CALABASAS, CA, Feb 15, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) --

Ixia (NASDAQ: XXIA), a leading, global provider of converged IP network test solutions, announced today that NTT DOCOMO, INC. used Ixia's IxCatapult wireless network testing solutions to validate its LTE wireless access network prior to the December 24th launch of its Xi service(TM). The Xi service offers download speeds of up to 75 Mbps. Pre-deployment testing of new wireless network services is a crucial step in ensuring a reliable and high quality service for subscribers. Starting at the eNodeB base station, LTE is an all-IP network with components that handle vastly more subscribers, much higher data rates, and larger mixes of data, voice, and video traffic.

Extensive control testing is required to verify the functionality and interoperability of all the components, including the eNodeB, mobility management entity (MME), serving gateway (SGW), and packet data network gateway (PDN-GW). Large-scale data testing, with a real-world mix of multiplay traffic, is essential in ensuring that the data plane can handle the anticipated volume of traffic as well as provide an excellent quality of experience (QoE) for network subscribers.

Ixia's wireless solutions feature full data and control plane testing for all LTE components. Component emulation is available for all EPC elements, allowing each network node to be tested individually or in combination with other elements. Real-world, stateful multiplay traffic emulates subscribers using advanced video and data applications. DOCOMO selected Ixia to test its LTE network last year, and used Ixia's LTE tools to accelerate its development.

Key Facts:

-- Ixia's wireless test solutions offer complete end-to-end performance testing of 3G and 4G wireless networks with a unique focus on subscriber modelling, QoE metrics, and multi-dimensional tests for capacity planning.
-- Ixia tests all LTE eNodeB variants, from femtocell access points to macrocell base stations, by emulating all surrounding nodes -- including thousands of UEs/mobile subscribers, adjacent eNodeBs, the mobility management entity (MME), and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC).

Supporting Quotes:

-- "There are many technical complexities and challenges that must be overcome to successfully introduce new high quality multimedia services over LTE," said Patrick Donegan, Senior Analyst, Heavy Reading. "Proper service validation is an essential step that needs to be performed by mobile operators to guarantee service quality, measure network capacity, and deploy new services rapidly."
-- "LTE networks, with their vastly expanded complexity and data handling, are more difficult to test by an order of magnitude than simpler 2G/3G networks," said Naveen Bhat, VP and GM for Asia at Ixia. "Ixia's hardware and software wireless test solutions are the perfect tools for proving each wireless LTE element, combinations of those elements, and entire systems."

Resources:

More information for Ixia's wireless test solutions can be found at Ixia's web site.

About Ixia Ixia is a leading provider of converged IP performance test systems and service verification platforms for wireless and wired infrastructures and services. Ixia's test systems are used by network and telephony equipment manufacturers, semiconductor manufacturers, service providers, governments and enterprises to validate the performance and reliability of complex networks, devices and applications. Ixia's multiplay test systems address the growing need to test voice, video and data services and network capability under real-world conditions.

Ixia and the Ixia four-petal logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Ixia. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Xi is a trademark or registered trademark of NTT DOCOMO, INC. in Japan and/or other countries. The Xi service is only available in Japan.

SOURCE: Ixia