A Light Reading Webinar

Delivering Carrier-Class Quality

in VOIP Networks
Thursday, November 7, 2006
Moderated by

John Longo
Senior Analyst
Heavy Reading
Sponsored by:

Speakers
Tony Downes
Principal Technologist, Network Protocols Division
Data Connection

Benjamin Ellis
VP of Product Management and Marketing
Psytechnics

Guido Marx
CTO Fixed Solution Division
Alcatel

Bob Travis
Director of Solutions Marketing
Brix Networks

Alcatel

13.1 billion euros in sales

12% of sales invested in R&D
58,000 employees
Active in 130 countries

All figures are for 2005

Brix Networks
Trusted provider of converged service assurance solutions
Proven heritage of IP expertise
Companys offerings deployed by leading network
operators worldwide to verify service quality for:
VoIP
IP-based video
IPTV
Mobile convergence
Data services
Brix solutions used to maximize profitability and ensure
user satisfaction

Data Connection (DCL)

Stable & Independent

REVENUE
EARNINGS

Privately held and consistently profitable

Consistent model of
Top quality products
Superior support
Talented people

Worldwide leader in Networking Protocols

SIP, H.248 (Megaco), MGCP, SBC, IP Routing, MPLS, ATM

Tellme.

Messaging and
Conferencing Solutions

IMS Application Servers

Unified Messaging Applications

Class 5 softswitch

Psytechnics
World leader in Perceptual Engineering for Quality of Experience
Founded in 2000 and Headquartered in Ipswich, England
Delivering Technology and expertise behind 6 ITU world
standards

P.564 P.VTQ (VoIP Quality Assessment) 2006

P.862.2 PESQ WB (Wideband Active Voice Testing) 2006
J.144 (Broadcast Video Quality Assessment) 2004
P.563 (Passive Voice Testing) 2003
P.862 PESQ (Active Voice Testing) 2001
P.562 (Conversation Voice Testing) 1998

Highly Innovative Over 35 Patents

Global Institutional Investor base and customer base

Operation and analysis of subjective testing
Database of over 300,000

subjective test results

ITU-T compliant in-house subjective test facility and skills

Agenda
Managing services horizontally and vertically
VoIP QoS in hybrid network deployments
MPLS at Core
Various technologies in the access
SBC at the edge

Perceptual view of voice quality

Standards and protocols
Tools and for active and passive testing

Managing VoIP quality across the network

Life cycle approach to quality
Quality at the core
Actionable information

Managing quality with blended services

Admission control
Dynamic policy control
Network segment specific QoS policies

Summary
Questions & Answers

Managing Quality Horizontally and Vertically

Quality must be managed
horizontally across the transport
network and vertically within the OSI
stack.
MPLS provides a framework for
QOS management across transport
SBCs bridge the OSI layers at the
networks edge
Perceptual quality tools provide a
measurement for Quality of
Experience
Converged IP platforms and blended
services introduce challenges of
network contention in the core and
to the edge.
Policy control is necessary to
resolve contention.
Dynamic policy control recognizes
the element of real-time events in
policy decisions

Blended Services
7 Application
6 Presentation
5 Session
4 Transport

Voice Video

IM

Web

Etc.

Session Management

Converged IP Platform

3 Network
2 Data
1 Physical

Fixed
Access

Wireless Long-haul
Access Transport

Audience Poll #1
Where is your companys greatest priority in
terms of challenges for managing quality
within converged IP networks?
Transport level QoS and performance
Resource control
Admission control
Quality of Experience perceptual based
performance measures

VoIP QoS in Hybrid Network Deployments

MPLS in Core network
QoS lite in Access network (ATM, FR, DSL, Cable, Ethernet..)
SBC at Edge bridges the gap
Trusted
Core

Untrusted Network
DSL over ATM
SIP
SBC
SIP

MPLS
media

IP media

SIP

SIP
signaling
SIP
signaling

SIP
SIP

MPLS
media

IP media
SIP

SBC
Untrusted Network
Ethernet

MPLS Functions
Signaling (Control)
LSP (Label Switched Path) setup static or dynamic
Rarely single flows
Usually aggregated flows tunnels

Media (Data)
Forwarding
Admission control
Prioritization based on QoS

Edge (ingress) MPLS devices

Classifies traffic (FECs)
Aggregates non-MPLS traffic (ATM, FR, Ethernet, ..)

Session Border Controller Functions

Connectivity
NAT/firewall, protocol repair
Protocol interworking and transcoding

Security
Firewall, topology hiding, authentication
DOS prevention, signal rate limiting, terminating encryption

Quality of service (QOS)

Admission control
QOS session monitoring
Type of service (TOS) bit marking

Regulatory
Lawful intercept (LI) / (CALEA)
Emergency services (E911), preemption

Policy-based call routing

Call accounting

SBC Deployment Models

Trusted
Core

Distributed SBC

SIP
SIP
SIP

H.248
control

Untrusted Network
DSL over ATM

Signaling
Proxy

Call Agent/
Softswitch

SIP signaling
IP media

Media
Proxy

Signaling
Proxy

SIP

MPLS
media

SIP
signaling

Call Agent/
Softswitch

SIP signaling
SIP
SIP

IP media
Untrusted Network
Ethernet

SIP
signaling

Media
Proxy

Integrated SBC

MPLS
media

VoIP QoS Moving Forward

MPLS
Extends out to enterprise?
Is superseded in core by Ethernet?

SBC migration to IMS

3GPP R7 adds

Protocol Conversion
Legacy Devices
Peering Control
IPv4 / NAT

But still lacks

Core Bandwidth Management
Explicit MPLS/VPN support

Technology of Voice Quality Assessment

Subjective
Testing

Active
Tools

Pre-Deployment

Passive
Tools

Roll-out

Experience
Management

In-service

Layers of Management
QoE

Experience
Management

QoS

Service
Management

Connectivity

Network
Management

Voice Over IP Management

Application
Signalling Control
End Point
Infrastructure

PSTN
NGN/MPLS Core

NGN-2
Supplicant
Servers

Consumer

Quality of
Experience?

NOC

Mobile

Active Measurement
Send test signal over network then compare degraded signal in
network with copy of original to produce a media quality
measurement
E.g. Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality (PESQ)
ITU-T Recommendation P.862
Support for narrowband signals(P.862.1)
Support for wideband signals (P.862.2)
Reference
Signal

Level
align

Time
align and
equalise

System
under test

Degraded
Signal

Auditory
transform

Input
Filter

Level
align

Input
Filter

Disturbance
Processing

Cognitive
modelling

Auditory
transform

Auditory
transform

Re-align bad intervals

Prediction of
perceived
speech
quality

Passive Measurement
Network

Call
Handling/
Interception

Speech Stream
Extraction

Extract Talker
Characteristics

Analysis

Vocal Tract
Parameter
Extraction

Mean
Opinion
Score

Error
Identification

Measure quality of call traffic at any network access point

Extract & analyze traffic to assess media quality
E.g. Psytechnics Speech Monitor
Payload analysis in conjunction with P.561 and P.562
Payload voice quality, echo, delay, noise level, speech level

ITU-T P.563 plus real-world interface

IP analysis with P.564

Be Prepared: Steps in Assuring Service

Quality
Assess - Test Monitor Diagnosis - Assure

Simulate and
test actual user
applications to
identify issues
Network
assessment and
readiness for
voice, video,
and data

Root-cause
analysis to
isolate faults
before customer
impact
Real-time
monitoring and
live call analysis
of call quality
details

Assuring service
levels are being
met; SLA
thresholds and
reporting

Assurance Starts at the Core

Automated testing and monitoring
service performance starts at the
MPLS/IP core
Monitor multiservice quality and
network performance
Requires core-to-access visibility

Measure and monitor all relevant

QoS metrics of bandwidth, delay
and packet loss at different levels
of granularity
Used to segment, troubleshoot the
network, and verify/guarantee
SLAs

Finishes at the Customer

The missing piece: Pervasive

endpoint management
Harvest intelligence utilizing industry
standards
Simplify the collection, correlation,
and reporting of IP performance
metrics

Gain deeper visibility throughout

network (core-to-endpoints)
Example metrics: Discard rate, loss
rate, packet delay, signal/noise level,
echo level, MOS score

Visualization
& Reporting

Correlation
Engine

KPI Aggregation
API
API
API
API
API
RTCP-XR NCS LB SIP LB TR-069 TWAMP
Converged Service
Endpoints
DSL Gateway
or RG
VoIP Gateway

PSTN

Voice Gateway/ Cable Gateway

Video Headend

IP STB

Unified view of IP service

performance and quality
Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

How it Works..VoIP Performance Management

PSTN
Partner

VoIP Handoff

Residential VoIP

POP

IP
Partner

POP

Softswitch

MPLS/IP
Backbone

POP
Enterprise
VoIP

POP

VoIP
Trunking

Proactive testing
Live Call Analysis
SLA Agreement
Back Office
Integration

Visualization

Yields Actionable Information

Business Impact View

Dashboard View

What it
affects

Why it
Matters

Why it
Happened

Root-cause View

Topology View

Whats the
Business
Impact
SLA Reporting View

What
Happened

Alarm/Problem View

Audience Poll #2
What applications will trigger the need for session
based admission control in your network?

VoIP as a sole service

Broadband services
Converged services platform in the core
Blended services in a common application or
access link
None. Dynamic admission control is not needed

The Path to a new IP Service Mix

Multimedia, nomadic, multiple real-time sessions

Increasing Integration

NEW GENERATION IP SERVICES

Conversational services over TV
Voice/Video Calling
/Mail box
Voice/Video
Conferencing

CLASSIC TRIPLE PLAY

Blended
Services

Internet

IPTV
VoIP

POTS
Commercial
Bundles

Reachability
based
communication

Mobile Office
Voice
Hybrid Phone
Multimedia
Conferencing

Multi-service terminals
Multi-access (DSL, WiMAX) network

Increasing Diversity
IMS-ready
Class 5

Triple Play
Bundle

Residential and Enterprise VoIP

Reachability
Pilot

End-to-End QoS Extended to all Layers

Conversational
Audio, Video

Voice / Video

Streaming

IPTV , VOD

APPLICATIONS

Web, e mail,

IP Network

DSL
fixed

ACCESS
Corporate

Mobile
2G/3G

Wimax
Wifi

End to End
QoS

Dynamic Policy Models

Static
Model

POLICY MODELS
Semi-Dynamic
Model

Dynamic
Model

EVENT TRIGGER

Policy +
AC

c. Session
establishment
b. Service
registration
a. Network
attachment

Policy
Policy

Granularity
Per subscriber
Per service

Policy +
AC

Policy +
AC

Policy

Policy

Admission Control (AC)

One registration per terminal
One session per terminal
Granularity
Per subscriber
Per service/terminal
e.g. CLASSIC TRIPLE PLAY

Admission Control
Granularity
Per subscriber
Per service
Per session
e.g. TISPAN NGN

Implementing Policy Models

The Select, what You Need solution

c. Session
establishment

Application

b. Service
registration
Policy control/RAC
Sub/line
Profile

Access
Policies

Application
Policies

ii

NASS

H248

Video
(BTV+VoD)

a. Network
attachment

Private
Internet

BGF
RG
(NT)

User Application
Profile
(e.g. HSS)

SP

Aggregation
AN

Customer
Network

IP service
edge

Public
Internet

static
c. Session establishment

semi- dynamic
dynamic Policy +
AC

i. Radius, CLI, SNMP, SOAP, vendor specific

ii. COPS, DIAMETER, Web Services

b. Service registration
a. Network attachment

Policy

Policy +
AC

Policy +
AC

Policy

Policy

Network Segment Specific QoS Policies

Applications
Allowed sessions
Billing input
Application specifics

Network Core:
MPLS Tunnel ID +
expected
bandwidth

WiMAX

Network Access : xDSL

VLAN 802.1p/Q
DSCP marking
Shaping
Policing
Admission Control

QoS Service Class

Bandwidth
Delay
Jitter
Packet Loss
Application specifics

The service offering is improved with dedicated

policies for distinct network segments

Content Server
Home
CPE: Enterprise
VLAN
802.1p/q tag
Bandwidth
DSCP marking

Summary
IP-based services require sophisticated tools to measure
quality horizontally and vertically
Perceptual based tools are necessary to measure Quality
of Experience
Quality statistics must be gathered at various levels and
locations in the network
Information needs to be synthesized, organized and
distributed in the appropriate manner for each function
Converged networks and blended services increase
resource contention and require additional service
management
Dynamic policy control is necessary to deal with real-time
resource contention on a service, subscriber and session
basis

Questions & Answers

Web link to evaluation form