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"The Case for Adaptive Streaming"
Managed Adaptive Streaming Offers Smarter Networks
* Selected for the CableLabs Innovation Showcase *
Online and mobile viewing of premium video content is rapidly complementing the traditional TV experience. But delivery over the Internet requires new protocols to produce a high quality of experience based on device type and network congestion
Adaptive streaming is proving to be an effective way to bring together the robustness and efficiency of IP traffic with the special characteristics of video. Moreover, delivery protocols from Apple, Microsoft and Adobe are now positioned for broad adoption—ensuring this new video delivery method is here to stay.
However, for all the advantages these common streaming methods offer, they don't—by themselves—give operators the ability to fully manage, monetize and optimize network resources. That's because current methods are driven by an end-to-end design philosophy that relies rely solely on a server to client communication, without regard for the rest of the network.
The Way Forward
One way to avoid this shortcoming is to adopt a hybrid method that allows for adaptive streaming over a managed network. The central principles for adopting such a hybrid are that Edge Resource Management (ERM)-driven architecture and edge QAM devices are better suited to controlling the overall network because they offer full visibility into the availability of network resources and they're able to take into account the physical structure of the network (especially QAM resources).
By including aspects of session management and dynamic resources allocation, and regarding the network as a "cooperative" element that works together with the server and client, operators get, in effect, "smarter" networks. These smarter networks help operators provide a differentiated value for their IP target services. Plus, managed adaptive streaming allows for more efficient utilization of bandwidth, as well as equalization of video quality across all services by leveraging quality based bandwidth allocation.
Why BigBand Networks
BigBand Networks is leading the way in developing solutions for managed adaptive streaming. BigBand Networks CVEx™ Converged Video Exchange is a software-based video control plane that provides a unified means to deliver video services across networks, devices and screens. Our innovative QAM platforms offer the best mix of reliability and density with a path to next-gen video delivery at the lowest total cost of ownership. And the BigBand MSP Media Service Platform combines powerful media processing and QAM innovation with carrier-grade networking capabilities so you can launch personal media applications with greater scale, affordability and higher performance.