Demand heats up for communications test

David Heard of JDSU expects the market drivers for communications test products to remain strong due to consumer demand for broadband services.

Larry Maloney, Contributing Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 11/1/2011 12:00:00 AM

David Heard President Communications Test & Measurement JDS Uniphase Milpitas, CA David Heard was named president of JDSU’s Communications Test & Measurement business segment in 2010. His 20-year career in the communications field includes 10 years with AT&T/Lucent, where he managed development of 3G wireless solutions. As president of the Tekelek/Santera Systems switching division, Heard established the company as a VoIP gateway supplier. Among other positions, he was COO of BigBand Networks, director of Somera Communications, and co-founder of Zyvex Performance Materials. Heard holds an MS in management from Stanford University, an MBA from the University of Dayton, and a BS in production and operations management from The Ohio State University. Contributing editor Larry Maloney conducted an e-mail interview with David Heard on trends in communications test. This version of the article includes questions and answers that did not appear in the print version. To read past “Viewpoint” columns, go to www.tmworld.com/viewpoint

Q: Could a “double-dip” recession dampen growth in communications test?
A: We believe that fundamental end-market drivers for our products remain strong for the long term, though we are not immune to current economic conditions in the US, Europe, and other global markets. While economic markets may slow, consumer demand for broadband services is rising rapidly with the proliferation of smartphones and tablets.

Q: What have been the chief growth drivers for JDSU’s communications test business?
A: Since 80% of our business directly supports the rising demand for bandwidth globally, our growth is linked to enabling mobile broadband and helping providers ensure a quality experience for the end user. Our customers rely on JDSU solutions to quickly and reliably deploy new services and network technologies, while reducing costs with remote test solutions. Innovative test products have also been a key growth driver. Network solutions introduced in the last two years comprised 52% of our business unit’s revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011.

Q: What progress are telecom companies making in implementing 4G/LTE networks?
A: In the US, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint are spending billions of dollars to build their 4G/LTE networks and offer consumers these high-speed services. While deployments vary by carrier, it is expected that 81 LTE networks will be in commercial service by the end of 2012.

Q: Can you briefly describe some key test products that JDSU offers to network operators as they deploy next-generation networks?
A: Our products enable service providers to test their LTE networks during all stages of deployment—from network trials to deployment to service assurance. For example, JDSU’s Signaling Analyzer Real Time LTE test solution provides fast, accurate, and reliable performance monitoring. In addition, our accessLTE service-assurance solution supports mobile service quality. Similarly, JDSU provides Ethernet service operators with testing solutions that monitor their entire network. For example, SAMComplete (Service Activation Methodology) enhances our comprehensive suite of automated field-test solutions for Ethernet network service activation. SAMComplete gives industry a bundled test solution, from basic link and customer services verification to troubleshooting in the field.

Q: What are the chief challenges in preserving service quality as network providers move to faster, higher-bandwidth networks?
A: With these new networks, service providers must ensure quality and consistent performance in the face of unpredictable data traffic and increasing stress on the network backbone. Providers deploying 100G Ethernet networks also face challenges resulting from data distribution over multiple channels. JDSU continues to enhance its suite of 100G testers for component developers, network equipment companies, and service providers. For instance, our Multi-Port test module for the ONT-600 supports development of next-generation optical network elements that deliver carrier Ethernet, optical transport networks, and 100G services. The ONT-600 platform maximizes scalability and flexibility through the support of 1G to 100G technologies in all stages of the product-development cycle, including research and design, system-verification testing, and network-element production testing.

The following questions and answers did not appear in the November 2011 issue:

Q: What are JDSU’s test solutions for the growing cloud-computing and enterprise-network markets?
A: Whether supporting cloud computing or the immense growth of mobile voice, video, and data traffic, our test solutions are helping our customers deliver quality services to the end user. For example, 16G Fibre Channel is a critical technology for enterprise networks. In the past year, JDSU launched the 16G Fibre Channel Analyzer blade for Xgig 500, which we believe is the world’s first complete 16G Fibre Channel test solution. With the Xgig, storage equipment manufacturers, field-service engineers, and data center IT professionals can effectively maintain and access the next-generation storage equipment critical to running businesses. Currently, JDSU’s product-development teams continue to develop advanced technology solutions geared toward the cloud and enterprise network markets.

Q: What are the two most significant new test products that your business unit has introduced in the past year?
A: JDSU’s Signaling Analyzer SART 7.0 is one of the most important new products. It enables service providers to reduce time-to-market for LTE and advanced 3G networks, and can handle high-volume mobile data traffic with fast, accurate performance monitoring. The product features real-time performance indicators and LTE tracing capabilities, combined with an intelligent IP processing architecture.

And, as noted earlier, the new accessLTE service-assurance solution is another outstanding technology for testing LTE networks. This solution supports mobile service quality and brings critical service-assurance applications for LTE. These applications include rigorous 4G session trace, a process that diagnoses, analyzes, and correlates essential mobile subscriber services and performance data. This capability dramatically improves network performance, increases operational efficiency, reduces repair time, and pinpoints mobile network and service-affecting issues. All this helps to minimize outages and their impact.

Q: What is JDSU doing to reduce the cost of test and measurement for customers?
A: We’re helping service providers reduce network test and measurement costs by offering solutions that increase efficiency and technician productivity. For example, JDSU’s PathTrak WebView 3.0 enables a single technician to identify previously unseen issues, such as linear impairments, and validate cable modem upstream performance. Before introduction of this performance monitoring system, validating and troubleshooting a cable modem or network issue required a minimum of two technicians, multiple test tools, and assistance from network operations center staff and cable modem termination system managers.

JDSU solutions are also helping to reduce the cost of test and measurement by enabling service providers, through real-time, on-demand diagnostics, to rapidly identify problems that impact customers. This useful data helps service providers reduce customer churn and mean time to repair. For example, the JDSU Home Performance Management solution delivers proactive service fault management and continuous performance monitoring of home-networking equipment. With this product, service providers can receive automatic notification of customer-service issues, such as degraded IPTV, VoIP or data services, as well as recommendations on how to solve the problems.

Q: Moving forward, how will JDSU ensure that it has the right products to meet future communications test challenges?
A: Our business unit is driven by a philosophy that we call “collaborative innovation.” Defined as “innovation with a purpose,” collaborative innovation focuses our expertise on real business needs and market opportunities. For example, JDSU works closely with communications equipment makers and service providers to ensure that our solutions effectively support network flexibility, as well as quality and reliability in broadband network build-out. Collaborative innovation helps us stay in tune with the needs of our customers and account for new network test challenges on the horizon.

Q: Which regions will lead the way in JDSU’s growth over the next five years?
A: We see strong opportunities to expand our presence in supporting LTE deployment in developing regions, such as China, India, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. We are particularly active in supporting the deployment and maintenance of LTE networks throughout the Asia-Pacific region. JDSU was recognized by Frost & Sullivan as the 2011 Asia-Pacific Communications Test & Measurement Company of the Year for its collaboration with in-region communications service providers. T&MW