VQ108 IPTV-Monitor

Long-term analysis software

for IPTV transport streams

User’s manual
All rights reserved. No part of this manual or program may be reproduced or processed, duplicated or disseminated
under the use of electronic systems in any form (print, photocopy, microfilm or with another method) without our writ-
ten approval. Please note that all terms and brand names used in the manual are generally subject to the trade mark
and patent protection of the respective companies.

Date: 11/2007
Version: 1.0.1.1
Table of Contents

1 General ........................................................................... 4
2 Features .......................................................................... 4
3 Software installation ....................................................... 4
4 System requirements ...................................................... 5
5 Notes 5
6 Operation ........................................................................ 8
6.1 The user interface.............................................................................. 8
6.1.1 Customer data ..................................................................................8
6.1.2 Options ............................................................................................9
6.2 Starting the measurement ............................................................... 10
6.3 Data evaluation ............................................................................... 11
6.3.1 Report ........................................................................................... 13
1 General
VQ108 IPTV-Monitor is a powerful software tool used for evaluating the network
traffic at an Ethernet network node. The program has been especially optimised for
measurements within IPTV systems. The software automatically detects IPTV trans-
port streams and collects statistics. Quality parameters such as packet loss and jitter
are listed. Statistics are collected on occurring transport stream PIDs (Packet Identi-
fier) as well as on PCRs (Program Clock Reference) and on video elementary streams.
The last 80 frames of each video elementary stream are graphically (type, size) out-
put (in the case of uncoded video elementary streams). The I frames of a video ele-
mentary stream are displayed uncoded in real-time.

VQ108 IPTV-Monitor is particularly suited for long-term measurements. An ex-

tra-long measuring duration is achieved by only collecting statistical data.

2 Features
• Evaluation of network traffic at a network node
• Exactly one multicast address (one transport stream) is recorded and evaluated
• Analysis and evaluation already possible during measuring
• Display of transport stream PIDs and output of core parameters
• Output of PID quality parameters
• Output of PCRs and display of quality parameters
• Output of video elementary streams and display of quality parameters
• Frame diagram of the last 80 frames of each video elementary stream
• Real-time output of uncoded video frames of each video elementary stream
• Reportingtool
• Alarm output on violation of predetermined values
• Output of transport stream quality as a function of time
• Output of bit and packet rate as a function of time

3 Software installation
The installation starts automatically when the CD “VQ108 IPTV-Monitor” is in-
serted. Otherwise the file “Setup RTPMonitor.exe” needs to be executed manually.
Please follow the instructions of the installation program. After the PC has been re-
booted the program can be started by clicking the link “VQ108 IPTV-Monitor” on
the desktop.

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4 System requirements
System requirements
• Minimum:
o PC with 2 GHz clock rate
o 1024 MB RAM
o CD-ROM drive
o Windows XP
o 1 GB free disk space
o Powerful network adapter
o Min. screen resolution 1024x768

• Optimal:
o PC with 3 GHz or faster
o 2048 MB RAM or greater
o CD-ROM drive
o Windows XP
o 5 GB free disk space
o Powerful network adapter
o Min. screen resolution 1024x768

5 Notes
Under normal operation a network adapter filters out all packets not determined for
the computer. Therefore, only the remaining packets need to be processed by the
CPU. This mode, however, is not suited for measuring operation, since the whole net-
work traffic at a network node needs to be recorded. The network adapter is therefore
switched to the so-called “Promiscuous Mode”, in which all packets can be forwarded
to the software.
In heavily loaded networks the processes performed by the VQ108 IPTV-Monitor
during the measurement are extremely time- and computation-intensive. Conse-
quently it may be the case that packets are not recorded correctly in spite of the buff-
ering function of the network adapter. This may result in distortion of record statistics
and incorrect detection of transport packets.
This should be considered when measuring. Please make sure that the CPU is not ad-
ditionally loaded by other processes running in parallel and that you use a high-quality
network adapter with maximum memory. Please take into account that only one net-
work node is measured. When measuring at a hub the same data is send to all ports.
The measuring network adapter can therefore be connected to any free port in order
to start measuring.

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 hub

host host host VQ108 IPTV-Monitor

Figure 5-1: measuring configuration using a hub

When analysing in a network in which the individual hosts are connected via a switch
the procedure is a bit more complex, as the individual ports only receive packets des-
tined for this particular network path. Each port of a switch can be considered as an
independent network node. In order to be able to measure at such a node it is re-
quired to interconnect a hub or TAP. In this way the network traffic of this node can
be measured. Another possibility is to measure at the monitor port of the switch, inso-
far as the switch is equipped with such a port. High-quality switches often feature
such a monitor port. In most cases it is possible to show the traffic of one selected
port on the monitor port. In individual cases all switch ports can be supervised from
the monitor port.

hub/TAP
to network

switch

VQ108 IPTV- hub/TAP

Monitor VQ108 IPTV-Monitor

host

host VQ108 IPTV-Monitor

Figure 5-2: measuring configuration using a switch

VQ108 IPTV-Monitor -6-

The Software VQ108 IPTV-Monitor uses the library WinPCap for recording the
network traffic. This library is subject to the following copyright:

WinPCap

Copyright (c) 1999 - 2004 NetGroup, Politecnico di Torino (Italy).

All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are
permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list
of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this
list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or
other materials provided with the distribution.
3. Neither the name of the Politecnico di Torino nor the names of its contributors
may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software with-
out specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS

"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIM-
ITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIM-
ITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

This product includes software developed by the University of California, Lawrence

Berkeley Laboratory and its contributors.

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6 Operation

6.1 The user interface

The following screenshot shows the empty user interface before the measurement has
been started. The single functions are described in the appropriate chapters.

[1] Controls
for measuring

[2] List of the

recorded
transport
stream PIDs

[3] Output of
PCRs

[4] Output of
video ele-
mentary
streams

[5] Frame
diagram of a
video ele-
mentary
stream

[14] Transport [10] Field for output [11] [12] Field

stream quality of video elementary Alarm output for DVB tree
frames

Figure 6-1: user interface

6.1.1 Customer data

Here, customer data can be entered for each measurement. This data is taken into
account when a report is created. Customer data can be imported and exported and
can therefore be used for multiple measurements.

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 Figure 6-2: customer data

6.1.2 Options

Under “Options” the user can define the characteristics a jitter value has to have in
order to trigger an alarm. Furthermore the conditions can be set under which a “red
alarm” is triggered, i.e. the frequency of alarms within a certain time span before a
“red alarm” is triggered.

Figure 6-3: options

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6.2 Starting the measurement

Start

The “Start” button shown above needs to be activated in order to start a new meas-
urement. Subsequently the dialogue shown below appears.

Figure 6-4: adapter dialogue

The network adapter connected to the network node, at which the measurement
should be performed, needs to be selected from the list. If available, the MAC address
and the IP address of each adapter are displayed.
An IP address, which is triggered-on needs to be entered into or selected from the
field “Multicast IP”. Only one multicast IP address (and thus one transport stream) can
be considered per measurement.

Clicking the “OK” button starts the measurement.

When a measurment is in progress the controls appear as shown below.

Pause Stop

By clicking the “Pause” button the measurement proceeds in the background but the
user interface freezes. Clicking the “Stop” button terminates the measurement.

VQ108 IPTV-Monitor - 10 -
While measuring the statistics shown below are kept.

Figure 6-5: recording statistics

The recording statistics show the network adapter, the multicast address considered,
the port number and – if applicable – the corresponding program name, the start time
of the measurement and the current duration of the measurement. Furthermore, the
total number of packets received during the measurement and the number of lost
packets is displayed in the upper right corner.

6.3 Data evaluation

The following screenshot shows an example of a measurement.

Figure 6-6: example of a measurement

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• The PID table shows all occuring PIDs of the considered transport stream. Fur-
thermore the number of transport packets, the packet rate, the bit rate and – if
applicable – the number of CRC errors and continuity errors and the table cy-
cles are shown. In case the predefined threshold values are exceeded the re-
spective cell is highlighted in red. Cells highlighted in green indicate optimal
values. The last row shows the sum of all PID parameters.

• In the PCR table all PCRs are shown. Besides the PCR cycles the PCR jitter val-
ues are shown for each PCR. Here, the cells are also highlighted in red, if
threshold values are exceeded, or green, if values are favourable.

• The video table shows all video elementary streams of the analysed transport
stream. Additionally the calculated frame rate, the screen resolution, the num-
ber of different frames, as well as the frame jitter values are shown. Tolerated
values are highlighted in green; values exceeding the limit are highlighted in
red.

• The DVB tree represents the hierarchical structure of the transport stream. It
shows the different PIDs from the table and from the elementary streams.

• The frame diagram represents the frame structure of the last 80 frames of the
transport stream. If there is more than one video elementary stream, the
stream selected from the video table is shown (only in the case of uncoded
elementary streams).

• In the video view the frames of a video elementary stream are displayed un-
coded and in real-time. If there is more than one video elementary stream, the
stream selected from the video table is shown (only in the case of uncoded ele-
mentary streams).

• The alarm table shows all deviations from optimum values, which have occurred
during the measurement. The time of the individual alarm, the respective PID
and the type of alarm are displayed. The alarms are highlighted in red, if a pre-
set number of alarms has occurred within a specified time span.

• Under “Statistics” the packet rates and the bit rates can be displayed during the
measurement as a function of time.

Figure 6-7: statistics

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 • On the right hand side of the overview a quality value is displayed. The value
range extends from 0 to 100, where 0 is the lowest quality and 100 is the high-
est quality.

• Under “TS Quality” the quality values of the transport stream are displayed in
intervals of 5 seconds as a function of time.

Figure 6-8: transport stream quality

6.3.1 Report

By clicking the “Report” button a report can be created after the measurement has
been completed.

Figure 6-9: report button

After clicking the button a dialogue appears, prompting the user to enter the location
and the file name of the document. When the document has been saved another dia-
logue appears, asking whether the Reportingtool should open the saved docu-
ment. By clicking the “Yes” button the Reportingtool starts. The saved docu-
ment is then opened and a report can be created.

Figure 6-10: Reportingtool dialogue

By clicking the “No” button the document is saved and can be opened manually and
evaluated at a later date with the Reportingtool.

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Changes and errors excepted

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