Observe the same service at multiple network points
Headend and selected access-edge probes let operations teams compare when a transport or quality condition first appears instead of relying on one observation point.
Media, Communications and Telehealth
StreamScope - Distributed Broadcast Quality Monitoring Platform
A distributed C/C++ MPEG-TS monitoring platform for a million-subscriber television environment, analyzing approximately 1,000 primary channels and up to 10,000 regionalized variants from headend to access-network edge.
MPEG transport analysisDistributed monitoringBroadcast operationsNetwork fault localizationAlarm integration
The system
StreamScope is a distributed broadcast and IPTV quality-monitoring platform for a television delivery environment serving approximately one million subscribers. The monitored service contained approximately 1,000 primary television channels, expanding to as many as roughly 10,000 regionalized variants because of localized advertising, timezone differences, and other regional modifications.
The platform continuously analyzes MPEG transport streams carried over UDP, RTP, and multicast distribution. Each monitoring probe inspects the transport and its individual PIDs, checking program structure, media timing, continuity, bitrate, expected audio/video presence, packet loss, jitter, missing PIDs, and MPEG transport conditions.
Monitoring nodes were placed at the headend and selected access-network edges close to switching and GPON infrastructure-not inside subscriber homes. Observing the same service at multiple stages allowed operations teams to compare where a transport or media-quality problem first appeared along the delivery path.
Engineering relationship
OPTIME engineered and delivered the distributed probes, performance-sensitive MPEG/network analysis, central monitoring services, operations interface, alarm flow, and SNMP integration for this confidential television-network project.
The platform used C and C++ for continuous transport-stream and network analysis, Node.js for central monitoring and backend services, and React for the operational administration and alarm interface.
StreamScope is a distinct customer project and is unrelated to ScheduleSense. Both demonstrate broadcast engineering, but there is no shared customer, product lineage, or AI evolution between them.
Engineering constraints
- Monitor approximately 1,000 primary channels and as many as roughly 10,000 regionalized variants without describing every variant as a unique source channel.
- Analyze MPEG-TS over UDP, RTP, and multicast continuously at multiple operator-network points.
- Inspect each service and PID for PAT/PMT structure, PCR/PTS/DTS timing, continuity, bitrate, expected media, loss, jitter, missing PIDs, and transport errors.
- Apply TR 101 290-related transport checks without claiming formal external certification.
- Correlate observations from headend and access-edge probes without claiming guaranteed automatic root-cause diagnosis.
- Move monitoring events and alarms to central operations services without exposing the customer’s private topology.
- Notify external network-management and operations systems through SNMP without identifying those systems.
- Describe scale and delivery accurately without inventing traffic rates, probe counts, alarm volumes, availability, or MTTR improvements.
What OPTIME engineered
- Distributed monitoring probes for headend and selected access-network edge locations.
- Continuous C/C++ MPEG-TS analysis over UDP, RTP, and multicast traffic.
- Per-PID analysis across program and elementary-stream components.
- PAT and PMT validation for program and component structure.
- PCR clock monitoring plus PTS and DTS media-timing analysis.
- Continuity-counter analysis and missing-PID detection.
- Bitrate, packet-loss, jitter, and expected audio/video presence monitoring.
- MPEG transport-error detection and TR 101 290-related transport checks.
- Distributed comparison supporting fault and problem localization across the delivery path.
- Node.js central monitoring, event-collection, and backend services.
- A React operations interface for status and alarm workflows.
- Central alarm handling and SNMP notifications to external NMS/OSS environments.
- Scale validation for approximately 1,000 primary channels and up to approximately 10,000 regionalized variants.
- Delivery integration for a television environment serving approximately one million subscribers.
Architecture
Service scale - primary channels and variants
Approximately 1,000 primary channels expand to as many as roughly 10,000 regionalized variants through advertising, timezone, and content modifications.
TV headend
MPEG transport streams enter the operator distribution environment without exposing the customer’s actual topology.
Headend monitoring probe
A probe observes service quality near the source side of the distribution path.
Operator distribution network
MPEG-TS travels through UDP, RTP, and multicast delivery across the television network.
Access-edge monitoring probes
Selected probes near switching and GPON infrastructure observe the same services closer to the access edge; probes are not deployed in subscriber homes.
Per-PID transport analysis
C/C++ processing examines individual PIDs and validates PAT, PMT, continuity, bitrate, and expected audio/video components.
Timing and network-quality analysis
PCR, PTS, DTS, packet loss, jitter, missing PIDs, and MPEG transport errors produce monitoring observations.
TR 101 290-related checks
Broadcast transport checks provide additional error and quality signals without asserting formal certification.
Central monitoring platform
Node.js services collect distributed probe observations, operational state, events, and alarms.
Correlation and operations UI
The React interface compares observations across points to help engineers localize where degradation first appeared.
SNMP integration
Central alarms are sent through SNMP to external NMS/OSS environments at a deliberately generalized boundary.
Key engineering decisions
Analyze individual PIDs continuously
Per-PID structure, timing, continuity, bitrate, and presence checks expose component-level conditions that a service-level up/down signal cannot explain.
Keep high-rate analysis close to the probe
Performance-sensitive C/C++ processing evaluates MPEG and network conditions locally while central Node.js services receive operational events and alarms.
Integrate with existing operations systems
SNMP notifications connect the monitoring platform to the customer’s external NMS/OSS environment without replacing or exposing those systems.
Scale and monitoring coverage
The monitored environment served approximately one million subscribers and contained approximately 1,000 primary channels. Regional advertising, timezone changes, and other localized modifications expanded the monitored set to as many as roughly 10,000 channel variants; these are not described as 10,000 unique source channels.
Distributed observations support fault localization rather than guaranteed automatic root-cause diagnosis. For example, a healthy headend and upstream observation followed by an alarm at a selected access edge helps operations engineers narrow where degradation first appeared.
Verified capability
OPTIME completed and delivered the distributed broadcast-monitoring platform. The current operational status of the customer’s downstream deployment is outside OPTIME’s visibility.
Verified result
The delivered platform combined distributed probes, per-PID MPEG transport analysis, multi-point fault localization, central alarm workflows, and SNMP integration for a million-subscriber television environment.
Verified metrics
Approximately 1,000 channels
Approximate number of primary television channels in the monitored environment.
Up to approximately 10,000 variants
Regionalized variants created by advertising, timezone, and other local modifications; not unique source channels.
Approximately 1 million subscribers
Approximate subscriber scale of the television delivery environment; not a claim that OPTIME operated the subscriber network.
Technology & Engineering Role
- C / C++
- Continuous high-performance MPEG transport and network analysis.
- MPEG-TS
- Broadcast and television service transport format under monitoring.
- UDP / RTP
- Media transport through the operator network.
- Multicast
- Large-scale television distribution.
- PAT / PMT
- Program and elementary-stream structure validation.
- PCR
- Transport clock and timing monitoring.
- PTS / DTS
- Media presentation and decoding timing analysis.
- Continuity counters
- Detection of transport continuity problems.
- PID analysis
- Per-component stream monitoring.
- Packet loss / jitter
- Network and media transport-quality monitoring.
- TR 101 290 checks
- Broadcast transport error and quality monitoring.
- Node.js
- Central monitoring, event collection, and backend services.
- React
- Operations, status, and alarm-management interface.
- SNMP
- Notifications and integration with external network-management systems.
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