User's Manual Part 2

Tech-X Flex

(NG2) Tech-X Flex User Guide - Firmware v06.50

6-23

Intro

Overview

Wi-Fi

Ethernet

System

IP/Video

MoCA

Specs

• Subjective quality assessment of viewer experience

• Comprehensive statistics on multimedia transport streams

• Video channel change times

Video testing support includes:

• “Active” testing, where the test set emulates a multicast endpoint and performs all actions necessary

to start and/or join the stream. Depending on the location of the test set, this type of testing can

provide the most comprehensive view of the actual subscriber experience.

• “Passive” testing, where the test set is connected between two existing endpoints and passively

monitors the video traffic between them. Passive testing is supported for multicast and unicast

streams.

Briefly, unicast vs. multicast is defined as:

• Unicast - A single stream between two specific endpoints. Unicast video is similar to any

conversation between distinct IP hosts, which in this case normally represent a video server and a

subscriber device such as an STB.

• Multicast - A system designed to transport a single video stream to multiple endpoints, reducing the

demands on network bandwidth due to redundant data. For more information, see About IP multicast

on page 6-43.

For any given interface, note that testing support may vary according to limitations specific to that

interface. Where appropriate, this documentation notes those variations.

Specific video functions include:

• Video QoS (Quality of Service) on page 6-23

• Change Channel on page 6-51

• Channel Guide Settings on page 6-53

6.11.1 Video QoS (Quality of Service)

NOTE: Video testing is a purchasable option. Please contact Spirent for more information.

This test provides subjective no-reference quality scores and MDI calculations on a specific IPTV

channel stream, along with a set of network parameters, picture frame statistics, and other transport

stream information.

For a single-ended, active test, the unit must emulate a video endpoint and initiate/join the stream, after

which it performs the quality assessment on the traffic sent directly to it. Some interfaces, such as the

10/100/1G interface, provide a bridging/mirroring mechanism where the unit can be placed between two

Preliminary issue - Limited distribution only!