Welcome to the Human Network - Light Reading

Cisco VQE offers service providers the following benefits:
Video Error Repair
Cisco VQE enables providers to precondition DSL lines for advanced video services
such as IPTV by detecting and repairing packet loss on degraded copper lines. With
this technology, a set-top box (STB) detecting packet loss, requests a retransmission
while holding the video sequence in queue. The Cisco VQE technology automatically
repairs the error by transmitting the missing packet, which is re-sequenced by the STB
without interruption. The entire error repair cycle takes place in less than 100 ms, and is
imperceptible to the viewer.
Rapid Channel Change
A transparent channel-change experience is a critical determinant of the subscriber’s
visual experience. Cisco VQE standard-based fast channel-change technology
reduces channel-change times from several seconds to less than 1 second by initiating
video streams in less than 100 ms after a request is made. This technology works in
conjunction with STBs to detect and accelerate channel-change requests. The result is
totally transparent to the viewer, who sees an uninterrupted channel change followed by
successive video motion.
Video Connection Admission Control (CAC)
Occasional peaks in traffic usage can dramatically affect video quality. A single incremental
access request for high-demand broadcast channels or VoD, if permitted, can disrupt
the viewing experience for that entire community of viewers because network bandwidth
becomes oversubscribed. Comprehensive and reliable admission control can help
preserve the viewing experience for all subscribers.
By employing in-path utilization analysis that quickly and accurately tracks network
bandwidth, Cisco Video CAC prevents initiation of a request when it is determined that the
network lacks the capacity to carry the video stream to a subscriber. Subscriber notification
is provided to gracefully delay a service request, and simultaneously preserve the visual
experience for all other subscribers. A complementary off-path process prevents a video
on-demand stream from being sent if the access link to the subscriber lacks the capacity
to carry the stream. In this approach, the VoD server communicates with the Cisco BPM
(policy server), which keeps track of the subscriber access links.
Video Quality-Monitoring Module
The Cisco Network Analysis Module monitors video streams in real time and sends
proactive alerts to providers if picture quality is degraded, enabling them to determine the
cause of the degradation and correct it before call centers are overwhelmed.
Employing Layer 3 in the video distribution network takes advantage of Protocol
Independent Multicast (PIM) with Source Specific Multicast (SSM) and Interior Gateway
Protocol (IGP) enhancements that enable fast network-level convergence for greater
network efficiency and scale. More importantly, these Layer 3 fast convergence techniques
provide consistent subsecond network and application recovery for all failure modes,
further ensuring the visual experience for video subscribers.