AUGUST 26, 2009 -- EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc. (search Lightwave for EXFO) has integrated multiservice testing capabilities across its portfolio of transport and datacom modules, enabling comprehensive and simultaneous per-service measurements for more efficient quality-of-service (QoS) assessment and service-level agreement (SLA) validation.
Today's Ethernet services -- such as commercial triple-play and mobile backhaul -- must comply with strict SLAs, which include different levels of QoS for each type of service (ToS). This has fueled the need for increased testing to ensure the condition and reliability of the services and to fully qualify all SLA parameters when installing new services.
The new test functions allow service providers to simultaneously test up to 10 different service applications with different QoS levels, based on Ethernet and IP parameters such as VLAN ID (802.1Q), VLAN priority (802.1p), VLAN stacking (802.1ad Q-in-Q), ToS, and differentiated services code points (DSCP). Specific service profiles including VoIP, video, and data can be applied for quick test configurations. All critical test parameters -- throughput, latency, frame loss and packet jitter (RFC 3393) -- are accessible simultaneously for each stream, allowing fast and in-depth qualification of all SLA criteria.
The enhancements are offered with all Packet Blazer and Transport Blazer test modules, including the FTB-8510B, FTB-8510G, FTB-8525/8535 and FTB-8120NGE/8130NGE test modules, which are housed in the newly launched FTB-500 platform or in the FTB-200 compact platform. They are also supported by the recently released RTU-310 and RTU-310G IP services Ethernet test heads, specifically built for centralized carrier Ethernet and mobile backhaul service testing.
"With the growing need to support quality-intensive Ethernet services, whether for commercial or mobile backhaul service offerings, service providers are feeling the intense pressure to efficiently deliver these services to their customers," says Etienne Gagnon, EXFO's vice president of product management and marketing. "With the integration of these key QoS analysis functionalities across our transport and datacom portfolio, service providers will be able to deploy Ethernet services in a more timely and cost-efficient manner."