[May 20, 2005]

Launch: Navtel�s VoIP Testing Tool

BY JOHANNE TORRES

Navtel Communications Inc., a developer of VoIP test solutions, announced today it released what the company says is the highest performing and most scalable ISUP Performance Test Application for testing Softswitches deployed in VoIP networks.

As VoIP and TDM networks continue to converge, the Softswitch will come under increasing loads as more and more users from TDM networks access new services offered by IP networks, explained Navtel. The company said that until now, testing the load and scalability capabilities of a Softswitch required racks of SS7 load testers to provide the necessary high-performance symmetry between off-net to on-net calls.

The company says its solution provides this capability in one chassis. The addition of this ISUP Performance Test Application to the company’s existing VoIP product portfolio (which includes SIP, Megaco and NCS /PacketCable High-Performance test applications), would provide network equipment manufacturers and network operators with the a fully integrated high-performance VoIP solution to perform scalability, performance, reliability and interoperability testing of Softswitches.

Navel’s ISUP Performance Test Application is an advanced hardware and software solution that emulates large-scale SS7 networks generating thousands of calls per second. It allows users to benchmark the performance of a Softswitch and to characterize its behavior when subjected to increasing network loads, various call loading patterns and network congestion and failure conditions.

Some key features of the new system include:

Higher-performance traffic load generation with different traffic profiles (Uniform, burst, Poisson, random, Step) over sustained periods of time.

Large-scale network emulation to emulate hundreds of thousands of end-users regardless of the technology (SIP, NCS/PacketCable, ISUP, Megaco)

Dynamic message configuration and "on-the fly" generation to emulate real world scenarios.

A set of statistics and comprehensive built-in troubleshooting capabilities.

On one chassis the Navel’s ISUP Performance Test Application can emulate 320,000 endpoints, 230 T1 (310 for E1) Signalling Links, 40 Signalling End Points while generating thousands of calls per second. The user can configure traffic profiles each with its own call rate, standard or user-defined ISUP message and call flow as well as network mode of operation (en-block, overlap).

Alvin Francis, Navel’s Director of Marketing and Product Management said: "Navtel has been a major force in the signalling performance market over the past decade with its high-performance, large scale load testing solutions. We continue to lead the market and push the envelope by providing customers with the most scalable, cost-effective and best performing solution available today. Continual improvements to our portfolio of solutions reassure users that their investment today will meet and exceed their future needs".

Navtel Communications Inc.
www.navtelcom.com