Ixia has announced the next generation in residential and business VoIP testing. With its ultra-high performance, IxLoad Voice matches the capacity of modern media gateways with 1 million SIP- and RTP-based endpoints per chassis. Ixia’s new Acceleron-XP load module implements voice protocols with hardware to reach these major capacity milestones. IxLoad Voice is available immediately and will be demonstrated at IPTV World Forum in London from March 23 to the 25, in stand #34.

IxLoad tests VoIP network components, including IP-based PBXs, softswitches, call managers, session border controllers, and media gateways, using realistic scenarios involving multiple voice protocols, complex calling sequences, and triple-play mixes of voice, video and data traffic. IxLoad’s subscriber modeling emulates user communities that vary in service usage and timing. This approach yields performance results that predict live-network capacity – allowing service providers to correctly provision their networks. Ixia supports all of the essential VoIP signaling and transmission protocols, including SIP, RTP, SCCP, MGCP, H.323, and H.248 – with complex call flows and Class 5 features.

After many years of isolated, small-scale consumer and business roll-outs, VoIP deployments have finally gone mainstream. Infonetics Research forecasts a 25% compound aggregate growth in residential and SOHO hosted VoIP subscribers through 2011, when they are expected to number over 187 million. To meet this growing demand, network equipment manufacturers must deliver VoIP devices that can handle more calls and a complex array of protocols and services. Both network equipment manufacturers and converged service providers of all sizes need to verify the performance and interoperability of new VoIP devices and networks, ensuring that they can handle complex, heavy VoIP traffic loads

“VoIP protocols and technology may be well understood, but there are a host of potential problems when a high number of calls are mixed with large volumes of data and video traffic,” said Anupam Sahai, vice president of marketing at Ixia. “We developed our Acceleron-XP, VQM modules and IxLoad test application to emulate city-scale communities of real-world users – allowing our customers to discover and solve their device and network problems before their customers do.”

IxLoad emulates and tests security and network infrastructure protocols, including IPSec, PPP, DHCP and multiple forms of authentication. Voice call security is also supported by SIP/TLS and SRTP. Ixia’s VQM support module delivers real-time evaluation of end-user quality of experience (QoE), such as PESQ scores for 300 simultaneous calls – making it unnecessary to wait for time-consuming, post-test analysis. IxLoad facilitates rapid testing, refinement, troubleshooting and automation to maximize testing productivity.

Ixia’s single platform approach, with a range of interfaces and targeted test applications, allows network equipment manufacturers, service providers and enterprises to ensure the quality and performance for all of their devices – individually and in combination. Ixia’s test applications cover conformance, performance, automation and live-network maintenance. Ixia’s IxRave provides service verification of deployed VoIP and other networks with active testing; its testing and mapping facility ensures VoIP problems are isolated to a geographical area or home.