Simultaneous Monitoring of KPI's for 500 Streams and Automated Polling Advances Quality of Service for IPTV Broadcast

Tektronix, Inc., a leading worldwide provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation, announced new monitoring capabilities for video services carried across an IP network. The MTM400 MPEG Transport Stream Monitor now provides simultaneous monitoring of critical Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for up to 500 MPEG Transport Streams carried within a Gigabit Ethernet link to aid rapid fault resolution.

The MTM400 is a MPEG transport stream monitor for broadcasters and network operators who need a scalable solution to detect signal degradation caused during transmission and distribution. The platform includes a robust embedded real time operating system (RTOS) designed for 24/7 reliability and offers software options to extend to a solution that provides diagnostic and preventative monitoring capabilities. Tektronix also provides offline in depth analysis tools enabling detailed analysis of streams remotely captured using the MTM400.

Operating a cost-effective, optimized video service foundation including IPTV is critical for broadcasters and network operators to remain competitive and support service differentiation. A key factor to deliver this will be maintaining exceptional levels of video Quality of Service (QoS).

"For broadcasters and network operators, QoS is critical for growing their subscriber base, increasing average revenue per user (ARPU) and reducing churn," said Todd Biddle, Vice President, Video Product Line, Tektronix. "This is especially challenging for our customers operating video services across an IP network. The new capabilities for the MTM400 support rapid fault resolution by expanding the monitoring coverage of simultaneous IP streams, with the ability to drill down through the IP layer and analyze the MPEG layer in depth."

The simultaneous monitoring of up to 500 IP sessions includes critical MPEG Transport Stream errors (Sync and Continuity Count), IP packet errors (Lost and Out of Order RTP packets and packet CRC errors) and IP timing (Packet Inter-arrival time). The Transport Stream error testing is undertaken at the PID level and both Multi Program Transport Streams (MPTS) and Single Program Transport Streams (SPTS) are supported.

Also newly available is automatic channel changing capability to sequentially poll multiple streams for the MTM400. This capability allows up to 200 IP sessions to be monitored in depth. The polling option is also available for the MTM400 with RF interfaces, where it allows for polling of up to 200 RF channels. An MTM400 using the polling option monitors each selected IP session or RF channel in a repeating sequential measurement process. Multi-stream polling ability makes a single MTM400 probe a broader tool, monitoring large numbers of network points in a time sampled measurement mode. The Polling option significantly enhances the financial viability of large monitored network deployments that can include large numbers of IP sessions or RF channels.