Telecommunications Architecture Corner

The concept of the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is not new, although the reference is most commonly used in the context of modern information systems typically used in and between large enterprises. Service Oriented Architectures for information systems have largely been evolved from technologies and approaches that build popularized by the Internet. The IT industry has settled on an SOA approach that relies on the use of HTTP as the addressing and transport infrastructure and eXtensible Markup Language (XML) as a generic format for inter-process messages.

Current generation Web services-based SOA define a number of technologies that supplement standard transport protocols (primarily HTTP) to complete the architecture, such as the Universal Description, Discovery (UDDI), Integration protocol and the Web Service Definition Language (WSDL) and, optionally, the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP).

The combination of HTTP and XML, for example, is sufficient to allow the concept of a Service Oriented Architecture to be effectively realized through largely off-the-shelf products and widely available competence. In many cases, simple and relatively low cost upgrades of existing infrastructure are all that is needed to begin realizing a Service Oriented Architecture. There are substantial limitations to this approach, however, which make it generally unsuitable for a broad range of applications.

For a number of reasons, largely related to scale, resource efficiency, security, inter-domain interoperability and reliability requirements, real-time communications systems have not benefited from the Internet in the same way, or to the same extent, as information systems. Recently, however, a dramatic shift(fuelled by the remarkable increase in global IP network capacity, geographical coverage and the increasing power and flexibility of the computing devices available to consumers) has altered the balance of forces.

The fundamental ability to make use of the Internet (and all of its component technologies) for real-time, full-duplex exchanges of streamed data, such as voice and video, has only recently become achievable at the scale and cost levels needed to supplant legacy communications systems. The communications industry has standardized the essence of a Service Oriented Architecture of its own that, in many ways, exceeds the scope of the information systems from which it draws much of its inspiration.

This architecture is known as the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS).

About the IMS

There are several excellent sources for information about the IMS. I reccommend that anyone interrested in the IMS start by looking at the Wikipedia entry for IMS as a starting point.

Wikipedia - IP Multimedia Subsystem

From an industry perspective, the IMS is generating a good deal of buzz. One of the best sources for Telecom industry news and analysis is the Light Reading website (and the Heavy Reading consultancy).

Light Reading

A pedagogical white paper will be published in the upcoming weeks that deals with the specific comparison of IT SOA and IMS in more detail. Of particular interest is the IMS vision for Representational State Transfer (REST) "Web Services" using SIP, HTTP and XML rather than the more generalized SOAP protocol so common now in IT SOA discussions.

Reference: Michael Palmeter's Blog

Getting network traffic to flow smoothly between public and private networks requires complex configuration operations at the junctions of the various networks across most of the World.

Expensive and time consuming, it stops businesses from adopting new services and more flexible working practises.
If you were to draw an analogy between European network architecture and the state of the roads, you would probably conclude that drivers need to switch cars between rural and urban areas and custom-engineer their brakes and gears to drive on company-owned land. Similarly, the current network architecture throughout Europe causes many problems for IT support and engineering teams.

Increasing demands on WAN bandwidth was driven by a number of developments, most notably the change in business and consumer usage patterns. In the past, browsing the web was mainly a passive experience; pages were static and contained little interactivity. Today, there is more that companies and consumers can do on and with the web. Not only has the range of options increased, via social networking sites, podcasting and videostreaming, but with more sharing and collaboration via systems such as SharePoint and Wikis, companies and users are sending and receiving more data than ever before. Advanced applications such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), VoD and VoIP, which have been held up in the past by lack of bandwidth, are now driving demand for next-generation networks.

Consumer developments now have a noticeable effect on network traffic. At the turn of the century, despite services like Napster, most consumer internet traffic was generated by simple email and web browsing.
In 2007, it was estimated that YouTube users took up as much bandwidth as the entire Internet in 2000. With developments like BBC iPlayer and 4-on-Demand seeing rapid uptake, network traffic may well spike in 2008.
However, there are also many business developments which have affected network traffic. Business-grade VoIP usually requires around 40Kbps per call and as companies introduce videoconferencing over IP, bandwidth requirements will increase further. With the introduction of SaaS, applications are now leaving the LAN and travelling across the WAN, putting significantly more pressure on ISPs and network providers.

All these factors are creating demand for more bandwidth and better networks.
To return to our transport analogy, in order to improve both roads and IT networks, engineers and architects need simultaneously to increase capacity and use one common method of ordering traffic. It would doubtless make life easier if all countries drove on the same side of the road. The same is true for network architecture, with many providers either in the process of upgrading networks to all-IP or already having such networks in place.
There are a number of plans afoot to resolve these problems. Rather than maintaining ‘translation’ equipment between its 16 different networks, British operator BT is currently upgrading to a ‘next generation’ all-IP core network, so traffic can easily travel over one network. It is also investing substantially in enhancing its local access methods to increase the bandwidth available to the user.

On the continent, most telcos are investing in fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP), including Iliad in France and Fastweb in Italy. Britain has been somewhat slow on the uptake: H20 Networks recently announced that it would be offering fibre connections directly to consumers and BT plans to complete some FTTP deployments this summer.
Many providers have been put off getting into the fibre market by the daunting and expensive prospect of laying new cabling. Where it has worked successfully, construction has often been handled in conjunction with utility providers, with H20 notably using sewers to deliver fibre optic cable.

Other kinds of local access methods are being developed. Providing very fast connections (around 50Mb/s), to offices within a kilometre of street cabinets, VDSL is especially useful because it makes use of existing copper infrastructure, with no need for additional cabling; the only requirement is a different set of routers.
Demand for additional bandwidth has also driven the development of Ethernet in the WAN, which offers a more flexible way of providing bandwidth to companies. In SDH networks, companies were limited in their choice of bandwidth sizes. Ethernet allows for more incremental increases giving companies opportunities to use bandwidth-on-demand and only purchase what they need, rather than being constrained by the capabilities of the technology itself.

So what are the benefits of these developments? Users’ internet experience will become better and companies will be able to do more, faster.
Over the last few years, companies have begun using VPNs so that remote users can access shared drives and email. In future, full LAN-speed desktop access will be possible via Citrix or Terminal Services over DSL, a development not possible in the past because of lack of sufficient or reliable bandwidth with SLA or QoS guarantees.

Now, desktop PCs and servers are sufficiently powerful to run most, if not all, applications very easily but network bandwidth is holding them back. Increases in controllable bandwidth will gradually make SaaS feasible for home and small office workers and drive vendors to SaaS-enabled applications which have commonly been installed on fat clients. This will allow smaller companies to run ‘enterprise grade’ applications such as ERP and CRM over domestic broadband connections. Evolving applications, such as VoD, will also run more easily over an NGN.

Companies will begin to exploit fully collaborative and sharing services, as remote users will begin to have the same experience as those within the LAN thereby improving their productivity and decreasing incidences of ‘employee downtime’.
None of these developments will happen overnight. With the memories of the dot com boom and bust still fresh, no major networking venture will be developed without a cast-iron business case behind it. Yet there is a clear and present need for improved and upgraded network infrastructure throughout Europe, which is driving telecommunications companies to invest in high bandwidth, all-IP networks. These networks will enable companies to use more flexible services, as well as helping telcos reduce costs and offer more flexible bandwidth.

NGNs will support the convergence of voice, video and data applications and begin to blur the lines between public and private networks and consumer and corporate applications.
Over the next few years, the European networking landscape will change radically. The previously passive, one-to-one world will gradually turn into an active, collaborative one-to-many environment where the geographical boundaries of the physical world are even more irrelevant than they are now.

Reference: mCubu Digital

The IEEE only defined the Physical (PHY) and Media Access Control (MAC) layers in 802.16. This approach has worked well for technologies such as Ethernet and WiFi, which rely on other bodies such as the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) to set the standards for higher layer protocols such as TCP/IP, SIP, VoIP and IPSec. In the mobile wireless world, standards bodies such as 3GPP and 3GPP2 set standards over a wide range of interfaces and protocols because they require not only airlink interoperability, but also inter-vendor inter-network interoperability for roaming, multi-vendor access networks, and inter-company billing. Vendors and operators have recognized this issue, and have formed additional working groups to develop standard network reference models for open inter-network interfaces. Two of these are the WiMAX Forum’s Network Working Group, which is focused on creating higher-level networking specifications for fixed, nomadic, portable and mobile WiMAX systems beyond what is defined in the IEEE 802.16 standard, and Service Provider Working Group which helps write requirements and prioritizes them to help drive the work of Network WG.

The Mobile WiMAX End-to-End Network Architecture is based an All-IP platform, all packet technology with no legacy circuit telephony. It offers the advantage of reduced total cost of ownership during the lifecycle of a WiMAX network deployment. The use of All-IP means that a common network core can be used, without the need to maintain both packet and circuit core networks, with all the overhead that goes with it. A further benefit of All-IP is that it places the network on the performance growth curve of general purpose processors and computing devices, often termed “Moore’s Law”. Advances in computer processing occurs much faster than advances in telecommunications equipment because general purpose hardware is not limited to telecommunications equipment cycles, which tend to be long and cumbersome. The end result is a network that continually performs at ever higher capital and operational efficiency, and takes advantage of 3rd party developments from the Internet community. This results in lower cost, high scalability, and rapid deployment since the networking functionality is all primarily software-based services.In order to deploy successful and operational commercial systems, there is need for support beyond 802.16 (PHY/MAC) air interface specifications. Chief among them is the need to support a core set of networking functions as part of the overall End-to-End WiMAX system architecture.

Before delving into some of the details of the architecture, we first note a few basic tenets that have guided the WiMAX architecture development.

1. The architecture is based on a packet-switched framework, including native procedures based on the IEEE 802.16 standard and its amendments, appropriate IETF RFCs and Ethernet standards.
2. The architecture permits decoupling of access architecture (and supported topologies) from connectivity IP service. Network elements of the connectivity system are agnostic to the IEEE 802.16 radio specifics.
3. The architecture allows modularity and flexibility to accommodate a broad range of deployment options such as:·
Small-scale to large-scale (sparse to dense radio coverage and capacity) WiMAX networks·
· Urban, suburban, and rural radio propagation environments
· Licensed and/or licensed-exempt frequency bands
· Hierarchical, flat, or mesh topologies, and their variants
· Co-existence of fixed, nomadic, portable and mobile usage models

Support for Services and Applications

The end-to-end architecture includes the support for:

a) Voice, multimedia services and other mandated regulatory services such as emergency services and lawful interception,
b) Access to a variety of independent Application Service Provider (ASP) networks in an agnostic manner,
c) Mobile telephony communications using VoIP,
d) Support interfacing with various interworking and media gateways permitting delivery of incumbent/legacy services translated over IP (for example, SMS over IP, MMS, WAP) to WiMAX access networks and
e) Support delivery of IP Broadcast and Multicast services over WiMAX access networks.
Interworking and Roaming is another key strength of the End-to-End Network Architecture with support for a number of deployment scenarios. In particular, there will be support of
a) Loosely-coupled interworking with existing wireless networks such as 3GPP and 3GPP2 or existing wireline networks such as DSL and MSO, with the interworking interface(s) based on a standard IETF suite of protocols,
b) Global roaming across WiMAX operator networks, including support for credential reuse, consistent use of AAA for accounting and billing, and consolidated/common billing and settlement,
c) A variety of user authentication credential formats such as username/password, digital certificates, Subscriber Identify Module (SIM), Universal SIM (USIM), and Removable User Identify Module (RUIM).

The ASN represents a boundary for functional interoperability with WiMAX clients, WiMAX connectivity service functions and aggregation of functions embodied by different vendors. Mapping of functional entities to logical entities within ASNs as depicted in the NRM may be performed in different ways. The WiMAX Forum is in the process of network specifications in a manner that would allow a variety of vendor implementations that are interoperable and suited for a wide diversity of deployment requirements.Connectivity Service Network (CSN) is defined as a set of network functions that provide IP connectivity services to the WiMAX subscriber(s). A CSN may comprise network elements such as routers, AAA proxy/servers, user databases and Interworking gateway devices. A CSN may be deployed as part of a Greenfield WiMAX Network Service Provider (NSP) or as part of an incumbent WiMAX NSP.
The network specifications for WiMAX-based systems are based on several basic network architecture tenets, including those listed below.Some general tenets have guided the development of Mobile WiMAX Network Architecture and include the following:

a) Provision of logical separation between such procedures and IP addressing, routing and connectivity management procedures and protocols to enable use of the access architecture primitives in standalone and inter-working deployment scenarios,
b) Support for sharing of ASN(s) of a Network Access Provider (NAP) among multiple NSPs,
c) Support of a single NSP providing service over multiple ASN(s) – managed by one or more NAPs,
d) Support for the discovery and selection of accessible NSPs by an MS or SS,
e) Support of NAPs that employ one or more ASN topologies,
f) Support of access to incumbent operator services through internetworking functions as needed,
g) Specification of open and well-defined reference points between various groups of network functional entities (within an ASN, between ASNs, between an ASN and a CSN, and between CSNs), and in particular between an MS, ASN and CSN to enable multi-vendor interoperability,
h) Support for evolution paths between the various usage models subject to reasonable technical assumptions and constraints,
i) Enabling different vendor implementations based on different combinations of functional entities on physical network entities, as long as these implementations comply with the normative protocols and procedures across applicable reference points, as defined in the network specifications and
j) Support for the most trivial scenario of a single operator deploying an ASN together with a limited set of CSN functions, so that the operator can offer basic Internet access service without consideration for roaming or interworking.

The WIMAX architecture also allows both IP and Ethernet services, in a standard mobile IP compliant network. The flexibility and interoperability supported by the WiMAX network provides operators with a multi-vendor low cost implementation of a WiMAX network even with a mixed deployment of distributed and centralized ASN’s in the network. The WiMAX network has the following major features:Security The end-to-end WiMAX Network Architecture is based on a security framework that is agnostic to the operator type and ASN topology and applies consistently across Greenfield and internetworking deployment models and usage scenarios. In particular there is support for:

a) Strong mutual device authentication between an MS and the WiMAX network, based on the IEEE 802.16 security framework,
b) All commonly deployed authentication mechanisms and authentication in home and visited operator network scenarios based on a consistent and extensible authentication framework,
c) Data integrity, replay protection, confidentiality and non-repudiation using applicable key lengths,
d) Use of MS initiated/terminated security mechanisms such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs),
e) Standard secure IP address management mechanisms between the MS/SS and its home or visited NSP.

Mobility and Handovers

The end-to-end WiMAX Network Architecture has extensive capability to support mobility and handovers. It will:
a) Include vertical or inter-technology handovers— e.g., to Wi-Fi, 3GPP, 3GPP2, DSL, or MSO – when such capability is enabled in multi-mode MS,
b) Support IPv4 or IPv6 based mobility management. Within this framework, and as applicable, the architecture SHALL accommodate MS with multiple IP addresses and simultaneous IPv4 and IPv6 connections,
c) Support roaming between NSPs,
d) Utilize mechanisms to support seamless handovers at up to vehicular speeds— satisfying well-defined (within WiMAX Forum) bounds of service disruption.
Some of the additional capabilities in support of mobility include the support of:
i) Dynamic and static home address configurations,
ii) Dynamic assignment of the Home Agent in the service provider network as a form of route optimization, as well as in the home IP network as a form of load balancing and
iii) Dynamic assignment of the Home Agent based on policies.Scalability, Extensibility, Coverage and Operator Selection
The end-to-end WiMAX Network Architecture has extensive support for scalable, extensible operation and flexibility in operator selection. In particular, it will:
a) enable a user to manually or automatically select from available NAPs and NSPs,
b) Enable ASN and CSN system designs that easily scale upward and downward – in terms of coverage, range or capacity,
c) Accommodate a variety of ASN topologies - including hub-and-spoke, hierarchical, and/or multi-hop interconnects,
d) Accommodate a variety of backhaul links, both wireline and wireless with different latency and throughput characteristics,
e) Support incremental infrastructure deployment,
f) Support phased introduction of IP services that in turn scale with increasing number of active users and concurrent IP services per user,
g) Support the integration of base stations of varying coverage and capacity - for example, pico, micro, and macro base stations and
h) Support flexible decomposition and integration of ASN functions in ASN network deployments in order to enable use of load balancing schemes for efficient use of radio spectrum and network resources.
Additional features pertaining to manageability and performance of WiMAX Network Architecture include:
a) Support a variety of online and offline client provisioning, enrollment, and management schemes based on open, broadly deployable, IP-based, industry standards,
b) Accommodation of Over-The-Air (OTA) services for MS terminal provisioning and software upgrades, and
c) Accommodation of use of header compression/suppression and/or payload compression for efficient use of the WiMAX radio resources.

References:

--“Mobile WiMAX – Part II: Competitive Analysis”, WiMAX Forum, February, 2006
--Hassan Yagoobi, “Scalable OFDMA Physical Layer in IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN”, Intel Technology Journal, Vol 08, August 2004.
-- Hassan Yagoobi, “Scalable OFDMA Physical Layer in IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN”, Intel Technology Journal, Vol 08, August 2004.
-- G. Nair, J. Chou, T. Madejski, K. Perycz, P. Putzolu and J. Sydir, “IEEE 802.16 Medium Access Control and Service Provisioning”, Intel Technology Journal, vol 08, August 2004.
-- “Can WiMAX Address Your Applications?”, Westech on Behalf of the WiMAX Forum, October 24, 2005

Portfolio Helps Speed Time to Market and Enable Innovative New Communications Services

HONG KONG, July 14, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- BROADBAND WORLD FORUM ASIA --

-- Providing the industry's most comprehensive set of software applications to enable next-generation, IP-service delivery, Oracle introduced the Oracle(R) Communications Service Delivery portfolio, which includes components of the former BEA WebLogic Communications middleware platform and Oracle Fusion Middleware.

-- With BEA, Oracle extends its industry-leading independent software vendor (ISV) community to foster innovative service delivery. Partners will be able to leverage Oracle's communications industry applications to help service providers monetize new services and drive innovation in the communications industry. Service providers will benefit from advanced, proven products with successful implementations worldwide and from the combined expertise and knowledge of Oracle and BEA's experience with SDP solutions.

-- The Oracle Communications Service Delivery portfolio further complements and provides unique value when deployed in conjunction with Oracle's industry-leading applications for billing and revenue management, customer relationship management and service fulfillment. This comprehensive solution set positions Oracle to meet service providers' complex and evolving service delivery platform (SDP) needs, helping them accelerate time to market for new services.

-- Oracle also announced today the availability of a key component of the Oracle Communications Service Delivery suite -- Oracle Communications Services Gatekeeper 4.0, a carrier-grade, standards-based environment for services exposure, services-layer policy enforcement, partner relationship management and network-access control. (See related announcement.) ( http://www.oracle.com/corporate/press/2008_jul/OCSG.html)

Oracle Communications Service Delivery Details

-- The concept of SDP has evolved from basic content delivery to an architecture for integrating legacy and IP-based network services in order to drive new revenue by exposing the communications network to third-party application developers. Oracle addresses today's SDP as well as the ability to integrate smoothly with BSS/OSS to easily activate services, manage subscriber data and bill for services.

-- The Oracle Communications Service Delivery product portfolio includes: Oracle Communications Services Gatekeeper (formerly BEA WebLogic Network Gatekeeper), Oracle Communications Converged Application Server (formerly BEA WebLogic SIP Server), Oracle Communications Presence, Oracle Communications Virtual PBX  and Oracle Communications Residential Telephony.

-- Oracle currently has more than 100 ISV partners that are integrating with or building upon the Oracle Communications Service Delivery portfolio, enabling them to create and monetize innovative applications for the global service provider community.

Supporting Quotes

-- "The service delivery market has reached an inflection point in propelling communication industry transformation. The introduction of Oracle Communications Service Delivery portfolio provides a powerful foundation for driving service innovation. With an open, standards-based approach, industry-leading deployments and integration with Oracle's end-to-end communications industry applications suite, the new Oracle Communications Service Delivery portfolio is uniquely positioned to empower service providers to compete more aggressively by providing compelling new services," said David Sharpley, vice president of marketing and alliances, Oracle Communications.

-- "Both Oracle and BEA have independently created strong SDP offerings. They have also both developed key IT technologies that have been widely adopted by service providers and other SDP vendors, system integrators and ISVs. Their respective strengths make for a powerful combination," said Mac Taylor, chief executive officer, The Moriana Group ( http://www.morianagroup.com)

Supporting Resources
    Oracle Communications:
 http://www.oracle.com/industries/communications/index.html
    Oracle Communications Service Delivery:  
    Oracle Communications Services Gatekeeper:  

White Paper & Report

Oracle SDP - Enablers and Future Proofing your Investment:

Oracle: Changing the Landscape of Telecom Service Delivery: http://www.morianagroup.com

About Oracle Communications

Oracle is #1 in Communications globally with 20 of the world's top 20 communications companies running Oracle applications. Oracle Communications integrates industry-specific BSS and OSS solutions with the capabilities of Oracle's industry-leading enterprise applications, business intelligence tools, and carrier-grade middleware and database technologies. Oracle Communications enables service providers to deliver next generation convergent services rapidly, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, and reduce costs in the business and the network. For more information, visit http://www.oracle.com/Communications.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, please visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com.

The Open IPTV Forum has published its first end-to-end Architecture specification, which is designed to allow any consumer end device, compliant to the spec, to access enriched and personalized IPTV services.

The architecture specification follows the first version of the Service and Platform Requirements document, for both Managed and Open Internet models, which the Forum released in autumn 2007.

The agreed Architecture specification can be downloaded from the Open IPTV Forum home page and the Service and Platform requirements via the publications area (http://www.openiptvforum.org/downloads.html).

The Open IPTV Forum has also extended its membership to 26, including Accenture, ANT Software Ltd, Funai Electric Co., Ltd., Quative - Kudelski Group, SES-Astra, Sharp Corporation, Sun Microsystems and Toshiba Corporation.

The Open IPTV Forum is a pan-industry initiative which aims to produce end to end specifications for IPTV in order to bring next generation IPTV to the mass market.

The Forum’s founding members are Ericsson, FT Group, Nokia Siemens, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sony, and Telecom Italia.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

As a result of broadband service providers moving from offering connectivity to services, the discussion surrounding broadband entertainment has increased significantly. The Broadband Services Forum (BSF) membership has identified a number of services that require significant focus in this decade; one of these is Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). This paper provides a high level, vendor‐agnostic overview
of what IPTV is and how it works.

T H E  D E F I N I T I O N

IPTV, essentially, has two components:

Part 1: Internet Protocol (IP): specifies the format of packets and the addressing scheme. Most networks combine IP with a higher‐level protocol. Depending on the vendor solution, user datagram protocol (UDP) is the most typical higherlevel protocol. The protocol establishes a virtual connection between a destination and a source. IP allows you to address a package of information and drop it in the system, but there’s no direct link between you and the recipient.

Part 2: Television (TV): specifies the medium of communication that operates through the transmission of pictures and sounds. We all know TV, but here we are referring to the services that are offered for the TV, like linear and ondemand programming.

Add the two components together (IP+TV) and you have:
IPTV: specifies the medium of communication of pictures and sound that operates over an IP Network.

Note: It is important to point out that IPTV services usually operate over a private IP network and not the public Internet. In a private IP network specifically designed for IPTV, a service provider can ensure quality of service (QoS) for consumers. QoS refers to giving certain IP traffic a higher priority than other IP traffic. In an IPTV network, TV
signals are given the highest priority. As a result, the TV service is instantaneous; there is no downloading involved for the linear or on‐demand content. An IPTV service model offers a complete broadcaster and “cable programmer” channel line‐up, including live programming delivered in real time. Additionally, it can offer a
video on demand (VOD) service and enables the broadband service provider to develop new and unique services to differentiate their offering from competitors.

I P T V ’ S I M P A C T

The impact that IPTV will have on the industry can be categorized into three areas:

• Content – IPTV technology promises to make more content available, make it easier to access and make it portable (while maintaining security).
• Convergence – The utilization of an IP network will allow single applications to be run over multiple end‐user devices, all over a single service delivery network.
• Interactivity – The two‐way nature of the IP network will enable unprecedented interaction among subscribers, content providers and service providers.

Since IPTV is enabled by the availability of network technology, the network architecture used to deploy IPTV is important. Content delivery requires bandwidth and performance, not only in the last mile (the access network), but also in the edge and core of the network and in the customer premises.

The IPTV service model, and its market advantages, is not a new concept. However, recent developments have enabled the delivery of IPTV service in an increasingly secure, scalable and cost‐effective manner. These recent developments include:

• The proliferation of Gigabit Ethernet
• The ability of IP networks to offer higher security and QoS
• The development of high performance IP routers and Ethernet switches
  designed for IPTV networks
• The creation of advanced middleware applications that manage the delivery of
  video over the network

T H E  I P T V  N E T W O R K  E L E M E N T S

An IPTV system is made up of four major elements; all are generic are common to any
vendor’s (or combination of vendors’) infrastructure.

This is a high‐level overview and, in reality, many IPTV subsystems and vendorspecific architectures are required to make each incarnation of IPTV unique and of varying complexity.

Figure 1 also illustrates the two‐way nature of an IPTV network, which contributes to many of the advantages IPTV has over traditional television service delivery models.

It should be noted that the IPTV network elements combine to form an architecture known as switched digital video (SDV):

Switched digital video (SDV) – Referencing the network architecture of a television distribution system in which only the selected channel(s) are distributed to the individual connected household. This enables the service provider to have no theoretical maximum linear channel count. IPTV vendors will have different variants of the SDV architecture. This is another advantage to using IP multicast for the broadcast television streams. The most common protocol used for switching channels in a SDV environment is IGMP (IP Group
Membership Protocol).

The Video Head End
As with a digital cable or digital satellite television system, an IPTV service requires a  video head end. This is the point in the network at which linear (e.g., broadcast TV) and on‐demand (e.g., movies) content is captured and formatted for distribution over the IP network. Typically, the head end ingests national feeds of linear programming via satellite either directly from the broadcaster or programmer or via an aggregator. Some programming may also be ingested via a terrestrial fiber‐based network. A head end takes each individual channel and encodes it into a digital video format, like MPEG‐2, which remains the most prevalent encoding standard for digital video on a worldwide basis. Broadband service providers are also beginning to use MPEG‐4‐based encoding,
as it has some advantages over MPEG‐2, such as lower bit‐rate requirements for encoding both SD and HD television signals.

After encoding, each channel is encapsulated into IP and sent out over the network. These channels are typically IP multicast streams, however, certain vendors make use of IP unicast streams as well. IP multicast has several perceived advantages because it enables the service provider to propagate one IP stream per broadcast channel from the video head end to the service provider access network. This is beneficial when multiple
users want to tune in to the same broadcast channel at the same time (e.g., thousands of viewers tuning in to a sporting event).

The Service Provider Core/Edge Network
The grouping of encoded video streams, representing the channel line up, is transported over the service provider’s IP network. Each of these networks are unique to the service provider and usually include equipment from multiple vendors. These networks can be a mix of well‐engineered existing IP networks and purpose‐built IP networks for video transport.

At the network edge, the IP network connects to the access network.

The Access Network
The access network is the link from the service provider to the individual household. Sometimes referred to as “the last mile”, the broadband connection between the service provider and the household can be accomplished using a variety of technologies. Telecom service providers are using DSL (digital subscriber line) technology to serve
individual households. They also are beginning to use fiber technology like PON (passive optical networking) to reach homes. IPTV networks will use variants of asymmetrical DSL (ADSL) and very‐high‐speed DSL (VDSL) to provide the required bandwidth to run an IPTV service to the household. The service provider will place a
device (like a DSL modem) at the customer premises to deliver an Ethernet connection to the home network.

The Home Network
The home network distributes the IPTV service throughout the home. There are many different types of home networks, but IPTV requires a very robust high bandwidth home network that can only be accomplished today using wireline technology. The end point in the home network, to which the television set is connected, is the set‐top box (STB).

Middleware: The IPTV Enabler
The term IPTV middleware is used to describe the software packages associated with delivering an IPTV service. There are a variety of vendors in this space, each with their own unique approach to IPTV. The middleware selection by a service provider can impact the IPTV network architecture. The middleware is typically a client/server
architecture where the client resides on the STB. The middleware controls the user experience and, because of this, it defines how the consumer interacts with the service.

For example, the user interface and services available to a consumer (such as the electronic program guide (EPG), VOD or pay per view service), are all made available and controlled through the middleware.
The ease of managing multiple services is a function of the two‐way IP network. This IP architecture provides a standard for applications and services to be integrated into the network, and IPTV becomes just one of these applications. The differentiating factor in an IP service model is convergence.

Because of the common structure for applications and services, convergence can be realized for network elements, applications and operations/business support systems (OSS/BSS). Therefore, managing multiple services becomes a matter of managing the same services through the network and distributing them to multiple end‐user environments.

IPTV Video on Demand (VoD)
Video on demand(VoD) services operate in a different manner than linear television service as the IPTV system provides the subscriber with a unicast stream of programming with VCR‐like controls including pause, fast forward and rewind. The IPTV middleware controls the user interface and commercial experience/details of VOD
and can also be extended to include services like subscription VOD and network based personal video recorder (PVR).

C O N T E N T S E C U R I T Y
When discussing online content the insecurity of PC‐based content, and the piracy issues which have plagued the entertainment industry, often come to mind. Although not the primary focus of this paper, content security is a very important topic when discussing IPTV. Each IPTV solution vendor has a slightly different approach to the
content security requirement. Usually vendors will partner with experts in this space to provide a complete solution to the service provider and one which will be acceptable to the content community.
A high level discussion on Content Security will be detailed in a separate document from the BSF.

S U M M A R Y
An IPTV service model offers a complete multi‐channel video line‐up as well as ondemand programming. IPTV technology promises to make more content available because of the limitless nature of the switched digital video architecture theoretically giving access to niche content that has not previously been available on TV.
Middleware vendors are focused on making more content available, making programming easier to access and making the solution portable (while maintaining security).

The extensible user environment of IPTV increases the interactive nature of the consumer product and will allow single applications to be run over multiple end‐user devices, all over a single service delivery network. IPTV also capitalizes on the two‐way nature of the IP network, enabling unprecedented interaction among subscribers,
content providers and service providers.
With a single standardized service delivery network, the integration and management of new services becomes simpler, reducing time to market and the cost of launching that new service. This provides marketing opportunities to use new applications to gain or keep market share and generate added revenue.

Reference: Broadband Services Forum

I N T R O D U C T I O N

The evolution of home broadband delivery to IP‐based broadband provides significant opportunities for the industry to provide IPTV services. The basic services that are part of IPTV are described in the first part of this article, IPTV Explained Part 1. However, these basic services are just the tip of the iceberg for the profitable services that may comprise an IPTV bundle. This article describes some of these advanced services that may be part of an IPTV bundle, which will ultimately be the key to making this bundle more competitive and lucrative.

S U B S C R I P T I O N      M U S I C      S E R V I C E S

Most initial IPTV offers include a set of digital music channels based on genres, similar to the one‐way music service provided by cable companies for no additional charge. As part of an IPTV bundle, however, an opportunity exists to exceed this offer and make it a revenue driver.

Like the subscription music models available on the Internet (such as that offered by Napster), an IPTV service provider could offer an “all‐you‐can‐eat” music streaming service for an additional monthly fee, which could be in the $10‐20 range per month. The consumer continues to have unlimited access to music, for as long as he or she pays the additional monthly fee.

Consumers will be attracted to the ability to access high‐quality music on demand legally from a very large library of songs (today, a “good sized” library would be made up of 1.5 – 2 million songs), and listen to this music on home entertainment systems instead of PC speakers. Another attractive element to this service is the community aspect that an increasingly sophisticated market will expect. An example community feature in the context of a music solution would be the ability to listen to playlists created by others with similar musical preferences.

This service can be controllable from a variety of devices (e.g., PDAs, cell phones, PCs), and can be evolved to include “to go” listening options as the business model and consumer demand dictates. The right approach for IPTV providers is to differentiate from competing solutions, and provide incremental sources of revenue through higher value services. The subscription music service meets both of these goals while taking advantage of the superior technical capability of the IPTV solution.

G A M I N G    O N     D E M A N D

Contrary to the popular image of the hardcore gamer as a 18‐35 year old male playing graphic‐intensive first person shooter games, the largest segment of the gaming market is actually older women, who play simpler games. This is good news for the IPTV service provider since it will be very difficult to compete with highly specialized and costly consoles and gaming PCs that hardcore gamers prefer. Instead, these providers should focus on the larger segment of the market with the simpler games that can be delivered over a set top box, such as card games, board games, or video‐based MPEG‐4 linear content games.
The gaming on demand service would offer a variety of simple game titles, which could be sponsored by advertisers, for the user to access on demand. Access to each game could be offered for a fee, or the service could be offered on a subscription basis. Further enhancements to this service could include multiplayer capability, and voice, text, or emoticon messaging during game play. Customizations such as emoticons could be sold to the user, using of model similar to the selling of ring tones in the wireless market.
A flashier offer in the gaming on demand category would be one based on MPEG‐4 video content. In this offer, the IPTV provider, partnered with a content provider, offers a video story that the user controls by multiple choice at key
junctures in a video narrative. Each choice the user makes results in the display of pre‐recorded video. This highly engaging offer could be a very rich promotional extension of a variety of TV or film content.

V I D E O      C O N F E R E N C I N G     O V E R     T E L E V I S I O N

Over forty years after the debut of the videophone, home video conferencing technology is at last ready for widespread use using the television as the display of choice. A confluence of factors makes this possible: a far more tech‐savvy public, vastly improved infrastructure, the convergence of information and entertainment in the living room, and the more lifelike presence afforded by higher resolution television displays backed by a high bandwidth network.
Video conferencing over television not only enables virtual family gatherings in world where family members are increasingly dispersed, but also a novel way for adolescents to communicate. Such communication can not only be done on a standalone application basis, but also as an additional dimension to enjoying underlying content. For example, a group of old college buddies watching the NCAA tournament could see and talk to the classmate living across the country while watching the game, or grandparents in Florida can meet with their
grandchildren in Oregon.

H O M E M O N I T O R I N G

The IPTV provider could offer a turnkey remote home video monitoring service for a monthly fee. Applications for this service would include checking up on children, pets, babysitters, and elderly relatives using live or recorded video accessed remotely over the Internet. Wireless cameras, which could be rented or sold by the service provider could be deployed throughout the home.

M A T C H M A K I N G

Matchmaking, such as the service offered by match.com, has been a bright spot of the online landscape in recent years, and has generated millions in revenue from a very large user base (match.com boasts 15 million users). Yet, web‐based services offer no real‐time communication between users from the safety and comfort of their own home. Some cable providers have rolled out matchmaking services that involve the user going through a taped interview which is then available on the on‐demand menu. This clumsy process inhibits the speed with
which new users are added, and eliminates the possibility for instantaneous two way video communication.
As a premium element to an IPTV bundle, subscribers can set up a profile and communicate with other compatible subscribers in real time over video. The appeal of this service is that it allows multiple communications in a short period of time, while eliminating the hassle, expense, and security concerns associated with meeting in the physical world.
This type of service need not be limited to romantic pursuits, either. Various communities of interests, such as professional networking groups, will also find value in using this technology.

H Y P E R C O N T E N T

This category of services involved adding additional content (“hypercontent”) to existing programming with the ability for users to access this content interactively. For example, a user watching a baseball game may activate a score ticker, choose from multiple camera angles, pull up player statistics, and so on— resulting in a more engaging and information‐rich experience.

Hypercontent could be advertiser‐sponsored, which opens up a new potential revenue stream for the IPTV provider. Sponsorship of hypercontent is likely to become more prevalent as advertisers become increasingly wary of a television model that includes commercial skipping capabilities. Hypercontent is also more likely to appeal to advertisers since it allows them to reach target markets with greater precision, and with greater control over the content itself. For example, Trek bicycles may choose to sponsor hypercontent with cyclist data over a broadcast of the Tour de France.

V O T I N G   A N D   Q U I Z

Voting and Quiz is a tool for quickly launching and managing different polls and vote rounds or viewer participatory quizzes during live TV broadcast. The viewers can vote or answer for given alternatives using Premium SMS messages, Premium IVR calls or remote controllers of Set-Top Boxes. It gives results real-time with tailorable  Graphical look-and-feel. Give your audiences a possibility to participate and start a new revenue stream. Voting and polling features include:

H O W    T O    E V A L U A T E    W H I C H    I P T V    S E R V I C E S    T O   O F F E R    I N    A     B U N D L E

IPTV service providers should evaluate services along several attractiveness dimensions to decide whether these make sense to add to the IPTV bundle.

Examples of these dimensions may include:

• Premium price potential
• Would users pay extra for the service? How much?
• Is service revenue event‐based, or is it recurring?
• Potential market size
• Is this service a niche or mass market service?
• How attractive is the targeted segment? Does offering the service allow reach to a new segment?
• Differentiability relative to other competitive offers
• Can other service providers easily replicate the offer?
• Does a service offer as part of an IPTV bundle represent an improvement over other means of offering a similar service?