Today, JDSU is launching TrueSpeed VNF, which it claims is the first industry-compliant test software that serves the virtualized environment.

It's a quality-of-experience (QoE) play. As more and more organizations transition to a model based on network functions virtualization (NFV), it can be more difficult to get the visibility necessary to understand what is really going on in the network, says Michael Bangert, a JDSU product line manager.

While many of us are familiar with speed tests to gauge Internet performance, TrueSpeed offers deeper analytics on network performance. Rather than reporting a number that may or may not hint at the problem, TrueSpeed can delve into what went wrong, Bangert says.

Deployable anywhere operators or enterprises have computing resources in the network, TrueSpeed provides centralized, software-based test capabilities with embedded software clients. This enables operators to more efficiently troubleshoot from a central site, without having to dispatch more service technicians to solve the problem, saving on opex.

Bangert says TrueSpeed is a physical-to-virtual product, taking the functions found in test instruments and replacing them with virtualized methods.

Other features of TrueSpeed include:

• Compliant with RFC 6349, enabling customer care technicians to accurately assess QoE without sending out a field technician or dedicated test equipment
• Empowers field network technicians using JDSU’s T-BERD/MTS network test instruments to use TrueSpeed as the far-end for their RFC 6349-compliant tests without a second device or technician
• Enables network technicians to test network performance across their areas of responsibility to provide high-quality service delivery through automated evaluation of performance between various internet points of presence (POP), data centers, and network handoffs.

Although today marks TrueSpeed's public release, JDSU has already been discussing it with customers and performing trails.

Bangert says TrueSpeed is only one part of JDSU's larger portfolio, especially in regards to NFV. That portfolio is the foundation of a new "network and service enablement company" being created as JDSU splits in two, as announced in September. The other half will include the optical networking components that were once the bulk of JDSU's business.