...service monitoring and analysis. In keeping with the company's overall strategy for digital media monitoring, the OTT solution delivers true end-to-end capabilities that give the operator a complete real-time view of the integrity of OTT streams and services at all points, from ingest into the delivery chain to the viewer's screens. Bridge Technologies' OTT solution includes three major components designed to work together to deliver end-to-end monitoring. First, to provide continuity of OTT monitoring throughout the delivery chain up to the subscriber premises, OTT monitoring support is now available as an option for all Bridge Technologies digital media probes deployed anywhere on the operator's network. OTT capability can be added to the VB120, VB220, and VB330 units to provide monitoring in the field, at the high-traffic core network, and at fringe networks.
Also, to support the home network of connected devices at the subscriber premises, Bridge Technologies' new microAnalytics™ system provides monitoring of OTT and "TV everywhere" services to multiple devices including smartphones and tablets. The microAnalytics system allows operators to remotely access real-time data from set-top boxes, connected TVs, iPad®, iPhone®, and other mobile devices; making accurate and comprehensive end-to-end multiservice/OTT monitoring a reality for the first time.
To enable monitoring of OTT service integrity and quality on the viewer's mobile devices, the microAnalytics system includes the miniaturized, self-installing microVB™ hardware probe, the central server system, and the third component, the microC™ —a library of software clients to support accurate remote monitoring of each device. The system's data-gathering capabilities allow operators to monitor every factor influencing Quality of Service (QoS) and the viewer experience, including interactions between triple-play services, contention for bandwidth with Internet streaming media, and OTT service degradation.
The OTT solution integrates with Bridge Technologies' highly evolved graphical data analysis environment, enabling operational staff to monitor large volumes of data and quickly assess the status of thousands of streams and services at a glance. Innovative display technologies like MediaWindow™ and MicroTimeline(TM) provide easy to interpret representations of the data in a variety of real time and historical analysis views. Operators can add OTT monitoring to their existing Bridge Technologies monitoring environment, without adding infrastructure complexity or requiring engineers to learn new tools. Active OTT technology is a key ingredient of the OTT monitoring option for the digital media probes, allowing deployment anywhere in the delivery chain for accurate evaluation of OTT stream availability and delivery in that part of the chain. With minimal setup requirements—thanks to its intelligent self-configuration capabilities—the OTT option needs no specialist knowledge to operate, and operations center staff can start monitoring streams simply by entering the URL. Bridge Technologies company information link.