Challenge
Legacy testing tools were well suited to legacy networks. That was
then. Today, what is needed is a testing solution that treats Telco
Networks as a system. Modern 21st-century networks need a 21st-century
approach to testing, built from the ground up to encompass the
challenges of testing IP Services: The Mu Test Suite.
These services greatly compound the complexity of the system, which
is comprised of protocol implementations from a variety of vendors, all
of which must work together seamlessly to deliver a functioning
service. Despite these challenges, there is a pressing demand for this
technology to mature rapidly since telcos are rapidly adopting COTS
IP-based technology to build their next-generation “Telco Networks” and
the technology has to be highly reliable – they are literally betting
their businesses on it!
Solution
Network Operators are choosing IP Services over legacy technology
because they a greater number of revenue-rich services at higher
average revenue per user (ARPU). They deliver these wide variety of
services over a common technology backbone, satisfying many potential
end-user requirements. They need to deliver services with the right Functional, Interoperability, Resilience and Security IP service testing their customers expect.
The key to testing IP Services is to accurately model the service,
derive thousands or millions of test cases from data sets associated
with that model, and to leverage the model into the important types of
testing: Functional, Interoperability, Resilience and Security using a single integrated test platform that leverages common test assets across all these types of testing.
Telco networks are synonymous with as “IP Services” because these
new networks strongly leverage standards-based technology packaged
within Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) components. Moreover, the key
challenges within all other IP Service deployments are most definitely
present in the Telco Networking space:
- The technology is rapidly evolving, while
- Each service deployment is unique and highly customized.
The term “Telco Networks” broadly represents the vendors and operators delivering to a number of different market segments:
Triple-Play or "Next-Generation" Networks
Involving SIP, IPTV, IMS, HTTP, Diameter, RTP, RTSP, etc.
Mobile Technology
Involving 3G, LTE, 4G, etc.
Data Services
Internet Service
- Routing protocols
- MPLS family of protocols
L1-L3 VPN Services
Emulated Data Circuits
- e.g., T-1, T-3, etc.
Metro Ethernet
IPv6
Increasingly relevant to all the above area
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