August 20, 2013. Spirent Communications today announced the integration of its field-based Nomad HD solution with its CS8 Mobile Device Tester and 8100 Mobile Device Test System to assess VoLTE call performance and voice quality in the lab. Now carriers and mobile device suppliers can apply the same voice quality measurement system in live networks as well as in the lab to ensure subscriber satisfaction with VoLTE services.
The wireless industry is facing a major challenge in migrating voice services from circuit-switched legacy networks to all-IP LTE networks. Successful deployment of VoLTE will require voice quality and call performance to be as good as, and preferably better than, the services they are replacing. Spirent addresses this challenge by providing an integrated test solution capable of fully quantifying the end-user quality of experience (QoE) and testing with realistic scenarios prior to commercial deployment. The solution is backed by years of voice quality measurement expertise in live networks from Metrico, a company acquired by Spirent in 2012. This latest Spirent solution presents a single-platform approach to measuring VoLTE and HD Voice quality (including latency and jitter), call setup time, call initiation rates, and call drop rates.
“VoLTE is differentiated from over-the-top VoIP services by its ability to guarantee end-user QoE, rather than rely on best-effort delivery,” said Spirent’s vice president of wireless, Nigel Wright. “Nomad HD is already a leader in testing the voice quality and call performance of VoLTE and other HD Voice services on live networks. Integrating it with our lab-based mobile device test solutions, with their powerful network emulation capabilities, puts us in a unique position to help carriers and device manufacturers to achieve QoE objectives and ensure subscribers of VoLTE services are satisfied.”
A critical step in a successful VoLTE deployment is testing early in the device design and development cycle. Testing of VoLTE functionality in the lab falls into two main categories—protocol conformance and service performance. Spirent’s CS8 Mobile Device Tester provides a pre-packaged and customizable test solution for both of these areas. The CS8’s test capability is targeted for R&D labs, but it also forms the heart of Spirent’s 8100 Mobile Device Test Solution. The 8100 tests mobile devices to ensure they meet key performance criteria in areas that include VoLTE and IMS required for acceptance by leading carriers in North America and elsewhere. After deployment, these solutions can be used to troubleshoot issues found in the field by using identical measurement systems and KPIs in the lab and in live networks.