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Monitoring & Managing

QoS/QoE for IPTV - 2008

Quarterly Technology & Content Report - January 2008

Published by MRG, Inc.
January 2008, 252 pages

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Executive Summary

Because high content quality and bandwidth management are so important to IPTV Service Providers intent on capturing and keeping subscribers, the Test, Measurement and Monitoring (TM&M) market is becoming a major focus of attention and innovation.

As a follow-up to the IPTV Video Quality report published by MRG earlier in 2007, this report provides an in-depth analysis of the emerging IPTV TM&M category of technologies and products.

This report defines and explains this important category, the market for these solutions, identifies market drivers and inhibitors, provides insights about regional and global markets and identifies trends in the category.

The report also reviews IPTV architectures and technical requirements, classifies the types of TM&M solutions, provides taxonomy of the solutions, identifies suppliers and identifies emerging standards. It describes how Operators of various sizes are implementing, using and benefiting from IPTV TM&M, and recommends best practices.

Table 1-1: Quality Test Areas' Relationship to OSI Layers
T&M Area OSI Layer Involved
VQ (Video Quality) Layers 7, 8
QoS (Quality of Service) Layers 1-4
QoE (Quality of Experience) Layers 4-7
Source: Copyright © 2008 MRG, Inc.

Table 1-3 shows a sample of Vendors' TM&M solutions, based on pre-deployment and post-deployment functions. It also illustrates the kind of VQ, QoS and QoE solutions provided by a sample of the vendors profiled in this report. Although it is a partial listing of the suppliers in the TM&M category, it does represent those which are the most active in IPTV at the time of this report. (The types of testing done by these solutions maps to the categories listed in Table 1-1.) In total, this report identifies 28 different IPTV TM&M suppliers.

Table 1-3: Sample of Vendors’ Test Measurement & Monitoring Solutions Source: Copyright © 2008 MRG, Inc.


This report is part of the IPTV Tracking Service published by the Multimedia Research Group, Inc.


Table of Contents
1 Introductory Overview
1.1 Unique Findings of Report
   
2 Executive Summary
2.1 Defining the Test, Measurement & Monitoring Category
2.2 Relationships Between VQ, QoS, QoE and the TM&M Category
2.3 Why IPTV Test, Measurement and Monitoring?
2.3.1 Every Part of the IPTV Delivery Infrastructure Affects Video Quality
2.3.2 Maximizing the Quality of Audio Visual Content
2.3.3 Reducing Operational Expenses (OpEx)
2.3.4 Impact of TM&M Upon Capital Equipment Purchases
2.4 Segmentation Criteria for Test, Measurement & Monitoring
2.4.1 Segmentation According to Location in the Delivery Chain
2.4.2 Segmentation According to Stage of Deployment
2.4.3 Segmentation According to Content Type
2.4.4 Segmentation According to Depth of Analysis
2.5 Summary of Trends, Conclusions and Recommendations
2.5.1 Business Influencers
2.5.2 Overall Technology Influencers
2.5.3 Risks and Opportunities Affecting TM&M
2.5.4 What Should Be Measured and Analyzed?
2.5.5 Where and When Should Video Be Measured?
2.5.6 How Should Video Be Measured?
2.5.7 What Methods Should Be Used?
2.5.8 TM&M Vendor Selection
2.6 Summary of Suppliers and Solutions
2.7 Research Methodology
2.7.1 Selection Criteria
2.7.2 Data Gathering Process
2.7.3 Survey Tool
2.7.4 Analysis & Development
   
3 Classifying IPTV TM&M Products
3.1 Review of Content Types Distributed in IPTV Deployments
3.1.1 Video
3.1.2 Voice
3.1.3 Streaming and File-Based Data
3.1.4 Non-IPTV Video Data Types
3.1.5 Signaling Traffic
3.2 Placement of TM&M Across the IPTV Delivery Chain
3.2.1 End-to-End IPTV VQ, QoS and QoE Factors
3.3 IPTV Test, Measurement & Monitoring Lifecycle
3.3.1 Pre-Deployment T&M
3.3.2 Post-Deployment T&M
3.4 Review of Basic IPTV Video Networking Concepts
3.4.1 7-Layer Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) Model
3.4.2 Digital Video Encoding and Video Transport
3.4.3 The Contents of MPEG Transport Streams
3.4.4 MPEG TS Program Specific Information (PSI)
3.5 Types of Video Test, Measurement and Monitoring
3.5.1 Video Testing at the Headend, at Time of Acquisition
3.5.2 Testing Done at Physical, Data Link, and Network Layers
3.5.3 Packet Delivery Testing
3.5.4 Video Encoding and Transport
3.5.5 Video Quality of Experience Analysis
3.6 Additional Considerations Relating to Video Analysis
3.6.1 The Importance of Timing
3.6.2 Deep Packet Inspection (DPI)
3.6.3 Deep Content Inspection (DCI)
3.7 Policy Management, Service Assurance and Admission Control
3.8 Test & Measurement Management Systems
3.9 Home Network Testing
   
4 Test & Measurement Case Studies
4.1 IPTV Deployment Classifications
4.1.1 Deployment Architecture Models
4.1.2 Deployment Complexity
4.1.3 Service Provider "Tiers"
4.1.4 Correlating Architecture, Complexity and Tier
4.2 Deutsche Telekom (Germany) - T-Home Service — Intermediate Tier-One Operator
4.2.1 Simulations Used for Triple-Play Scenarios
4.3 France Telecom - Orange (France) IPTV Service — Tier-1 Advanced Deployment
4.3.1 France Telecom QoS/QoE Challenges
4.4 Consolidated Communications (United States) - Intermediate - Tier-Two Operator
4.4.1 Consolidated's Infrastructure
4.4.2 Installation Practices
4.4.3 Video Quality and TM&M Practices
4.4.4 Consolidated Test, Measurement & Monitoring
4.4.5 Fault Determination and Isolation
4.4.6 Additional Factors Impacting Video Quality
4.4.7 Key TM&M Influencers for Consolidated
   
5 Market Trends and Drivers
5.1 Telecom Market and Technology Situations Driving IPTV
5.2 Conditions Leading to the Need for TM&M
5.3 IPTV Standards Utilized by TM&M Systems
5.3.1 Video Quality Standards
5.3.2 Video Quality of Service
5.3.3 Video Quality of Experience Standards - Perceptual Quality
5.3.4 Quality of Experience Standards – Application Performance
5.3.5 Video Quality and Home Networks
5.3.6 Summary of IPTV Standards Organizations
5.3.7 How an Operator Can Act Upon TM&M Output
5.4 Competitive Pressures Within the TM&M Category
5.4.1 Crowded Category
5.4.2 Pricing and Pricing Trends
5.4.3 Competitive Differentiation
5.5 Proliferation of New Service Types
5.6 The Relationship Between TM&M and “Over-the-Top” Network Traffic
5.7 Future Trends
5.7.1 Increased Focus on HDTV
5.7.2 Focus on End-to-End TM&M Solutions
5.7.3 Non-IPTV Video and Non-Video Data Content
5.7.4 Mobile Video
5.7.5 Convergence
   
6 Risks and Opportunities in the Market
6.1 IPTV TM&M Platforms Must Be Proven to Scale Cost Effectively
6.2 Lack of Quality May Put Subscriber and Content Relationships at Risk
6.3 Increasing Vulnerability
6.4 Increasing Regulation
   
7 Recommendations and Conclusions
7.1 What Should Be Measured and Analyzed?
7.1.1 Additional Considerations
7.1.2 Content Identification
7.2 Where and When Should Video Be Measured? (Placement of TM&M Solutions)
7.2.1 A Practical Note on TM&M Placement
7.2.2 TM&M Solution Architectures
7.2.3 TM&M Management
7.3 TM&M and Considerations for Other IPTV Infrastructure Elements
7.3.1 The Impact of IPTV Middleware
7.3.2 Set-top Box
7.3.3 The Impact of IPTV Content Protection (Encryption)
7.3.4 Impact of the TM&M Equipment Itself
7.4 How Should Video Be Measured? Recommended Video Quality Measurement Parameters and Practices
7.4.1 Video Signal/Image and Bit Rate Standards
7.4.2 Data Integrity and Quality of Service
7.4.3 IPTV MPEG Transport Recommendations
7.4.4 IPTV QoE Perceptual Quality Recommendations
7.4.5 IPTV QoE Applications Responsiveness Recommendations
7.4.6 ATIS QoS/QoE Recommendations
7.4.7 Vendor Evaluation Based on an End-to-End TM&M Worldview
7.5 Establishing an IPTV Test Plan
7.5.1 Practice Guidelines for Establishing Performance Benchmarks
7.5.2 Developing the Test Plan
7.5.3 Developing a Comprehensive Suite of Test Use-Cases
7.5.4 Choosing TM&M Equipment Based on Standardized Evaluation Criteria
7.6 How Available Hardware Resources Impact Costs
7.6.1 Resource Cost of Software Agent-Based Monitoring
7.7 Additional Video Quality Considerations
7.8 TM&M Helps in Effective Bandwidth Planning
7.9 TM&M Requires a Comprehensive Strategy and a Systematic Approach
7.10 TM&M is Penny Wise, Not Pound Foolish
7.11 Long-Range TM&M Planning Future-Proofs the Deployment
   
8 Vendor Profiles
8.1 Agama Technologies AB
8.1.1 Introduction
8.1.2 Agama Situation and Customers
8.1.3 Products
8.2 Agilent Technologies, Inc.
8.2.1 Introduction
8.2.2 Agilent Situation and Customers
8.2.3 Communications Test Products
8.3 Bridge Technologies AS
8.3.1 Introduction
8.3.2 Bridge Technologies Operations and Customers
8.3.3 Products
8.4 Brix Networks
8.4.1 Introduction
8.4.2 Brix Networks’ Situation and Customers
8.4.3 Products
8.5 Cisco Systems, Inc.
8.5.1 Introduction
8.5.2 Cisco Systems’ Situation and Customers
8.5.3 Products
8.6 Dannaher Corporation
8.7 EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc.
8.7.1 Introduction
8.7.2 EXFO’s Situation and Customers
8.7.3 Products
8.8 Fluke Networks
8.9 Harris Corporation
8.9.1 Introduction
8.9.2 Harris’ Situation and Customers
8.9.3 Products
8.10 HyC
8.10.1 Introduction
8.10.2 HyC’s Situation and Customers
8.10.3 Products
8.11 IneoQuest Technologies, Inc.
8.11.1 Introduction
8.11.2 IneoQuest’s Situation and Customers
8.11.3 Products
8.12 Ixia
8.12.1 Introduction
8.12.2 Ixia’s Situation and Customers
8.12.3 Products
8.12.4 Product Roadmap
8.13 JDS Uniphase Corporation (JDSU)
8.13.1 Introduction
8.13.2 JDS Uniphase’s Situation and Customers
8.13.3 Products
8.14 Mariner Partners, Inc.
8.14.1 Introduction
8.14.2 Mariner Partners, Inc.’s Situation and Customers
8.14.3 Products and Services
8.15 Miranda Technologies
8.15.1 Introduction
8.15.2 Miranda Technologies’ Situation and Customers
8.15.3 Products
8.16 Mixed Signals, Inc.
8.16.1 Mixed Signals, Inc.’s Situation and Customers
8.16.2 Products
8.17 Motive, Inc.
8.17.1 Introduction
8.17.2 Motive, Inc.’s Situation and Customers
8.17.3 Products
8.18 NetHawk Oyj
8.18.1 Introduction
8.18.2 NetHawk Oyj’s Situation and Customers
8.18.3 Products
8.19 Pixelmetrix Corporation
8.19.1 Introduction
8.19.2 Pixelmatrix’s Situation and Customers
8.19.3 Products
8.19.4 Product Roadmap
8.20 Prosilient Technologies AB
8.20.1 Introduction
8.20.2 Prosilient’s Situation and Customers
8.20.3 Products
8.20.4 Prosilient PTAnalyzer Client
8.21 Psytechnics Ltd.
8.21.1 Introduction
8.21.2 Psytechnics’ Situation and Customers
8.21.3 Products
8.22 Shenick Network Systems Ltd.
8.22.1 Introduction
8.22.2 Shenick’s Situation and Customers
8.22.3 Products
8.23 Spirent Communications plc
8.23.1 Introduction
8.23.2 Spirent Communications’ Situation and Customers
8.23.3 Products
8.23.4 Product Roadmap
8.23.5 Spirent Communications – Detailed Test Scenarios and Use-Cases
8.24 Sunrise Telecom
8.24.1 Introduction
8.24.2 Sunrise Telecom’s Situation and Customers
8.24.3 Products
8.25 Symmetricom, Inc. (Incorporating QoSmetrics)
8.25.1 Introduction
8.25.2 Symmetricom’s Situation and Customers
8.25.3 Products
8.25.4 Symmetricom NOC Products
8.26 Tektronix, Inc.
8.26.1 Introduction
8.26.2 Textronix Inc.’s Situation and Customers
8.26.3 Products
8.27 Telchemy, Inc.
8.27.1 Introduction
8.27.2 Telchemy Inc.’s Situation and Customers
8.27.3 Products
8.28 Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
8.28.1 Introduction
8.28.2 Tollgrade’s Situation and Customers
8.28.3 Products
8.29 Witbe, Inc.
8.29.1 Introduction
8.29.2 Witbe, Inc.’s Situation and Customers
8.29.3 Products
8.29.4 Product Roadmap
   
9 Appendix 1: IPTV Test, Measurement and Monitoring Solutions
   
10 Appendix 2: IPTV Reference Deployments (Defined by MRG)
   
11 Appendix 3: ISO/OSI Model As Relates To IPTV Test, Measurement and Monitoring
   
12 Appendix 4: Lists of Companies
   
13 Appendix 5: IPTV Test, Measurement and Monitoring Standards
   
14 Appendix 6: Glossary of Terminology
   
15 Appendix 7: Reference Literature
   
16 Index of Companies

 


Table of Figures

Figure 3-1: Potential Placement of IPTV Monitoring Equipment - at the Headend, at Ingest and Content Processing Points
Figure 3-2: Potential Placement of IPTV Monitoring Equipment - in the Operator’s Network and at the Customer Premises
Figure 3-3: Potential Placement of Additional TM&M Systems - at Each Headend Location
Figure 3-4: End-to-End QoS and QoE Contributing Factors from DSL Forum TR-126
Figure 3-5: ISO/OSI 7-Layer Network Reference Model
Figure 3-6: MPEG-2 TS Over UDP Over IP
Figure 3-7: MPEG-2 Transport Over RTP/UDP/IP
Figure 3-8: Payload Structure of an MPEG Transport Stream
Figure 3-9: Impact of MPEG Transport Errors on Video Decoding
Figure 3-10: Impact of Packet Loss Upon MPEG Video Frames
Figure 3-11: Program Specific Information (PSI) in an MPEG-2 Transport Stream
Figure 3-12: Detailed View of MPEG TS Header
Figure 3-13: Testing for Correct Color Gamut
Figure 4-1: T-Home Phase 1 Single-Tier Network
Figure 4-2: T-Home Phase 2 Two-Tier Network
Figure 4-3: Orange (France Telecom) Video Delivery and TM&M Configuration
Figure 4-4: Orange (France Telecom) TV Subscriber Premises Under Test
Figure 4-5: France Telecom Vision: “Content Everywhere”
Figure 7-1: Microsoft MediaRoom Channel Change Process
Figure 7-2: Packet Loss Ratio Required to Meet Average Time Between Loss Events
Figure 7-3: DSL Forum QoE Engineering Methodology
Figure 8-1: Agama End-to-End Monitoring
Figure 8-2: Agilent N2X in an IPTV Operator Network
Figure 8-3: Bridge Technologies End-to-End Monitoring
Figure 8-4: Brix Networks Systems in a Carrier Network
Figure 8-5: Cisco Admission Control On-Path Signaling
Figure 8-6: Cisco Access Link Off-Path Admission Control
Figure 8-7: EXFO IPTV TM&M Products in an IPTV Deployment
Figure 8-8: HyC TraceBox Monitoring Architecture
Figure 8-9: Ixia Aptixia IxLoad System
Figure 8-10: JDSU Net Complete IPTV Solution
Figure 8-11: Mariner xVu Framework
Figure 8-12: Mixed Signals Sentry Monitoring System
Figure 8-13: Pixelmetrix DVStation-IP in an Operator Network
Figure 8-14: Prosilient Technologies in an Operator Network
Figure 8-15: Psytechnics Unified Communications Experience Manager
Figure 8-16: Shenick diversifEye IPTV Test System
Figure 8-17: Spirent Channel-Change Test (Direct STB Connection)
Figure 8-18: Spirent Channel-Change Test (STB Connected to VLAN)
Figure 8-19: Sunrise Telecom Portable Line Test Sets
Figure 8-20: Telchemy VQmon in an IPTV Network
Figure 8-21: Tollgrade Products in an IPTV Deployment
Figure 10-1: “Basic” IPTV Deployment Architecture
Figure 10-2: “Intermediate” IPTV Deployment Architecture
Figure 10-3: “Large-Scale” IPTV Deployment Architecture
Figure 10-4: “Mega-Scale” IPTV Deployment Architecture



Table of Tables

Table 1-1: Quality Test Areas' Relationship to OSI Layers
Table 1-2: What Should Be Measured By OSI Layers?
Table 1-3: Sample of Vendors' Test, Measurement & Monitoring Solutions
Table 2-1: Quality Test Areas’ Relationship to OSI Layers
Table 2-2: What Should Be Measured By OSI Layers
Table 2-3: The Most Active IPTV TM&M Suppliers
Table 2-4: Additional IPTV TM&M Suppliers
Table 2-5: Suppliers of IPTV TM&M Enabling Technologies
Table 5-1: Summary of IPTV Home Networking Standards, Identifying QoS Approaches
Table 5-2: IPTV Standards Organizations with Video Quality Activities
Table 5-3: Basic Cost Estimate
Table 7-1: Summary of Possible Placements for IPTV TM&M Solutions
Table 7-2: IP Network QoS Class Definitions and Network Performance Objectives/Applications
Table 7-3: Suggested Mapping of Key IPTV Service Components to Y.1541 QoS Classes
Table 7-4: Recommended Transport Layer Parameters for MPEG-2 SDTV Transport Streams
Table 7-5: Recommended Transport Layer Parameters for MPEG-4/AVC or VC-1 SDTV Transport Streams
Table 7-6: Recommended Transport Layer Parameters for MPEG-2 HDTV Transport Streams
Table 7-7: Recommended Transport Layer Parameters for MPEG-4/AVC or VC-1 HDTV Transport Streams
Table 9-1: Matrix of IPTV TM&M Vendors and Products
Table 11-1: ISO/OSI Network Reference Model Mapped to IPTV Standards
Table 12-1: IPTV TM&M Suppliers
Table 13-1: IPTV Standards Efforts that Relate to TM&M

 

Index of Companies

Accenture Mixed Signals, Inc.
Adobe Systems MoCA
Agama Technologies AB Motive, Inc.
Agilent Technologies, Inc. Motorola
Alcatel-Lucent Multicanal
Aliant Telecom Nagravision
Alltel Napster
Apple NDS
AT&T Nera ASA
Auna NETGEAR
BearingPoint NetHawk Oyj
Belgacom Neuf Cegetel
Bell Canada Nokia Siemens Networks
BellSouth Nortel Networks
BitTorrent, Inc. Novis
Bridge Technologies AS NTT
British Telecom ONO Cable
Brix Networks Operax
Broadcom Pioneer Telephone Cooperative
BT Pixelmetrix Corporation
Cable Labs Portugal Telecom
Cablevision Prosilient Technologies AB
Cap Gemini Psytechnics Ltd.
Cavalier Telephone Qualcomm
CenturyTel Qwest
Charter Communications Reliance
China Telecom Rogers Communications
ChungHwa Telecom RTL
Ciena Ruckus Wireless
Cisco Systems, Inc. Sagem Communications
Cloverleaf Digital Samsung
CoaxSys TVnet SaskTel
Comcast SBC
Consolidated Communications Scientific-Atlanta
Cox Communications SES-Astra
Danaher Corporation Shenick Network Systems Ltd.
Deutsche Telekom Siemens Networks A/S
DirecTV Sigma Designs
DSL Forum SingTel
ECI Telecom Skype
eDonkey Sogecable
EDS Sonaecom
EMC Spirent Communications plc
eMule Sprint
Entone Sprint Nextel
Envivio Sunrise Telecom
Ericsson SureWest Communications
EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc. Swisscom
Fluke Networks Symmetricom, Inc. (QoSmetrics)
Foundry Networks TANDBERG Television
France Telecom T-Com Croatia
Fujitsu TDF Cognacq-Jay Image
Get Tekom SA Ltd.
Gnutella Tektronix, Inc.
Google Telchemy, Inc.
Harmonic, Inc. Tele2
Harris Corporation Telecom Italia
Hewlett-Packard Telefónica
Home PNA Teleste
HomePlug Powerline Alliance Telus
HomePNA3 Texas Instruments
Huawei Thomson
HyC Tilgin
IBM Time Warner Cable
IneoQuest Technologies, Inc. Tiscali
Intel Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
Intellon T-Online
Internet Engineering Task Force TreFor
Ixia Turin
Japan Telecom Tut Systems
Jazztel UPA
JDS Uniphase Corporation (JDSU) UPnP
Joost Verimatrix
Kademlia Verizon Communciations
Kasenna Viaccess
Lijbrandt Telecom Vondafone France
Linksys VTel
Lyse Tele Widevine Technologies
Magyar Telekom Wind
Mariner Partners, Inc. Witbe, Inc.
Maroc Telecom Zhone
Microsoft ZTE
Miranda Technologies  

 

Monitoring & Managing QoS/QoE for IPTV - 2008 — January 2008 is 252 pages and is available in a printed English language edition for $2,995 USD, a PDF single-departmental license for $3,995 USD, and is available free as part of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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