Spirent brings the network edge into view

Spirent Communications has introduced its new over-the-air (OTA) performance monitoring solution designed to bring the network edge into the complete end-to-end test and monitoring landscape. The Spirent Mobile Test Platform (MTP) is a simple-to-deploy small form factor solution that provides extensive edge service monitoring and full remote management.

Supporting an unrooted, commercially available handheld device and four SIMs in one functional box, the Spirent MTP features an innovative patent-pending management technology that enables unprecedented remote monitoring of the customer experience, whatever the chosen location. The first device of its kind, the Spirent MTP also provides operators with previously unseen central control of test devices at the edge, including software updates and even device hardware reboots.

“The ability to effectively test and monitor network performance end-to-end must fully embrace the edge,” said Spirent’s Charles Thompson, VP of product management. “Assurance solutions need to keep up with increasingly stringent thresholds to ensure performance and quality of experience at the edge during pre-deployment, verification, and ongoing service management. This is why we have developed the MTP.”

Born out of the combination of Spirent’s industry leading Fit4Launch and service assurance solutions, the MTP enables systematic performance monitoring and ad hoc testing from the edge of the network that can be consumed and integrated for deeper network analytics at a larger scale and provide unrivalled network visibility and analysis.

By combining Spirent’s existing fixed and mobile network assurance solutions with the OTA capability of MTP, customers can now deploy and assure new 5G services with the confidence that they will be able to quickly detect and isolate faults anywhere in the network before end customers detect there was a problem. This will be critical to delivering new 5G services to both consumer and enterprise customers.

“The MTP’s optimized hardware platform is built on the concept of combining the capabilities of bulky individually mounted test devices and substituting them with a single, compact, and powerful self-contained unit that is easy to ship, simple to deploy, and capable of being updated centrally,” said Thompson. “The ability to test, update and continuously monitor network services at the edge for seamless data analysis will be another powerful tool for operators to ensure they are providing the best quality user experiences.”