SPIRENT ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TESTING, DIAGNOSTICS AND PM TO ENSURE QoS TESTING AND DIAGNOSTICS OF ETHERNET FOR WIRELINE SERVICE PROVIDERS

Transcription

1 SPIRENT ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TESTING, DIAGNOSTICS AND PM TO ENSURE QoS TESTING AND DIAGNOSTICS OF ETHERNET FOR WIRELINE SERVICE PROVIDERS

2 Testing and Diagnostics of Ethernet for Wireline Service Providers ENSURING YOUR ETHERNET QUALITY OF SERVICE (QoS) AND YOUR CUSTOMER S QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE (QoE) The evolution of today s network has seen the migration of Ethernet technology from the Local Area Network (LAN) to Metro Area Networks (MAN). Service Providers, both as Traditional Service Providers (TSP) and Multi System Operators (MSO), have embraced Ethernet architectures as a replacement for traditional TDM services. Worldwide Mobile Backhaul Equipment Revenue THE ETHERNET MARKET The promise of the Ethernet service offering is the extension of the customer s Local Area Network (LAN) with greater flexibility and simplified management in a costeffective solution. This promise is one of the key drivers responsible for the unprecedented 40% growth of Ethernet services worldwide, as shown in the Ethernet revenue growth projection by Infonetics Research, Inc Infonetics Research, Inc Strong Growth in Retail and Wholesale Ethernet Services through 2014 Ethernet networks are fast becoming the choice as new services are added. This dramatic growth in Ethernet services is being fueled by the need to support a constantly evolving set of bandwidth requirements, network performance and end user applications. A major driver contributing to this tremendous growth in wireline Ethernet services for providers is the use of Ethernet to support wireless backhaul networks contracted from them by Wireless Service Providers (WSP) for their next generation wireless transport architectures and services. The evolution and pressure of wireless technology to produce this market-driven bandwidth is forcing the shift to Ethernet as the preferred backhaul network transport as seen below. EVOLUTION OF WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY (Data from Telcordia 2008 Evolution of Wireless Data Network) UMTS GSM GPRS Edge UMTS R99 HSPA E-HSPA LTE Mobile FIXED CDMA IS 95A 1X-RTT 3X-RTT EVDO R-0 EVDO R-A EVDO R-B EVDO (UMB) WiMax WiMax Wireless Generation 2 G 2.5 G 2.75 G 3 G 3.5 G 3.75 G 4 G 4 G 4 G UMTS Peak Rate (Down) 112 Kb/s 160 Kb/s 480 Kb/s 2 Mb/s 14.4 Mb/s 28 Mb/s 100 Mb/s CDMA Peak Rate (Down) 14.4 Kb/s 153 Kb/s 450 Kb/s 2.4 Mb/s 3.1 Mb/s 14.7 Mb/s 100 Mb/s 15 Mb/s 75 Mb/s TDM DS1 Rate 1.5 Mb/s 1.5 Mb/s 1.5 Mb/s 1.5 Mb/s 1.5 Mb/s 1.5 Mb/s 1.5 Mb/s 1.5 Mb/s 1.5 Mb/s TDM E1 Rate 2.0 Mb/s 2.0 Mb/s 2.0 Mb/s 2.0 Mb/s 2.0 Mb/s 2.0 Mb/s 2.0 Mb/s 2.0 Mb/s 2.0 Mb/s The data clearly indicates that as Wireless Service Providers (WSPs) move to 3G and beyond networks, TSPs and MSOs just adding traditional DS1/E1 connections for the contracted wireless backhaul services they are providing will not efficiently handle (shown in red print) this dynamic expansion in bandwidth. 2

3 In addition, the cost of providing this increased bandwidth via traditional TDM SONET/SDH technologies is also driving providers to shift to Ethernet as the backhaul architecture. The chart to the right shows the skyrocketing costs per connection of PDH and ATM transport in the first mile of backhaul services (Infonetics, Research Mobile Backhaul Equipment, Installed Base, and Services 2007). PDH vs Ethernet: Annual Mobile Backhaul Service Charges per Connection Infonetics Research, Inc A strong point of Ethernet and a good reason for its growing popularity is its versatility to be used as an access technology compatible with multiple transport methods across the core network or for long haul point-to-point links. Ethernet is compatible with almost any network technology, configuration or medium. It has become the choice for providers looking to eliminate single purpose service networks and transition to converged network topologies where multiple services can be efficiently provisioned and maintained as represented in the graphic below. Ethernet is by far the most robust, scalable and price prudent backhaul network alternative for providers wanting to deploy the backhaul network infrastructure the WSPs are beginning to require. Ethernet networks provide enormous benefits allowing the providers to: Economically address growing bandwidth requirements currently constrained by the prohibitive costs of legacy networks Leverage rapid transition to Carrier Ethernet for wireline traffic; enabling a single integrated wireline and mobile backhaul network Reduce management and maintenance costs Optimize the network for packet data traffic Overcome TDM (T1/E1) services scalability Ethernet provides these capabilities easily and quickly with high reliability while delivering the bandwidth needed for next generation services. 3

4 CHALLENGES OF ETHERNET SERVICES With the explosion in demand for Ethernet Business Services, it is imperative that providers employ strategies that simultaneously support maintenance of their current networks and growth of next generation Ethernet networks and simplifies service assurance for their technicians. Although Ethernet has many advantages, it does pose providers with significant questions such as those listed below and represented in the graphic. Can I improve my Quality of Service (QoS)? Do I have good visibility into the actual service? Am I able to turn-up circuits on time as demand for new service swells? Can I sectionalize service issues into the correct network or provider segment? How do I deal with intermittent Ethernet service issues? Are we providing the Quality of Service and Experience necessary to deliver reliable voice, data and video services (2G thru 4G) over the Ethernet backhaul networks? As competition between the various providers intensifies, it is important that service assurance organizations are equipped with the appropriate tools. The amount and granularity of information available directly from the Ethernet switch will not address the service level questions. The information provided by the switches is typically limited to aggregated counts of packets into and out of the switch which doesn t allow providers to evaluate information from a specific port such as: Traffic: frame sizes, protocol distribution, utilization, top talkers, top applications, etc. Specific Service Applications: VoIP and Video analysis Information Available from An Ethernet Switch Ethernet Service Questions For Ethernet service assurance, Providers are confronted with tough questions such as: Can I tell what type of traffic is running across the network? Can I validate the port/vlan assignments and configurations? Can I validate the end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) of the underlying network characteristics? Is the QoS performing correctly, and is the CIR correct? Can I identify the network segment causing the service issue? Do I have service visibility across my network? 4

5 ALARM MONITORING VERSUS TESTING AND DIAGNOSTICS Typically, as new services are deployed, Tier 1 technicians have little expertise and a high percent of the trouble issues are routed to a limited number of higher paid Tier 2 or Tier 3 technicians in the Customer Service Centers or Network Operations Centers (NOC). The most common Ethernet service assurance tools in use today are fault or performance tools and neither are service-centric. They attempt to solve problems by looking at the network and aggregations of services. While fault and performance tools are absolutely necessary for service assurance they are limited on several counts and are not sufficient by themselves to ensure QoS or QoE. Alarms and events are network centric and do not directly relate to the effect on the service. Alarms are sometimes unreliable setting up each network element to trigger on threshold crossings as the network expands and threshold values change requires a significant administrative effort and may not be done effectively. Alarms are triggered under conditions of hard failure while most Ethernet service issues are intermittent. Alarms are primarily targeted for core network elements and facilities and most Ethernet service issues are in the access network. Providers will have problems despite their best alarming and monitoring efforts. If not, call centers would be unnecessary. Service Centers need testing and diagnostic tools that are on-demand and provide the detailed service specific troubleshooting information and analysis needed to ensure quick problem resolution. The chart below contains a high-level comparison of fault and performance monitoring functionality versus testing and diagnostic functionality. FAULT AND PERFORMANCE FUNCTIONALITY VS. TESTING AND DIAGNOSTIC FUNCTIONALITY Functionality Fault Surveillance Performance Monitoring Testing and Diagnostics Identify up/down status of network elements and interfaces Report on network performance characteristics Monotoring Paradigm X X Testing Paradigm Alarm Collecting and Reporting Periodic Network and Quality Reporting SLA Trouble Shooting Reports/ Results Tune-up Testing X X Troubleshoot network/ service issues QoS Measurement X X Dedicated Hardware Solution X X Packet Decodes Expert Analysis and Processing Configuration Validation X X X X X X 5

6 SPIRENT TESTCENTER LIVE IS THE ANSWER Many of the Ethernet services today carry mission critical data and the networks carrying this data must be monitored continuously to meet service requirements for system uptime, loss, latency, and jitter and inability to prove network performance may result in lost revenue. Spirent delivers very scalable, highly accurate Ethernet testing and diagnostic solutions that address all aspects of the Ethernet life cycle including service activation, service assurance, and performance management. Spirent s Ethernet Life-Cycle Toolbox These capabilities will ensure the provider can achieve the following critical value propositions: Service Readiness Testing: Turn up right the first time Rapid Trouble Resolution: Dispatch to fix not find Service Validation & Historical Performance View: Reduced Repeats, Chronics and Churn In addition, Spirent s TestCenter Live standardizes Ethernet service activation and assurance while providing a stable scalable operations environment to provide the benefits to the left. Spirent TestCenter Live Benefits The current approach for diagnostics in the market place is to provide access to the statistics from different points in the network and in some cases present a rudimentary cross-correlation of data. The ability to pick the appropriate data for analyzing the problem is left to the technician. This results in dependencies on expensive resources, training and knowledge issues, and creates lengthy troubleshooting times. Spirent s family of Ethernet services products consisting of the TestCenter Live Test and Diagnostics software, the Spirent TestCenter Live Probe, and the Spirent TestCenter Live Performance Management solution are the answer for providers looking for an efficient cost effective service assurance Ethernet solution. These solution components bring real intelligence into the normal Ethernet issue resolution process so that the correct set of tests and data correlation are established for service issues in the network. In addition to managing rapid diagnostics, the solution addresses flow-through trouble processing by providing open interfaces to several industry leading inventory, trouble ticket, and provisioning systems and can be customized to interface to others as required. 6 Spirent s Ethernet Solution in a Provider s Network

7 SOLUTION COMPONENTS Spirent s Ethernet solution provides an unmatched view of the network, service quality and subscriber experience. The solution utilizes service performance history and testing and diagnostics and performs cross-correlation of this data gained from multiple points in the network and across multiple OSI layers. Spirent TestCenter Live Test & Diagnostics STC Live provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI) via a Web Interface and an open Northbound Interface for testing Ethernet services. Through an intuitive point and click GUI, users can initiate active, passive and coordinated testing to various points in the service. Additionally the solution makes use of the statistical data available in the Network Elements (NE) to provide a comprehensive view of the service as it traverses the network. STC Live hides the complexities of the network and provides a service centric view to the technician. All testing available through the Test & Diagnostic Web interface can also be initiated over an XML API by a provider s back office work management systems. This integration enables flow through automated testing to address the provider s rising volumes of Ethernet services allowing Ethernet to be scaled economically. Spirent TestCenter Live Probes Spirent s STC Live Probe, deployed at the aggregation points of Ethernet IP networks, provides a diagnostic Probe which uses the NE for access to join the service in real time. The Probe provides the most extensive suite of performance and throughput tests and protocol decodes in the industry. It increases service quality visibility and plays a vital role in measuring service. When strategically placed at the Ethernet Switch/Router or PWE devices, the Probes provide maximum visibility into the network. This visibility extends to multiple locations throughout the network and provides a complete end-to-end transport network view and service validation system with unique sectionalization features. The Probe generates traffic for active analysis of service quality and passively monitors traffic to diagnose service troubles. The Probe which supports both 1GigE and 10GigE interfaces can verify the operational status of the underlying network and the IP services that transverse it. They quickly identify and sectionalize any network service issues that are present then provide information to support accurate dispatches. STC Live seamlessly communicates to the network element to enable the Probe to be inserted into VLANs for on-demand active testing or to turn on the mirror or span port of the network element for passive monitoring of specific data streams. STC Live Probe 7

8 Active Testing With the STC Live Probe located in key locations as shown in the graphic to the right and through the use of Spirent s Ethernet test and diagnostic solution s active and passive test functionality providers can answer those tough service questions discussed earlier. The STC Live Probe will access the Ethernet switch and join the VLAN to be tested. From this access, a technician can run active tests and perform an end-to-end Ethernet quality of service validation by conducting: Connectivity Check: Network to Enterprise NTE STC Live Probe End-To-End Ethernet QoS Validation Committed Information Rate: Ensure (bandwidth) can be reached Generate Ethernet Stream and Validate QoS: frame loss, delay, jitter, out of order frames, etc are within specifications Generate Multiple Streams Simulating: HSIA, Video, VoIP traffic and determine integrated QoS behavior Loopback Control: for trouble isolation process A key capability of Spirent s active test functionality in the STC Live Probe is the ability to send industry standard loopback commands to various components in the network and make key determinations based on the various measurements that can be made to those loopbacks. The graphic to the left depicts the utilization of the solution s active test capability to run standard IEEE 802.1ag/ITU-T Y.1731 tests to sectionalize trouble into or out of the network or access segments. Sectionalizing Ethernet Networks and Services with Active Testing The ability to isolate Ethernet service issues at three key points along the Ethernet circuit path is a critical functionality for fast issue resolution. Spirent s solution allows providers to perform: 802.1ag/Y.1731 Loopbacks: Allows sectionalization without being intrusive to customer traffic MAC Swap Available Features: Take Ethernet frames and send them back without being intrusive to customer traffic IP address/mac Swap Loopback (IP SRC/DEST the same): Not intrusive to customer traffic TWAMP: Not intrusive to customer traffic UDP Echo Port Loopbacks: Not intrusive to customer traffic Physical Port Loopbacks: Turns all traffic around Available in NTEs, Ethernet Over Devices, etc In addition to the active test capabilities discussed above, Spirent supports the existing RFC 2544 standard and the new ITU-T Y.1564 testing standard as discussed below. This ensures Providers have the capabilities to accurately and efficiently measure both single services and the integrated quality of service for each service independently when delivered as part of multi-stream services for new service activations and in life maintenance. 8

9 RFC 2544 TESTING STANDARD Today, RFC 2544 is the most used Ethernet turn up test to provide the ability to measure throughput, latency, and frame loss for an array of frame sizes despite initially being introduced as a benchmarking tool for network interconnected devices in the lab. This test provides key parameters to qualify the network (confirming the Committed Information Rate). The RFC 2544 consists of multiple sequential tests run for eight specified frame sizes for each class of service. However, the primary limitation of the RFC 2544 Standard and reason for the implementation of the new ITU-T Y.1564 Standard is that RFC 2544 does not allow providers to confirm performance at CIR, EIR, and Discard Rates, and to validate QoS parameters for the multiple services riding over the network which will prove essential in the future. For example, in the diagram to the right where there is UMTS and LTE data traffic along with 1588 (PTP) timing data all running with their own class of service within one VLAN each class of service would get tested individually with RFC 2544 where a better test would be to generate traffic to simulate all 4 services running simultaneously. To fully confirm service activation for today s Ethernet services which will require the ability to simulate all types of services that will be running on the network while confirming the integrated quality of service parameters for each of the services, providers will also need the ability to perform ITU-T Y.156sam testing as part of their technician s toolkit. SPIRENT S IMPLEMENTATION OF ITU-T Y.1564 SERVICE CONFIGURATION TEST The ITU-T Y.1564 Service Configuration Test allows the Operations Center technician to control the bandwidth and confirm various subsets of the Committed Information Rate, Committed Information Rate and Excess Information Rate, and (Discard Test) Excess Information Rate + X% (a delta). Furthermore, the technician can use the test to measure throughput, Frame Delay (FD), Frame Delay Variation (FDV), and Frame Loss (FL). Throughput as seen at output of test instrument Source: MEF Draft ITU-T Y.156sam Network Configuration After running through the ITU-T Y.1564 Service Configuration Test the technician can determine if the network elements and the path have been properly configured to forward the services while providing the minimum performance Key Performance Indicators (KPI). Spirent s Network Quality Test provides the ability for the technician to run through each of these configurations (CIR, EIR, and Discard) on a single stream. The picture to the right shows the Spirent Network Quality test with the capability to allow up to 4 streams to be configured to run simultaneously. In the Network Configuration Test only a single stream is needed. 9

10 The technician can control bandwidth, 802.1p or DSCP/TOS priority settings, frame size values including jumbo frames and random frame size (min/max), VLAN tag(s), round trip (loopback) or one way measurement, and the time duration. A test dialog normally runs through each of these steps (subset of CIR, CIR & EIR, and discard) and allows a Provider to set-up their own process steps (what subset, how long to run, etc.) according to their Business Rules. ITU-T Y.1564 Service Performance Test allows the Operations Center technician to validate each service running at the service Committed Information Rate (CIR) to ensure each service meets the targeted Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and expected Quality of Service (QoS). Transmitted Traffic Service 1 CIR Service 2 CIR Service 3 CIR Measured Traffic Source: MEF Draft ITU-T Y.156sam Service Test After running through the ITU-T Y.1564 Service Performance Test the technician can now determine that all services are able to be run at their maximum rate with guaranteed performance (CIR) and can determine what the integrated Quality of Service is for each service while running in the presence of the others. Below is an example of Spirent s Multiple Stream Test that allows a technician to run up to 4 different service streams simultaneously. 10

11 The technician can control bandwidth, 802.1p or DSCP/TOS priority settings, frame size values - including jumbo frames and random frame size (min/max), VLAN tag(s) for each of the 4 streams as well as specify round trip (loopback) or one way measurement, and the time duration. A test dialog normally runs through each of these steps (subset of CIR, CIR & EIR, and discard) and allows a Provider to set-up their own process steps (what subset, how long to run, etc.) according to their Business Rules. The system also allows the administrator to build templates that setup the various test configurations for each of the different services (streams) thus standardizing the test setup for every technician. To the right is a sample test result display showing the quality of service parameters for 4 streams being run simultaneously. The Spirent Multiple Stream Network Quality Test capabilities allow a Provider to rapidly confirm that the network is configured to allow the multiple services to run properly whether for Business Services for an Enterprise or for a Wireless Backhaul architecture. This functionality provides the value proposition of dispatch to fix not find which results in fix it right the first time producing significant cost reductions. Spirent s active testing will also play a critical role for those providers that frequently provide service over shared networks. It is absolutely crucial in these networks that the test solution can sectionalize Ethernet service issues quickly and be able to isolate where and in whose area of responsibility the service issue resides the provider s, the WSP s or other third party provider s. Passive Testing The network shown below represents a provider s network with a STC Live Probe placed at the Ethernet Switch. VLAN or port traffic of the desired service can be mirrored to a Probe placed in this location. Once accessed, the Probe can be used to perform non-intrusive passive testing for observation and analysis of subscriber generated traffic passing through this point in the network. This Probe can monitor customer service entering and leaving the provider s network to help sectionalize trouble by providing: Traffic Visibility: VLAN statistics, CoS, frame sizes, protocol distribution, utilization Data Analysis: top talkers, top applications, connection matrix, etc. VoIP Analysis: signaling & voice analysis/quality Video Analysis: channel operation & video analysis/ quality Capture/Decode: deep dive analysis The test results are brought back to STC Live T&D and presented in tables that experienced technicians find very useful and in a user friendly graphical format for inexperienced technicians. The primary importance of passive testing is to observe the actual traffic in the network validate a service issue exists, sectionalize it, and provide information to quickly resolve it. STC Live Probe Passive Testing Visibility To The Customer Experience Passive Test Results 11

12 SPIRENT TESTING AND DIAGNOSTICS OF ETHERNET FOR WIRELINE SERVICE PROVIDERS SPIRENT TESTCENTER LIVE TEST CAPABILITIES IN CONVERGED NETWORKS One of the primary reasons for the growth of Ethernet services is its capability to support almost any network technology, configuration and service. Spirent s Ethernet solutions provide testing for layer two services as well as higher layer testing up to layer 7 applications such as Video Conferencing, Video, VoIP and data services. STC Live Probe Test Capabilities In Converged Networks SPIRENT S TESTCENTER LIVE SOLUTION FOR VOIP SERVICES It is essential that Providers be able to accurately determine the quality of their VoIP services. Studies have shown if subscribers detect a noticeable difference between VoIP versus POTS call quality they will cancel the service or change Providers. To ensure excellent Quality of Service (QoS) and their customer s Quality of Experience (QoE) the Provider must deploy a VoIP service assurance solution with both the ability to monitor a customer s call in progress and the ability to emulate a customer s call with active testing to ensure the delivery of VoIP service at levels that meet a customer s expectations. Spirent believes requirements for assuring VoIP quality is somewhat analogous to maintaining POTS. In mature POTS environments it proved necessary to have Network Operations Centers (NOCs) monitoring voice switches and SS7 networks as well as Customer Call Centers resolving customer specific service issues through the use of a test system. POTS resides alone in the narrowband portion of the voice spectrum and the nature of POTS problems are relatively simple. However, VoIP services reside in the broadband portion of the spectrum and compete with Video and High Speed Data (HSD) services for bandwidth. Determining the integrated Quality of Service (QoS) of VoIP calls adds significant complexity to VoIP service assurance. STC Live VoIP Solution Spirent s TestCenter Live Solution consists of the STC Live software and the Spirent TestCenter Live Probes and provides active test & diagnostics, passive monitoring, and performance monitoring required for VoIP service assurance as described below. STC Live VoIP Capabilities 12 This start to finish call monitoring feature allows the Provider to view the customer s actual Quality of Experience (QoE) at the monitoring point where the STC Live Probe is located and thoroughly analyze the customer call by collecting and measuring essential call information such as Call Details, Call Quality, Control Plane Signaling, and RCTP XR statistics (see graphic below for sub metrics) about the call being monitored to facilitate quick effective trouble resolution. High Level View of STC Live VoIP Diagnostic Capability

13 STC Live Passive Monitoring Capability The Probe gains visibility to the VoIP service through the Ethernet switch. Once visibility to the service is achieved, the Probe is able to passively monitor actual customer VoIP calls whether in the Set-up, In Progress, Connected, BYE or Teardown stages as depicted in the drawing below. Utilization of STC Live s passive monitoring capability results in an improved ability to rapidly isolate customer specific problems and ensure they are fixed right the first time resulting in reduced MTTR, Repeats, and Chronics. An example of an STC Live Passive VoIP Monitoring Results Screen of a connected VoIP call is displayed below. High Level Process View of Initiating, Conducting, and Terminating VoIP Calls STC Live Passive VoIP Screen with A Call Connected This multi-tiered solution enables the technician to rapidly sectionalize problems with call quality and signaling issues. The focus of STC Live is not to replace the 24 x 7 monitoring solutions that are generally used by the Network Operations Center but to enable the customer facing technician (sometimes called the customer service representative) to rapidly resolve real-time customer trouble calls. STC Live s passive monitoring provides outstanding Capture/Decode capabilities utilizing tools such as Wireshark which allow the Provider to drill down into the call characteristics even farther and create a PCAT file of the information that can be transferred to the appropriate subject matter experts for analysis. An excerpt of a STC Live Call Capture Screen is shown below. Excerpt of a STC Live VoIP Call Capture Screen 13

14 STC Live Active Test & Diagnostics In addition to passive monitoring of the customer s VoIP calls, STC Live supports active test capabilities to emulate the customer s experience. This capability allows conclusive sectionalization of service issues by generating and terminating actual calls to various points in the network as shown in the active VoIP Call Initiation Screen and VoIP Call Results Screens. STC Live Active VoIP Call Initiation Screen STC Live Active VoIP Call Results Screen STC Live s active testing for VoIP can characterize both the quality of the network and the VoIP service and measure them against what the Provider defines as acceptable. The active testing enables a technician to use various CODECs and place and answer SIP (RFC 3261) based VoIP calls between Probes, from a Probe to an end point in loopback mode, or initiate single-ended outbound/inbound tests to and from customer premise equipment. The solution also supports the use of a WAV file that can be played out repeatedly in the media stream packets while the call is established. The technician can measure Quality of Service metrics (packet loss, delay, jitter), Call Quality Statistics (G.107 R Factor and MOS Quality Scores), SIP Control Plane, and RTCP XR statistics. Furthermore, the Probe can be used in a proxy mode to place a call between IP addresses without the use of a SIP server. This enables the Probe to place calls between Probes or between a Probe and a customer s IP address endpoint and measure Quality of Service Metrics like packet loss, delay, and jitter and Call Quality Metrics such as G.107 R Factor and MOS Quality Scores. Similarly, the Probe can be used to send RTP streams between Probes or to a loopback endpoint with an IP address to determine the capability of the network to transport RTP traffic. When running the test between Probes, one way measurements are available for Quality of Service and Call Quality Metrics whereas when tests are run to a loopback, the measurements are round trip. The STC Live VoIP solution can provide both passive and active results information to a system, like a trouble ticket system, to support an automated environment or to an individual as appropriate, based on the Provider s Business Rules. 14

15 SPIRENT TESTING AND DIAGNOSTICS OF ETHERNET FOR WIRELINE SERVICE PROVIDERS STC Live Real Time Performance Monitoring In addition to the passive monitoring and active test capabilities discussed above, Spirent s STC Live Probes can be used to provide highly accurate performance monitoring that can be easily scaled to meet a Provider s growth requirements and provide fast effective identification and sectionalization of service issues. The solution s VoIP performance monitoring features include the ability to specify multiple designated end points, register with the SIP server and place up to 30 simultaneous calls, score the results, and present the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with threshold crossings in a clear graphical display for easy interpretation by the user. Example Display of Performance Monitoring Graphing Jitter Spirent s STC Live VoIP solution utilizes the same STC Live Probes being deployed for Video and Ethernet services. Therefore, based on network design and implementation Providers may be able leverage a significant amount of their Video or Ethernet Probe investment for VoIP services. The solution also supports user-defined thresholds for alarms and SNMP trap generation as well as network performance baselining and historical trending of KPI s. SPIRENT S TESTCENTER LIVE SOLUTION FOR IPTV Spirent TestCenter Live provides both performance collection and test & diagnostic capabilities for IPTV Services to enable a Provider to gather the key performance indicators to understand the Quality of the IPTV service they are providing their customers as well as test capabilities to rapidly sectionalize troubles when they do occur. Monitoring of IPTV Video Streams STC Live monitors the video stream, auto detects the channel present, and measures the associated key performance indicators including RFC 4445 Media Delivery Index (MDI), TR Transport, and Audio/ Video MOS Metrics to provide a robust view of the quality of service and key data to rapidly sectionalize the trouble when it does exist. Spirent s approach is a three tiered solution looking at the basic STC Live Probes Passive IPTV Video Testing and Performance Analysis transport metrics such as MDI and TR , then looking deeper into the stream to determine key characteristics of the video stream, and at the top level providing a set of Perceptual Quality Metrics (MOS scores) to quickly present a view of the Quality of Experience (QoE) for each stream. The following table provides more details on the MDI and TR metrics supported by STC Live. 15

16 In addition to the MDI and TR metrics discussed above that focus mostly on the transport, the STC Live Probes have the ability to provide a set of Video Quality Measurements (VQM) focused more on the content s attributes to provide a better view of the actual Quality of Experience the customer will encounter when viewing the IPTV stream. Even in a perfect network, performing only MDI measurements for IPTV service will not detect picture quality issues if there are problems with the encoding at the Head End Video Server. Consequently, Spirent s approach to video testing is to measure the network, transport metrics, and the content of the video stream which is much more comprehensive than just using MDI to determine the customer s real Quality of Experience (QoE). By providing both measurements, technicians can quickly isolate network issues from content related issues. The table below details many of the key performance indicators (metrics) that are used to measure the performance of the video stream and to determine the perceptual quality for both the video and audio of the IPTV signal. This comprehensive set of Video metrics (Transport, Video Stream, Perceptual Quality) results in an improved ability to rapidly isolate video issues and ensure they are fixed right the first time reducing original, repeat, and chronic customer reports for IPTV services. Detailed Video Quality Measurements (VQM) Performance Monitoring of IPTV Video Streams Ultimately, the goal of Video Performance Monitoring is to collect critical key performance indicators (metrics) which can be graphed over time and compared to established thresholds according to the Provider s Business Rules to determine the overall quality of the service and proactively determine when the quality degraded. The Probe gathers the performance metrics and provides them back to STC Live PM which archives the data, provides visibility to the quality scores, and sends automatic notification of quality issues to fault management systems. An example of an IPTV Video Performance Results Screen showing delay factor is shown to the right. IPTV Video Performance Results Screen 16

17 On Demand IPTV Video Performance Although the Probe can provide video performance metrics 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, there are times when a technician wants to isolate a particular IPTV stream to analyze what is causing the customer s trouble. STC Live s Test & Diagnostic capabilities provide an on-demand ability to allow a technician to view what is happening on a particular video stream. Below is a picture of a technician s desktop where a particular stream is selected on the left while the detailed MDI and TR metrics are displayed on the right. Example of STC Live MDI Test Results Screen The Quality of the Transport and the IPTV Services Riding Over It Not only will STC Live provide Quality of Service Metrics for IPTV services, it can also provide visibility into the quality of the IP networks these IPTV streams are running over. STC Live provides similar performance and test & diagnostic capabilities for Ethernet/IP networks as it does for IPTV services. The combined set of key performance indicators characterizing both the IPTV streams and the lower layer network supporting the services provide comprehensive service issue sectionalization capabilities far exceeding IPTV stream monitoring alone. 17

18 Proactive Monitoring, Network Testing and Statistics Collection An operational strategy of provision, install, maintain, bill and hope is simply too risky to ensure new revenue acquisition and retention in the Ethernet business services market space. Providers must be hypersensitive to the QoS they are providing in both the initial service turn-up and after turn-up periods. Network performance is measurable and reportable using STC Live and enables the providers to demonstrate QoS through a very effective combination of proactive monitoring, network testing, and statistics collection. The solution s capabilities also reduce NCFs, repeat and chronic reports. The graphic to the right is a representation of Spirent s proactive monitoring, network testing, and statistics collection supporting network performance management. Proactive Monitoring, Network Testing and Statistics Collection Spirent TestCenter: Live Performance Monitoring with Active Traffic Generation to Determine QoS Spirent TestCenter Live Performance Monitoring (PM) solution provides real-time performance visibility across the entire footprint of the production network without impacting revenue generating traffic. By utilizing Ethernet OAM capabilities defined by ITU-T Y.1731 and IEEE 802.1ag, or defined by IETF TWAMP, STC Live Probes are able to provide testing to any standards-compliant device or between Probes and feed that data into a powerful centralized analysis and reporting engine. The combination of the Probe and the analysis engine is STC Live PM. STC Live PM s intuitive, web-based interface provides dashboard and reporting capabilities, and the Northbound XML interface and direct SQL access to performance results allows rapid integration with existing OSS and back office systems. In addition to performance monitoring, the Probe also provides simultaneous on-demand active and passive Ethernet test capabilities and can help ensure the high Quality of Service (QoS) demanded in the very competitive Ethernet services marketplace. Incorporating Spirent s next generation PM solution with active traffic generation in evolving Ethernet network infrastructures for enhanced service issue identification provides an efficient cost effective service assurance solution, builds the best possible QoS, and maximizes profitability by providing: Proactive Detection of Network Degradation: Proactive trouble resolution with threshold-based alarming to notify personnel of a problem immediately; significantly reducing the MTTR. Flexible Testing Capabilities: Support for on-demand service assurance traffic generation in the STC Live Probe in addition to performance monitoring ensures efficient use of capital budgets. Network Historical Performance: Network-wide visibility with a Carrier class architecture designed for thousands of nodes and hundreds of simultaneous users ensures that the system can grow in concert with the network. Reduced Repeat and Chronic Reports. Reduced CAPEX: Use of ITU/IEEE standards for Ethernet OAM or IETF TWAMP yield universal interoperability and reduces the need for specialized equipment. Ease of Integration: An open Northbound XML interface and direct results access via SQL allows straightforward integration into back office OSS s. 18

19 STC Live PM s exceptional visibility into the customer s Ethernet VLAN service using both current and historical information provides fast effective identification and sectionalization of service issues for Ethernet services. STC Live PM is the software that manages the performance data, enables back office integration, facilitates, simplifies and improves automation, and drives the STC Live Probe. PM sectionalizes trouble between providers in shared Ethernet networks utilizing Spirent s best in class Probe. The Probe provides real time monitoring of Ethernet service performance with scaling capability to meet carrier class requirements. The Probe quickly assesses the service identifying any issues that are present and provides information to support accurate dispatches back to STC Live PM. Ethernet OAM Enabled Performance Monitoring for the Service Provider In addition, PM can support thousands of VLANs per port and can gather the requested information in small incremental 200 ms bursts. Reports can be for five-minute windows aggregating the 200 ms bursts of information so actual network surveillance is happening in micro slices of time while STC Live PM reports the information in meaningful windows. The graphic to the left provides an example of a Performance Report Screen and some of the data retrieval options. STC Live Performance Monitoring Details Reports come in several flavors, providing detailed near real time and historical data on key metrics. The reports provide views of the data in an array of intervals 5 minute intervals for 24 hours, hourly intervals for a week, and daily intervals for a week, month, and quarter for example. STC Live PM has the capability to present information showing Ethernet QoS down to each Ethernet data stream for each Class of Service (CoS). In addition, the provider can obtain the information directly from PM or the solution can feed the information into a higher level OSS in their network. PM will identify critical threshold crossings and send the alerts or SNMP alarm traps to designated fault systems. The providers can designate which threshold service measurements will be invoked and set these thresholds per Key Performance Metric (KPM) i.e., Frame Loss and Frame Delay for both Warning (Yellow) and Critical (Red) Threshold Violations. The graphic to the right displays several of the data fields that can be changed dynamically on the fly by the user. STC Live Performance Monitoring Dynamic Changeable Threshold Crossings Results Retrieval 19

20 SPIRENT TESTING AND DIAGNOSTICS OF ETHERNET FOR WIRELINE SERVICE PROVIDERS STC Live PM also provides a summary view of all of the VLANs that have crossed targeted Critical and Warning service thresholds within various periods or increments of time such as 5-minutes, hourly or daily. STC Live PM Summary of VLANs with Threshold Crossings by Time Increment Analyzing data gathered every day and throughout each day is especially valuable to determine service trends during low, average and peak activity time periods. In addition, STC Live PM has a constant source of near real time data that supports analysis of performance for reactive troubleshooting. These reports provide valuable information that will assist personnel in determining the root cause of real network service issues. STC PM allows the provider to slice this information numerous ways such as by service category (Gold, Silver, Bronze, etc.), by switch or all switches, or by service metric (Average Delay etc). In fact the possible data retrieval combinations a provider can get are almost limitless. STC Live PM VLANs Threshold Crossings by Switch STC Live PM also enables the provider to drill down into a specific VLAN to ensure they are providing the expected QoS. PM is vendor agnostic, allowing providers to utilize the active traffic generation capabilities to characterize network performance such as Frame Loss, Frame Delay, and Frame Delay Variation in any mix of vendor NID, NTE, PWE, or NEs. STC Live PM Individual VLAN Performance for SLA Support 20

21 The Spirent solution has an open northbound interface to facilitate fast and easy integration into a provider s back office systems for improved automation, such as interfacing to the trouble reporting system and automatically opening trouble tickets for SNMP alarms or service degradations detected across the network. Below is a high level view of STC Live PM s architecture, capabilities and possible integration with a provider s OSSs. The Spirent Probe gathers the results and pushes them back to STC Live PM where they are processed according to the provider s business rules and can: Push the test results to a Back Office OSS Generate SNMP fault notifications based on threshold crossings Use its own dashboard and produce reports for the service provider The dashboard: Reduces training cycles Provides tabular & graphic results reports Reports information in PDF, , HTTP or Excel format STC Live PM s Architecture, Capabilities and Integration Into a Provider OSSs AUTOMATION Automation is key to ensuring Ethernet services are turned up correctly, service issues are resolved as soon as possible and the business can be economically scaled to meet the customer demand. Customers are using Spirent s OSSs today for both provisioning and maintenance, and are running in excess of 10 million automated tests annually. Spirent TestCenter Live allows providers to achieve an average of 80% to 90% automation on all of the tests run based on the extent of the solution s integration with back office, work management, and inventory systems. The graphic below lists some of the benefits of a provider taking advantage of Spirent s automation capabilities. STC Live PM s Automation Benefits for the Provider 21

22 BUSINESS CASE DRIVERS Spirent tools are proven to improve operational efficiencies through automation and standardization and influence the saving drivers in the wheel by proving the functionality outside each quadrant. WHY SPIRENT? Spirent Communications is a global provider of integrated performance analysis and service assurance systems that enable the development and deployment of next-generation networking technology such as Internet telephony, IP Video, broadband services, 3G and 4G wireless, global navigation satellite systems, and network security equipment. Spirent s solutions are used by more than 1,700 customers in 30 countries, including the world s largest equipment manufacturers, service providers, enterprises and governments. Business Case Drivers Spirent has a long history of providing MPLS & Ethernet testing solutions that offer the realistic testing scenarios required to ensure Quality of Service (QoS). Many leading network equipment manufacturers and service providers demand our offerings to meet their requirements for next-generation services whether using the Spirent TestCenter platform to complete the industry s largest-ever public 10 Gigabit Ethernet test or selecting Spirent TestCenter Live Test & Diagnostics, Spirent TestCenter Live Probes and Spirent TestCenter Live Performance Monitoring solutions to better manage their expenses while meeting the service parameters essential to win in today s competitive marketplace. Spirent is active with standards bodies and research organizations during the new technology evaluation process and provides test and diagnostic equipment to ensure the technology meets appropriate standards. Our Service Assurance solutions utilize the expertise gained from the use of our lab test equipment by network equipment manufacturers to increase our ability to validate and resolve customer issues quickly and efficiently, with the latest technology. This total life cycle involvement with Ethernet technology uniquely positions Spirent to help providers drive new services to mass market faster with fewer resources and improved profitability while enhancing customer satisfaction. Spirent s solution has been chosen by top-tier global network operators to assure their Ethernet services worldwide. In addition, Spirent was recognized by Frost & Sullivan as the global leader in Ethernet testing according to the research firm s World Gigabit Ethernet Test Equipment Market report. This award underscores Spirent s unmatched Ethernet expertise and sale of more Ethernet test ports than any other vendor through its comprehensive solution portfolio that extends from the lab with product development and verification, to the field for service provisioning, troubleshooting, and performance management, and to the in-home network to ensure QoE of multi-play applications. 22

23 SUMMARY In closing, Spirent is a leading communications technology company continuing to focus on delivering innovative systems and services to meet the needs of our customers worldwide. Spirent understands the intricacies of Ethernet networks and the services that traverse them. Our experience and deployments with early implementers allowed us to identify a common set of challenges confronting providers: Very little visibility into the Ethernet service Limited number of operations personnel with the necessary Ethernet knowledge Most service issues are intermittent and are not hard down link problems Our Ethernet solutions properly implemented with maximum integration and automation will allow providers to scale Ethernet service assurance and reduce OPEX while reducing: Mean Time to Determine (MTTD) where service issues reside Mean Time to Restore (MTTR) for resolution of the service issue or outage Reduced Failure Frequency (FF), Repeats and Chronics Non-productive dispatches Spirent is proud of our award-winning Spirent TestCenter Live Solution for Ethernet services and continues to invest in Ethernet Business Solutions. We are committed to maintaining our leadership in developing the Ethernet performance, test and diagnostic tools the industry requires to meet the ever increasing demand for bandwidth. Spirent s Available Professional Services To facilitate Spirent solution deployments, Spirent provides the following services for providers to utilize based on their preference: Implementation Services Integration Services Education Services Maintenance Services In-region Support Services 23

24 Rev. G 11/11