Why is the speed and download rate of my public high-speed Internet (HSI) so variable? Why doesn’t TV over the Web look like HDTV, and why do video calls over the Internet have inconsistent quality? Why are multi-user, interactive online games sometimes ruined in an instant by network quality issues?

Great questions! They share an answer. You have experienced the inconsistency of “best effort” delivery without Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees. The good news is that help is on the way and it can be a win/win/win for:

• End users
• Network operators, both mobile and fixed wireless
• Third-party services and applications providers

What is QoS and who cares?

QoS refers to a broad set of capabilities and parameters for controlling:

• Upstream & downstream bandwidth – the amount of communication pipe capacity allocated or allowed
• Latency and jitter – consistent response times crucial to a smooth real-time experience
• Service quality – information loss, service responsivity and continuity

It provides the quality that we, as users, experience with MP3s or DVDs and that we want to have on the Web.

Historically, QoS has not been a priority for the Internet and traffic has been treated as “best effort.” Services like email and downloaded audio and video traditionally have not required real-time delivery. This means that pipe size, packet flow, packet loss, service consistency and delay were unspecified or unenforced. Even though the need for QoS for real-time communications and interactive or streaming video services has long been recognized – since the beginnings of network design, in fact – no simple way to effectively implement it for HSI traffic has been available.

Nearly all information today is digitized and transported via streams contained in IP data packets. A network with QoS prioritizes the path and amount of bandwidth allocated to each set of packets. It also executes rules for processing and allocating packets to these quality-assured paths. Real-time applications like voice calls and video streaming require that everything must arrive. It must also be there at the right time and in the right order.

Today video is exploding. Approximately 35% of traffic on the Internet is associated with video-related peer-to-peer file sharing.^[1] Additionally, Web-based video services account for approximately 40% of the remaining traffic. Taken together, video consumes a significant share of the available bandwidth.

The challenge is amplified with explosive growth in real-time services like streamed HDTV and catch-up TV services such as iPlayer and Hulu, audio/video conferencing, and multi-user gaming in the wired world. Couple this with camera- and video player-equipped, Internet-aware mobile handsets, and an already stressed Internet is threatened. The need to dynamically allocate bandwidth and enhance QoS to control packet processing is clearly on the rise.

Four basic elements of QoS enhancement are important:

1. Modification of parameters associated with an existing class of service; for example changing:
   • Committed Information Rate (CIR) - the minimum bandwidth available to a service at all times
   • Peak Information Rate (PIR) - bandwidth that can be used for service bursts
2. Change from “best effort” to assured or expedited forwarding
3. Use of a new forwarding/delivery paradigm, such as network multicasting, to deliver content without causing network congestion
4. Resource Admission Control to reserve resources for critical video applications to prevent overuse of the video service class or total bandwidth

All of these enhancements are aimed at making sure QoS is addressed for static service environments, as well as dynamic environments where applications and services are changing all the time. Notably, the downstream-only requirements for pre-recorded HD video (such as movies and TV shows) and two-way, real-time video communications (such as video conferencing and telepresence) differ in the importance of each QoS parameter or capability. Some services require upstream bandwidth (home-to-network) and QoS to prevent packet loss or delay in upstream communications. Other services require these capabilities in both directions. Gaming is a service that has much stronger requirements on low round-trip latency, with less stringent requirements on bandwidth.

A case in point: The emerging mobile gaming opportunity - enter 4G/LTE

Online gaming places unique demands on networks. It is extremely sensitive to:

• Network latency, which can quickly degrade the quality of experience
• Packet loss, which typically results in image freezing or stuttering
• Loss of connectivity, where a player can be dropped out of a hard-fought match

In the wireless world people use their sophisticated handsets to download and play games. They are increasingly demanding online and multi-player mobile gaming that is similar to what they enjoy at home. Wireless networks will have significant QoS requirements to meet user expectations and enable a sustainable gaming business.

4G/LTE’s new broadband wireless and flat-IP network architecture will enable operators to cost efficiently deliver personalized and dynamic QoS to address this real-time interactive mobile gaming opportunity as it evolves. LTE was created specifically to ensure high bandwidth and high-performance experiences for IP applications. It is designed to deliver networking continuity in anticipation of the high-speed services it is intended to support and help create. In fact, LTE can be viewed as a market accelerant, because it will also enable real-time game streaming (cloud gaming) on smartphones and mobile Internet devices.

Enhanced QoS to the rescue

In this competitive environment, operators who offer enhanced QoS can make the new applications-enabled networks – both wired and wireless – the network of choice for both applications and content providers (ACPs) and end users. The Alcatel-Lucent vision of a high-leveraged network, which fully enables new applications and content, will:

• Allow third parties access to network elements (previously restricted) that control the quality of their service. This access is an incentive for them to pay for capabilities to attract and retain customers, while generating profits for network operators.
• Enable operators to offer users a choice of how to experience their services as well as those of others by:
• Paying a premium directly, or to a third-party content aggregator
• Relying on advertiser-supported services
• Developing their own content and relationships on a “pay-as-you-grow” basis

Alcatel-Lucent Teen Lab surveys show a growing population that is willing to pay for an improved online experience in both the wired and mobile world and in areas where they should and could seamlessly intersect.

Enhanced QoS: The operators’ conundrum

Based on experience, operators know if they provide enhanced QoS, traffic and applications will use it. However, because such capabilities require network upgrades, the business model to fund these upgrades must be clear. That is particularly true in these highly competitive economic times. The challenge for operators is: Can networks be designed to adapt to the new video-rich, real-time services of the (near) future while making sense financially? The answer is: Yes. With the right strategy, enhanced QoS can provide opportunities for operators to explore new, non-traditional business models.

Innovative business models

Providing QoS from a technical perspective is a challenge and requires time and money. The Alcatel-Lucent Application Enablement vision lets network providers expose specific network capabilities in a controlled and secure way. This means that operators and ACPs can form partnerships to leverage the QoS capabilities, create better user experiences and share the new revenue associated with these new experiences.

Zillion TV™ is one example of these new services. Together with the network operator, they offer a QoS-enhanced Web TV service and share a portion of the subscription revenue. They also offer an ad-funded service that is free to end users. In this model, the advertisers pay for the QoS-enhanced service.

We are also seeing gaming services driving the adoption of turbo boost capabilities and better HSI offers. OnLive™ , a recent addition to the gaming space, renders the game in specialized gaming servers in the network. They offer live streaming to the end users at a guaranteed rate of 2 Mb/s for standard definition and 5 Mb/s for HD quality.

Enhanced QoS is a reality

The bottom line is: When proper bandwidth allocation and enhanced QoS are implemented, improved experiences on wired and wireless networks are possible.

This is good news not just for those who build and operate networks, but also for those who build value on top of these networks, and especially for those who use them. The reality is that Quality of Service = Service Quality = Growth and Profits. This creates a win for end users, a win for ACPs and a win for operators.

To contact the author or request additional information, please send email to enrich.editor@alcatel-lucent.com.

Footnotes

^[1] Alcatel-Lucent study of peer-to-peer traffic, April/May 2009