EXFO Helps Prove VoLTE Readiness
EXFO has announced its successful participation in the first ever MultiService Forum VoLTE (voice over long-term evolution) Interoperability Event. EXFO’s test and monitoring solutions were an essential part of this event and were used to validate interoperability between dozens of 4G mobile network elements from multiple participating vendors. These interoperability tests helped show that VoLTE calls and supplementary services are a viable solution for providing voice services over LTE access, including roaming and interconnect scenarios.
The MSF VoLTE Interoperability Event was hosted by MSF and was backed by the GSMA as part of its work on VoLTE. Over 65 network elements from 19 participating vendors were tested by 60 test engineers using 200 pages of test plans during this three-week event. The test scenarios included 89 test cases and 561 scheduled tests based on different vendor combinations.
EXFO’s SoftHawk Protocol Analyzer, iPro probes and Brix Service Assurance system were used to identify issues arising from interconnect of disparate LTE equipment from many different participating vendors, including 4G user equipment, eNode B, SeGW, EPC, IMS multimedia telephony (MMTel), DRA and policy control network elements. Correlated control-plane and user-plane analysis enabled rapid isolation of VoLTE test network issues. End-to-end signaling and media-correlated flow analysis helped pinpoint service interworking problems. For each scenario, EXFO solutions provided documented evidence of test results ultimately used by the MSF to compile its VoLTE Interoperability Results white paper.
“This event proves both the importance of VoLTE and the importance of vendor interoperability,” said Vivian Hudson, VP of EXFO’s Service Assurance Division. “By validating these test calls, we have also reaffirmed our history of innovation and multiplay support. No matter what equipment operators select to build their LTE networks, they now know that EXFO can successfully test and assure quality at every level of those networks.”
For more information about EXFO’s VoLTE solutions, please view a recording of the recent webinar “Why VoLTE and Why Now?”.
