Mobile operators can now use Edgeware’s cloud-based elastic CDN to run video streaming applications over mobile access infrastructures, such as 4G and 5G. According to Edgeware, the system’s cloud-based elasticity and Software Defined Networking (SDN) design principles are better able to exploit the potential of 5G than existing access systems. Using its scalability and ability to optimise quality of experience (QoE), mobile operators can manage common issues, like network congestion, when delivering video content over wireless networks.
Launched in May 2020, Edgeware developed video streaming capabilities for their elastic CDN that are natively associated with cloud deployments. It gives mobile operators a chance to scale sessions up and down, instantaneously adjust capacity, and automatically add or remove streaming instances and cache resources – either responsively, per event, or based on pre-defined business policies.
Edgeware’s cloud-based elastic CDN is composed of a software-defined cache control and management function, and a TV delivery mechanism. Together, they handle dynamic spikes in video consumption, such as during big live events or releases of high-profile content.
The system is designed to deploy in a Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) environment as a virtualised software instance, running in a data centre with the control and data planes separated. Virtualised network functions, consisting of virtual machines or containers running software and processes, can operate in a cloud infrastructure, instead of using custom hardware appliances for each function.
The NFV approach simplifies configuration and the orchestration of streaming instances – including associated caches in a 5G architecture. Mobile operators can then adapt their architecture to a given topology and geography with edge and mobile edge computing (MEC) capabilities.
The cloud-based elastic CDN was originally designed to deliver live and VOD content at high quality to any device and over any access system. However, the system’s extreme scalability has become more valuable as networks are virtualised, an important part of the 5G roll out. The ability to scale streaming resources, including cache resources smoothly up and down means both mobile operators and fixed operators can instantaneously adapt to sudden fluctuations in demand.
With these characteristics – simplified configuration management, separated control plane and efficient orchestration of streaming resources – the Edgeware cloud-based elastic CDN enables roll out of video services without network constraints, capacity or scalability issues. Its automated cache scaling and load balancing capabilities control costs for efficiency, meanwhile optimising TV viewing.
Using SDN design principles, Edgeware’s elastic CDN includes routing functionality that, when combined with the company’s delivery control platform StreamPilot, help mobile operators use the potential of 5G. StreamPilot is about automating delivery via multiple CDNs to control quality of experience.
As mobile networks become more congested, the ability to shape bitrates and manage sessions on a very granular level will make the best use of networks and QoE optimisation. By load balancing between PoPs and on-net CDNs, and off-loading to third-party CDNs to optimise peaks, reach and redundancy, mobile operators can use Edgeware’s approach to deliver better quality and more cost-efficient 5G video applications. Read more about Edgeware’s CDN developments and 5G video here. www.edgeware.tv
