PacketFront Offers Real Time Monitoring of TV Streams

PacketFront is launching the Realtime Protocol Monitoring (RPM) feature that allows network owners to monitor, in real time, the TV quality in broadband networks. RPM is available in PacketFront's Advanced Services Router, ASR 5000, that is the most advanced FTTH access platform in the industry, combining FTTH access with edge router functionality as well as advanced features like RPM. RPM is a feature that will ensure both a higher service quality, and faster and more efficient trouble shooting of IPTV streams which ultimately will lower the operational expenses of running a triple-play network. It will also remove the need for investment in external probes and tools, and the time consuming manual handling that such tools require.

TV viewers expect a high quality service. The smallest disturbance or picture interruption is a source for complaints and viewers will be quick to let you know if your multicast TV service does not meet their expectations. A good TV diagnostics tool is therefore essential. ASR 5000 and the RPM feature allows network owners to monitor the multicast channels that run through each ASR 5000 in real time, thus any disturbances can be discovered even before end users experience it as "bad TV quality", freezing pictures or restart of set top boxes. RPM track data such as packet loss within the network and determines if the loss of packets are external to the network, e.g. in the satellite feed.

With the RPM feature network owners can locate the origin of the problem without expensive diagnostic tool, and even more important, without the time and resource-demanding manual tracking of suspected element(s) where the fault might originate. As all data are stored it is easily transferred to PacketFront's control and provisioning system BECS, for graphical presentation or further treatment.

"We are happy to be able to prove the capabilities of ASR 5000 as not only delivering multiple services to end users, but also providing the features to monitor the quality and thereby ensure the Service Level Agreements, SLAs, for those services," says Martin Thunman, CEO of PacketFront. "The RPM feature is important in broadband networks delivering advanced services such as TV, helping service providers and network owners to improve end users' perceived value of TV services delivered via their broadband connection."

The RPM feature will be available for sale with the ASR 5000 during the spring of 2008, and will be demonstrated at the FTTH Council Conference in Paris, February 27-28.

back