Addressing the REAL Challenges of Quality Management

Increased attention to voice quality in IP networks is directing focus on the evolving standards needed by quality initiatives. The use of quality monitoring and advanced real-time algorithms requires a standardized architecture in which quality metrics can be exchanged between endpoints and communicated to a quality monitoring agent for more comprehensive analysis. Many architectural and technological options are currently available to implement this functionality. For core carrier networks, standard quality architecture is necessary before deploying any large-scale, next-generation quality assurance system.

You might ask, what are the challenges we as an industry are facing in regards to quality management?

We experience sort of a chicken and the egg challenge as we discuss and share this IP quality management issue with vendors and service providers. Most, especially the service providers, agree that in addition to network probes and monitors, end point monitoring and management is necessary; however, we often find that operators say that equipment providers don't support such features, and conversely vendors mention that service providers don’t require such features. It is a shame for the industry because this capability, in standards based technology, does indeed exist. At TI, it is one of our goals to make the market and industry players aware of this.

Let’s talk about solutions. One of our more recent initiatives in TI's Communications Instruments and Voice group has been the promotion and development of an IP based proactive quality management, called Piqua. The premise behind this quality initiative is that any and all IP based devices both affect, and are affected by, the IP network it is connected to, due to the distributed and non-deterministic nature of IP networks. As such, Piqua is about the promotion of each IP endpoint to be enabled to provide service quality management metrics (such as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) applications) as well as features for troubleshooting, diagnostics and even proactive impairment mitigation.

A significant goal around this IP services topic is to ultimately get to a state where IP devices are truly interoperable, manageable and easily configurable. This would allow for a network architecture and related eco-system such that new innovations and products can be quickly and easily deployed to be at an environment of a true converged, global IP network.

Many of the capabilities of a quality architecture that could be overlaid onto IP networks already exist today. Being based on open standards enhances the scalability of overlaid quality architecture, which is a critical feature for rapidly expanding IP networks. Moreover, quality architecture must be able to rapidly respond to ongoing conditions. Interrogating endpoints in real time to determine the root cause of a fault or degraded service could initiate corrective action to mitigate the degraded conditions immediately. Mid-level points in the network would collect and manage the quality data generated at the endpoints. Of course, the deployment of such an architecture must be cost-effective, and its impact on the performance of endpoints negligible.

TI provides solutions for the full range of embedded VoIP vertical markets and maintains a majority market share in each. The key reasons behind this success include the combination of TI’s innovative history of semiconductor technology along with continued process technology improvements in DSP and IP technology that is leveraged and customized for each VoIP vertical market. In addition, TI’s robust, field proven VoIP software, which combined with field proven hardware offer a complete set of optimized VoIP embedded solutions to end equipment vendors. To learn more about TI’s PIQUA offering, please visit ti.com/piqua.

Submitted by Debbie Greenstreet, TI