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TECHNOLOGY WHITE PAPER

ARCHITECTURES FOR VIDEO OVER ADSL: IP & ATM

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Basic Video Applications and Architecture 2
IGMP and STB Signaling 3
Video Traffic Characteristics 3
Requirements for Success 4
Business 4
Technical 4
Second Mile Aggregation 4
ATM Characteristics 5
IP/Ethernet Characteristics 5
Quality of Service 6
ATM QoS 6
IP QoS 6
The Access Network 6
IGMP and ATM DSLAMs 7
IGMP and IP/Ethernet DSLAMs 7
Multicast Performance 7
ATM Multicast Replication 8
Multicast In IP/Ethernet DSLAMs 8
Conclusion 9
Allied Telesyn’s Solution 9
About Allied Telesyn, Inc. 9

INTRODUCTION
Great changes have hit the telecommunications industry. Telephone service providers find themselves
having to shift business strategies to continue their growth. Faced with fierce competition and regulatory
uncertainty, service providers are looking at video delivery to increase revenues and deflect competition.
However, profitable video delivery requires carriers to think carefully about how best to invest in their
network infrastructure.
ADSL bandwidth advances enable the delivery of a “video pipe” over existing copper infrastructure. New
video compression technologies significantly reduce the bandwidth requirements for digital-quality video
transmission. The combination of these technologies makes video viable for most service providers.
However, carriers must balance decisions about infrastructure technology to address customer needs as well
as return on investment.
Because the value of a network is proportional to the cost of delivering services, today’s network decisions
will determine tomorrow’s revenues. This paper compares two access and core infrastructures for delivery
of video over existing copper: Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Internet Protocol (IP).

www . alliedtelesyn . com 1.800.424.4284

© 2003 Allied Telesyn Inc. All rights reserved.
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BASIC VIDEO APPLICATIONS & ARCHITECTURE

There are three levels of infrastructure in a video delivery application: the video head-end, the core, and
the access network.

Multicast Data

Video Signals

ADSL
ATM or IP Core
Video Encoder Set-top Box
DSLAM

Unicast Data
TV TV

Video on Demand server (VoD)

Figure 1: A video delivery system

The video head-end sources signals via satellite or off air channels. The signals are injected into video
encoders, which convert the analog or digital signal into a 3Mbps data stream. The two most common video
encapsulation formats output by an encoder are MPEG-2 over ATM or MPEG-2 over IP.
The core network delivers video content from the head-end to the appropriate end points, where ATM or
IP Layer 3 switches aggregate traffic from DSLAMs. The core network must transport two specific types of
traffic: multicast and unicast, corresponding to broadcast and video-on-demand (VoD) services. In essence,
the core network must assist the multicast application with distributing and replicating the multicast video
streams by passing such traffic through the core from node to node.

Services Traffic Types

Multicast TV Multicast MPEG-2

National TV, Community TV 3Mbps per channel

Unicast MPEG-2 RTP/RTCP

Video on Demand 3Mbps per channel
Movies, Education, Distance Learning

Figure 2: Types of video traffic

Each node along the path makes a decision about which multicast traffic must be replicated and forwarded
to network links or access interfaces, depending on the topology involved.
Replication is the first point at which ATM and IP infrastructure functionality diverge in video applications.
ATM is a non-broadcast multiple access technology. It cannot benefit from the facilities offered by a broadcast
medium such as IP/Ethernet. In IP, broadcast is a simple function. In ATM, broadcasting requires the creation
of cascading, point-to-multipoint Permanent Virtual Circuits (PVCs) at each ATM switch point. As we will
see, ATM and IP will both scale to deliver multicast, but ATM is not as efficient or cost-effective.
The DSLAM is the last element in the access network before the subscriber’s loop. It is responsible for serving
the video stream to the Set-Top Box (STB) in the subscriber’s home. The STB decodes audio and video
streams and delivers the decoded content to the customer’s audio and video appliances. In addition, the STB
may incorporate a web browser to facilitate Internet navigation, Video on Demand, or Pay-per-View events.
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IGMP & STB SIGNALING

IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) allows a Set-top box to communicate its desire to receive
video traffic from the IP multicast source in network, usually a Layer 2/3 switch. The STB sends a “Join”
message (also called an IGMP Report), which permits the multicast source to forward traffic to a particular
television channel, for example. IGMP is a timed polling protocol - the switch sends an IGMP Query
approximately every 30 seconds and waits for a response from the STB. Upon receiving a report from an
STB, the switch continues to send data to it. To change video streams, the STB sends an IGMP Leave
message that prompts the switch to turn the current stream off followed by an IGMP Join message to
prompt sending a new stream (see Figure 3.)

Switch queries
for video requests
Layer 2/3 switch

DSLAM turns current DSLAM turns new

video stream off video stream on

DSLAM

STB responds "Yes", STB sends IGMP STB sends IGMP

keep sending video Set-top Box Leave to change Report to join
video channel a channel

TV

Figure 3: IGMP signaling

VIDEO TRAFFIC CHARACTERISTICS

MPEG-2 compressed video streams require approximately 3Mbps of bandwidth. Controlling network
traffic and reducing the amount of wasted bandwidth is essential in an efficient end-to-end architecture.
The traffic characteristics vary depending on whether the application is broadcast video or Video On
Demand (VOD).
A broadcast video system must multicast data to all end points, and the signal must be available at all end
points at the same time. This requirement is best met with a "push-type" architecture, where the video
content is always present near the outer edges of the access network. In contrast, VOD is a per-subscriber
service and demands a "pull-type" architecture that requires cost-effective incremental bandwidth scala-
bility and traffic engineering.
Video on Demand offers users functions similar to those of a VCR or DVD, competing to a degree with
video and DVD rental. A VOD network is an overlay to a video broadcast network: it consists of a group
of video servers, often located at a head-end. An Ethernet Layer 2/3 switching system balances the traffic
load among the VOD servers and the network. VOD content is forwarded to a DSLAM, which front-ends
the ADSL access network.
The functional VOD flow is as follows: to choose the desired VOD content, the STB makes a RTSP (Real-time
Streaming Protocol) connection to the VOD server. The server begins to stream the content to the STB,
which decodes it. VOD servers are standardizing the Gigabit Ethernet interface to achieve lower costs and
wider deployment. But as VOD succeeds, it will demand a network that can grow its switching and inter-
face capacity to accommodate more VOD customers and the unpredictable nature of that traffic demand.
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REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESS

A video delivery system must address business as well as technical needs:
Business
• Lowest per-video-stream delivery cost
• Low-cost central office aggregation
• Commoditized STB costs to drive ROI
• Simple procedures for operations, administration,
management, and provisioning
• Standards-based network infrastructure
Technical
• Distributing and replicating the multicast video stream
1. Core: First replication stage of video multicast to remote sites
2. Aggregation: Second replication stage of video multicast to DSLAMs
3. DSLAM: Third replication of video multicast to ADSL Loop
• Set-top box interaction with network and IGMP
1. Turning the multicast streams on and off in less than 100 milliseconds
2. Controlling and filtering IGMP messages
3. Providing subscriber loop security with Layer 3 filtering, MAC filtering,
unwanted broadcasts such as netBIOS and DHCP
• Quality of Service requirements
1. Latency and jitter control
2. Ability to tolerate congestion
3. Bandwidth efficiency and control
• Scalability and video channel density
1. Support 500 or more multicast video streams
2. Support one PVC per subscriber (in ATM networks)

Let’s evaluate the relative capabilities of IP and ATM in the aggregation and access Layers
of a distribution network.

SECOND MILE AGGREGATION

ATM networks are voice and to a lesser extent data-oriented. This shows in their use of point-to-point
virtual circuits and lack of inherent multicast functionality. The high cost of ATM interfaces drives up
capital and aggregation costs higher as the subscriber population grows.
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ATM Characteristics
In the ATM architecture, increasing capacity decreases operational efficiency due to the complexity of
managing ATM adaptation layers and PVCs. ATM network bandwidth is burdened by the ATM cell tax
which consumes at least 10% of capacity in overhead. ATM DSLAMs were not designed to handle the
interaction of IGMP protocol signals, which are a requirement for video channel-changing from STBs.

ATM Core

OC-12 ATM ATM Switch or Router

ATM DSLAMs
ADSL
Set-top Boxes

TV TV TV

Figure 4: An ATM-based video distribution network

IP/Ethernet Characteristics
By using IP and Ethernet for aggregation, capital and aggregation costs decrease as subscriber port densities
increase. Operational efficiency increases due to IP’s simple provisioning and because there is no need to
manage PVCs. Bandwidth availability increases because there is no ATM cell tax. Most important, IP is
multicast-oriented because IGMP is a designed-in feature.

IPIP Core
Core

Gigabit Ethernet Layer 2/3 switch

IP DSLAMs
ADSL
Set-top Boxes

TV TV TV

Figure 5: An IP/Ethernet video distribution network

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QUALITY OF SERVICE
Quality of service is a crucial requirement in a video delivery system, and ATM and IP deliver sharply
different benefits when providing video-class QoS.
ATM QoS
ATM is noted for its strong QoS. To support video multicast, ATM uses a Constant Bit Rate (CBR) service
to ensure low transfer delay. CBR allocates bandwidth to an application even if no traffic is present. For
intermittent, bursty traffic, ATM typically uses the more bandwidth-efficient Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR)
service.

ATM Qos for ADSL

Video Stream #1 ATM CBR 3.5Mbps

Video Stream #2 ATM CBR 3.5Mbps
Voice ATM CBR 64Kbps
Internet ATM CBR or UBR 512Kbps

Figure 6: ATM QoS for ADSL

IP QoS
IP provides a powerful and practical means of applying QoS to distinct triple play (voice, video and data)
services. Expedited Forwarding (EF) is designed for implementing a low-latency, low-loss and/or low-jit-
ter service. In a triple play service deployment, multicast video and VoIP will have the highest EF priority.

IP Qos for ADSL

Video Stream #1 3.5Mbps Traffic Class 1, Priority 1 Latency 1

Video Stream #2 3.5Mbps Traffic Class 1, Priority 1 Latency 1
Voice 64Kbps Traffic Class 2, Priority 0 Latency 0
Internet 512Kbps Traffic Class 3, Priority 2 Latency 2

Figure 7: IP QoS for ADSL

Assured Forwarding (AF) offers low packet loss for Video on Demand service and will be second on the
priority list. Internet traffic will have the lowest (AF) priority class, but will have a minimum guaranteed
bandwidth. Both EF and AF can be controlled by the QoS facilities of the aggregation switch. The DSLAM
is QoS-aware and uses the same QoS model.

THE ACCESS NETWORK

The DSLAM is responsible for delivering the video stream to the Set-top box in the subscriber’s home.
Providing integrated multicast switching and replication within the DSLAM offers the best delivery of
video services. Channel-changing must be done at this entry point, and IGMP is the mechanism. ATM and
IP-based DSLAMs have different ways of managing IGMP.
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IGMP & ATM DSLAMs

Multicast ATM connections are controlled by standards-based IGMP messages from the STB. However,
ATM DSLAM vendors often use non-standard implementations of the IGMP channel change function.
These implementations require proprietary CPE to monitor the STB channel-change functions and
perform out-of-band PVC signaling to the upstream DSLAM.
Other solutions include installation of an IP proxy function. In the nomenclature of the IETF, an ATM-
based DSLAM corresponds to a multicast router and the individual STBs correspond to multicast hosts.
Membership in an IP multicast group is equivalent to adding the ATM PVC to a leaf for a multicast tree.
This technique is basic insertion of the IP layer into the ATM switching fabric of a DSLAM.
IGMP & IP/Ethernet DSLAMs
An IP DSLAM monitors the exchange of messages between the Layer 3 switch and the STBs in a process
called IGMP snooping. IGMP snooping is also used to direct which multicast streams go to each sub-
scriber’s loop. The key scaling issue with IGMP snooping is that all IGMP messages pass through the
DSLAM and must be processed by the Layer 3 aggregation switch.
At first glance, this appears to be trivial protocol overhead, but this mechanism creates an aggregation
problem as the subscriber count grows. For example, assume that a DSLAM supports 256 ports and each
port supports two STBs. For each IGMP query sent by the aggregation switch, 512 responses are generat-
ed, every one of which passes through the DSLAM. This problem is greatly magnified if the aggregation
switch supports ten DSLAMs, in which case the switch will be bombarded with 5,120 IGMP responses to
every query, every minute.
To best control the mass of responses from STBs vendors can enhance IGMP snooping capabilities in the
DSLAM itself. In this scenario, the DSLAM would control, filter, and interrogate the IGMP report messages
it receives from STBs, aligning them in a logical order and removing redundant packet information. In
doing so the DSLAM would transmit a condensed IGMP report list to the aggregation switch and greatly
improve network productivity. DSLAM advances in IGMP snooping eliminate unnecessary processing
overhead from the aggregation switch so the switch "sees" only one STB per requested video stream. This
advanced IGMP snooping allows greater scalability in the aggregation tier of the network.

MULTICAST PERFORMANCE
Another unique IGMP-related function of the DSLAM affects bandwidth availability on the ADSL link.
The DSLAM must have the capability to turn the multicast streams on and off very rapidly, in less than 100
milliseconds, to prevent the ADSL line from being flooded with multicast packets when there is a channel
change. As a result, the DSLAM must support multicast replication of packets or cells in hardware and at
wire speed. Consider the following two scenarios, in which we examine ATM DSLAMs that do not support
internal multicast replication.

One ATM PVC for each STB video stream

ATM Fabric

DSL Port 1 DSL Port 2 DSL Port 3 Control Module

ADSL ADSL ADSL

Set-top Box Set-top Box Set-top Box

ABC NBC CNN ABC NBC ABC

Figure 8: Multicast replication in an ATM DSLAM using one PVC per STB video stream
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ATM Multicast Replication

In the scenario shown in Figure 8, an upstream ATM aggregation switch must send multiples copies of one
video stream to reach multiple subscribers. This is a classic scalability problem: an ATM DSLAM will usu-
ally exhaust its ingress bandwidth interface before exhausting port capacity, as shown in Table 1.

Maximum # ADSL port count

of 3Mbps with two streams
Speed ATM interface video streams per subscriber
OC-3 155Mbps 51 25.5
OC-12 622Mbps 207 103.5

Table 1: ATM port capacity and bandwidth

The second scenario shows the latest generation of ATM DSLAMs, which commonly uses “Abacus-style”
ATM switching fabric. The switching fabric places the first multicast stream on an ATM bus that distrib-
utes all cells originating from the ingress interface card to all line cards. The second multicast bus is a
spatial multicast (cell marker) that replicates cells to the ports on line card. (See Figure 9.)

One ATM PVC for each video stream

First Stage
ATM Bus

Second Stage
ATM Bus

DSL Port 1 DSL Port 2 DSL Port 3 Control Module

ADSL ADSL ADSL

Set-top Box Set-top Box Set-top Box

ABC NBC CNN ABC NBC ABC

Figure 9: ATM DSLAM with one ATM PVC per video stream using first and second-stage busses

The first stage ATM bus does not replicate cells on the ATM bus. Instead it provides every cell with a special
marker, identifying it as a multicast cell with a multicast session ID that addresses a special multicast queue
belonging to a particular STB session. The ATM bus device on the line card recognizes this cell as a
multicast cell and only forwards it, if a multicast session for this particular connection is established. Many
ATM DSLAMs that use this multicast technique may require a second network interface for unicast PVC
traffic, such as Internet service.
Multicast In IP/Ethernet DSLAMs
In contrast, let’s examine the internal working of IP/Ethernet DSLAM. In Figure 10, the heavy horizontal
line represents one IP multicast stream from CNN, arriving on a Gigabit Ethernet interface. Once the mul-
ticast stream enters the DSLAM, the switching logic determines the forwarding path to a particular port.
This is accomplished by looking at the MAC forwarding database table that was created when the STB
requested the CNN video stream.
In the example, we see three subscribers watching CNN. The important advantage is the IP switching
fabric’s ability to replicate and direct one incoming multicast stream to many subscriber DSL ports. The
DSLAM must support multicast replication of packets in hardware and at wire speed. This last mile pack-
et replication by the IP DSLAM is key to a scalable, cost-effective access solution.
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One IP Multicast Packet creates multiple video streams

Gigabit Switch Fabric

DSL Port 1 DSL Port 2 DSL Port 3 Control Module

ADSL ADSL ADSL

Set-top Box Set-top Box Set-top Box

CNN NBC CNN ABC NBC CNN

Figure 10: Internal Packet Replication of Multicast Video in an IP DSLAM

CONCLUSION
The objective of a Video over ADSL architecture is to cost-effectively deliver multicast and unicast data
across core, aggregation, and access networks. ATM is a connection-oriented technology that requires
point-to-point virtual circuits at each DSLAM for any service. ATM’s point-to-point nature, while useful
in delivering predictable quality of service, limits a service provider’s ability to cost-effectively scale the
delivery of video.
In contrast, IP and broadcast video are similar in their broadcast nature. In both IP and video, all nodes on
the network receive all signals, and it is up to the node to decide what traffic belongs to that node. It is this
similarity of architecture that makes the transition from ATM to IP on the DSLAM a watershed event.

ALLIED TELESYN’S SOLUTION

Ethernet is a well-established, end-to-end interface and network protocol that offers a simplified infra-
structure approach for increased carrier profitability. Ease of deployment, life cycle maintenance, and
troubleshooting are all dramatically reduced in an Ethernet network.
Allied Telesyn’s new triple play DSLAM platforms are IP-based. They use Gigabit Ethernet ingress to drive
down Central Office aggregation costs, and they use an Ethernet backplane. In these DSLAMs, the QoS and
switching fabric are IP multicast-aware, and advanced IGMP snooping maximizes the use of aggregation
layer equipment and bandwidth. In addition, the ubiquity and competitiveness of Ethernet silicon means
that costs for Ethernet components quickly ramp down over time.
In order for carriers to be successful in delivering triple play voice, data, and video services, they must select
an architecture that is scaleable, simple, and reliable. Those advantages are firmly in place with Allied
Telesyn’s all-IP/Ethernet solutions. The capability of this architecture, along with the cost advantages of
Allied Telesyn’s building block approach, make Allied Telesyn a leader in delivering triple play infrastructure
to service providers.

ABOUT ALLIED TELESYN, INC.

Allied Telesyn, Inc. leads the world in network technologies for the access edge. Since the company's inception in 1987, Allied Telesyn
has been developing IP-based network products for use in video, voice and data networks at the metro edge, in education, govern-
ment agencies and across the enterprise. Allied Telesyn's access, aggregation and core transport technologies range from simple
Ethernet adapters, hubs and media converters to robust multi-layer Gigabit Ethernet switches and routers, wireless systems, DTM and
WDM transport solutions for delivering real-time voice, video and data. Allied Telesyn's comprehensive support and professional serv-
ice programs are suited to meet the growing demands of today's switched broadband infrastructures.Website: www.alliedtelesyn.com.