Juniper Adds Flexibility to IPTV Via Router Enhancements

Juniper Networks has augmented its routing platforms with dynamic bandwidth allocation and network resource management capabilities that promise to lend new flexibility to the IPTV operations environment.

Hong Kong IPTV provider PCCW already is making use of these features with the rollout of the vendor’s E-series Broadband Service Routers and SDX service deployment platform, officials said. The technology allows PCCW to deliver bandwidth and assure quality of service for its now Broadband TV video-on-demand service on a per-session basis while ensuring bandwidth is available for other applications when VOD isn’t in play.

“When the customer turns on the TV, the platform recognizes the EPG has been activated and so it allocates the bandwidth to the TV service,” says David Boland, senior manager for next-generation solutions at Juniper. “As soon as the user turns off the TV, the bandwidth is given back to the broadband Internet service.”

The E-series router, as a point of convergence for all IP-based services being transmitted to a cluster of DSLAMs or optical distribution points, also serves as a broadband remote access server (BRAS) that contains all the information pertaining to what services a subscriber is authorized to receive and the cues that are crucial to knowing which services are being ordered at any given moment in time. The platform also keeps track of all the usage for billing purposes.

This contrasts with an architecture where separate routers for Internet traffic, VoIP traffic and IPTV traffic create separate VLAN (virtual LAN) circuits to end users, thereby preventing dynamic resource sharing across the circuits. “In the past service providers have had to fix the allocation for broadband at, say, 5 megabits per second, and then use the remainder of the DSL bandwidth to accommodate two or more simultaneous TV channels,” Boland says. “This results in a waste of unused bandwidth.”

In these models broadcast IPTV content is multicast to DSLAMs and channel changing is accommodated at that location while VOD content is unicast from servers as requested. To make the dynamic bandwidth allocation possible, the router must be the point of awareness as to whether the TV is on or not and therefore which channels are being requested, Boland says.

While telcos delivering IPTV over DSL typically employ DSLAM-based switching to facilitate channel access, the dynamic bandwidth allocation feature promoted by Juniper could well come into play in other scenarios where, like PCCWs, the telco is streaming IPTV over its Internet access bandwidth as a way to enhance the appeal of its broadband service. “We’re seeing many situations where IPTV is being used to draw customers to broadband,” Boland notes.

Or the dynamic bandwidth capability could find application in a network like Verizon’s, where regular one-way cable programming is delivered over one optical wavelength in the broadcast cable mode while VOD and interactive programming is delivered over a separate wavelength in IP mode. Boland says Verizon is a Juniper customer, but wouldn’t say whether the carrier is using the vendor’s routers for TV applications.

Working with the dynamic bandwidth capabilities of the edge router, Juniper’s new SDX resource management system employs MPLS technology across the core and edge routers to set up a high-quality path for streaming video from remote locations, which contributes to the service provider’s ability to operate VOD from a central distribution point. These label-switched paths are set up in real time and can involve other vendors’ core routers so long as the edge routers are Juniper’s, Boland says.

This architecture allows a telco to set up a peering point with a media supplier where the VOD traffic actually originates at the content provider’s site, Boland explains. “You’ll see companies like Verizon and SBC cutting deals with content providers to guarantee QoS for services delivered in this fashion,” he says.

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