Brix Debuts VoIP Management System For Cable Operators

Brix Networks has introduced a new performance management system that allows cable operators to monitor voice over IP (VoIP) performance across their networks, from the Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) plant all the way to the customer premise.

Launched at the Cable-Tec Expo in San Antonio, BrixWorx for Cable provides continuous performance auditing and providing near-real-time notification of service interruptions and outages. The application offers comprehensive service assurance for real-time IP services by supporting end-to-end service testing across the entire cable network.

"VoIP is the most challenging component of triple play services, and visibility into and across the HFC is typically the hardest part for cable VoIP operators," Brix Networks director of product management David Kaufman said in a statement. "BrixWorx for Cable delivers scalable, non-intrusive monitoring that enables operators to dispatch the right technician the first time and also solve problems before they happen."

BrixWorx for Cable supports a number of cable VoIP performance management standards developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and CableLabs. The IETF's RTCP-XR allows cable embedded media terminal adapters (EMTA) to report back from the customer premise, while the ITU's E-Model algorithm can predict call quality. CableLabs' Network Characterization Service (NCS) Loopback permits non-intrusive test calls from the cable network operations center (NOC) to the customer premise.