» the All-In-One DSL Tester ARGUS 152 ADSL, VDSL, Ethernet, Copper test, TDR May 2013
VDSL Synchronization & Configuration Screen Besides the left presentation there is now from firmware version 2.0 another screen available giving a clear summary of the configuration and status of the tester. You reach the configuration screen by pressing the - key once. The big blue box at the bottom displays the layer 1 status, results & messages. For the Triple-Play DSL profile 3Play VDSL dyn, that includes all the STC specific configuration and test data except the user specific account data of the technician, the A142 is in access mode VTU-R on VDSL and in status Power Down = not started, yet. Press the Start softkey, firmware is downloaded and synchronization starts. DC voltage = 0.0V tester is either not connected to the pair or this DSL pair does not carry PSTN / POTS telephony service but telephony is done by using VoIP. Synchronisation in physical layer is prepared, firmware is downloaded Synchronization in physical layer is in progress = Layer 1 is set up Line is up, synchronization finished and successful page 2
VDSL Synchronization Results & Configuration Screen After synchronization it takes a few seconds and the data rate in downstream and upstream and corresponding CRC errors are shown, that are most important for the integrity of the connection. By means of the cursor keys one can now move up to the line with the small boxes representing the virtual lines that facilitate the use of the various services (Data, VoIP, IPTV & VOD ). The Edit soft- Key, that affects the box highlighted in blue, leds to the configuration of the virtual line or the service. To use a service one selects it (box becomes blue) and presses Start and the -icon indicates That the service is activated and available => is displayed. page 3
VoIP Call on VDSL2 Line The VoIP virtual line and the VoIP service are up and we now do a VoIP call. Press the Test softkey to enter the VoIP phone book ( max. 10 entries) with the number to be called. Or edit the number and start the outgoing call by confirming with the -key. NOTE: One must enter valid VoIP account data : User name, password and Authentification to register to the STC SIP server!! page 4
VoIP Call on VDSL2 Line The VoIP call is up and QoS is OK according the preset thresholds. Proceed by the cursor - -key from the highlighted laye1 box to the VoIP service box to see deatils of the VoIP connection. Softkey Info open the list for the MOS score and the R-factor that both confirm good speech quality. Details of the RTP = Real Time Packet stream = speech pakets are available by the RTP softkey ( for details of VoIP we refer to the Intec Argus VoIP short guide). page 5
VoIP Call on VDSL2 Line No speech packets were lost in this connection and results in upstream as available through the RTCP messages also show good performance, tolerable RTP jitter but some delay caused by the network. Upstream infos from the far end side are only available when RTCP is supported by the network. Tester and network agreed on codec G711 A-law and the connection is up since 2:50 min using the VoIP profile VoBB Riyadh new. The right screen shows the clearing cause when connection is stopped. page 6
VoIP Call on VDSL2 Line / Data Service After call is finished the final MOS score is displayed and one can store the test result. Delete the default name and enter your own name for the test re- Port. Use the ab>ab softkey to switch between numbers, small and capitel letters. In the three screen below the Data service is now selected and test of Internet connectivity and quality is next = Service, Virtual Line or Physical Layer is not in use and not activated, yet, but in idle mode = An error has occured page 7
Test of Data Service IP Ping Data service is selected: Press Edit to configure the virtual line ( here named: Data VDSL). Via menu Protocol one can proceed to the encapsulation protocol configuration that are part of the PPP profile. In the PPP profile ( here: STC PPP(short)) the individual authorization data must be entered by the technician. The PPP authorization data consist of: User name: like xxxxxxx@stc.net.sa xxxxx = different for each technician Password: like - - - - - - - NOTE: Without valid PPP username and password no Data test is possible! The PPP profiles STC PPP(short), Afaqe2e PPP and STC PPP(long) use Different authorization data format. page 8
Test of Data Service IP Ping AGAIN, since important: In the PPP profile the individual authorization data must be entered by the technician. The PPP authorization data consist of: User name: like xxxxxxx@stc.net.sa xxxx= different for each technician Password: like ------- NOTE: Without valid username and password no Data test is possible! The PPP profiles STC PPP(short), Afaqe2e PPP and STC PPP(long) use different authorization data format. Each PPP profile must be updated by the individual and private account data that every technician got from the operator STC. Once the PPP authorization data are entered and confirmed/stored (press: ) press Start to run a test page 9
Test of Data Service IP Ping The VL is up and the IP layer is build up and when both are up an IP layer test like IP ping can be selected and this IP ping test can be done. After selecting the IP address or entering a new one either by IP address or URL the ping packets sent and received are counted and delay times are measured and displayed together with more statistical data about packets and bytes sent and received ( under Status). New repeats the IP ping test. page 10
Test of Data Service IP Ping / VDSL Line Data Once the ping test is finished and test is stopped, the tester offers to store the test results. Del. = Delete the preconfigured name (AMP_2) and enter your Own name using the ab>ab softkey to switch from numbers to small and to capital letters. The last three screen show how to proceed to the VDSL2 line data. Scroll down to the layer 1 status box and when highlighted in blue press Info to open the pages with the layer 1 line parameters. The VDSL2 line with profile 17a is up since 3:25 min, synchronization took 30 sec., the downstream d/n rate is 11864 bps (bits per second), attainable rate of this copper pair is 11872 bps, Upstream u/f results are 1076 / 1088 bps, respectively. For more results press Graph for the bits/tone, SNR/tone, QLN and Hlog screens, Trace for the xdsl trace messages or Param. for the detailled timestamped data. Details follow on the next pages. page 11
Test of Data Service IP Ping / VDSL2 Line Parameters We will now have a look on the other xdsl parameters and learn, that one must always look on each parameter in context with others: Actual and attainable bit rate are quite similar and relative capacity is about 100% -> looks like DSLAM port is configured in rate adaptive mode and the copper cable is used to 100 % for the transmission of the maximum rate that can be achieved for a minimum SNR and a max. output power. Rates SNR Output PWR must always be seen together. The STC DSLAMs today are configured with a target noise margin in DS = 6dB when synchronizing, rates either settle to the preset values and power is adjusted in such a way that a noise margin = 6dB is achieved or when synchronizing for the highest rate possible. In our example: SNR(ds) = 5,7 db 6dB in the band 1 and OutPower (DS) = 12,2 dbm 14,5 dbm = max. DS output power for profile17a. CRC error counter in DS=15 cts/ 3,5min is quite high, should be 0! -> Press Reset to verify that CRC errors are real or caused by the synchronization process. Same applies to the FEC errors, that indicate the number of xdsl subframes, that were error corrected since the line is up. page 12
Test of Data Service VDSL Line Data The Elec.length = Electrical length = line attenuation at 1 MHz is an important value to configure the DPBO and UPBO of MSAN = remote street cabinet DSLAM. BDCM = Broadcom and IFTN = Infineon for the far (DSLAM) and near (modem) side chipset are less important info like the statistics of received and sent frames/bytes. Most important are the graphs of bits/tone, SNR/tone, QLN and Hlog, since they give direct info about the quality of the connection. From the B1 DS attenuation we know that the line is about 2km long transmission will be similar to ADSL and in the bitdistribution as in the results- we only see the upstram 0 and downstream 1 bands. Bits and SNR/tone is quite fragmented and irregular because of a lot of disturbers and Noise as can be seen in the QLN = Quiet Line Noise = noise on the line measured prior to synchronization. Hlog shows the frequency dependend attenuation, a straight As expected for a line not suffering from bridged taps. To see more deails use the zoom and cursor function in the Menu for evaluation of graphs. xdsl trace messages page 13
xdsl Line Parameters Long Term SNR The graph below shows the long term behaviour of the SNRM of an ADSL 2+ line measured by WINanalyse PC software and a Argus tester over 2 days. As one can see the SNRM is quite stable between 6-7 db and e.g. around noon when people start to cook or in the evening when they switch on TV etc. there are minor changes due to more noise and disturbers. At the end there Occurs a re-synchronization causing the step. Quite often one faces the issue, that a fault does not show up when a technician is on site. The Argus long-term analysis allows to record in combination with PC the xdsl parameters and error counters to find also intermittent problems. page 14
Test of VoIP Service The service IPTV is currently selected and activation is started but aborted. Via the Argus cursor keys the service VoIP is selected next and via The Edit key the VoIP line configuration becomes available. Under VoIP account there are 3 different VoIP profile are summarized for different STC regions and their VoIP servers(sip registrar & outbound proxy/sbc ) page 15
Test of VoIP Service / Test of IPTV service Like in PPP internet access there are also user data required to register to VoIP SIP server. Every technician has got an VoIP account with user name and password, that need to be entered here. Otherwise registration will not work and no test of the service VoIP is possible. Entering numbers, smal and capital letters is possible by means of the ab>ab softkey. NOTE: Also the authentification name must be entered in the SIP parameters!! (Usually same as the user name) Last three screens are about IPTV: The service IPTV has been selected and the service is up: Via Test key the list test is opened and one can ping the e.g. the multicast server or do a traceroute test to it, test in detail by IPTV a particular multicast stream in very detail or do an IPTV scan over up to 100 IPTV channel to verify they are available and to measure the zapping time. There are 3 different IPTV scan profiles with dedicated channel lists. page 16
Test of IPTV service Multicast Channel Scan In IPTV there is a dedicated multicast IP address assigned to every IPTV channel and by the channel scan the stream associated with the multicast address is requested by IGMP commands like the customer does by his remote control and the time intervall = zapping time between the terminating one stream ( channel) and the arrival of the stream of the next channel is measured. Min./max. and average zapping time are evaluated and listed besides the individual zapping times. Zapping time is a critical QoE parameter since customers start to complain switching between channels takes too long. When test is finished, the test report can be stored as usual. page 17
ADSL Synchronization & Configuration Screen We are proceeding to the test of an ADSL line. We stop here the VDSL2 connection that was profile 17a and up for 4:43 min with configuration of line & tests as per profile 3Play VDSL dyn = Triple Play VDLS2 line with DHCP. Via Menu Access Access mode = ATU-R the right line selection is done. In the right screen we still have the VDSL profil in place but tester is already connected to the line that also carries POTS as we can see from the 62.9 Volt on the line. page 18
ADSL Synchronization & Configuration Screen Ok, the test profile appropriate and prepared for ADSL lines is selected now and we will through some of the configuration. The softkey Profil gives us access to all the configuration data. E.g. in Phys. parameter we select the ADSL flavour for synchronization ( here: Annex A/M auto mode). Or in Data line with the associated Virtual line Data ADSL we can check by pressing the Edit softkey e.g. the proper encapsulation protocol that must be PPP ( PPPoE) for the internet access and the use of the data service. page 19
ADSL Synchronization & Configuration Screen In Protocol we configured PPP and in ATM menu the Ethernet = Yes Selects together the encapsulation PPPoE = Point to Pint Protocol over Ethernet. Note: Be aware that VPI/VCI must be set to 7 / 35 in ATM menu! Under PPP we find the list of PPP profiles that include the authentification data for PPPoE log-in. Every technician has an account with user name and password that must be entered here. The three PPP profiles STC PPP(short), Afaqe2e and STC PPP(long) have partially preconfigured usernames that can easily be adapted to the own account data and also new profiles can be added. NOTE: Once the password Is entered it is hidden behind the ***** to prevent misuse. page 20
ADSL Synchronization & Configuration Screen ADSL modem is in Power down and no fw is loaded, : Firmware downloaded and initialized, tester is synchronizing to ADSL through the states: Power down Initialize Silent Modem Idle Handshake Fully Initialized Silent: Modem Idle: Hanshake: Fully Initialized: Anx A/M aut= Annex A/M auto mode = DSL mode assigned to 3Play ADSL dyn page 21
ADSL Synchronization & IP Ping Test = ADSL synchronization (here: ADSL 2+) was successful and results are read out, after 2-3 s they are displayed: DS 2389 kbps / US 509 kbps. By pressing the -key, one would have access to all detailled ADSL layer data Use cursor keys to select the service Data to start a test of this service to e.g. verify the proper operation of the internet access. Test key and selection of IP Ping test leads to the IP Ping menu to select e.g. Data ping (= Ping using the PPPoE authentification data) while e.g. VoIP ping would use the VoIP protcol and VoIP authentification data to ping e.g. the VoIP SIP server. From the IP address list the address to be pinged is selected next. page 22
ADSL Synchronization & IP Ping Test Like before the ping test is successful, we can reach the IP address / URL and the round trip / delay times for the packets are reasonable with very little variation. Again teh test report is stored to send it via WINanalyse / WINplus SW to PC for documention to be able to compare the results later on when there are Complains & problems when more and more subscribers might come into this binder causing reduction in rates, SNRM due to increased cross-talk. US-CRC: 294: this error count we have since synchronization no real fault and one should have pressed error counter Reset after synchronization. DS-CRC: 1 : this CRC error occured since the tester did synchronize real page 23
ADSL Synchronization & IPTV Test Next is test of IPTV: Service IPTV is selected and the virual line and the service are started and via DHCP the tester gets the IP address and the cloned MAC address is checked and finally the link to the IPTV multicast server is up to test. The IPTV channel scan is the same as we had for VDSL2. NOTE: The STC IPTV network controls the MAC address of the STB and only MAC addresses that are registered as official STC STB will be accepted. To be Able to test IPTV there are either all MAC addresses of the testers registered in the list of STBs or the technician must enter the STB MAC address in the Argus MAC address menue to simulate the STMs MAC address. page 24
ADSL Synchronization & IPTV Test After scanning all channel the result is stored. When The tester is connected to a DSL line and a test like the channel scan or IP ping is tored also all the layer 1 ADSL or VDSL 2 results are stored, too page 25
ADSL Synchronization Finally the ADSL connection is terminated and again the user is asked to store the results. Now only the XDSL results will be stored! page 26
Thank you for your interest! Further Questions? Please ask. Thank you for your interest! Ralf-Dieter Heil Michael Bulpett +49 (2351) 9070-43 +44 1962 881878 ralf-dieter.heil@argus.info mike@moesarc.co.uk page 27