Is the Internet ready for multimedia?
(in production networks)
Ed Perry, HP Labs ed.perry@hp.com
MMNS 2002

Where does Multimedia work today?
Examples:
•Hewlett-Packard
•Seoul
•CinemaNow.com
•www.KFOG.com

What are the characteristics of working Internet Multimedia?
One or more of the following
• Common administration
– Special purpose “private” internets
– Enterprises (even with multiple AS domains)
– Some localities
• Engineering for “adequate” or “over” capacity
• Small bandwidth media
– Audio
– Small image
• TCP transport
• Download and play
– Broadband to home, to users
– Peer-to-Peer & “Sharing”
• Digital Rights Management

Is the Internet ready for Multimedia?
Yes...
•Depending where you live/work, relative to the source
•Depending on the nature of the content
– bandwidth, digital rights, ...
•If you are willing to use download and playback
•Depending on your willingness to pay for service
“This GOOD ENOUGH” can prevent the development of “BETTER”

What are the remaining hurdles?
Problems with significant Business / Political challenges
• Business models for service provider interoperation
• Live, large-scale service consumption
• Interplay of
• High bandwidth media
• Broadband to users
• Digital Rights Management
Problems with additional Technical Challenges
• Exploding numbers of content providers and source locations
Management!

Network Manager Concerns about Multimedia
•Don’t break my existing network services
•Don’t overload my network links and routers
– predict the loading? enforce rate limits?
•Minimize “risky” new software, equipment, configurations
– multicast, RSVP, QoS, etc.
•How do I control multimedia traffic (sources)?
•What are the security risks? Denial-of-service risks?
•How do I isolate / debug performance issues?
•How do I assess service-level objectives?
– in advance of use / need?
– during use?

“Production” Network Manageability (1)
•Multicast service assessment
•Device manageability
– Vendor support for IETF standard multicast MIBs (ipmroute, igmp, pim)
– Extensions for fault isolation, IGMPv3 & PIM-SSM
•Management tools that utilize the device manageability

Traffic Impact: barely 2% of capacity on selected router interfaces

“Production” Network Manageability (2)
•Multicast service assessment
•Device manageability
– Vendor support for IETF standard multicast MIBs (ipmroute, igmp, pim)
– Extensions for fault isolation, IGMPv3 & PIM-SSM
•Management tools that utilize the device manageability
•Multimedia service assessment
•Synthetic
•Real-user activity
– Possibility of further technical innovation here!

HP Streaming Media Service Synthetic tests
•150kbps synthetic media stream, via multicast to 24 sites
•Except one site: all < 0.7% loss, < 45mSec delay, < 56mSec jitter from NetIQ Chariot

Multimedia Operator Concerns about Networks
•How do I make money?
•How do get a guarantee of service from the network provider?
– How do I estimate load?
•How do I protect digital assets?
•How do I avoid denial-of-service attacks?
•How do I assess my service?
•Synthetic
•Real user activity
– Same possibility of further technical innovation here!
These needs are common to both Network and Multimedia Operators

Media Service Quality Assessment
Common Need of both Network and Media Operators
•As near to the human as possible, but without subjectivity issues
•Correlated with MOS, etc.
•Support for synthetic testing as well as real end-user assessment
•Cope with large-scale, simultaneous audiences
•Manage privacy and end-user security
•Resilient to hacking and denial-of-service
•Independent of transport, encoding, distribution network, etc.
•Usable by the network operator, the media service operator, or even the content owner