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Network Testing and Emulation Solutions

Audio Quality Testing:
VoIP/SIP and mobile calls using POLQA (Advanced Setup)

Goal: Evaluate the voice/speech audio quality made between VoIP-SIP and mobile calls through POLQA scoring server where both the endpoints are located at different locations.


Consider an example:
LANforge-A (LF resource system, Ferndale location) makes 20 multiple single calls using VoIP-SIP towards mobile phone device which is connected to LANforge-B (LF resource system, New York location). Both of the LANforge resources are connected together to the LANforge manager cloud instance. LANforge-A plays a reference audio file over the VoIP-SIP call. The call is being recorded by LANforge-B from the mobile device using Bluetooth or audio cable. After the call completes, both the reference audio file and recorded audio file are evaluated by LANforge manager (Cloud) using the POLQA server which is installed on LANforge-B. The POLQA server scores the recording based on audio quality loss during the call. Multiple location resources can be further clustered from LANforge manager for mesh testing (optional).
 
  1. Requirements:
    1. LANforge systems (version 5.4.8). One cloud manager and minimum two resources.
    2. LANforge licenses.
    3. POLQA server with required licenses
    4. POLQA standard reference audio files.
    5. Bluetooth USB dongle.
    6. Analog sound card and audio cables. (If testing over analog audio cable)
    7. VoIP service provider. (Customer provided)
    8. Mobile device (Android or IOS) having Bluetooth and active SIM/eSIM card. (Customer provided)
    9. Mobile network like VoLTE, VoNR, etc. (Customer provided)
    10. Internet access. (Customer provided)
  2. Configurations:
    1. Clustering between one LANforge manager (Cloud) towards two or multiple LANforge resources should be done till here.
    2. LANforge and POLQA licenses are installed.
    3. AQ configuration: Follow /home/lanforge/audio-bluetooth/README.txt on all LANforge resources.
    4. Then reboot all the systems.
    5. On the LANforge manager (cloud), open the GUI.
      Under VoIP/RTP tab, select Create. screenshot
      1. Cross Connect details to be filled are:
        1. Cross Connect Information:
          1. CX name: VoIP-Mobile
          2. Select Multi-Call checkbox.
          3. Select Save Call Records checkbox to save recordings for further analysis.
          4. Select Use Gateway checkbox.
          5. Min/Max Call Duration: File
          6. Number Of Calls: 20
          7. Min/Max Inter Call Gap: 5 sec
          8. Rest can remain defaults
        2. TX Endpoint A: Fill the TX Endpoint A with VoIP-SIP details.
          1. Resource: LANforge-A resource Hostname
            (Ferndale location system in this example)
          2. Port: Management Port with Internet access.
          3. Auth User Name: VoIP-SIP User info
          4. Display Name: VoIP-SIP Name
          5. Deselect Rcv Call checkbox.
            (VoIP-SIP is going to make calls and not receive in this case.)
          6. Deselect Mobile checkbox.
            (VoIP-SIP does not need Mobile checkbox.)
          7. Tx file: /home/lanforge/media/AmEnglish_NB_m1s1_f2s2_8s.wav
          8. Destination: AUTO
          9. Phone: VoIP-SIP phone number
          10. Call Gateway: VoIP-SIP Call Gateway info
        3. RX Endpoint B: Fill the RX Endpoint B with mobile details.
          1. Resource: LANforge-B resource Hostname
            (New York location system in this example)
          2. Port: Management Port with Internet access.
          3. Auth User Name: AUTO
          4. Display Name: Mobile Name
          5. Mobile BT MAC: Mobile bluetooth mac address
          6. Select Rcv Call checkbox.
          7. Select Mobile checkbox.
          8. Select Record checkbox.
          9. Select Enable Scoring checkbox for POLQA.
          10. Audio Band: Narrow Band
          11. Select Bluetooth checkbox.
            (Deselect this option for analog sound card option.)
          12. Tx file: /home/lanforge/media/AmEnglish_NB_m1s1_f2s2_8s.wav
          13. Destination: AUTO
          14. Phone: Mobile number
          15. Record File: Recording folder path
          16. Scoring Server: POLQA Server Address
      2. Select Apply, OK
  3. Options to start the test:
    1. Under VoIP/RTP tab, select the test name and click the Start button to begin. screenshot
    2. Using Command Terminal and get the test results in .csv format.
      1. Open a command terminal as a user
      2. cd /home/lanforge/Documents
      3. git clone https://github.com/greearb/lanforge-scripts
      4. cd lanforge-scripts/py-scripts/
      5. git pull
      6. ./run_voip_cx.py --host localhost --cx_list VoIP-Mobile --csv_file /home/lanforge/report-data/my_test_reports.csv
      7. This command can be integrated for further automation.
  4. AQ Test Results:
    1. Option 01: Under VoIP/RTP Endp tab, current results will be shown in column/row structure once started. screenshot
    2. Option 02: Using live graphical reporting.
      1. Under VoIP/RTP tab, right click on the selected AQ test name, and select Audio Quality Reporting. screenshot
      2. Select the required configuration and Start the monitoring. screenshot
      3. Once started, we see Live view of graphical test monitoring which shows detailed reporting. screenshot
      4. Use Save HTML or Save PDF to get detailed report including .csv data.
  5. Sample screenshots of Live AQ Reporting.
    1. Screenshot 01 screenshot
    2. Screenshot 02 screenshot
    3. Screenshot 03 screenshot
    4. Screenshot 04 screenshot
  6. Further analysis: If Save Call Records option is true, received audio file along with the reference audio file can be evaluated manually on POLQA server to get more advanced report. Sample Advanced Report
  7. If you need assistance, you can contact us at support@candelatech.com
Candela  Technologies, 2417 Main Street, Suite 201, Ferndale, WA 98248, USA
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