Tollgrade Releases VoIP Testing Gear For Cable Providers

Tollgrade Communications, Inc. has unveiled two additions to its Cheetah line of hybrid fiber coaxial cable (HFC) network assurance and testing products at the SCTE Cable-Tec EXPO in San Antonio. The products, for cable companies, are designed for testing VoIP quality from the head-end to the network edge.

The new CheetahXD broadband assurance platform provides cross domain Data Over Cable Systems Interface Specifications (DOCSIS) network management and fault and performance tools. The software is designed to automatically run scheduled diagnostic tests to assess network performance from the customer's point-of-view. Cable operators can use the test data to isolate and remediate network failures and problems.

Tollgrade has also added a DOCSIS voice over IP (VoIP) test point to its CheetahIP service assurance solution. The Cheetah CMD-E is designed to measure VoIP delivery quality from headend to the customer, including speech quality, R-factor, jitter, packet loss and latency. It analyzes Real-Time Transport Protocol stream in both directions using the CheetahIP host software to identify transient problems in cable VoIP traffic.

"Extensive ticket studies imply that 60% of today's broadband troubles are related to multi-layered sessions between the CPE (customer premise equipment) and IP access network," Tollgrade executive vice president of marketing Greg Quiggle said in a statment. "The introductions of QoS-sensitive services, such as VoIP, will only further this trend. Tollgrade provides the only solution that remotely isolates these troubles by performing delay, loss and jitter analysis via a HFC-based DOCSIS transponder."