Agilent software tests IPTV service quality at residential gateway
-- Test & Measurement World, 11/16/2007 2:12:00 PM
Agilent Technologies offers a new software option for its handheld Gigabit Ethernet performance tester, FrameScope Pro. The option simplifies the deployment and troubleshooting of IPTV services and enables service quality tests at the residential gateway.
With the new option for FrameScope Pro, service technicians can now connect to the residential gateway and acquire statistics on MPEG-2 transport stream issues, such as loss of synchronization and continuity and transport errors. Measuring the Media Delivery Index (MDI) and analyzing service transactions, like channel changes, produce metrics that closely resemble the subscriber’s quality of experience.
A customizable, three-stage scoring scheme allows service groups to implement commonly agreed acceptance levels for all relevant quality metrics; marginal or unacceptable parameters are highlighted automatically. This simplifies the deployment process and lets technicians interpret test results faster and with less technical training. The FrameScope Pro’s built-in remote control allows expert users to remotely assist service technicians through Web access.
The software option enables FrameScope Pro to support both IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) and RTSP (Real-Time Streaming Protocol) to control the IPTV channel setup, which enables the testing of multicast video streams, as well as RTSP-based video-on-demand streams.
The FrameScope Pro software option N2620A-071 combines IPTV transport stream statistics, MDI, and transaction analysis. Prices start at $1880. Current FrameScope Pro users can purchase an individual license code to upgrade their instruments.
Agilent Technologies, www.agilent.com.
