A New Network Architecture For Maximizing Pay TV ROI · Internet video traffic goes from representing 37% of all monthly global Internet traffic in 2010 to 58% in 2015 (1 petabyte

A New Network Architecture For Maximizing Pay TV ROI Emerging Service Models Spell Opportunity for Smart Pipe Operators

Whitepaper

A New Network Architecture For Maximizing Pay TV ROI / Whitepaper / © Edgeware AB 2012 / Version1.0 A4 May 2012 Page 2

1. Confidentiality notice

This document is confidential and may not be reproduced, distributed or used for any purpose

other than by the recipient for the assessment, evaluation and use of Edgeware products, unless

written permission is given in advance by Edgeware AB.

2. History Version Date Changes

1 2012-05-15 First version


3. Contents

1. Confidentiality notice ............................................................................................................... 2

2. History ..................................................................................................................................... 2

3. Contents .................................................................................................................................. 3

4. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 4

5. The New Premium Service Mandate ......................................................................................... 5

Market Trend Lines .............................................................................................................................. 5

The Implications for NSPs .................................................................................................................. 12

6. Challenges to Equipping Networks for the Future .................................................................... 13

The Need for a Converged Infrastructure Solution ............................................................................ 13

The Limitations of Legacy VOD and CDN Infrastructures .................................................................. 15

7. A Holistic Solution for Live IP Streaming and On-Demand Services ........................................... 16

Purpose-Built Servers ......................................................................................................................... 17

The Multi-Functionality File System Architecture .............................................................................. 18

Abstracting Functionality Implementation in the Architectural Hierarchy ....................................... 19

End-to-End Quality Assurance ........................................................................................................... 20

8. The D-VDN Framework in Action: Reports from the Field ........................................................ 21

9. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 23

About Edgeware ................................................................................................................................ 24

Contact Edgeware ............................................................................................................................. 24


4. Introduction

Emerging Internet-driven trends in the pay TV business portend unprecedented opportunities

for network service providers who implement a distributed network architecture with

sufficient intelligence and flexibility to keep pace with market changes wherever they lead.

The need to accommodate anticipated consumer demand for multiscreen services has

prompted a long-running debate over NSP migration strategies that invariably envision high

outlays for replacing legacy set-tops and funding enough bandwidth to deliver massive volumes

of unicast IP streams on top of the traditional TV services. However, technology advances

embodied in Edgeware’s Distributed Video Delivery Network (D-VDN) framework have

radically changed this perspective by creating a network-centric migration path that saves

money on bandwidth, cuts operations costs, exploits the growing ubiquity of connected TVs and

other devices and accelerates service development on a pay-as-you-grow basis.

The purpose of this document is to offer insight into the evolving premium service market as

revealed in consumer trends, key programmers’ strategies and advances in IP networking

technology, and to suggest ways in which NSPs can enhance their ability to address current

needs while preparing for more disruptive changes ahead.

While it’s impossible to predict how new strategies in play among TV programming suppliers

and aggregators will impact the legacy premium service model, NSPs can ensure they’re

prepared for whatever the market brings by taking the most cost-effective approach to

addressing today’s requirements for unicast services. As evidenced by the growing number of

NSPs who are adopting this strategy in North America and abroad, Edgeware’s D-VDN provides

operators of every size and description the flexibility to balance legacy and emerging service

models to maximum advantage now and well into the future.


5. The New Premium Service Mandate

Market Trend Lines

For some time analysts and industry executives have been arguing over what impact so-called over-the-top (OTT) video would have on subscriber cord cutting and cord shaving, with people on each side of the debate pointing to the latest blips in usage patterns to bolster their cases. In truth, the factors that will shape such trends have yet to take hold in the marketplace on anything like the scale that’s needed to gain a true picture of their impact on pay TV subscribers.

The more immediate concern should be what to expect from a growing base of young non-subscribers as they enter the adult consumer market. For Network Service Providers (NSPs) the priority is to focus on what needs to be done to tailor services to these consumers’ needs, understanding that, to the extent such strategies succeed, they will also serve to buttress the relationship with potential cord cutters and shavers as well.

Seen in this light, the way forward for NSPs is to build their service migration strategies for a market environment where the number of viewers accessing TV programming through set-top boxes will steadily fall as connected TVs, tablets, game consoles and smartphones proliferate. As shown in the following charts (Figures 1-4), projections from two suppliers who track IP video traffic offer a view of what’s in store as ever more consumers spend ever more time accessing entertainment on connected devices.

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Figure 1


Consumer Internet Traffic, 2010-2015 (petabytes per months)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 CAGR

2010-2015

Fixed 12,355 17,467 23,618 31,318 40,842 53,282 34%

Mobile 174 399 858 1,654 2,930 4,931 95%

Consumer Internet Video, 2010-2015

Fixed 4,587 7,866 11,652 16,556 22,423 30,287 46%

Mobile 85 213 493 1,028 1,933 3,333 108%

By Category (petabytes per month)

Long form 2,936 4,984 6,932 9,255 11,980 15,879 40%

Internet video to TV 342 838 1,626 2,786 4,165 5,911 77%

Live Internet TV 480 777 1,185 1,754 2,477 3,417 48%

Mobile video 85 213 493 1,028 1,933 3,333 108%

Short form 697 931 1,254 1,665 2,208 2,976 34%

Ambient video 93 258 521 860 1,207 1,523 75%

Internet PVR 40 78 134 237 387 581 71%

Source: Cisco VNI, 2011

Figure 1: In these projections, compiled from Cisco System’s Visual Networking Index Survey of June 2011, Internet video traffic goes from representing 37% of all monthly global Internet traffic in 2010 to 58% in 2015 (1 petabyte = 1,024 terabytes ). Live Internet TV is defined as peer-to-peer video and live streamed video, while Internet Video to TV is video over unmanaged Internet networks consumed by connected TVs and Internet devices connected to TVs. These numbers do not include IP video traffic delivered over managed networks, such as IPTV and VOD, which, according to Cisco totaled 3,692 PB per month in 2010 and will go to 11,832 PB per month in 2015.


Figure 2: Consumer Internet Video Traffic by Geographic Area (PB per Month)

Figure 2: Projected CAGR for North America is the lowest among the seven regions of the world, resulting in a drop in share of total consumer Internet video traffic from 26.3% in 2010 to 21.5% in 2015. Asia Pacific, including Japan, is projected to stay about steady in terms of global share, going from 40.2% in 2010 to 40.8% in 2015.

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 CAGR

Asia Pacific 4,403 6,006 8,142 11,129 15,249 20,758 36%

Western Europe 3,147 4,360 6,075 8,224 10,841 13,896 35%

North America 3,301 5,000 6,579 8,306 10,012 12,537 31%

Latin America 482 735 1,106 1,667 2,577 3,850 52%

Japan 638 932 1,317 1,807 2,344 2,968 36%

Central and Eastern Europe 454 667 971 1,381 1,963 2,805 44%

Middle East and Africa 103 166 286 459 784 1,399 68%

Total (PB per month)

Consumer Internet traffic 12,528 17,866 24,476 32,973 43,771 58,214 36%

Source: Cisco VNI, 2011


Figure 3: Peak Aggregate Traffic Composition – Fixed Access North America

Figure 3: Sandvine, which accumulates data from DPI (deep packet inspection probes) positioned in service providers’ access networks worldwide, offers another view of how real-time entertainment (music as well as video) is affecting traffic patterns in North America.

Source: Sandvine Global Internet Phenomena Report: 1

st Half 2012

2009 2010 2011 2012

Real Time Entertainment 29.5% 42.7% 49.2% 58%

Web Browsing 38.7% 20.2% 16.6% 12.8%

P2P File Sharing 15.1% 19.2% 14.3% 12.7%

Other 16.7% 17.9% 19.9% 16.5%


Figure 4: Real Time Entertainment Access Network Traffic Projections for the U.S.

Source: Sandvine Global Internet Phenomena Report: 1

st Half 2012

Figure 4: Sandvine’s projections for fixed access real-time entertainment traffic in the U.S. offer a dramatic view of what could be in store for NSPs in the years ahead. (1 exabyte = 1,024 petabytes.) In the six years from end of 2011 the IP entertainment load traveling over access networks will nearly quintuple, Sandvine says.

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Exabytes

/Year

2,360 4,441 11,265 16,290 23,426 32,224 41,003 48,960 54,570

Share of All Traffic

29.5% 42.7% 53.6% 54.3% 57.7% 60.8% 62.6% 64.0% 64.2%

_________________________

Industry observers sometimes argue that young people will join the traditional pay TV viewing

audience once they get settled in their own homes and have the wherewithal to buy HD sets. But

while it’s true that most young people who are getting all or a large portion of their TV content

from connected devices don’t have TV sets, this doesn’t mean that, when they buy sets, they’ll

automatically become candidates for traditional premium services. After all, even with big HD

sets they’ll continue to be able to access their entertainment online, because virtually every

large-screen TV on the market today comes with Web connectivity built in, usually in the guise

of smart TVs with intelligent support for advanced navigation and content aggregation.


Of course, at this early stage in smart TV penetration when buyers are primarily pay TV

subscribers, consumers have barely begun to use these connected models to view Web-based

content. The more important phenomenon to watch at this point is how other modes of getting

Internet video to the TV such as game consoles, digital media receivers and hybrid set-tops are

impacting viewing habits.

Figure 5 offers a snapshot of various research findings that summarize the current perspective

on how the TV figures and will figure into Web video consumption.

Figure 5:

Figure 5: These stats reflect the early impact that the ability to view video online from the TV is having, whether by virtue of TVs themselves being Web-enabled or because they are connected to digital media devices. Already 13% of U.S. adults are viewing Web video on the TV at least once a week. Given the rapid rise projected for the shipment of connected TVs over the next four years viewing online content from the TV set could become a mainstream phenomenon in that timeframe.

Global Connected TV Shipments

2011 2016

Total Units 62M 180M

Percent of All TV Shipments 25% 70%

Source: IMS Research


U.S. Households Capable of Accessing Internet Video via TV

% of HH Able to View Web Video on TV

% Relying On Game Systems

% Relying on Other Devices

% Relying On Web-Enabled TVs

38% 28% 6% 4%

Viewing Patterns – Proportion of U.S. Adults

Who View Web Video on TV@ Least 1x/Week

Who View Full TV Shows Online

Least 1x/Week

Who View Video on Cell Phones

Weekly (all devices)

Who View Video

on Tablets Weekly

2012 13% 16% 19% 9%

2011 10% 12% 15% 2%

2010 5% 6% 9%

Source: Leichtman Research Group

_______________________________

As these findings suggest, as the proportion of non-subscribing younger buyers grows, and as

older buyers are prompted by aggressive TV suppliers to become more aware of their online

viewing options, the TV set is likely to become a core driver to viewing entertainment online

among premium TV subscribers and non-subscribers alike. Inevitably, as this connected-device

foundation draws ever more viewers to online video entertainment options, content providers

from studios to cable TV networks to broadcasters will make adjustments to ensure their

advertisers are reaching the volumes of viewers essential to sustaining the ad revenue base. In

other words, TV programming will go where the audiences are, and so will revenues.


The Implications for NSPs

With that principle in mind, the road ahead for NSPs must be sufficiently broad to accommodate

what could be significant changes in business models. While program suppliers have repeatedly

stressed they have no intention of doing anything that would undermine the current pay TV

model, they are also making clear they intend to exploit the power of advanced technology to

give users access to content they want to watch wherever they happen to be.

Indeed, French researcher IDATE, which predicts the revenue generated globally by services

delivered on connected TVs will reach $3.2 billion in 2016, says that by then, with VOD

accounting for 57% of the total and advertising another 32%, Web-to-TV movies and time-

shifted programming will become part of the premium service model, with important

implications for NSPs. “We are indeed currently nearing the end of a double phenomenon

known as cord-cutting and cord-shaving,” IDATE says in its recent report.

The Internet’s role in delivering live programming is changing as well. One good view of what’s

in store can be found in the landmark role of the Internet in TV coverage of the 2012 Summer

Olympics. Rather than using online merely as a time-shifted content supplement to live TV

programming, NBC, BBC and broadcasters worldwide are streaming every event live using

adaptive rate technology to connect every class of device to over 3,000 hours of coverage.

This is the broadcast future. Not only does IP technology provide an opportunity to deliver

premium content to every screen; it allows programmers to supply much more content than can

be delivered over traditional TV channels.

This represents an important opportunity for programmers who have an abundance of high-

quality content that doesn’t make it into their TV broadcasts but can be used to fill potentially

lucrative niche channels online. They and their advertisers recognize that the power to draw

people passionate about a given topic from a global population base greatly expands the

advertising dimensions for highly targeted programming.


The IP-based technology support systems enabling high-quality streaming, dynamic interstitial

ad placement, multi-lingual subtitling on a per-stream basis and ready access to apps suiting

every user’s interest have made such strategies possible, as evidenced by the 2012 Olympics.

While details of how these capabilities will be put into play by programming networks remain

under wraps, it’s clear the emerging multiscreen service paradigm will provide a very different

viewing experience from what people know today as multichannel television.

It’s equally clear that programmers, in their efforts to more profitably leverage their assets, will

need NSPs as much as ever. Not only will they want to sustain their revenue foundation in

premium service fees; they’ll need the quality assurance provided by managed networks in

order to achieve levels of consumer experience and advertising performance that go far beyond

the capabilities of the unmanaged over-the-top domain.

Notwithstanding much speculation about the threats posed by online video, the interests and

mutual support that have characterized pay TV from the dawning of cable remain fundamental

to NSPs’ and programmers’ ability to profit from the new directions in consumer behavior. The

key for NSPs is to equip their networks to exploit these common interests to maximum effect.

6. Challenges to Equipping Networks for the Future

The Need for a Converged Infrastructure Solution

Until now most service providers have taken a piecemeal approach to equipping networks to

handle emerging requirements. First there was the need to support expanded VOD offerings.

Then came initial forays into TV Everywhere with on-demand delivery of stored content to IP-

connected devices, typically delivered in other-the-top mode with help from public CDNs. More

recently operators have explored other means to support a more aggressive embrace of the

multiscreen paradigm with distribution of live pay TV as well as stored programming to

subscribers.

With the convergence of all these requirements around ever more IP-centric trends in consumer

viewing preferences the time has come for a more holistic approach to network operations.


NSPs require an intelligent highly versatile distribution architecture that can accommodate all

near-term requirements for distribution of live and on-demand content with capacity to adjust

cost-effectively to new service models over time.

That’s not to say they need to rip out what they’ve already built to serve prior needs. But their

next moves should be focused on bringing everything together in the most cost effective way

possible.

The service provider industry as a whole has come to a realization that equipping networks to

support cache-based distributed storage is essential to maintaining cost efficiency as the volume

of unicast content increases. Already, in early 2012 at a moment when multiscreen services

were just getting underway, some 38 percent of overall viewing time on NSPs’ networks was

spent consuming time-shifted pay TV content, including DVR-stored content as well as VOD

movies and TV programs, according to research performed by Pike & Fisher.

NSPs, especially Tier 1 companies, have been drawn to use of separate distributed storage

architectures to accommodate requirements in the VOD and TV Everywhere service domains,

largely because these needs emerged in different timeframes. To meet VOD requirements

they’ve expanded earlier centralized VOD systems using more distributed versions of legacy

vendors’ updated platforms. And to address emerging TV Everywhere service requirements

they’ve begun to implement private CDNs running on commodity off-the-shelf servers (COTS).

Now, as the unicast pressures intensify with ever more aggressive multiscreen service

initiatives augmenting the VOD surge, it’s clear that NSPs, including smaller players who happen

to be addressing these needs simultaneously, will be better served by implementing a

distributed architecture platform that handles both types of requirements to maximum

advantage. However, neither the distributed architecture versions of traditional VOD systems

nor COTS-based CDNs are up to the task.


The Limitations of Legacy VOD and CDN Infrastructures

In the case of VOD, CDN-like strategies have been employed where high-volume content

libraries are centrally located with local caching and streaming centers used as storage and

launch points for high-demand content. These purpose-built systems are not designed to handle

the multi-formatting and transcoding requirements of a multiscreen or TV Everywhere type of

on-demand service, which means they lock NSPs into a silo approach to serving on-demand

content, depending on whether it’s designated for distribution to legacy set-tops or to

connected devices.

Moreover, even in the legacy set-top domain, most of these VOD systems are not designed to

meet the different ingestion and storage duration requirements of multiple time-shifted TV

programming policies. Nor are they well equipped to handle today’s dynamic load balancing

requirements where the old 80/20 rule assuming only 20 percent of on demand content is

being consumed by 80 percent of users at any given time is giving way to much more diverse

usage patterns. Operators are discovering that with thousands of options to choose from, 80

percent of viewers over a 24-hour timeframe may be tapping into as much as half of the stored

content.

Traditional IP streaming CDNs are not adequate to the expanding needs of managed NSP

networks either – not for the multiscreen service side of the equation and certainly not for any

efforts to converge the legacy VOD and IP unicast streaming domains. There are several key

factors contributing to the limitations of CDNs employing general purpose PC servers and

traditional file management techniques, all of which are related to the simple fact that they

haven’t been optimized to meet NSP managed network requirements.

Specifically:

By employing stream-from-disk or -DRAM designs that take a hierarchical approach to

internal caching, COTS systems accommodate a wide range of activities but prevent

processing efficiencies relating to block size, write capacity and other factors that can

be achieved on a platform optimized for video.


Disc-based general-purpose file systems using random block allocation are not well

suited for video streaming because they require constant seeking for the next block of

information rather than the smooth organized sequence of information that is required

to efficiently support a streaming environment.

General-purpose systems are designed to operate in large clusters to accommodate the

fluctuating capacity requirements of the non-deterministic Web application

environment, in contrast to the distributed video caching environment where one or a

few servers must sustain wire-speed transmission performance on a high volume of

streamed content.

These design inefficiencies lead to high levels of power consumption, shorter

equipment lifespans and poor utilization of space.

Perhaps most important, all these limitations make it impossible to create a

modularized system-wide management system that can be orchestrated to serve the

functionality requirements of any given NSP’s converged service distribution

architecture.

7. A Holistic Solution for Live IP Streaming and On-Demand Services

To overcome these problems Edgeware has designed the Distributed Video Delivery Network

(D-VDN) framework as a multi-purpose hybrid architecture that provides all categories of NSPs

the flexibility to go in whatever directions they choose as they evolve beyond legacy VOD to

multiscreen IP services.

Under control of a sophisticated system-wide management system, Edgeware’s purpose-built

servers and supporting software systems can be positioned to operate as the core origin

streaming servers and in distributed cache locations anywhere in the network with protocol

support for any transmission mode, including all variants of HTTP Adaptive Streaming. The D-

VDN asset caching and propagation system dynamically orchestrates use of all server locations

to continually maximize efficient use of network transport and server resources while ensuring

the most popular assets at any given time are distributed to servers positioned in closest

proximity to subscribers.


Purpose-Built Servers

The key to this flexibility is the fact that the Distributed Video Delivery Network (D-VDN)

framework is built on a new breed of servers created specifically for running a video

distribution business in whatever combinations of managed and unmanaged environments

operators require with all the functionalities and protections essential to a multiscreen

premium service. The latest iteration of this platform, the Orbit 3020, allows operators to

deliver IPTV or cable VOD together with HTTP Adaptive Streaming-based services using tools

that facilitate session and bandwidth management as well as monetization through advertising

and wholesale service offerings, irrespective of topology and core network bandwidth.

The Orbit 3020 was built from the ground up to optimize video ingest, storage and

transmission. Operating in a small one-unit half-rack form factor, the platform supports up to 24

terabytes of low-power Flash storage and sustained 20 gigabit-per-second transmission

performance with up to 32,000 concurrent unicast video streams. Fully configured the Orbit

3020 consumes just 85 Watts of power.

The Orbit design takes solid state to a new level by avoiding the need for extraneous

components for SSD (solid-state disk). Processing-intensive functions like streaming and

shaping the video streams are implemented directly into hardware while an embedded Linux

platform hosts higher function control-plane tasks such as RTSP server, firewall, configuration

interfaces and other commonly needed facilities.


The net effect of this approach is to dramatically reduce the server dimensions and costs for a

given streaming capacity. Moreover, the combination of small form factor, low power

consumption and overall reliability together with the high-density hardware-implemented data

plane allows operators to distribute edge caching points with support for advanced

functionalities across the entire network.

To ensure the most cost effective approach to using this capacity for NSPs of all sizes Edgeware

has established a pay-as-you-grow licensing system. Each server can be successively upgraded

with streaming bandwidth licenses starting at the 2 Gbps streaming/246 gigabyte storage tier

and extending all the way to the full 20 Gbps/24 Terabyte level. By adding distributed

appliances at capacity levels suited to immediate needs, operators can continuously scale their

networks to support ever greater volumes of unicast traffic without upgrading network

bandwidth.

The Multi-Functionality File System Architecture

Edgeware has leveraged this hardware foundation to create a random block access file system

that can support a virtually endless array of applications modules as service requirements

evolve. For example, the system supports all the links and data required for trick play functions

such as pause, rewind, skip, etc., allowing the data to be read and transmitted by low level

hardware with no processor involvement.

Extremely fast channel change is another function built into the system, thereby overcoming a

troublesome disparity between IP unicast and traditional TV service. And with the built-in

capability to record live TV channels, the system allows operators to implement a wide range of

time-shifted services from “Start Over” to network PVR.

At the same time, the Edgeware file systems’ support for full random access to the blocks in

memory is crucial to enabling introduction of new features without the need to continuously

rewrite files to avoid fragmentation issues. Operators can build and add systems to run

simultaneously without having to go through defragmentation, garbage collection and other

steps every time new functionalities are added.


From the core streaming perspective, this architecture allows operators to implement the

transcoding, adaptive streaming fragmentation and end-to-end content protection mechanisms

that are essential to enabling a premium multiscreen service that meets the rigorous pay TV

standards set by content providers. Working with best-of-breed partners, Edgeware’s Live

Streaming Encoder provides the means by which each AR fragment is encoded into the

appropriate bit rate, assigned an encryption key and encrypted on the fly across all streams.

This commitment to integration and interoperability with leading technology providers extends

to other key components of the ecosystem, including client devices, Web portals, content

management systems and much else, ensuring that operators can maintain state-of-the-art

performance with feature-rich functionalities as service needs evolve. Consequently, the caching

components of the D-VDN can be utilized in coordination with core servers to continually

maximize efficiencies as new features are introduced. For example, as operators contemplate

the efficiencies to be gained by introducing managed multicasting capabilities, which normally

would limit the ability to serve all classes of devices, they will be able to overcome those

limitations by implementing multicast-to-unicast conversion at the edge on the D-VDN.

Abstracting Functionality Implementation in the Architectural Hierarchy

To maximize operators’ flexibility to develop services and monetization strategies Edgeware

has abstracted implementation of software functionalities as an architectural tier that can be

managed independently. Known as Convoy VDN, this tier makes it easier for NSPs to scale in

accord with their specific service strategies, including engaging all the functionalities required

for a particular retail video service configuration as well as creating an environment for offering

the VDN capabilities on a wholesale basis to third parties.


The multiple software modules embodied in the Convoy suite come with APIs that allow

operators to integrate the VDN with third-party content management and business intelligence

systems and to add new account functionalities to those systems such as are needed for time-

shifted TV and nPVR services. Anchoring this flexibility is a system of stateless request routers

which take requests from all devices and direct them to specific assets within the operator’s

ecosystem, whether they are assets directly controlled by the operator or those of third parties

such as the operator’s wholesale customers.

Where wholesale operations are concerned, Convoy allows operators to provide third parties

such as public CDN operators to benefit from the high performance levels offered through the

NSP’s local managed network. Convoy can support up to eight request servers in a given

network segment across multiple servers to extend these capabilities to multiple third-party

CDNs.

End-to-End Quality Assurance

So far, one of the key stumbling blocks in NSPs’ pursuit of premium multiscreen service

opportunities has been the absence of comprehensive, cost-effective means of maintaining a

quality of user experience that measures up to content providers’ and advertisers’ requirements

for TV-caliber services. Edgeware has eliminated this barrier by equipping the D-VDN platform

with an innovative means of monitoring and analyzing QoE end to end, from the performance of

origin servers to how each stream performs on each user’s device.

At the core Edgeware’s Origin Management system provides a centralized tool for monitoring

and configuring the distributed server system in conjunction with a Web-based user interface

that provides status reports and statistics for ongoing operations and serves as a central portal

for accessing the configuration tools of each server. Using a Web browser, operators can access

these tools from any computer to look at information from individual servers or aggregated

data from a multi-server system encompassing both live status and historical views.

To tie this comprehensive monitoring and analysis system into direct observation of how

streams are playing out on user devices Edgeware has developed Active Video Awareness, a


protocol that allows users’ devices to generate information back to the OSS for compilation into

useful views of what’s happening across the access end points. To make this happen the system

turns the incessant flow of brief adaptive rate streaming segments into virtual video sessions of

longer duration that can be read holistically for service assurance purposes.

Analytics can be applied to these virtual video sessions to aggregate and measure them many

ways, depending on what operators and their wholesale customers want to keep track of. For

example, parameters of interest could be average bit rate, degree of user engagement or

instances where sub-par bitrates persist beyond an acceptable timeframe. Actual delivered

quality over some subset of each session can be compiled into different types of reports such as

“all sessions to a certain device type,” “all sessions for some specific content,” or “all sessions

over a certain network segment.”

This process short-circuits what would otherwise be a time-consuming crunching of raw data

from thousands of devices that might take hours to derive an accurate view of what’s going on.

In essence, it makes it possible for operators to deliver TV services across all devices with the

same level of insight into what’s happening as they are accustomed to in the legacy pay TV

environment.

8. The D-VDN Framework in Action: Reports from the Field

Edgeware customers in North America, The Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Slovenia, Russia,

Brazil and other countries are deploying the D-VDN platform to provide carrier-class

performance assurance and cost-effective traffic management for a wide range of multiscreen

service models. The variety of D-VDN users attests to the viability of the platform for all types of

NSPs, regardless of market size or types of networks.

For example, at the Tier 1 level, The Netherlands incumbent telecom KPN began using the

Edgeware system to replace its legacy VOD system as part of a video system revamp led by

Nokia Siemens Networks. More recently KPN has rolled out nPVR service on a large scale,

offering subscribers the ability to record up to 200 hours of programs in the network.


In North America, Smithville Communications, a family-owned quadruple-play provider in

southern Indiana, offers an example of how smaller independent NSPs can exploit D-VDN to

great advantage against much larger competitors. In this instance the priority was to find a way

to efficiently distribute on-demand and restart TV services to nine counties employing

Smithville’s fiber backbone to feed its access networks.

Smithville chose the Edgeware D-VDN as part of an integrated solution with middleware and

back-office systems supplied by Minerva, another of the many ecosystem suppliers partnering

with Edgeware to extend the service options for NSPs. Smithville officials said they chose the

integrated solution because it stood out against competitive offerings in terms of simplicity and

time to implement.

The service went live in June 2011 and was completely implemented by October the same year.

Terming technical execution “extraordinarily quick and easy,” Smithville CTO Dave Brodin said,

“We had TV flowing within a few days, and we were able to offer Restart TV from the same

platform, which no one else in our area can offer.”

Flexibility to add new services and subscribers was another major factor in the vendor selection

process. By tapping Edgeware’s usage licensing model Smithville can scale to higher volumes of

narrowcast service streams as content options increase and the subscriber base expands,

resulting in significant OPEX savings and accelerated ROI on increasing revenues.

The ability to offer VOD and Re-Start TV from a single platform is a unique competitive

advantage that puts Smithville ahead of some of the country’s largest operators. “For many of

our customers, Re-Start TV is like DVR: once you have it, you realize you can´t be without it,”

Brodin said.

Now Smithville is planning to expand current capabilities to include local channels, caller ID on

the TV, access to HBO GO, remote DVR scheduling and other enhancements for its customers.

Longer term, the company is well position to deliver whatever multiscreen services serve

consumers’ need to access ever more content from connected devices.


9. Conclusion

While no one knows how the disruptive force of IP-enabled content will impact service models

in the future, NSPs have a clear idea of what it takes today to remain competitive. Increasing

volumes of traditional VOD content, the need to support network access to time-shifted content

and opportunities surrounding streamed distribution to connected devices are immediate

imperatives that call for a highly scalable, video-optimized distribution architecture.

The fact that the most cost-effective way to achieve these goals is through deployment of a VDN

framework that can open a flexible path to future services and new business models puts NSPs

in a strong position to sustain and build engagements with consumers, programmers and

advertisers. No matter what size or type of NSP is addressing these near- and long-term

expansion requirements, the Edgeware D-VDN platform offers a network-based solution to

evolving and scaling services at unparalleled savings in capital and operations costs.


About Edgeware

Edgeware is the technology leader in distributed video delivery networks, designed to allow

operators to monetize video services such as video on demand (VOD), time shift TV and network

Personal Video Recorder (nPVR), as well as offering wholesale Content Delivery Networking (CDN)

management services. Edgeware provides the video delivery systems needed to offer video

services across managed and unmanaged networks, with the ability to reach any screen, at any

time, with any content. Edgeware is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with a U.S. office in

Boxborough, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit www.edgeware.tv

Contact Edgeware

Headquarters

Edgeware AB Mäster Samuelsgatan 56, 4th Floor SE-111 21 STOCKHOLM Sweden Phone: +46 73 612 6840 [email protected]

www.edgeware.tv

US Sales Office

Edgeware, Inc. 1300 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 215 Boxborough, MA 01719 USA Phone: +1 408 490 1200 [email protected]

www.edgeware.tv

http://www.edgeware.tv/

mailto:[email protected]


mailto:[email protected]


Documents

A New Network Architecture For Maximizing Pay TV ROI · Internet video traffic goes from representing 37% of all monthly global Internet traffic in 2010 to 58% in 2015 (1 petabyte