1. A method for collecting data from network traffic traversing a high speed Internet protocol (IP) communication link, the method comprising:
cascading a plurality of packet classification filters to form n stages of the packet classification filters connected to series, n being an integer of at least two; and
at the nth stage, receiving network traffic copied from a high speed IP communication link and performing first packet classification processing to identify an attribute of each packet of the network traffic, and, if the attribute is identifiable at the nth stage and is of interest for a first type of data collection processing, performing the first type of data collection processing for the packet, and if the attribute is not identifiable at the nth stage, forwarding the packet to at least one additional stage of the n stages for second packet classification processing that is different from the first packet classification processing to identify the attribute.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the second packet classification processing requires deeper inspection of each packet than the first packet classification processing.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the IP communication link includes a telecommunications link carrying telecommunication signaling data, telecommunications bearer channel data, and data that is not telecommunication signaling or bearer channel data.
4. The method of claim 1 comprising discarding each packet at the nth stage for which the attribute is identifiable.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the attribute comprises one of a protocol type and application data.
6. The method of claim 1 comprising, in response to identifying the attribute at the at least one additional stage, performing a second type of data collection processing for packets whose attribute is identified at the at least one additional stage and further comprising dynamically updating criteria used in the first packet classification processing based on results of one of the first and second types of data collection processing.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein dynamically updating criteria used in the first packet classification processing includes adding session aware filter criteria to be used in the first packet classification processing so that packets identified as part of the same session are forwarded to the same module for data collection processing.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein comprising truncating at least some of the packets at the nth stage and forwarding the truncated packets to the at least one additional stage for at least one of the second packet classification processing and a second type of data collection processing.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the first type of data collection processing includes telecommunications detail record (xDR) generation and wherein the method further comprises performing a second type of data collection processing for at least some of the packets reaching the at least one additional stage, wherein the second type of data collection processing includes generation of a statistical measure based on the network traffic.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the statistical measure comprises a call quality metric for a media connection.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the call quality metric comprises a mean opinion score (MOS) value.
12. The method of claim 9 wherein the statistical measure includes percentages of traffic of different protocol types.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein the first type of data collection processing includes pre-processing of the packets for a second type of data collection processing performed for at least some of the packets reaching the at least one additional stage and wherein the method further comprises forwarding results of the pre-processing to the at least one additional stage.
14. The method of claim 1 comprising, in response to identifying the attribute at the at least one additional stage, removing a portion of the packet associated with the attribute and feeding the packet back into the nth stage for identification of another attribute of the packet.
15. A system for collecting data for network traffic traversing a high speed Internet protocol (IP) communication link, the system comprising:
at least one signaling link tap for copying network traffic from a high speed Internet protocol communication link;
a plurality of cascaded packet classification filters forming n stages of the packet classification filters connected in series, n being an integer of at least two, at least some of the stages including packet data collection modules for performing different types of packet data collection operations; and
wherein the packet classification filter at the nth stage receives network traffic copied form a high speed IP communication link and performs first packet classification processing to identify an attribute of each packet of the mixed protocol traffic, and, if the attribute is identifiable at the nth stage and is of interest for a first type of data collection processing, a first packet data collection module performs the first type of data collection processing for the packet, and, if the attribute is not identifiable at the nth stage, the packet classification filter at the nth stage forwards the packet to at least one additional stage of the n stages for second packet classification processing that is different from the first packet classification processing to identify the attribute.
16. The system of claim 15 wherein the second packet classification processing requires deeper inspection of each packet than the first packet classification processing.
17. The system of claim 15 wherein the packet classification filter at the nth stage is configured to discard each packet for which the attribute is identifiable.
18. The system of claim 15 wherein the attribute comprises at least one of a protocol type and application data.
19. The system of claim 18 wherein the packet classification filter at the at least one additional stage is adapted to send packets for which it identifies the protocol type back to the nth stage for identification of a protocol type of another portion of the packet.
20. The system of claim 15 wherein the packet classification filter of at least one of the n stages is adapted to dynamically update its packet classification filter criteria based on results of the data collection processing.
21. The system of claim 20 wherein dynamically updating the packet classification filter criteria includes adding a session aware filter criterion to the packet classification filter at the at least one stage so that packets identified as being part of the same session will be forwarded to the same packet data collection module.
22. The system of claim 15 wherein the packet classification filter at the nth stage is adapted to truncate at least some of the packets in the copied network traffic.
23. The system of claim 15 wherein the first packet data collection module comprises a telecommunications detail record (xDR) generation module for generating xDRs based on telecommunication signaling traffic and wherein the system further includes a second packet data collection module comprising a preprocessing and statistics generation module for generating a statistic based on telecommunications traffic.
24. The system of claim 23 wherein the preprocessing and statistics generation module is adapted to generate a call quality metric based on telecommunications bearer channel traffic.
25. The system of claim 24 wherein the call quality metric comprises a medium opinion score (MOS) value.
26. The system of claim 23 wherein the preprocessing and statistics generation module is adapted to identify a relative number of data packets of different protocols traversing the high speed IP communications link.
27. The system of claim 15 wherein the first type of data collection processing includes pre-processing of the packets for a second type of data collection processing and wherein the method further comprises forwarding results of the pre-processing from the first module to the second module.
28. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions that when executed by the processor of a computer perform steps comprising:
cascading a plurality of packet classification filters to form n stages of the packet classification filters connected in series, n being an integer of at least two; and
at the nth stage, receiving network traffic copied from a high speed IP communication link and performing first packet classification processing to identify an attribute of each packet of the network traffic, and, if the attribute is identifiable at the nth stage and is if interest for a first type of data collection processing, performing the first type of data collection processing for the packet, and if the attribute is not identifiable at the nth stage, forwarding the packet to at least one additional stage of the n stages for second packet classification processing that is different from the first packet classification processing to identify the attribute.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1-35. (Canceled).
36. A convertible seat configured to accommodate an aircraft passenger, comprising:
a frame;
a sitting portion borne by the frame; and
a back,
wherein the seat is configured to change from a seated position in which the back forms an angle with a horizontal sitting portion to a lying-down position in which the back has a more or less level surface configured to accommodate the passenger in the lying-down position,
wherein the frame is a fixed frame, and the seat further comprises guiding means for changing the back from its seated position to a more or less horizontal position, and at least one additional berth cooperating with the back to form the more or less level surface configured to accommodate the passenger in the lying-down position.
37. A convertible seat according to claim 36, wherein the back has a base and a free end, and the guiding means for the seat comprises translatory guiding means for the base of the back.
38. A convertible seat configured to accommodate an aircraft passenger, comprising:
a frame;
a sitting portion borne by the frame;
a back having a base and a free end; and
a jointed footrest along a transverse edge of the sitting portion between a position more or less perpendicular to the sitting portion and a position in which a plane of the sitting portion and a plane of the footrest form an obtuse or straight angle,
wherein the seat is configured to change from a seated position in which the back forms an angle with the sitting portion and its base is close to a rear transverse edge of the sitting portion, to a lying-down position in which the back has a more or less level surface configured to accommodate the passenger in the lying-down position,
wherein the frame is a fixed frame, at most two of the sitting portion, the back, and the footrest form the more or less level surface of the seat in the lying-down position, and at least one additional berth is provided to cooperate with at least one of the sitting portion, the back, and the footrest to form the more or less level surface configured to accommodate the passenger in the lying-down position.
39. A convertible seat according to claim 38, wherein the back is a component element of the level surface configured to accommodate the passenger in the lying-down position.
40. A convertible seat according to claim 39, further comprising guiding means for guiding, at a time of changeover of the seat from the seated position to the lying-down position, the back such that the back in the lying-down position comes to cover most of a position of the sitting portion in the seated position.
41. A convertible seat according to claim 40, wherein the back in the lying-down position covers the sitting portion, and a selected edge of the back in the lying-down position comprising the base of the back and its free end is more or less superposed on one edge of the sitting portion.
42. A convertible seat according to claim 40, wherein the guiding means makes it possible, at the time of changeover of the seat from the seated position to the lying-down position, to guide the back according to a movement that is a combination of a longitudinal translation and a rotation around a more or less transverse horizontal axis.
43. A convertible seat according to claim 40, wherein the guiding means comprises on both sides of the frame at least one guiding rail to guide the base of the back, at the time of changeover from the seated position to the lying-down position, from a position corresponding to a rear of the sitting portion in the seated position to a position corresponding to a front of the sitting portion in the seated position.
44. A convertible seat according to claim 40, wherein the guiding means comprises on both sides of the frame at least one guiding rail to guide the base of the back, at the time of changeover from the seated position to the lying-down position, from a position corresponding to a rear of the sitting portion in the seated position to a drawn-back position such that when the base of the back is in the drawn-back position, a free end of the back is in a position corresponding to a front of the sitting portion in the seated position.
45. A convertible seat according to claim 36, wherein the back is joined to a fixed part of the seat by two levers located on both sides of the sitting portion, each lever is assembled pivoting around an axis more or less horizontal and transverse in relation to the sitting portion, and the back is assembled pivoting around a more or less horizontal transverse axis between the two levers.
46. A convertible seat according to claim 45, wherein the sitting portion is fastened to the frame, and the levers are assembled on lateral sides of the sitting position.
47. A convertible seat according to claim 45, wherein the levers are joined by a plate.
48. A convertible seat according to claim 45, wherein for each lever a distance between the axis of pivoting of the lever in relation to the sitting portion and the axis of pivoting of the back ranges between one-half and three-quarters of a length of the sitting portion, in a longitudinal direction.
49. A convertible seat according to claim 36, wherein the at least one of clamping and locking means holds the back in a turned-up position when the seat is in the seated position.
50. A convertible seat according to claim 36, wherein the additional berth cooperating with the back to form a level surface comprises a shelf configured to move between a more or less horizontal position as a continuation of the back toward a front when the seat is in the lying-down position and a more or less lateral vertical position in the seated position.
51. A convertible seat according to claim 50, wherein the more or less level bedding surface is made up of the back in the more or less horizontal position and the movable shelf.
52. A convertible seat according to claim 50, wherein in the lying-down position, the movable shelf cooperates with the back and a unit arranged facing and at a distance from the frame and a height of which corresponds more or less to that of the sitting portion of the seat.
53. A convertible seat according to claim 36, wherein the sitting portion is assembled pivoting around a transverse axis located close to its front edge to be configured to pivot approximately 180\xb0 and then be more or less a continuation of the back in the lying-down position.
54. A convertible seat according to claim 53, wherein the guiding means cooperating with the back to form a level surface comprises the pivoted sitting portion and a unit arranged facing and at a distance from the frame and a height of which corresponds more or less to that of the sitting portion of the seat.
55. A convertible seat according to claim 36, further comprising a footrest assembled pivoting around a transverse axis located close to its front edge to be configured to pivot approximately 90\xb0 and then be more or less a continuation of the back in the lying-down position.
56. A convertible seat according to claim 55, wherein the guiding means cooperating with the back to form a level surface comprises the pivoted footrest and a unit arranged facing and at a distance from the frame and a height of which corresponds more or less to that of the sitting portion of the seat.
57. A convertible seat according to claim 54, wherein the unit comprises a movable flap configured to pivot approximately 180\xb0 around a more or less transverse horizontal axis to form an additional berth.
58. A convertible seat according to claim 36, wherein the back incorporates an additional berth.
59. A convertible seat according to claim 58, wherein the additional berth incorporated into the back is assembled sliding in relation to the back.
60. A convertible seat according to claim 58, wherein the additional berth incorporated into the back is assembled pivoting in relation to the back.
61. A convertible seat according to claim 37, further comprising guiding means for making it possible, at a time of changeover of the seat from the seated position to the lying-down position, to guide the back according to a movement that is a combination of a longitudinal translation and a rotation around a more or less transverse horizontal axis such that the back and the sitting portion are a continuation of one another, the base of the back being situated facing a front transverse edge of the sitting portion.
62. Convertible seat according to claim 61, wherein the additional berth is a fixed portion assembled on the frame at the rear of the sitting portion and a continuation thereof.
63. Convertible seat according to claim 38, wherein the guiding means makes it possible, at a time of changeover of the seat from the seated position to the lying-down position, to guide the back according to a movement that is a combination of a longitudinal translation toward a rear and a rotation around a more or less transverse horizontal axis such that the back in the lying-down position of the seat is more or less perpendicular to a plane of the sitting portion of the seat.
64. Convertible seat according to claim 63, wherein the level surface configured to accommodate a passenger in lying-down position comprises the sitting portion of the seat, a fixed portion assembled on the frame at the rear of the sitting portion and as a continuation of the frame, and a shelf configured to move between a more or less horizontal position as a continuation toward the front of the sitting portion in the lying-down position and a more or less lateral vertical position in the seated position.
65. Convertible seat according to claim 36, further comprising a lateral wall surrounding a back of the seat.
66. Convertible seat according to claim 65, wherein a luggage compartment is provided between the lateral wall and the frame of the seat.
67. Convertible seat according to claim 66, wherein the luggage compartment comprises a lateral door.
68. Convertible seat according to claim 67, wherein the lateral door is a sliding door in a more or less vertical plane with aid of a more or less horizontal guiding rail borne by the lateral wall.
69. Module comprising a seat and a wall surrounding the seat at least partially, wherein the seat is a seat according to claim 36.
70. Aircraft for transport of passengers, comprising at least one convertible seat according to claim 36.