Assuring QOE for IPTV is rapidly becoming a top priority among vendors and service providers as the IPTV market evolves into Phase II, in which services are commercially deployed on a meaningful scale. IPTV is about the television business, and offering a differentiating and compelling value proposition is a key to success. In order for service providers to achieve target video take rates, the QOE of IPTV must meet and exceed the services cable and satellite providers are currently providing. Large and small service providers are either planning for or putting the technology in place to meet the requirements surrounding service assurance and QOE.
There are many factors influencing the challenge of achieving a high QOE in IPTV deployments. The mix of broadcast TV versus video on demand (VOD), network-based personal video recorder (nPVR), and other unicast video services is relatively unpredictable, which affects the ratio of multicast and unicast network traffic, and ultimately the design of the network architecture. The addition of high-definition (HD) content to the network drives greater bandwidth requirements and the need to assure the continuous availability of that bandwidth for the purpose of achieving flawless QOE. VOD usage patterns, as well as the proliferation of set-top boxes (STBs) and other appliances in the home, will dictate the optimal location of content placement in the network, which also has an effect on traffic patterns and bandwidth needs.
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