The VSA-RF100 probe provides remote monitoring, analysis, and troubleshooting to the field, headend, and network operations center (NOC) without the delay and expense of deploying a specialist to the physical hub location. Simply viewing the QAM with a spectrum analyzer or measuring and monitoring MER and BER on QAM carriers provides limited insight into MPEG video transport streams. It is critical for cable network operators to have system-wide visibility into the underlying content, including the MPEG protocol layer, to ensure the quality of programming content.
Benefits
- Proactively identify and resolve problems with the highest customer-experience impact in a fraction of the time
- Indicates forward-path degradation before service is disrupted, increasing network availability
- Intelligently filters alarms based on severity to appropriately alert local operations and NOC personnel
- Eliminate truck rolls to segment RF versus MPEG/video issues
Applications
- CATV video and downstream DOCSIS assurance
- TR 101-290 MPEG monitoring for both DVB and ATSC
- Remote troubleshooting <this is the application, the rest is a feature>
- Remote hub site quality audits
Key Features
- Deep MER capabilities — 44 dB
- Fast scan times — RF power and MER on 120 channel lineup in less than a minute
- Live, in-depth troubleshooting
- Digital quality index (DQI) identifies intermittent problems
- Monitors MPEG stream errors (TR 101-290 Priority 1, 2, and 3) with drill-down capabilities to analyze and troubleshoot
- Content scrambling/encryption detection
- Simple network management protocol (SNMP) trap forwarding on alarm state changes
- Easily accessible performance history (RF, QAM, and MPEG)
- Plug-and-play compatible with the ISS-5116 switch family; up to 128 ports with a single VSA-RF100
- Drop-in replacement for the RSAM product line (requires VSA Monitor)