November 2002

Testing & Measurement

Just because an application worked as expected within the predictable comfort of your development environment doesn�t necessarily mean it will perform flawlessly when it leaves the lab. The world just doesn�t work that way. To avoid application failures and the loss of the reputation you�ve worked so hard to establish, it is essential to test an application under a variety of simulated real-world conditions. And then test it again.

This roundup offers a quick glimpse of several VoIP and network testing products and solutions designed to help you rigorously test your products and applications before releasing them into the cold, harsh arena of real-world telecommunications. But this group of products only begins to scratch the surface of all the available solutions. You must consider this a starting point; a base upon which to build your research as you look to acquire the testing solution most properly suited to your needs.
� Greg Galitzine

System 930 Telephony Simulator
Gordon Kapes, Inc.
5520 West Touhy Ave.
Skokie, Illinois 60077
Tel: 847-676-1750
www.gordonkapes.com

Developers of telephony products intended to connect with telephony circuits prefer access to the �real thing� when testing their solutions. But gaining access to the �real thing� is an expensive and aggravating proposition. Enter Gordon Kapes� System 930 Telephony Simulator. 

The System 930�s protocol analyzer displays ISDN messages sent to or received from either digital interface. Simple, menu-driven programming and extensive online documentation permit an �end-to-end� simulation of PSTN/VPN, which allows developers to simulate telephone calls transmitting across a digital telephone network, testing candidate applications connected at both ends.

The 1.544 Mbps System 930 is designed to emulate the network or user side of Robbed Bit T1, NI-2 compliant ISDN-PRI, GR-303 CSC, GR-303 Hybrid, and NFAS (non-facility associated signaling) using T1 framing. 4ESS, 5ESS, and DMS100/250 switches can be emulated. The System 930�s software facilities accommodate Q.931 public or private networking protocols as well as private or proprietary networking protocols that employ out-of-band progress tones. The System 930�s internal �bulk� call generator can be programmed to initiate up to 48/60 T1/E1 and 32 analog calls on a repetitive basis.

Hurricane
PacketStorm Communications, Inc.
20 Meridian Rd.
Eatontown, NJ 07724
Tel: 732-544-2434
www.packetstorm.com

PacketStorm Communications has introduced the latest generation IP Network Emulator -- The Hurricane. Initially, the new product is targeted at storage and video applications. The Hurricane features Bit Pattern Filtering, which enables users to assign an impairment profile to packets with a specific field value. One application is assigning impairment profiles to specific iSCSI or FCIP traffic. Offering full legacy compatibility with all previous models of PacketStorm IP Network Emulators, the Hurricane is endowed with an extensive list of network interfaces including 10/100, Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1, v.35, E3, DS3, OC-3 and OC-12. Other features include an extensive library of network impairments and packet modifiers, advanced ToS and DiffServ filtering, dynamic time-varying emulation, packet generation and analysis, statistics monitoring, traffic conditioning, and network characteristic capturing. The Hurricane is available immediately.

Forte 2800D Network Load Simulator
Ameritec Corporation
760 Arrow Grand Cir.
Covina, CA 91722
Tel: 626-915-5441
www.ameritec.com

Ameritec�s Forte 2800D Network Load Simulator for DS3 or high-capacity T1/E1 call generation was designed to simulate a single DS3�s worth of traffic or 28 spans of T1, E1, PRI, CAS or SS7 signaling in a 19� rack configuration. The Forte 2800D performs traditional bearer traffic simulation, third-generation (3G) voice over packet testing, QoS testing, BERT testing, and digit capture. Ameritec�s award-winning Featurecall Millennium has also been further enhanced to allow easy configuration of large-scale traffic runs. The Forte 2800D provides detailed third-generation VoP testing, including jitter, one-way and round-trip delay, lost packets, clipping, signal-to-noise ratio, and spurious noise isolation. The QoS package includes GMOS, G-PSQM, R-Factor scoring on all channels simultaneously.

Hammer ST
Empirix
1430 Main St.
Waltham, MA 02451
Tel: 781-993-8500
www.empirix.com

The Hammer ST (Signaling Tester) provides both functional and load testing capabilities for a wide variety of next-generation protocols including SIP, H.323, MGCP and Megaco. With the addition of Hammer ST, Empirix extends the signaling protocol support of the Hammer product line including the PacketSphere, RealStreamer, and NxT platforms.

�With the Hammer ST, Empirix can now provide the complete breadth and depth of test products required to validate Next Generation Network product and services,� said Mike Katz, vice president of marketing for Empirix�s Infrastructure Test Group. �Given the dynamic changes that are taking place in Next Gen protocols, the ability to develop test cases to emulate the range of standard, custom and vendor-specific protocol implementations is critical. The Hammer ST provides unequalled power and flexibility with its graphical call flow design tools and extensive protocol libraries.�

The Hammer ST is available now, stand-alone for pure signaling test, or in conjunction with other Empirix products to generate1000s of simultaneous calls with real media streams and voice quality QoS metrics. Protocols supported in addition to SIP, H.323, MGCP and Megaco, include SIP-T, Sigtran, and TDM protocols like ISUP, TUP, TCAP and ISDN.

Abacus2
Spirent Communications
15200 Omega Dr.
Rockville, MD 20850
Tel: 301-417-1224
www.spirentcom.com

Spirent�s Abacus2 is a high-density telephony test solution, meeting demanding standards for performance, capacity, and density. Abacus2�s architecture supports more than 4,500 simultaneous PESQ (Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality) measurements performed in real time. Additionally, Abacus2 affords customers the choice of using either PESQ, PSQM, or both of these algorithms simultaneously.

PESQ (ITU-T recommendation P.862) is a standard for assessment of a wide range of end-to-end network conditions and speech codecs. PESQ facilitates the objective evaluation of audio signal quality based upon perceptual criteria, providing a quantifiable voice quality measurement that tightly correlates with voice quality as perceived by humans.Abacus2 allows test labs to achieve unparalleled capacity of call generation. It can generate calls on more than 10,000 channels simultaneously, and has achieved traffic rates exceeding 10 million calls per hour.

VoIP Bulk Call Generator
Delta Information Systems, Inc.
300 Welsh Rd., Building 3, Ste. 120
Horsham, PA 19044-2273
Tel: 215-657-5270
www.delta-info.com

The Voice over Internet Protocol Bulk Call Generator generates multiple H.323 and SIP calls with real-time signaling and payload data for VoIP protocol testing. An easy-to-use GUI provides developers with fast profiling of the calls. VoIP calls are set up with full control of the H.323 and SIP stack parameters. These parameters can be set and stored to a suite of call profiles characterizing different endpoint types. Once a profile has been created, it can be reloaded and run to test VoIP networks and equipment .The VoIP Bulk Call Generator will test for interoperability with multiple vendor systems, establish endpoint connectivity, perform stress and load testing, measure call set-up/tear down times, and monitor performance of VoIP equipment and networks. The VoIP Bulk Call Generator is available for each of Delta �s protocol test workstations including mid-tower, rackmount, portable, and notebook configurations. The VoIP Bulk Call Generator can be integrated with Delta�s VoIP protocol analyzer and video/data conferencing protocol test equipment.

DCT 2000
Catapult Communications
160 S. Whisman Rd.
Mountain View, CA 94041
Tel: 650.960.1025
www.catapult.com

The DCT2000 is a multi-user, multi-protocol, programmable test system designed to significantly reduce product development time and costs while ensuring conformance to telecom industry standards. Its power is achieved through the underlying UNIX workstation, a line of network interface cards and a library of hundreds of protocol test modules. 

The DCT2000 supports a wide variety of applications, including:

• Design/Feature Verification: Does the device being tested provide the desired features and functionality? 

• Conformance Testing: Does the device conform to industry standards? 

• Interoperability Testing: Will the device work with other equipment in the network? 

• Load and Stress Testing: How will the device perform under load and overload conditions? 

• Installation and Acceptance Testing: Is the device ready for installation?

The DCT2000 allows multiple independent users to perform their tests concurrently. The DCT2000 supports protocol test modules for 2G, 2.5G and 3G Cellular (GSM, GPRS, IS-41, UMTS, cdma2000); Voice Over IP; SS7; SIGTRAN, SIP-T, ATM, ISDN, Frame Relay, X.25, B-Channel, VOX, and more.

PerformerLite
RADCOM Equipment, Inc.
6 Forest Ave.
Paramus, NJ 07652
Tel: 201-518-0033
www.radcom.com

RADCOM�s, PerformerLite, a portable version of its VoIP Performer system, offers a comprehensive suite of VoIP test tools, including simulation, monitoring, decoding, analysis, and troubleshooting, in a truly portable, multiple-slot platform. It supports both packet and circuit telecommunication interfaces and provides real-time expert analysis for both media and signaling, including automated voice quality evaluation.

The addition of the PerformerLite to RADCOM�s performance measurement solution portfolio extends the application versatility of the Performer line from R&D to quality assurance, through final testing and field service. The PerformerLite is available in competitively priced, flexible packages that include the QPro, a scalable, multiple PSTN client emulator; the 323Sim, a multiple H.323 client emulator; SIPSim, a multiple SIP client emulator; and MediaPro, an on-line voice over data expert analysis tool. By leveraging existing systems to create application-specific solutions, RADCOM offers a strong return on investment by eliminating the expenses of extensive retraining and equipment obsolescence.

Voice Quality Tester
Agilent Technologies
395 Page Mill Rd., P.O. Box #10395
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Tel: 650-752-5000
www.agilent.com

The Agilent Voice Quality Tester (VQT) is a comprehensive and objective voice quality test system that provides detailed test and analysis capabilities for voice quality on modern telephony networks, including VoIP, VoATM, and hybrid circuit/packet networks. The VQT enables the design, deployment, and operation of voice services on next-generation networks by providing accurate and objective testing of voice quality. By including testing for voice clarity, delay, echo, silence suppression, DTMF, and signal loss -- all on one box -- the VQT provides a total solution for testing voice quality on next generation networks.

The VQT supports analog, T1, E1, and Ethernet interfaces to enable testing at different access points for network segmentation and fault isolation. Furthermore using different signaling types, including FXO, E&M, CAS, ISDN, SIP, and H.323, the VQT enables testing across any telephony network.The VQT�s distributed test capabilities allow network professionals to remotely operate multiple test devices anywhere on the network, which can reduce costly, time-consuming travel requirements, and the need for trained staff working in multiple locations.

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