Ixia's IPTV test solution has been certified for use with video servers from SeaChange International. SeaChange has a global customer base of television operators providing VOD and IPTV services to millions of homes. Ixia is a leading supplier of IPTV test solutions with more than 200 customers for its IxLoad IPTV testing application. SeaChange has now certified Ixia’s IxLoad for compatibility with its video servers, thereby enabling operators to test their IPTV networks under triple-play traffic conditions.

IPTV and IPTV testing technologies continue to mature. Although standard protocols provide the basis for interoperability, fine-tuning is often required to ensure compatibility and optimized performance. This poses a challenge for test equipment vendors who need to emulate all types of network equipment — test products must be flexible enough to accommodate all protocol variants. The flexibility inherent in IxLoad allowed Ixia to obtain interoperability certification with SeaChange’s video servers.

SeaChange’s VOD and IPTV solutions, comprising video servers and end-to-end management software, are scaling to meet the demands of many of the world’s largest and most demanding VOD and IPTV services, many of which serve hundreds of thousands of subscribers with thousands of on-demand content options. Test equipment vendors need to match this scale, and beyond, to test IPTV networks under fully loaded conditions. When used with an Optixia® XM12 chassis and an Ixia XMV16 load module, IxLoad will emulate the large volume of IPTV subscribers needed to test four SeaChange video servers at up to 10 gigabits line speed.

Ixia’s Optixia XM12 chassis, XMV16 load module and IxLoad combine to create the company’s 10 gigabit Ethernet application-layer test solution. It is the first test solution on a single blade to emulate line-rate, real-world 1 gigabit and 10 gigabit Ethernet traffic.

The solution provides flexibility and high performance in just 10 units of rack space, thus helping to reduce CAPEX and OPEX by eliminating the need to purchase and maintain multiple platforms or train personnel to use them.

While IPTV traffic can fill most of a service provider’s pipe, it must exist in an environment of converged voice, video and data traffic — the “triple play” that service providers want to offer. QoE is all-important with IPTV; subscribers will immediately compare their experience with broadcast and cable TV. IPTV QoE can only be measured in the context of voice and data traffic, each of which has its own quality of service requirements. IxLoad is the leading converged test solution available today. A single test tool generates complete real-world triple-play traffic and measures performance and quality. IxLoad emulates large numbers of clients and servers in enough volume to test today's largest Internet devices and servers.