itaas Inc. has launched a platform that simulates the video-on-demand environment.

Targeted to VOD vendors and broadband service providers, the VOD Session Simulator is designed to test the technology, weed out problems and determine capacity loads before the service is deployed.

"Giving our customers the ability to exercise their VOD system with realistic, real world load conditions before actual deployment makes this tool indispensable for broadband operators and VOD service providers," said itaas CTO Jatin Desai, in statement.

itaas has not yet announced any customers for the VOD Session Simulator, which can simulate the live environment of "hundreds of thousands" of set-tops posing as DSM-CC (Digital Storage Media-Command and Control) clients to the Digital Control System/Session Manager which sets up and tears down interactive sessions.

Presently the system is outfitted for cable systems based on the Scientific-Atlanta digital platform, though one for Motorola Inc.-based systems is also in the works, a company spokesperson said. However, the system is designed to work with multiple video server and VOD system suppliers.