in some embodiments, includes one or more transceivers. The one or more transceivers, if included, can be configured to communicate over the same and/or different wireless technology standards with respect to one another. For example, in some embodiments one or more of the transceivers of the communications component  818  may be configured to communicate using GSM, CDMAONE, CDMA2000, LTE, and various other 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 4G, and greater generation technology standards. Moreover, the communications component  818  may facilitate communications over various channel access methods (which may or may not be used by the aforementioned standards) including, but not limited to, TDMA, FDMA, W-CDMA, OFDM, SDMA, and the like. 
     In addition, the communications component  818  may facilitate data communications using GPRS, EDGE, the HSPA protocol family including HSDPA, EUL or otherwise termed HSDPA, HSPA+, and various other current and future wireless data access standards. In the illustrated embodiment, the communications component  818  can include a first transceiver (“TxRx”)  820 A that can operate in a first communications mode (e.g., GSM). The communications component  818  also can include an N th  transceiver (“TxRx”)  820 N that can operate in a second communications mode relative to the first transceiver  820 A (e.g., UMTS). While two transceivers  820 A-N (hereinafter collectively and/or generically referred to as “transceivers  820 ”) are shown in  FIG. 8 , it should be appreciated that less than two, two, and/or more than two transceivers  820  can be included in the communications component  818 . 
     The communications component  818  also can include an alternative transceiver (“Alt TxRx”)  822  for supporting other types and/or standards of communications. According to various contemplated embodiments, the alternative transceiver  822  can communicate using various communications technologies such as, for example, WI-FI, WIMAX, BLUETOOTH, infrared, infrared data association (“IRDA”), near field communications (“NFC”), other RF technologies, combinations thereof, and the like. In some embodiments, the communications component  818  also can facilitate reception from terrestrial radio networks, digital satellite radio networks, internet-based radio service networks, combinations thereof, and the like. The communications component  818  can process data from a network such as the Internet, an intranet, a broadband network, a WI-FI hotspot, an Internet service provider (“ISP”), a digital subscriber line (“DSL”) provider, a broadband provider, combinations thereof, or the like. 
     The mobile device  800  also can include one or more sensors  824 . The sensors  824  can include temperature sensors, light sensors, air quality sensors, movement sensors, orientation sensors, noise sensors, proximity sensors, or the like. As such, it should be understood that the sensors  824  can include, but are not limited to, accelerometers, magnetometers, gyroscopes, infrared sensors, noise sensors, microphones, combinations thereof, or the like. Additionally, audio capabilities for the mobile device  800  may be provided by an audio I/O component  826 . The audio I/O component  826  of the mobile device  800  can include one or more speakers for the output of audio signals, one or more microphones for the collection and/or input of audio signals, and/or other audio input and/or output devices. 
     The illustrated mobile device  800  also can include a subscriber identity module (“SIM”) system  828 . The SIM system  828  can include a universal SIM (“USIM”), a universal integrated circuit card (“UICC”) and/or other identity devices. The SIM system  828  can include and/or can be connected to or inserted into an interface such as a slot interface  830 . In some embodiments, the slot interface  830  can be configured to accept insertion of other identity cards or modules for accessing various types of networks. Additionally, or alternatively, the slot interface  830  can be configured to accept multiple subscriber identity cards. Because other devices and/or modules for identifying users and/or the mobile device  800  are contemplated, it should be understood that these embodiments are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     The mobile device  800  also can include an image capture and processing system  832  (“image system”). The image system  832  can be configured to capture or otherwise obtain photos, videos, and/or other visual information. As such, the image system  832  can include cameras, lenses, charge-coupled devices (“CCDs”), combinations thereof, or the like. The mobile device  800  may also include a video system  834 . The video system  834  can be configured to capture, process, record, modify, and/or store video content. Photos and videos obtained using the image system  832  and the video system  834 , respectively, may be added as message content to an MMS message, email message, and sent to another mobile device. The video and/or photo content also can be shared with other devices via various types of data transfers via wired and/or wireless communication devices as described herein. 
     The mobile device  800  also can include one or more location components  836 . The location components  836  can be configured to send and/or receive signals to determine a geographic location of the mobile device  800 . According to various embodiments, the location components  836  can send and/or receive signals from global positioning system (“GPS”) devices, assisted-GPS (“A-GPS”) devices, WI-FI/WIMAX and/or cellular network triangulation data, combinations thereof, and the like. The location component  836  also can be configured to communicate with the communications component  818  to retrieve triangulation data for determining a location of the mobile device  800 . In some embodiments, the location component  836  can interface with cellular network nodes, telephone lines, satellites, location transmitters and/or beacons, wireless network transmitters and receivers, combinations thereof, and the like. In some embodiments, the location component  836  can include and/or can communicate with one or more of the sensors  824  such as a compass, an accelerometer, and/or a gyroscope to determine the orientation of the mobile device  800 . Using the location component  836 , the mobile device  800  can generate and/or receive data to identify its geographic location, or to transmit data used by other devices to determine the location of the mobile device  800 . The location component  836  may include multiple components for determining the location and/or orientation of the mobile device  800 . 
     The illustrated mobile device  800  also can include a power source  838 . The power source  838  can include one or more batteries, power supplies, power cells, and/or other power subsystems including alternating current (“AC”) and/or direct current (“DC”) power devices. The power source  838  also can interface with an external power system or charging equipment via a power I/O component  840 . Because the mobile device  800  can include additional and/or alternative components, the above embodiment should be understood as being illustrative of one possible operating environment for various embodiments of the concepts and technologies described herein. The described embodiment of the mobile device  800  is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. 
     Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that systems and methods for collecting and using quality of experience information have been disclosed herein. Although the subject matter presented herein has been described in language specific to computer structural features, methodological and transformative acts, specific computing machinery, and computer-readable media, it is to be understood that the concepts and technologies disclosed herein are not necessarily limited to the specific features, acts, or media described herein. Rather, the specific features, acts and mediums are disclosed as example forms of implementing the concepts and technologies disclosed herein. 
     The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications and changes may be made to the subject matter described herein without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein.