DTS Multicasting IP Video Services Analysis

It is a critical time for the broadcast industry as it incorporates new equipment and protocols into networks delivering video content. Accompanying these new methods for delivering video is the adoption of multicasting technology as a means to conserve the bandwidth that VoD and digital services are rapidly consuming.

A multicasting group’s video stream can be exposed to errors at multiple points as it travels through the network. For example, if all of the Discovery channel multicasting group’s video streams were mapped into a multiple-program MPEG-2 transport stream (MPTS) that had an overall bandwidth of 38.8 MB/sec, this MPTS would then be encapsulated into a UDP stream. Because this stream needs to be transported to multiple hub sites, unicasting is not an option. Instead, one multicasting host at the headend feeds an unlimited number of hub sites via GigE links. If a hub site wants the Discovery channel multicasting group, the QAM modulator resource performs a multicast join to the nearest router (usually two routers in a hub site), and the multicast host at the headend feeds the stream to the multicast receiver in the front end of the QAM modulator. Problems that surface with the received program cannot be analyzed using more traditional testing methods: For instance, testing throughput would break open the circuit and disrupt service while using mirror ports could corrupt router settings and place drag on system resources.

JDSU introduced its DTS Multicasting IP Video Services Analysis capability to eliminate many hurdles in ensuring the accuracy and reliability of programs delivered via multicasting. Adding the JDSU GigE card to the DTS-330 platform and connecting the instrument to the test port or the output of the QAM modulator, or to a port at the output of the combined network, the DTS acts as a multicast receiver. It then performs the multicast join, gets the program content, and analyzes the streams' IP and MPEG characteristics in real time. When the JDSU QAM card is added, the RF/MPEG characteristics can be analyzed as well.

The DTS-330’s ability to emulate a set-top box and act as if it is actually at the customer premises enables proactive identification of potential trouble spots. With this powerful capability added to the DTS platform, users can quickly and easily join and leave multicast service groups and gather QoS data to minimize video services problems and provide higher quality of service for the viewer.

Click for more information on JDSU’s DTS Multicasting IP Video Services Analysis.