Multicast on 21CN

The first article on

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/

says at the bottom:

"The afternoon was wrapped up with a proof of concept demonstration of video
content distribution in the 21CN network. Using Assured Rate QoS, BT showed
how content could be distributed from the core, from one of their 20
aggregation points or from the MSANs themselves (which will be present in
all exchanges in the UK). Distribution at this level is made possible by
using multicast, which is not available on the current BT IPStream product
range."

Could someone say whether what BT is doing will fix the problem PlusNet
describes on its blog entry below (I think it does, because it says that
multicast can be distributed from the different levels of the 21CN, and
PlusNet says that they want it split further down the line):

http://community.plus.net/blog/2008/02/28/how-uk-isps-are-charged-for-broadband-the-cost-of-ipstream/

"The same thing applies with multicast. Multicast can be used to more
efficiently distribute content. A number of customers wanted to watch the
same video stream then using multicast rather than there being one stream
per customer between the content provider and the end user, where the
network paths are the same there only needs to be one stream. At the moment
on IPStream that would mean that if you were watching a multicast stream
there would only need to be one stream between the content provider and the
ISP's network and it splits into multiple feeds at central pipes.

Which of course is the major problem with using multicast at the moment, the
only cost saving to the ISP is the transit and/or peering costs, which as we've
seen above may not represent any real savings or at best only a tiny
reduction because you still have one stream per customer going across the
central pipes.

For multicast to be successful in the UK the stream must be split further
down the line, preferably at the BT PoP but at the very least at the local
exchanges. This is something we might see as part of BT's 21st Century
Network upgrades which are taking place over the next few years."




--
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info

The adoption of DAB was the most incompetent technical
decision ever made in the history of UK broadcasting:
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/dab/incompetent_adoption_of_dab.htm


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Multicast on 21CN
    ... of video content distribution in the 21CN network. ... using multicast, which is not available on the current BT IPStream ... same video stream then using multicast rather than there being one ... network paths are the same there only needs to be one stream. ...
    (uk.telecom.broadband)
  • Re: Multicast > 5-10 years time?
    ... Depends how well the implementation of multicast and network topology ... Yes it should be more efficient for the ISP. ... a multicast service automatically deploys as a single stream to ...
    (alt.radio.digital)
  • Re: Quality of BBC Internet radio to overtake DAB
    ... because current Wi-Fi radios don't currently support ... multicast, but all it needs is for them to write a bit of software ... network and router killer. ... want to continue receiving the stream, and if a timeout period expires ...
    (alt.radio.digital)
  • Re: Multicast on 21CN
    ... so that the ISPs would stand to save ... of video content distribution in the 21CN network. ... this level is made possible by using multicast, ...
    (uk.telecom.broadband)
  • Re: Multicast on 21CN
    ... Distribution at this level is made possible by ... If so, the only outstanding thing is the pricing to the ISPs, and you can bypass BT being involved altogether on unbundled exchanges, so hopefully they won't price it too high. ... Competition with other LLU providers might help (Virgin enabling multicast over their cable network isn't competition), but it is a bit chicken & egg at the moment. ...
    (uk.telecom.broadband)