About the session
As competition for video-on-demand (VOD) channel space accelerates, a growing number of linear HDTV channels come to air and greater volumes of bandwidth are allocated to broadband video services, MSOs urgently require a fast track, low-cost approach to accommodating changes in consumer demand. In particular, operators are under pressure to deliver an immediate expansion of VOD capacity for minimal investment using existing network resources. A compelling new approach to this problem is based on transrating, a familiar broadcast concept freshly applied to the on-demand world. This technology, being brought to market for the first time, can effectively expand VOD channel capacity for both standard and high definition content by as much as 50% without requiring additional QAMs and without incurring the delays and disruptions associated with techniques such as switched digital video (SDV) or node splitting. This method of bandwidth reclamation entails surgical placement of the transrating platform between VOD servers and edge QAMs with connectivity into network management systems (NMSs) and session resource managers (SRMs). For maximum impact, this solution processes streams in real time and is fully compatible with all varieties of VOD servers, QAMs, encryption platforms and management systems commonly used in cable systems. This presentation examines the core technology elements behind VOD transrating, VOD network architectures, as well the business case behind such a solution and possible operations considerations.
