PacketScan™ - Comprehensive IP Analyzer
23rd, Aug 2019
Welcome to another August 2019 issue of GL Communications' Newsletter providing insight into our feature-rich PacketScan™ software, a comprehensive IP Analyzer, with enhancements for wire-speed performance, more wireless protocol support, enhanced quality of service (QoS) metrics, network performance metrics, and the addition of new and enhanced codecs.
Overview
All carriers are rolling out services, including voice, video, fax, and data via packet networks. There is need for a single tool that provides comprehensive analysis and monitoring capabilities - whether for VoIP, FoIP (Fax over IP), video, or wired and wireless traffic and for many signaling protocols. Also, if such a tool provides, Call Detail Records, Quality of Service (QoS) and Centralized Network Surveillance Solutions with multiple Probe locations, then customers are afforded a one stop solution for performance analysis of their IP networks.
GL's PacketScan™ - an All IP Network Analysis and Monitoring Solutions that offers powerful features to capture and monitor live signaling and traffic over IP (IPv4 and IPv6). It captures, segregates, monitors and collects statistics on all IP calls. Almost all protocols over IP transport layer, as listed below, can be captured and decoded for troubleshooting network problems.
GL also offers PacketScan™ HD variant, a high density multi-protocol 2U rack mounted network monitoring appliance that can capture and process packets over IP on high speed 1/10/40 Gbps Ethernet links.
All IP Protocols Supported
- SIP, SIP-I, SIP-T, H323, MEGACO, MGCP
- Diameter
- LTE S1, X2,and eGTP
- SIGTRAN - SS7, ISDN
- GSM A over IP
- GPRS Gb and Gn over IP
- UMTS IuPS and IuCs over IP
- All traffic supported - Digits, Tones, Voice, Video, Fax
What sets PacketScan™ apart is its ability to collect vital statistics about calls for theoretically infinite time. It can work with NetSurveyorWeb™, a central monitoring system for a comprehensive view of network performance. It features rich graphics, KPI's, ladder diagrams and CDRs (Call Detail Records).
Applications include -
- Service Providers and Equipment Manufacturers
- Analysis of 2G, 3G, 4G, IMS calls
- Billing and business strategies
- Call Drops, call success, and failure reasons
- VoIP Environment
- Quality of Service (QoS) including MOS, delay, jitter, loss
- KPI and graphs for billing and other analysis
- Signaling/Media Gateways, SIP Proxies, Registrars, and IP Phones
- Adherence to protocol standard of Gateways, IP Phones, SIP Proxies
- One Way Delay Measurement and Performance at TDM-IP Gateway
- Air Traffic Monitoring
- Monitoring Air-to-Ground, Ground-to-Ground, Recorder calls
- Quality of Service for each Push to Talk and Squelch sessions
Important Features:
GL's PacketScan™ supports non-intrusive real-time capture, monitoring and Analysis of VoIP (SIP, H323, RTP), SIGTRAN, 2G (GSMA, MAP), 3G (IuCS, IuPS) and 4G (LTE, IMS) network traffic.
Packet Data Analysis
The Packet Data Analysis (PDA) module within PacketScan™ provides in-depth real-time and post-process data investigation. It provides detailed call detail record (CDR) of each call and Quality of Service (QOS) parameters that include E-model (G.107) based MOS/R-Factor scores, Packet Loss, Delay, and Jitter for voice calls. PDA has complex filtering and search capabilities to record all or filtered traffic into a trace file and almost all industry standard voice codecs like AMR, AMR-WB, EVRC, EVS, OPUS etc., are supported.
Trigger and Filters
PacketScan™ provides the capability of Audio Capture and Playback, and Fax Call Capture and Decode (extracting fax images in TIFF format). The Triggers and Actions feature in the application allows filtering calls based on call parameters and perform different actions (save call, record audio, send e-mail etc) on the saved calls.
Voice Quality Parameters
Latest implementation provides MOS score as sample for every specified duration (secs) and categorize MOS as Good, Average and Poor based on the customized MOS Distribution Duration and Total Traffic Duration value for each voice codec.
Air Traffic Monitoring per ED-138
Enhanced PacketScan™ supports monitoring and analysis of Air-to-Ground and Ground-to-Ground calls over VoIP based Air Traffic Control networks. It supports decoding of feature specific RTP header extensions as per ED-137 standards. Call graph is updated with events like PTT on/off, Squelch on/off, PTT Summation, PTT Mute, SCT on/off etc., as and when they occur on the call. For AG calls, voice quality metrics calculated for every PTT and Squelch cycle.
Centralized Data Monitoring System
PacketScan™ can act as a probe to monitor the network and send CDR to a centralized database server.
GL's NetSurveyorWeb™ can retrieve data from the database server and act as Central Monitoring System. It features rich graphics, KPI's ladder diagrams and CDRs.
For comprehensive information on the enhanced application, please refer to our PacketScan™ webpage.
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