Signal Monitoring Platform

1. A method comprising: receiving, at one or more processors, a plurality of information streams, wherein the plurality of information streams comprises one or more data streams and one or more signaling streams; generating a plurality of pilot signals, each pilot signal comprising one or more pilot tones; combining, using the one or more processors, at least two of the plurality of pilot signals to form a combined pilot signal; combining, using the one or more processors, the one or more data streams, the one or more signaling streams, and the combined pilot signal into one or more output streams, wherein each of the one or more output streams comprises at least one data stream and at least one signaling stream; outputting the one or more output streams; analyzing data resulting from the one or more output streams, thereby producing analysis data comprising at least one communication quality metric; and transmitting to a network node at least a portion of the analysis data in a format specified by the network node.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more signaling streams comprises one or more of test signals and pre-combined signals, wherein the pre-combined signals comprise analog signals and out-of-band signals.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more data streams comprises one or more input flows.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the plurality of information streams comprises a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signal.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein one or more of the plurality of information streams comprises a 256-QAM signal comprising an amplitude of at least 0 dBmV per carrier.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein one or more of the plurality of information streams comprises a 64-QAM signal comprising an amplitude of at least 20 dBmV.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of pilot signals comprises four pilot tones.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the pilot tones comprises a frequency in the range from about 54 MHz to about 1002 MHz.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pilot signals are generated according to predefined specifications regarding output power, power accuracy, minimum return loss, and minimum harmonics generation.

10. A device comprising: a plurality of pilot generator units, each of the pilot generator units configured to generate a pilot signal comprising one or more pilot tones, resulting in a plurality of pilot signals; one or more combiner components, each combiner component configured to receive a plurality of information streams and at least two of the plurality of pilot signals, wherein the plurality of information streams comprises one or more data streams and one or more signaling streams; wherein each of the one or more combiner components is configured to combine the at least two of the plurality of pilot signals into a combined pilot signal, and to combine the one or more data streams, the one or more signaling streams, and the combined pilot signal into one or more output streams, wherein each of the one or more output streams comprises at least one data stream and at least one signaling streams; an analysis unit configured to analyze data resulting from demodulation of the one or more output streams, resulting in analysis data comprising at least one communication quality metric; and a management unit configured to transmit to a network node at least a portion of the analysis data in a format specified by the network node, the portion of the analysis data being transmitted in a multicast data transmission or a unicast data transmission.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the one or more signaling streams comprises one or more of test signals and pre-combined signals, wherein the pre-combined signals comprise analog signals and out-of-band signals.

12. The device of claim 10 , wherein the one or more data streams comprises one or more input flows.

13. The device of claim 10 , wherein one or more of the plurality of information streams comprises a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signal.

14. The device of claim 10 , wherein each of the pilot generator units generates a pilot signal that comprises four pilot tones.

15. The device of claim 10 , wherein each of the pilot tones comprises a frequency in the range from about 54 MHz to about 1002 MHz.

16. The device of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of pilot signals are generated according to predefined specifications regarding output power, power accuracy, minimum return loss, and minimum harmonics generation.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with data and instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform steps comprising: receiving a plurality of information streams, wherein the plurality of information streams comprises one or more data streams and one or more signaling streams; generating a plurality of pilot signals, each pilot signal comprising one or more pilot tones; combining at least two of the plurality of pilot signals to form a combined pilot signal; combining the one or more data streams, the one or more signaling streams, and the combined pilot signal into one or more output streams, wherein each of the one or more output streams comprises at least one data stream and at least one signaling stream; outputting the one or more output streams; analyzing data resulting from the one or more output streams, thereby producing analysis data comprising at least one communication quality metric; and transmitting to a network node at least a portion of the analysis data in a format specified by the network node.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein each of the plurality of pilot signals comprises four pilot tones.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the one or more signaling streams comprises one or more of test signals and pre-combined signals, wherein the pre-combined signals comprise analog signals and out-of-band signals.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of pilot signals are generated according to predefined specifications regarding output power, power accuracy, minimum return loss, and minimum harmonics generation.