APRIL 6, 2010 -- Tektronix Inc., a provider of QoS and QoE video monitoring systems for cable and telco operators, is offering a solution from RF Ingest to Edge that covers both QoS and QoE to meet the spectrum of challenges cable and telco operators face in managing impairment and artifact detection issues in their networks.
New Quality of Experience (QoE) detection capabilities for its industry-leading family of RF and IP network probes set the stage for the cTektronix has expanded its focus on helping cable and telco operators more reliably and cost effectively deliver the best experience possible to their viewers, according to a company representative.
Cable operators are looking for more cost-efficient methods of detecting customer impacting content impairments, says the representative. One of the emerging strategies is to focus on monitoring QoE in addition to the more traditional Quality of Service (QoS). Tektronix intends to meet the QoE test needs of cable and telco operators with its QoS portfolio of MPEG products, and its baseband video test expertise integrated into the new QoE capabilities.
The key components of Tektronix' end-to-end solution are a family of network probes and VQNet, a Network Element Management System. These network probes and the associated key Video Quality test points include: the MTM400A with QPSK or DVB-S2 for Ingest; the RFM300 with 8VSB for Ingest; the IPM400A with GiGe for the IP delivery system; and the QAM400A for QAM devices.
The new VQS1000 Video Quality software is the heart of the QoE detection capabilities and can be combined with any Tektronix network probe to enable real-time assessment of video impairments on MPEG-2 or H.264 encoded content, including stuck, black, blockiness, as well as compression artifacts, for selected services. The full decode allows operators to determine if the source of a problem is in the content source (for example, over-compression) or in network distribution. Engineers can clearly see and validate the presence of impairments on the image using impairment displays that highlight the location and severity of video defects.
Alarms with configurable impairment magnitude, duration, and frequency thresholds can be generated to alert users to content that will impact customers' viewing experience along with a capture of the impaired content. Combined with physical transport alarms from the Tektronix IPM400A or any MTM400A series probe, operators can determine if the source of a problem is in the content (for example, over compression) or in network distribution layers. The VQS1000 can be used to continually asses a selected service for extended periods of time, with logging of min, max and average measured values for QoE parameters and associated bit rates. Engineers can use this information to identify systemic issues that are otherwise hard to track down and to optimize network configuration and equipment settings to deliver the best viewing experience possible within bandwidth constraints to their customers.
VQS1000 along with IPM400A and MTM400A probes are available now.