Bridge Technologies' Probe Provides OTT Analytics
Bridge Technologies has begun shipping an enhanced version of its microVB miniaturized digital media probe for subscriber premises. With its ability to report second-by-second data on all traffic passing through the set-top box, combined with new functionality for analyzing OTT service quality, the microVB 2.0 provides capability for monitoring the viewer experience in the multiservice, multiscreen market.
microVB 2.0 provides data-gathering capabilities that allow operators to monitor every factor influencing QoS and the viewer experience, including interactions between triple-play services, contention for bandwidth with Internet streaming media and OTT service degradation.
The microVB 2.0’s OTT capabilities make use of specialized parameters developed by Bridge Technologies for monitoring adaptive bitrate streams. The device offers an extensive protocol breakdown of all packets flowing between the residential gateway and the set-top box. Performance details such as peak, average, and total bandwidth are given for all the packets categorized into 25 separate protocol summaries. The data is graphically represented to assist quick appraisal.
microVB 2.0 networks are readily scalable, with each central microVB server supporting thousands of microVB probes in individual subscriber premises. To simplify deployment across a wide range of network configurations, the microVB self-connects to the server using either multicast or unicast protocols and streamlines the administration of large networks by automatically naming each stream.
Up to four simultaneous streams can be supported by each microVB, with each stream measuring continuous data including bandwidth, MLR (media loss rate), IAT (inter-packet arrival time), and RTP (real-time protocol) drops. The microVB sends the collated data to Bridge Technologies’ MDC controller/server for detailed analysis and graphical presentation. All data are made available in XML format by the MDC to allow customized analysis by third-party systems.