coverstory_cover story 26/11/2014 18:57 Page 3
Hybrid networks require Hybrid monitoring.
Euromedia: How much T&M is done (or
should be done) before the signal or file
reaches the network – (be it managed or
unmanaged)? What is the role of T&M in
content quality control? How does T&M
interface with the content workflow?
Agama: As issues in the
head-end will affect all endcustomers, having good
monitoring coverage
throughout the processing
chain ensures that the
source of problems can be quickly
pinpointed. By checking service integrity as
well as validating the video and audio
content layer the operator can ensure the
proper quality and also catch issues coming
from an external provider. This means that
monitoring and service assurance needs to be
seamlessly incorporated in the workflow - at
both service ingest and after processing such
as transcoding and encryption, combined
with capacity for correlation, visualisation
and trend analysis.
Bridge: In the OTT cloud you have different
types of providers. A broadcaster such as the
BBC creates its own signal, encodes it into
different profiles for 'phone, tablet, smart TV,
STB, and then monitors those signals at the
origin point where it departs into the various
CDNs. You can’t monitor within those CDN
networks, so you have to monitor before
CDNs or post CDN in the client itself or via
client-based probes. For operators taking
content from originators, it’s also important
to RF monitor ingest to check for quality
there, before it gets into the distribution
chain.
Farncombe: That’s simple - if the content is
of poor quality before distribution on the
network, then, however good the network is
and end devices are, the consumer
experience will be poor. It is therefore vital to
monitor content quality throughout its
distribution path, including the point of
origin and the point of consumption. The
final determination point of QoE as perceived
by the consumer is the device being used,
and much can be gleaned from this
perspective, both for troubleshooting at an
individual consumer level, and by
triangulating the view from the edge into
multiple topologies. By correlating inputs
from different T&M sources, the location and
nature of issues can be located and addressed
more accurately and quickly.
Rohde & Schwarz: Monitoring of signals
at the handover point of processing platform
(e.g. headend) and delivery network is crucial
and should be done in-depth to ensure best
QoS and QoE to the viewers.
S3: We see T&M playing an increasingly
important role in the earlier stages of content
ingest. Driving this is the increased number
of variations of content being supported by
video platforms. Multiscreen and TV
Everywhere initiatives now require
transcoding of content to a broad range of
possible video and audio formats, with
multiple variations in DRM, as well as
multiple packaging and streaming options.
We are working with operators to
incorporate automated testing and
monitoring throughout the content delivery
lifecycle from ingest through to play-out on
customer end devices in the home. Only by
We see T&M playing an increasingly important role
in the earlier stages of content ingest.
workflow - good integration with the
workflow system will significantly aid the
diagnosis of any weaknesses.
JDSU: If the file hasn’t reached the network,
presumably it’s still in the control of the
content provider. As those folks are in the
business of providing high quality content,
we’d assume that a comprehensive set of
T&M has been applied to ensure that those
assets are perfect. That includes validation of
encoding, encryption, audio and video, the
metadata, etc. T&M’s interface with that
workflow is fairly tight.
Mariner: It’s important to have a view of
service quality at various points in the
16 EUROMEDIA
taking a holistic approach can overall total
customer QoE be maximised.
Tektronix: It is always our recommendation
to monitor at both ingest and after any kind
of video processing such as encoding or
transcoding. Any issues present at ingest will
always reflect in the final content delivered to
the viewer irrespective of platform
architecture. As far as file-based content used
for on-demand assets (whether delivered as
VoD content or ABR on-demand content) is
concerned, the asset must be checked for
decodability. In essence this is to check that
the asset will playout correctly once delivered
to the viewer’s playout device, be it tablet,
mobile phone or set-top box.
Torque: These days, the content is
overwhelmingly delivered as a file, whereas a
live signal is only seen in news broadcasts
and live sporting events. In the latter case, a
live signal, the problem statement remains
the same: you need to check the content as it
moves from A to B. Checking the content is
'unbroken' along that path is important.
Additionally, such checking is especially
important to validate compliance to any SLA
that exists between the provider and
consumer at any demarcation points along
the way.
VeEX: This is a new concept. Although one
could believe that ‘Since I generate the signal
and I did my due diligence on my network
design, my stuff should be clean when it
leaves or reach the network’. In a noncompetitive world, when you are the only one
you can be a little lax, it is a differe