Cisco Cisco Video Assurance Management Solution 2.0 White Paper
White Paper
© 2009 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
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Video Quality Assurance Across IP Networks:
Challenges, Requirements & Winning Strategies
Challenges, Requirements & Winning Strategies
New Technologies Permit Operators to Proactively Manage, Identify, and Solve Problems to Control
Operational Costs and Boost Efficiency
Abstract
As customers demand increasing flexibility to receive video services anywhere and anytime with the best possible
quality of service, cable operators of all types have deployed IP next-generation networks, which provide new levels
of scalability, flexibility and fault resilience, while acting as a platform for the rapid deployment of new video services.
Operators will be challenged with monitoring and troubleshooting the growing number of video flows across these
dynamic IP networks. A single lost IP packet can create visible artifacts on a large number of television screens,
promoting the need for a new approach to video quality monitoring.
A new set of technologies can be used to ensure high-quality transmission of video across an IP network, using
network-centric and service-centric views. This new, integrated solution – bridging the gap between “IP engineers”
and “video engineers” – enables cable operators to precisely isolate and rapidly resolve video issues, while providing
a common reference for diverse operational groups that will reduce the duration of impairments and consequently
reduce subscriber support calls.
Introduction
The world of entertainment video is changing to support alternative methods for viewing content (e.g., on-demand)
and additional devices for displaying video programs (e.g., PCs, game systems and handheld mobile devices). The
industry is relatively young, but viewers still expect a flawless experience. Testimony arises from anyone who has
endured a widespread video outage during a major Pay-Per-View event, Final Four tournament game or major
football game. But poor quality of experience triggers more than inconvenience.
For instance, a major boxing event transmitted by a medium-size Multisystem Operator (MSO) region can generate
more than $1 million in revenue. Unhappy customers will cancel subscriptions if confronted by a major outage.
Further, cable television represents a lifeline service during local or national emergencies. Cable networks
disseminate urgent news and critical public information, warning the public of severe weather or other impending
dangers.
Service providers require a comprehensive service assurance solution in order to achieve the expectations of
continuous high-quality viewing experiences. Such a solution enables service providers to proactively identify quality
issues before they impact customers and leads to more efficient troubleshooting and resolution.
Challenges for Providing Consistently Good Quality of Experience
The cable community understands the complexity of troubleshooting IP networks. Adding newer video services adds
to the complexity, straining network operational resources. Isolating video anomalies to a specific problem domain
and allocating proper operational resources is critical to supporting high-quality video over an IP network and
controlling costs.