Cisco Cisco Multicast Manager 3.1 Data Sheet

Data Sheet

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Broadcast video flows are delivered to subscribers using the intelligent multicast protocol. This

provides efficient delivery of the IPTV flow in terms of both network path and bandwidth. The Cisco

Multicast Manager participates in the multicast control plane monitoring all IPTV multicast flows

through the IP network. The Cisco Multicast Manager can actively report the current state of any

multicast flow in the network and associate that flow with the video content being carried in the IP

payload

Any changes in the video delivery path will be detected by the Cisco Multicast Manager and

reported as required. Multicast statistics, on a per-flow basis, are available from each router in the

IPTV delivery path to assist network operators in isolating transport issues. These statistics are

granular down to the interface level of each router in a particular IPTV flow path.

The Cisco Multicast Manager supports the use of video monitoring probes in the network

positioned strategically at key demarcation points. These probes are capable of breaking down the

IP payload and examining the video content to determine real-time video quality measurements

using standards-based measurement such as Media Delivery Index (MDI).

The probes report the video statistics back to the Cisco Multicast Manager, which then correlates

with the IP multicast network to allow a visual representation of the IPTV flow through the network.

The associated video channel carried in the IPTV flow then correlates with any related IP multicast

flows carrying the same content. Figure 2 shows an example.

Figure 2. IPTV SLA Reporting

The Cisco Multicast Manager offers a northbound interface to provide trap alerts to a service

manager such as the Cisco Information Center. By combining multiple silos of monitoring at the

service manager level, IPTV alerts can be correlated against other monitored activities to provide

complete fault root-cause analysis.

Cisco Advanced Services are available to deliver the full IPTV SLA solution, customized to meet

the needs of the service provider. Cisco Advanced Services teams assist in the planning, design,

implementation, and operation of the IPTV SLA solution, as represented in Figure 3.