Video Delivery in the Virtual World
By: Jesse Cryderman
There is perhaps no technology with more buzz in telecommunications today than Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), a concept that will eventually reshape our communications networks like
cloud technology has reshaped information technology. NFV was everywhere at Mobile World Congress 2015, and numerous proofs-of-concept (POCs) were on display, showcasing everything from
virtualized session border controllers (SBCs) and policy controllers to a real-time virtualized OSS/BSS
from Procera. Ericsson and Telefonica debuted their NFV collaboration, and Frost and Sullivan, in fact, pegged NFV and its cousin, SDN, as the number one theme at MWC2015.
This network architecture technology, in a nutshell, will replace network node functions like with virtual, i.e. software-based,
expressions that can be instantiated on inexpensive commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware. The upside for service providers matches the demands of digital services today, and will certainly
play a role in the 5G networks of the future . Once deployed, NFV can enable service providers to rapidly roll out and scale up or down new services in a highly cost-effective manner. NFV
will also disrupt the OSS landscape, since OSS systems deal primarily with physical
resources. Another upside for CSPs: NFV also has the potential to break vendor lock-in.
Service providers have already begun to virtualize elements of their networks, usually beginning with domains that won't have a dramatic impact on their core businesses, such as virtual
firewalls or virtualized load balancers. Jeff Edlund, CTO, communications, media and entertainment, HP, advises CSPs on which domains to virtualize first in a recent HP publication.
"Look for targets in your network that can be instantiated easily, will have minimal impact to the customer base if a problem should occur, and will have minimal disruption to the OSS," writes
Edlund. "Find functions that are CPU-intensive but not bandwidth intensive."
This is sage advice, but let's compare how networks are being used to the applications of NFV to get a feel for what is possible. According to the latest report from Sandvine, the bulk of Internet traffic is video. In fact,
just one video provider, Netflix, accounts for nearly 40 percent of traffic in North America. As Ultra HD 4K video becomes more popular, these numbers will only increase.
From a cost perspective, video is eating most of the pie, so strategically, reducing the cost of delivering video in any way has the potential to save millions of dollars for service providers.
But, can the number one content type, video, be virtualized? Can operators benefit from video delivered over NFV infrastructure in a reliable manner than maintains Quality of Experience
(QoE) and still provides service providers with a peak of what's going on in their networks? Many vendors emphatically say yes; it is possible to improve the economics of video with NFV.
Here's how they plan to do it.
Virtualizing provisioning and activation
Perhaps no other service requires more provisioning and activation that video. In a single household, the average family might operate ten devices that are used for watching video. Take a single
popular OTT app, like HBO GO. There are strict policies in place to govern which types of content can be viewed over which devices, and whether inside the home or while roaming. This is a
relatively safe domain in the video sphere that can deliver some cost savings for CSPs.
"Good initial targets for high ROI look to things like virtual premise equipment, virtualizaton of processes such as service provisioning and activation, virtualization of data mediation, and
virtualized CDN, writes Edlund. "All of these can produce reasonable ROI while providing a safe place to get started in NFV."
Virtualizing video delivery
One element of the video experience that can be virtualized is audio and video transcoding for video delivery. Previously this required some pretty high-powered hardware; but companies like
GENBAND are making it possible with its SBC VNF. Kontron has teamed up with GENBAND to significantly improve the economics of HD video delivery.
