Multicast TV Channels over Wireless Neutral Access Networks: Proof of Concept and Implementation Lorenz Klopfenstein, Andrea Seraghiti, Alessandro Bogliolo University of Urbino Urbino, Italy 61029 Email: {lorenz.klopfenstein, andrea.seraghiti, alessandro.bogliolo}@uniurb.it Stefano Bonino, Andrea Tarasconi Essentia S.p.A Reggio Emilia, Italy 42124 Email: {stefano.bonino, andrea.tarasconi}@essentia.it Abstract—IP traffic trends and forecasts suggest that tele- vision over IP (IPTV) will be the killer application for next- generation networks (NGNs). There is, however, a chicken and egg situation between the deployment of broadband access networks and the diffusion of high quality multimedia services, such as high definition television, which actually impairs the development of NGNs. As a matter of fact, most existing access infrastructures are still under-provisioned and they provide no suitable support to the widespread diffusion of global Internet TV channels, while wireless access networks are sprouting worldwide to provide nomadic connectivity and to bridge digital divide in sparsely-populated regions. In this scenario, IPTV services are delivered only within the walled gardens of biggest wireline operators and they are far away from reaching the critical mass required to attract investments in NGNs. This paper proposes technological and architectural solutions which enable the widespread diffusion of Internet TV channels over existing wireless access networks, thus overcoming the deadlock between services and infrastructures and paving the way to NGNs. In particular, the paper addresses both technological and market issues and presents the results of laboratory tests and proof-of-concept experiments conducted within the wireless campus of the University of Urbino. Finally, the paper outlines the implementation of the key components of the proposed architecture as addins of openBOXware, an open source platform for the development of bandwidth-aware multimedia applications over IP. Keywords-Internet TV; IPTV; Multicast; Radio broadcast; Proxy. I. I NTRODUCTION Internet protocol television (IPTV) is expected to be the killer application for next-generation Internet [1], [2] for two main reasons. First, because it encompasses high-bandwidth multimedia services which cannot be delivered over today’s network infrastructures with sufficient quality of experience (QoE) [3], thus prompting for the development of next gen- eration networks (NGNs). Second, because IPTV is expected to inherit the popularity of traditional broadcast TV, thus driving the market penetration of NGNs and providing the business opportunities needed to motivate the investments they require. This vision is further supported by IP traffic statistics [4] and video traffic forecasts [5], which predict that consumer IP traffic will account for 87% of the overall aggregate traffic in 2014 and almost 60% of this share will be taken by Internet video streaming and download. In 2011 IPTV services delivered within operators’ networks are expected to account for more than 40% of the overall IP traffic [6]. In spite of the soundness of these arguments, the positive feedback loop between infrastructures and applications is hard to be triggered since none of the two elements can leap forward by itself. Hence, the broadband market suffers from a stagnation which is caused both by the lack of investments (access networks are under-provisioned and there are market-failure areas still affected by infrastructural digital divide) and by the lack of demand (users are aware that existing infrastructures are unsuitable to deliver high- quality multimedia services, so that such services do not create a new demand for network connectivity) [7], [8]. IPTV was born in a scenario characterized by insuffi- cient access infrastructures managed according to monolithic business models and flat-fee access rates. In this context, wireline operators may offer high-value services (including IPTV) within their own walled gardens in order to increase their revenues, but they are not motivated to promote global high-bandwidth applications (such as Internet TV) which can be accessed by their customers through flat-fee connections without generating additional revenues [7]. Both the IPTV services delivered within the walled garden of some operator (literally called IPTV) and the Internet TV networks available worldwide are targeted only to Internet users. This trivial observation has two (less trivial) conse- quences: first, IPTV cannot be sold by itself to people who don’t want to subscribe for an Internet connection [9], [8], second, IPTV users are assumed to be accustomed to Internet browsing. Hence, neither the commercial models nor the usage patterns of IPTV [10] resemble those of traditional television: while broadcast TV is a mass medium per ex- cellence, IPTV is an interactive entertainment service which 93 International Journal on Advances in Telecommunications, vol 4 no 1 & 2, year 2011, http://www.iariajournals.org/telecommunications/ 2011, © Copyright by authors, Published under agreement with IARIA - www.iaria.org