Almere Fiber Pilot

Experiences with Broadcast IPTV

Ger BakkerCo-founder and CTO UNET

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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AgendaUNET started the first fully digital Multi Service FttH

Network in the Netherlands. Broadcast TV is delivered the the homes over optical fiber using IP/Ethernet.– Almere Fiber Pilot– Design for IP based services– IPTV– Networking fro IPTV– Experiences– The future of IPTV– Conclusions

Agenda

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In 2003 through an RFP UNET was selected as the operator/ service provider for pilot optical fiber services in the City of Almere, the Netherlands; services started in March 2004.– City of Almere, e-city

• 180,000 people• Fastest growing city in NL• 250 km2 reclaimed land,

– UNET, broadband innovator• Founded 2003 • Privately funded• 35 employees• profitable

The players and the playground

Almere Fiber Pilot

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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In Almere public/private partnership combines both community development and commercial interests, including competition:– City of Almere

• Economical development • Open ICT infrastructure• Increased social cohesion• BB expertise center in NL

– UNET • Service broker role• Managed services• Managed shared network• New service development

Goals and strategies

Almere Fiber Pilot

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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In the Almere Fiber Pilot we required technical solutions that were future-proof, scalable and at the same time using proven technology.– Passive Network

• Future proof, Secure, Low Management Costs– Active network

• Manageable, Scalable, Affordable– Service Center

• Automated Customer and Management Processes– Multiple Broadband Services

• Open, Extendable, Automatically Provisioned

Requirements

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The strategy is to focus on one shared open infrastructure and to create an abundance of content and services:– FttH infrastructure has to be simple, and future proof

• Star based SM fiber network• IP/Ethernet 100 Mb/s and 1000 Mb/s• VLAN separated services• Separate network and service

management– UNET’s Open services model

• Service broker role• Managed services, wholesale vs. retail• Highly automated provisioning and

customer care• Customer orientation

Deployment Strategy

Almere Fiber Pilot

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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Almere selected UNET based on it’s service offering, aligning with Almere’s notion that fully digital triple-play is a basic requirement and just the starting point for further services:– UNET Triple Play

• 10 Mb/s symm internet • 75 digital TV, 20 radio• VoIP• Web page, community portal, data vault

– UNET additional services (2005)• Managed VPN• Remote backup• LAN connectivity• Hosting, etc.

Content and Services

Almere Fiber Pilot

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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Service Center

The Service Center is fully automated to deliver service provisioning and business processes: – Order Processing– Order Provisioning– Auto Provisioning– Change Management– On-line Ordering– Paperless Billing – Customer Care Desk– Quality Management

Control

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The passive network needs to be low maintenance and future proof, design decisions:– Star Architecture into the building– Minimize Active fiber Sites– Single Mode fiber– Single homes/buildings fiber connected– Multi-dwelling internal cabling in UTP Cat

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– Optical fiber is cheap, reliable and long-lasting

Passive Network Design

Networking

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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Design characteristics: – Service Separation– Digital Convergence– High Bandwidth– Redundant Routing

Design decisions:– IP/Ethernet– 100 Mb/s homes/SME’s, 1 Gb/s

Business– VLAN separation– L3 & L2 Services

Networking

Active Network Design

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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Active Network Design for Services

Access Switch

Distribution SwitchInternet

Service NetworkTV-VLAN DHCP Server

TV Server Network ManagementService NetworkInternet-VLAN

Local Content LAN

Local PortalGaming Server

Residential Web Cam Server

Residential Switch

Dedicated TV-VLAN

Dedicated Internet-VLAN

Dedicated VoIP-VLANPSTN

VoIP Gateway

Soft Switch

Networking

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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Networking

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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CPE switchMedia Player with SCARTconnection for the TV and Video

TV Ethernet portson the switch

Internet AccessEthernet ports

Media Player with SCART connection for the TV and Video

CO location

•Cat5 cabling or Wireless LAN in-house•CPE in the wiring closet•Media Player for the TV/radio services•10/100Mbps Ethernet for internet PCs

Residential Active Design

Home

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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The customer connection is future proof and easily maintained and upgraded: – Auto-installation– 100 Mb/s to 1 Gb/s upgrade path– Fully Managed and Monitored– Automatic Firmware Upgrading– Full Control over Services

Important:– The Residential Gateway

firmware delivers the content– Don’t cut corners here

Residential Gateway

Home

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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IP radio/TV content

Service Characteristics– MPEG-2 over IP Multicast– 80 Channel TV Package

• Dutch: 11 Channels• Local: 6• International: 21• News: 6• Sports: 5• Nature/Science: 8• Music: 13• Entertainment: 10

– 20 Channel radio package

IP TV

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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IP TV architecture

IP TV

Mediaplayer connects toTV set with SCART cable

The mediaplayer (STB) is controlledby the TV server. The player does amultcast join for a TV channel

The C/O switches blockthe multicast streams

The video streamer delivers: - 80 TV channels - 20 radio channels - MPEG2 multicast streams of 3 - 14 Mb/s

C/O switch

Residential gateway

Only the selected multicaststream will be forwarded

IP Videostreamer

Main satellite receiverhead end

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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IP TV delivery

Settop boxes are currently the only way to connect a TV set in Ethernet

• UNET uses 3 brands– Telsey– I3Micro– Amino

• Settop box characteristics– Memory size– Decoding Algorithms– OS: WIN CE vs Linux– MPEG-2 or 4– Other features

IP TV

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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IP TV quality

Quality Characteristics– BW: uncompressed PAL 270 Mb/s– MPEG-2 VBR: 3 – 14 Mb/s– MPEG-2 CBR: 5 Mb/s– 80 channels feed requires ±400

Mb/s– Picture quality, VBR vs CBR

– Buffering vs zap time

IP TV

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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IP transport

IP transport quality issues need to be addressed in the network design phase:– TCP or UDP– Unicast or Multicast– Latency, jitter and packet-loss– Quality of Service– VLAN for services– Design for IPTV

IP TV

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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Future of IPTV

At UNET we are working to add exciting new dimensions to the TV and our unlimited bandwidth makes that feasible:– 2005 HD TV with surround sound (1080p and

5.1)– 2005 VOD– 2006 Interactive channels– 3D TV

IP TV

© 2005 UNET B.V.

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Lesson Learned

IP TV is feasible– A stable service has been accomplished– Lot’s of channels, and beyond the

satellite there is more– High quality picture and sound– Low overhead

Never forget– Make the right choice of Set top box

supplier– It is all software – Design your network for IP TV– Be prepared and plan for the

unexpected!

Concluding