HFC Network Test

As network technologies continue to evolve, including DOCSIS 3.1 and beyond,  fiber to the home including various PON options, and more technicians need to have the capability to verify performance and troubleshoot quickly and efficiently. Techs may encounter multiple access technologies in the same network on the same day, so being prepared with equipment that can perform the tests thoroughly and efficiently is essential. Access to the customer’s home is by appointment only, so getting the job done right is a high priority to avoid repeat service calls.

 Service activation test gear from VIAVI empowers techs for whatever test challenges they may face in the cable access network. From DOCSIS 3.1 performance testing to fiber tests, to Ethernet and WiFi, VIAVI test equipment makes the job quick and easy for the technician. Tests for ingress and in-home leakage help to ensure not only optimal performance within the home but help prevent problems in the home from impacting neighboring customers. Test for WiFi coverage within the home help to prevent call-backs and enable customer education and satisfaction. Planning jobs and collecting test data in the cloud with StrataSync helps to automate the process and ensure that all needed tests have been performed.

 
 
Maintain your plant to maximize customer satisfaction while minimizing OPEX spend.  It is an established fact that well-maintained plants provide better service quality and ultimately cost less to operate vs those that have been neglected.  With the advent of OFDM and OFDMA, it is even possible to push considerably more traffic through the existing networks/spectrum via higher modulation orders if the plant is kept tight.  This can result in deferral or even elimination of network capacity growth CAPEX.  Overtime can be reduced and ingress remediation fire drills eliminated by detecting and fixing plant shielding weaknesses as they occur instead of waiting until they are impacting services.

Maximize revenue, improve NPS performance, and introduce new services faster with confidence via superior service assurance capabilities.  Whether you are a Technical Operators Manager focused on improving subscriber QoE or in the Service Assurance area focused on maximizing revenue from your network assets, VIAVI has monitoring and service assurance solutions to meet your business needs.

For technical operations teams, it is critical to detect network issues before they become service impacting and to prioritize which to address first based on current or potential customer impact.  VIAVI achieves these goals by leveraging both dedicated HW-based probes and virtual sources to correlate service impacts with physical layer symptoms.  PNM-based analysis combined with overlay of VIAVI leakage data, field meter data, and fiber monitoring system data provide unmatched insight to help operators resolve the issues that matter most. 

HFC networks have evolved over time from simply connecting a few homes to a community antenna into a bi-directional network delivering broadband, video, phone, and more.  Even in just the last 10 years there have been multiple frequency extensions, carrier count expansions, bonding of DOCSIS carriers, redistribution of network functionalities out into the network, and the introduction of a totally new modulation/error-correction scheme.  With each of these changes cable operators were forced to evolve their facilities, service provision equipment, test gear, and work processes to enable the changes and maximize their benefits.

VIAVI has been a trusted partner with cable operators for decades and have provided knowledge and tools to make these transitions as simple as possible.  VIAVI was first to market with fully DOCSIS 3.0 compliant 8x4 testing, DOCSIS 3.1 field meters for service testing, and continues to lead the way in advanced OFDM/OFDMA testing.  Distributed Access Architectures (DAA) like Remote PHY were going to be extremely disruptive to plant maintenance and monitoring processes, but by working collaboratively with all leading NEM’s through the VIAVI DAA Test Ready program solutions were developed to enable the use of common tools and workflows for both legacy and DAA nodes.  VIAVI also continues to lead in the fiber portion of the HFC as technologies like DWDM migrate into the access network.