Mixed Signals is making it easier for cable operators to evaluate and prioritize reported problems with a new Perceptual Scoring System.

Mixed Signals’ monitoring system detects a variety of errors in video, but the error reports the system generated included raw data typically decipherable only by trained engineers. The new system correlates specific errors with specific service problems as experienced by customers, and assigns a ranking to the severity of the problem on a scale of 100 (best) to 0.

With the new Perceptual Scoring System, employees in a network operations center (NOC) are presented with specific information about the type of problems experienced by subscribers, how wide the problem is, how long the problem persisted, and the severity of the problem. Armed with that information, they can respond to alarms quickly and appropriately, explained Mixed Signals CEO Eric Conley.

“We’re decoding enough video to see if problems are affecting the picture, and we can send an alert to the NOC that says, ‘Video score dropped from 100 to 60,’ for example, and that means something more than reporting there were a thousand continuity errors,” Conley said.

He explained the system can tell what kind of video or audio error the subscriber is seeing (e.g., macroblocking) or hearing, how long it persists, and in the case of a video error, where it is on the screen. A momentary problem on the periphery of the screen is probably less alarming than a persistent problem in the center of the screen, for example.

The same information, presented in the same manner, is better suited than raw data for management reports.

Other monitoring systems use the MOS scale, designed originally for phone communications. The problem with MOS, Conley said, is that it is based on an ideal reference, which can’t be created without extensive testing.

Mixed Signals intends to sell the capability as an upgrade.

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