Blueprint: Telco Triple Play



	Evolving Security Requirements for Communications Service Providers
While standalone session border controllers (SBCs) have enabled service providers to take the initial steps on this journey, it is not clear that they provide a true long-term solution. The real question is not will standalone SBCs go away, but rather, how will the functions provided by today�s SBCs evolve over time as service providers move their current networks toward true next-generation network architectures.

	Intelligent Networks Made Possible with a Policy Management Platform
With worldwide IP traffic growth and bandwidth usage expected to soar in the near term future, service providers are responding while maintaining a quality user experience without prohibitive capital expenditures. Traffic growth, however, is not a problem if you can monetize it to pay for the extra capacity it requires. �

	SMBs: New Challenges for VoIP
Selling computer or communication technology to global enterprises bears little similarity to selling to SMBs. The presence of an information technology (IT) department at enterprises homogenizes the interface they have with outside technology vendors and service providers. The headway VoIP has made into the SMB marketplace and the pace at which adoption will continue will depend to some degree on how effectively and efficiently the benefits of VoIP can be translated into a unique value proposition suited to each particular small business.

	The SMB VoIP Market Accelerates: Hosted vs. Premise
Worldwide SMB IP telephony spending will exceed $4.5 billion during 2008, according to some estimates, suggesting a 2003-2008 compound annual growth rate of 41.3%. What's driving the growth? Here's a look at some fundamentals of both hosted and premise-based SMB VoIP solutions.

	Programmable Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) for Service Providers
In order to address the challenges of IP convergence, many service providers are utilizing Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology. DPI products allow service providers to monitor and control traffic at all layers of the protocol stack (including the application layer) based on a set of policies. �The first generation of DPI products were adept at solving specific problems; however they are not flexible enough to resolve the emerging network challenges or implement new services. A new generation of programmable DPI platforms is now being implemented.

	DOCSIS 3.0, Raising the Standard
DOCSIS 3.0 ushers in an era of breathtakingly faster line speeds supporting new applications that hold the promise of expanded revenue streams for operators. At a minimum, DOCSIS 3.0 starts by increasing a subscriber�s bandwidth up to 160 Mbps downstream and 120 Mbps upstream. Here is a look at the enabling technology.

	The Evolution of the WLAN SOHO Market
New tactics for service providers to increase revenue are changing the wireless LAN (WLAN) landscape. The channels that provide WLAN products in the small office / home office (SOHO) market are quickly transitioning from the traditional retail environment to one in which service providers directly supply these products to their broadband subscribers. Lesser known names like Thomson, Siemens, and 2Wire are displacing the more familiar consumer brands in home networking, such as Linksys, D-Link, and NETGEAR. Here is an overview of the changing landscape.

	Poised for Growth: Small Business and VoIP
Consumers and global enterprises are flocking to VoIP-based services. Now, the hole in the middle of the donut -- those 35 million small and medium sized businesses (SMB) worldwide -- is starting to come around; and for many good reasons.

	It's a Wonderful Digital Life
In this interview Greg Jones, General Manager, Service Provider Strategic Marketing at Texas Instruments discusses the concept of the Digital Life.

	Testing Wireless Home Entertainment Networks for HD Video: UWB vs. 802.11
The delivery of video content � especially high-definition streams � in a home is an extremely demanding application. It�s so data intensive, in fact, that it outstrips the capacity of even existing cabling. For this reason, many telecommunications service providers and consumer electronics companies are looking for a new solution for distributing high-definition video. Validating the capabilities of new products and technologies can be difficult, but it doesn�t have to be.

	HD Voice: Can VoIP Do Better Than "Carrier Grade"?
Constrained by the limitations of analog transducers and network bandwidth in its early days, the public switched telephone network (PSTN) transports only a small slice of what people can hear. Even though the range of the ear extends from 20 Hz to 20 KHz, a typical analog phone call only transmits sound in the 200 Hz to 3.3 KHz range. As IP phones become more and more prevalent in homes, SMBs and global enterprises, wideband HD voice communication will become more common. A digital channel from end-to-end is needed for a wideband call, but this does not preclude a wired-to-wireless HD call.

	Leveraging MoCA for In-home Networking
A home digital entertainment network consists of multiple streams of standard and high definition content distributed anywhere, anytime throughout the home. There are numerous technologies and mediums vying to become the standard in the digital home but not all are created equal. Here is the case for using existing coax cabling as your in-home networking solution.

	Making the Most of Ubiquitous Wi-Fi: The Service Enabled Device
Merrill Lynch predicts that by 2009, Wi-Fi capabilities will be in more than 280 million embedded devices. To make it easier to set-up devices in a secure home network, the Wi-Fi Alliance has just released a new standard called Wireless Protected Set-up (WPS). Another set of WISPr (Wireless ISP roaming) guidelines make it easier for hotspot operators to offer a consistent interface. And the Digital Living Network Association (DLNA) is also working on making it easier to network the next wave of service-enabled devices..

	Residential gateways-- It�s about Location, Location, Location
hen it comes to service, most network operators cringe at the thought of the dreaded "truck-roll." Operators are grappling with the pros and cons of having the RG on the outside of the house versus the inside. Here's a look at the issues.

	"Grand Slam" Potential Pushes Residential Gateways and IMS to the Forefront
Consumers are acquiring vast amounts of digital content, which often traverses a broadband pipe and then is moved and shared among a divergent array of digital devices in the home. The complexity of delivering real time services and multimedia content to the ever growing of number of consumer digital devices requires a managed approach, paving the way for IMS. The next-generation residential gateway (RG) should be designed with this in mind.

	The Internet Needs an Area Code!
It�s not always easy to bridge between traditional landline and wireless networks and the Internet, or even to call among different VoIP service providers utilizing the Internet. It would be nice to simplify the process of communicating between the two networks and, at the same time, make it easier to connect with specific communities or groups of users on the Internet. In many ways, the situation is not unlike the early half of the 20th century -- before area codes.

	Embedded Elements Give Non-Traditional VoIP Providers a Foothold on Quality Management
Even though non-traditional IP service providers are at the mercy of the subscriber�s broadband provider or the wholesale suppliers of broadband connectivity, they are taking steps toward controlling quality where they can. Mostly, this means the customer premise equipment (CPE) such as voice terminal adapters and voice gateways. As it turns out though, intelligent quality management at the CPE level can give the non-traditional provider some clout with the network operators.

	Next-generation STB is Key to Success of IPTV
The plethora of digital devices, appliances and systems present in the digital home is seemingly expanding exponentially. Many of these devices require connectivity with each other, which leads to home networking of one sort or another. Of course, to access content from outside of the house itself, these devices will have to have access to the Internet. This logic leads to the realization that the digital home will feature some sort of gateway system which will be the domain of the complete digital service provider. What the gateway will look like and how it will relate to next-generation STBs remains to be seen. Indeed, the next-generation STB at some point in the market�s development may become the home�s gateway system or it may remain a termination device connected to a full-service gateway.

	Choosing the best FTTP Power Management Strategy
While FTTP networks give end users more power in terms of services and applications, they also take some "power" away. Unlike legacy copper-based networks, pure fiber networks are not able to power telephones at the customer premises because fiber does not conduct electricity. What strategies are available to ensure consistent battery back-up.

	Home Wireless Networks Evolve to Include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, UWB, WiMAX, HSDPA
Multiple wireless technologies will vie for a role in home networking. Chances are that multiple technologies will succeed and that they will vary by consumer need and location. Here is comparison of leading wireless technologies with mass market potential.

	PIQUA Captures Packet Intelligence at the Traffic Source
Because TI's chips are widely deployed at the edge of IP networks, its new announced PIQUA technology offers the potential to collect vast amounts of packet data at the source. PIQUA could be used to knit together a quality of service (QoS) management fabric that addresses all of the discovery, configuration, monitoring and repair tasks in the diverse and widely dispersed elements of IP networks.

	Digital Convergence Goes Mainstream
The message from CES 2006 was clear: Convergence is everywhere in high-tech, from the infrastructure to the cell phones, from satellite radio to home networking, from cable TV to phone service. In many cases it�s all about all converging onto fewer networks and platforms, using fewer devices, fewer silicon chips, fewer remote control devices, fewer equipment boxes, and fewer content mediums. To a great degree, less is more in the world of convergence.

	Home Networking Unplugged
The home network creates a new type of environment for the service provider to manage. Traditional telephony and video services had very well defined business models, standard customer support processes and very clearly delineated network demarcation points. The complexity of home networking is forcing service providers to re-define all of these service characteristics.

	Evolving the TV User Experience
A new and enhanced TV user interface (UI) is of vital importance to both television users and operators. It wasn�t too long ago when TV viewing was an entirely passive and straightforward experience � users simply turned on the television, and changed the few available channels either by remote control or hand. Navigating the new world of content depends on the quality of the UI.

	It�s Television, but not as we know it. . . a TV Application Manager is Needed for the Digital Media Lifestyle
A new TV Application Manager is needed to enable tomorrow�s television. Consumers will use the TV Application Manager to take care of all aspects of digital media and interactive service delivery between digital television and connected home products.

	IP Video without Rewiring: Subscriber Deployments Show Promise�and Problems�with IPTV Networking
Lab-based IPTV networking performance suffers considerable setbacks when battle-tested in subscribers� homes. Reams have been written about the high costs of rewiring homes with Cat-5 as well as the coax-based, powerline, and wireless networking alternatives for IP video distribution. However, selecting an effective in-home networking solution requires more than deciding which wire is most attractive. Beyond lab testing, real-world Telco deployments have shown that a whole new set of IPTV networking complications arise.

	The Future of the Home Network
There are as many factors impacting the evolution of the digital home as there are visions of the way it will manifest itself in the real world. Regardless of how that evolution takes shape, network operators will need to overcome a variety of challenges to make their visions real.

	Smart Wi-Fi Completes the Triple Play
To date, in-home video distribution -- an essential element for Triple Play delivery -- has been largely ignored: Given its widespread popularity and use within the home, Wi-Fi would be an obvious solution to this problem. Yet conventional consumer Wi-Fi was designed primarily for data applications and provides poor transport for multimedia traffic. Here is how a new generation of Smart Wi-Fi could solve the problem.

	Digital Media Will Require Gigabit-Enabled Home Storage Solutions
The arrival of Triple Play, fully-converged residential services implies a quantum leap in the volume of digital media entering our homes. The confluence of this digital media and the growing number of media players that will access this digital content further implies a whole new and compelling type of converged network inside the home. A new class of products, called network attached storage (NAS), will combine Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) and high-performance server technologies to give homes and small businesses a way to save, secure, and access their music, movies, and mission-critical data in one convenient, ultra-reliable, and low-cost appliance.

	Preparing Home Networks for the Triple Play
It's not enough for service providers to simply get content to the consumer's doorstep. Consumers will want to access the wealth of content arriving at their broadband gateway in many locations and on many different devices throughout and beyond the home. If broadband triple play services are to be adopted at mass-market levels, industry-wide standards must be developed that make it simple for consumers to set up, interconnect and use devices that will consume these services. The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is addressing these issues.

	IPTV: Making it Work
The market window for value-added broadband services is open, but video is not a business for the uncommitted or inexperienced player. Cable companies have had years of experience in acquiring and delivering content to subscribers and have had several years' experience in developing their pay-per-view (PPV) - and in some cases VOD - businesses while they converted their networks to two-way to support high-speed Internet (HSI) services. Time-to-market can be significantly shortened by leveraging installed assets and partnering with suppliers who have demonstrated experience in implementing video and other broadband entertainment infrastructures. Here is what you need.

	Triple Play Changes the Score for Customer Service Delivery
For digital service providers like telcos and cable providers, the "triple play" represents the ultimate way to increase profits and customer loyalty at the same time. While this sounds like nirvana, not everyone is excited about its prospects. Some people are worried about triple play becoming more of a cost trap than a revenue opportunity. The trap lies in the need to provide consistent, if not superior, levels of customer support for all three parts of the triple play in order to keep from churning subscribers. Support in a �triple play� world is an order of magnitude more difficult. It�s not simply three different areas in which to keep customers happy and costs down. Customers expect to receive the same level of support across all services offered � seamlessly and consistently � and in real-time. But how do you do this without spending more money? A delicate balance needs to exist between providing additional services while keeping new and existing customers happy and keeping costs down.

	Distributing Rich Media over Broadband: PVR, Network PVR or VOD � What�s it Going To Be?
Customers want a better television service, one that gives them �personalized video� � watching what they want, when they want, and paying for what they watch � combined with easy navigation. Both content providers and service providers are looking to the PVR to provide them with much of this personalized video functionality. Service providers need to provide video services to the television to create a mass market entertainment product in order to compete with cable and/or direct to home satellite. These video services cannot be a �me too� offering to cable and satellite; service providers need to take advantage of the two-way platform to create a superior offering. Bundling services, whether it is video, voice, data and/or mobile, is critical to creating a value proposition that resonates with consumers.

	Filling Gaps on the Way to Triple Play Reality
Equipment providers have responded to customer requirements by developing platforms that are based on modular design, where standards-based architectural platforms such as Advanced TCA* (ATCA) and operating systems like Carrier Grade Linux are utilized by multiple vendors. The various vendors provide different levels of value through their software or service offerings. By leveraging these modular, standards-based platforms, efficiencies can be realized throughout the value chain ranging from lower inventory to reduced management costs. These efficiencies ultimately enable equipment suppliers to better work with service providers in delivering new service-based products, more quickly and with decreased OpEx and CapEx

	Requirements for a Home Multimedia Network
The magic box that connects your TV, computer, and phone to the world is known as a set-top box (STB). It does more than merely connect your signal to your TV set; it is an interface to the world. There are two major components to the STB: the software and the hardware. Here is a brief overview of how these components will tie together a home multimedia network.

	IP-based DSL Architecture Paves the Way for "DSLHome"
The DSL Forum has recently approved two major technical reports (TR-058 and TR-059) specify the network architecture framework for service providers and equipment manufacturers to deliver next generation digital subscriber line (DSL) services. These new TRs herald the transformation of DSL, as customers will see many exciting new services that DSL provides. The new IP-based architecture will deliver economic benefits such as improved network utilization and traffic management as well as service flexibility and enhancements for broadband DSL customers, providing the foundation for capabilities such as quality of service (QoS) support; bandwidth on demand; multi-casting and real-time service delivery.