Juniper Networks Inc. is using GLOBALCOMM this week as an opportunity to announce a new deal with FastWeb of Italy and to send out the message that it sees IPTV not as a single service, but rather the opportunity for service providers to deliver a variety of applications over an integrated and intelligent IP infrastructure.
The vendor this week also is unveiling initiatives to open up such networks, and it is talking about a new security architecture addressing IPTV services.
FastWeb, the No. 1 IPTV provider in Europe, has chosen Juniper’s E-320 Broadband Services Router to support its IPTV services, said Shailesh Shukla, Juniper’s vice provider of service provider marketing and partnerships.
Shukla continued that some vendors are pushing the idea of overlay architectures for video, but he said that while that may allow them to sell more gear, “it creates the same mentality of silos that [service providers] are trying to get away from.” Meanwhile, he said, Juniper advocates integrated IP networks that offer QoS and intelligence at the edge so bandwidth can be carved out as needed for specific applications – like online games, corporate VPN connections, video, VoIP, or whatever – and users.
Shukla added that at GLOBALCOMM Juniper is unveiling its OpenIPTV and Multiplay Initiative, which encompasses several efforts.
That includes Juniper’s embrace of the DSL Forum’s TR-101; the company is announcing at the show four new high-density Ethernet line cards for its M series routers to help service providers rapidly migration from ATM-based to Ethernet-based networks. Shukla said Juniper is the first router vendor to support TR-101.
Juniper also now supports the IETF’s L2CP in its E series routers. Layer 2 Control Protocol is a signaling mechanism used by DSLAMs to inform BRAS and edge router gear what bandwidth is available in the loop for various subscribers, said Shukla, explaining that it enables service providers to assign priority to given traffic.
Juniper also has established the OpenIP service creation program, through which it has “exposed an API” on its SDX-300 that any other supplier of equipment – be it a softswitch, middleware, a video server or whatever – can use to inform the IP network that a subscriber needs a higher level QoS. Eight equipment vendors, including IBM Corp., Microsoft Corp., SeaChange, Siemens and RealNetworks, have already test the API, said Shukla, adding that Juniper is also considering making the components of the API open source so anyone can enhance the API. The API is available at http://www.juniper.net/techpubs/software/management/sdx/ .
Finally, Juniper said a new architecture employing its existing NS-5200 and ISG (integrated security gateway) offers service providers needed security on the control signals between set-top boxes within subscriber homes and network-based video servers. Shukla said that one service provider recently had a technician make a PC look like a set-top box and was able to launch a denial of service attack capable of bringing down an entire IPTV network. But by securing control signals with this new Juniper architecture, he said service providers can guard again potential DoS attacks.
Juniper Networks www.juniper.net
