This morning Ixia completed its acquisition of Catapult Communications, a move that places Ixia solidly in the wireless network testing space, complementing its position as a leader in wired IP network testing. When we look at what the future is likely to bring, our vision is of an always-on network, supporting engaging apps that facilitate connectivity and productivity. The devices that will spearhead that charge will be smart phones, netbooks and similar devices yet to be designed. These devices, operating wirelessly, will serve as our on-ramps to the Internet. As LTE (long-term evolution) rolls out, larger and larger percentages of traffic will flow wirelessly into the Internet core. Testing of next-gen converged networks requires independent testing of wireless and wired components as well as complete end-to-end testing. With multimedia and peer-to-peer applications accounting for the lion’s share of 3G/4G bandwidth usage, it is essential that pre-deployment testing utilize realistic traffic simulation. This ensures that networks are properly provisioned and there are no surprises in deployed systems. What’s more, it’s essential that wired and wireless components be tested with the same type and scale of traffic. The iPhone is the perfect example of a multimedia-rich device, and is the tip of the iceberg of what is to come. The networks, both wireless and wired, must forward and shape iPhone-based traffic so as to ensure balanced quality of experience (QoE) for all network users. With Ixia and Catapult technologies combined, we have assembled the very tools needed to test from the wireless edge to the Internet core. IxCatapult supports the wide range of 2G, 3G and 4G/LTE protocols and tests the wireless network components that support them. Ixia’s layer 2-7 tools, especially IxLoad’s application layer test tool, provide the full complement of protocol simulations for the IP core.