Bridge Technologies Puts Streaming Media In Your Pocket

[SatNews] An iPhone app that enables objective analysis of real network performance of streaming media that technical staff can carry anywhere.

Bridge Technologies has launched PocketProbe, an iPhone app that enables objective analysis of real network performance of streaming media, in a simple to use, easy to understand tool that technical staff can carry anywhere.

Available now from Apple’s App Store, PocketProbe extends both the existing capabilities of digital media monitoring systems built from Bridge Technologies hardware probes, and the monitoring software environment. Already providing the most comprehensive end-to-end monitoring and analysis capability, with a range of fixed and portable probes, the system now extends right into the engineer’s pocket.

PocketProbe contains the same OTT Engine found in the company’s award-winning VB1, VB2 and 10G VB3 series digital media monitoring probes, enabling confidence validation and analysis of http variable bit-rate streams from any location. 

PocketProbe is available in two versions: the free application can validate five HLS streams in round-robin mode, provide analysis and manifest consistency alarms, play back media in the various profile bit-rates, and graphically display the actual chunk download patterns and bit-rates. The full version also offers the ability to validate HDS and SmoothStream manifest files and store twenty-five streams with all profiles.

“This is monitoring-anywhere for the TV-anywhere age,” said Simen Frostad, Chairman, Bridge Technologies. “True efficiency in digital media monitoring comes from being able to analyze every point in the network, at any time, without having to be at a specific location. Armed with a tool like PocketProbe, technical personnel can check on service errors, no matter where they are, and get instant analysis of the cause.”

PocketProbe is easy to use, with a fully automatic set up: once the stream url is input, the app finds all related profiles and validates the consistency. Features include:

 
• display of the profile’s programmed and actual bps
• validation of chunk size against download time
• alarms on manifest syntax and oversizing
• alarms on sequence age disparity and non-updates of sequence for live streams
• graphic display of real chunk behavior

Since the PocketProbe uses exactly the same metric as in the hardware probes, the PocketProbe can be used by service engineers and operational staff to test real world behaviors post-cloud with various operators. Accurate status of bit-rates used and profile changes is displayed in real time, giving instant understanding of provider delivery capability. Together with hardware probes used pre-cloud, the post-cloud location of the PocketProbe enables excellent correlative understanding of CDN and provider abilities.