IPTV for People who
AREN’T Engineers
by Shaun Carlson
Arvig
How a most Network Engineers feel when
teaching the “non-technically inclined”
… and how the “non-technically inclined” feel when listening …
Alternate Title:
“How to talk to a Network Engineer”
What to expect from this presentation
Don’t expect:
•to build an IPTV network in your home
•a network engineer to ask you to fix the
DHCP server because STB client leases
are overloading the network
•to shout out the textbook definition to
Protocol Independent Multicasting (PIM)
on command
DO expect:
•to have basic familiarity with what an
IPTV system involves
•to better appreciate the technical jargon
used by your engineering team
•a network engineer to be annoyed by all
of your new questions after this session
What is IPTV?
One Definition: Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is a
system through which television services are delivered
using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched
network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered
through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable
television formats.
Alternate Definition: IPTV is another way of getting
television to the house using a method very similar
to delivery of Internet to the home.
ITU-T Definition: IPTV is defined as multimedia services
such as television/video/audio/text/graphics/data delivered
over IP based networks managed to provide the required
level of quality of service and experience, security,
interactivity and reliability.
Some Terms You Might Hear…
• Multicast
• Residential
• Unicast
• DHCP
•
• IGMP
•
• PIM
•
• Jitter
• Latency
•
• Middleware
• Encoder
• Transcoder
• Set Top Box
•
•
•
Gateway (RG)
Router
Switch
Quality of
Service (QoS)
Quality of
Experience
(QoE)
VLAN
Transport
MPEG 2/4
• Buffer
• Bandwidth
• Video on
•
•
•
•
•
Demand (VoD)
Tiling
Guide Data
IP Address
Audio/Video
PID
Routing
Protocols
Let’s break it down (30,000 ft. view)
Transport Network
Head
End
Access
Network
Head End
What does a Head End Do???
Simply put, it provides
the video
to the network
* Not a real head end… (I hope)
So… how does it do that exactly?
Satellite Dishes
IP Feeds
Encoders
Transcoders
MPEG 2/4
Middleware Servers
This is where Multicast
Originates!
Wait… what the heck is
Multicast???
Transport Network
Ok, I get the Head End Now… kinda… and what did you
say a transport network is?
Basically, it’s how we move the video (TV Signal)
from the Head End to the rest of the world, or in
this case customer hand off point
How important is the transport network?
Well… the transport network can have a
HUGE impact on the quality of the video
and what the customer actually sees
I’ve got the whole
world, in my hands…
Transport Network, some terms
Multicast
Unicast
Latency
Jitter
Loss
Quality of
Service
(QOS)
IGMP
Failover
Time to geek out a little…
Routing
Router
Switch
VLAN
IP Address
Transport Network, a little latency
Latency
Latency
Transport Network
Latency
Head
End
Access
Network
Access Network & Home
Great! My head hurts and I’m feeling underwhelmed…
what’s next???
What does the customer
expect?
What factors can affect the “in
home” experience?
How is IPTV different than
analogue cable in the home?
What’s in a home?
Access Network & Home, terms…
Are you starting to hate technology terms yet?
DSLAM
ONT / NID
Residential Gateway (RG)
Set Top Box (STB)
DHCP
Quality of Experience (QoE)
The end user experience is
the primary and most
important goal, it’s how you
will retain the customer
Expectations, Effects & Opportunities
Network Performance
Metrics and Monitoring
Tiling and Freezing and Green Bars,
Oh My!
Multiple Services in the Home,
i.e. Revenue Retention
IPTV vs. Over the Top Video (OTT)
Q&A
Thank you for your time, your understanding, your patience and
your sanity… I promise I will return your sanity after questions!
Shaun Carlson
Senior Network Engineer, Arvig
ph: (218) 346.8673, em: shaun.carlson@arvig.com