A medianet, or network optimized for rich media, addresses the unique network requirements for applications such as video. The rapid growth of rich media strains networks in six service categories:
Quality of experience (QoE)
Content virtualization
Mobility
Session control
Security
Management
To help address these needs, we must identify how ready current products and solutions are for a medianet, and develop new solutions to address emerging needs.
The following table outlines the six network service categories, key requirements for those areas, and characteristics of possible solutions that use medianet-ready products. This table can be used to determine the readiness of products for a medianet.
Service Category
Definition
Key Requirements
Medianet Deliverables
Quality of Experience (QoE)
Network improves user experience by becoming media aware, network aware, user aware, and adapting to real-time environment and business policies
Technical requirements for real-time multimedia applications include:
Delay
Jitter
Packet loss
Bandwidth availability
Reliability requirements include:
Convergence
Predictable recovery timeouts
Provide mechanisms to specify and request quality service levels
Provide mechanisms to verify, monitor, and respond to service level requests, and adapt to any changes as needed
Achieve service expectations for the end user and operator by using advanced routing, forwarding, resiliency, resource reservation, proximity, and location mechanisms
Content virtualization
Network allows content to be generated, delivered and used by any application using mechanisms transparent to the end-user
Users must be able to view common content from different types of endpoints quickly, easily, reliably, and in an endpoint-appropriate fashion, regardless of:
Media type
File format
Encoding/decoding, conversion, or processing method
Data location
Common file naming and description standards must exist to help users search for and select content.
Use common scalable encoding/decoding mechanisms
Use infrastructure transcoding/transrating capabilities
Use common content naming/metadata strategy
Provide common search and retrieval mechanisms across applications
Include common storage and caching mechanisms and facilities for content from various applications
Use intelligent forwarding and delivery models based on session characteristics and user need for content control
Accommodate resiliency mechanisms to ensure constant access to content
Provide content splicing capabilities to insert content within stored or real-time content flows
Mobility
Network allows users to maintain active multimedia sessions while moving among locations and/or devices
Users moving among locations and/or devices require seamless transition of real-time and interactive data and related control mechanisms.
Incorporate connectivity elements from wireless, roaming elements, mobile IP, and code-adaptive scaling properties
Session control
Network enhances multimedia session coordination and responsiveness across applications and network boundaries
Sessions that are multimedia, multiuser, and multi-application and require:
More granular and responsive control
Seamless session control across applications (telepresence, phones, unified communications) and session control topologies (clusters, B2B)
Content creation and use based on user needs and policies
Include session naming/description, advertising, and discovery
Include session initiation and management
Security
Network provides end-to-end security for multimedia sessions, content and network resources
Multimedia sessions require:
Secure, real-time, high-bandwidth, multi-content sessions that provide access to context of content for users and operators
Verification of users, devices, and applications that may request powerful network services
User, application, device identity and Authentication Authorization Accounting (AAA)
Include control plane, data plane and content security
Include secure resource virtualization mechanisms
Management
Network simplifies the ability to provide and monitor multimedia services using discovery mechanisms to move toward a self-managing model
Users and operators require simple, comprehensive management systems to handle complex multimedia, multiuser, multi-application environments that deliver advanced solutions such as interactive, real-time rich media.
Support troubleshooting, fault detection, and isolation for operators
Support scheduling of medianet services and user sessions
Accommodate policy based control of medianet services and user sessions
