VeriWave launches video-over-WiFi test
WaveVideo measures quality of viewing experience of IEEE 802.11n-based video services.
Rick Nelson, Editor-in-Chief -- Test & Measurement World, 10/20/2009 9:40:58 AM
VeriWave has introduced its WaveVideo, which measures the quality of video streamed over WiFi-based consumer services, over video security networks, and over corporate video-conferencing services. The new tool lets makers of WiFi access points, video and media gateways, IP-based video surveillance cameras, and set-top boxes accelerate time to market. In addition, service providers and corporate IT departments can use the tool to help select vendors, optimize network design, and troubleshoot end-user problems. WaveVideo supports video ranging from low-quality VGA to high-quality HDTV.
Eran Karoly, VP of marketing at VeriWave, describes WaveVideo as the first tool that addresses video over WiFi quality test. The impetus for its release, he said, is the ratification of IEEE 802.11n in September. Ratification, he said, has given enterprises the green light to deploy the technology for mission-critical applications, and he said video is a "killer app" for 802.11n, matching video's bandwidth requirements with 802.11n's throughput capabilities.
Karoly noted that manufacturers, service providers, and IT departments wishing to deliver video over wireless networks must ensure adequate quality of service. In particular, makers of infrastructure equipment, access points, wireless multimedia gateways, wireless set-top boxes, and client devices all must make sure their products deliver optimal quality in varying load conditions as video streams mix with other network traffic.
WaveVideo, Karoly said, when run in conjunction with VeriWave's traffic-generator/analyzer chassis, can create hundreds of independent video-over-WLAN streams and measure the individual and combined performance of a network and associated devices. The VeriWave tool can provide objective measures of quality using numerical values, or users can subjectively compare original video clips entering a system under test with resulting video clip after it passes thought that system. The tool also enables users to mix video traffic with other types of traffic, such as voice and data, to observe cross impact.
To help measure video quality on client devices, users can employ VeriWave's WaveAgent, a very small software utility (less than 200 kilobytes) that can be loaded on to a client device to measure quality of experience from the end user's point of view. WaveAgent, Karoly said, works with any client device, including laptops, PDAs, and phones, connected to a wired or wireless network, including Ethernet and SONET as well as WiFi, GSM, 3G, LTE, and WiMAX.
Added Karoly, "Our tests allow users to precisely measure streaming video quality and to actually see what the viewers will see on their end," highlighting such problems as pixilation, video jitter, and loss of synchronization between audio and video."
"Evaluating video quality on any kind of network is a ferociously difficult task to begin with, and on wireless links such work can be more than challenging, even for experienced engineers," said Craig Mathias, a principal with the wireless and mobile advisory firm Farpoint Group (www.farpointgroup.com), in a press release. "I'm very pleased to see VeriWave's new WaveVideo product, which will allow us to make objective and quantifiable measurements under the wide range of conditions inherent in Wi-Fi testing of any form."
Along with the diverse library of test clips, the WaveVideo tool allows users to assign expected Service Level Requirements (SLRs) and other quality scores to individual clips and also to test the performance in specific network environments. The VeriWave tool also includes pre-defined traffic profiles representing typical users of wireless video in healthcare, residential, education, and corporate settings.
At the conclusion of each test, users receive detailed performance reports and quality metrics from the VeriWave system comparing actual performance to the desired SLR set by the tester. Each video flow is scored for quality using the Media Delivery Index (MDI) as well as individual average latency and jitter measurements, with quality compared to user-set Service Level Requirements (SLRs). Media descriptors such as the coding type, frame rate, and aspect ratio are monitored. To aid in pinpointing variables impacting performance and to map and measure the effects of raw packet loss over time, the percentage of I, P, and B frames corrupted over time is reported.
The WaveVideo application is priced starting at $7500 per licensed VeriWave test port.
Veriwave, www.veriwave.com.
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