Live from the Carrier Edge
随着流媒体日益成为一些全球最受关注内容的首选消费模式, expectations for high-quality and a great user experience are intensifying. Live sports, concerts, breaking news, 和红毯活动现在占了每天通过服务提供商网络的OTT流量的很大一部分. This reality is magnified when you consider new, more bandwidth-intense types of content that are now coming to the fore, including VR/AR and volumetric video. 服务提供商现在必须问自己，他们准备好管理这种巨大的网络负载了吗?
The answer should be yes. 每个服务提供商的最终目标是建立一个卓越的交付网络，完美地交付实时内容, regardless of spikes in traffic. However, the reality today is often far removed from that desired endpoint. 即使服务提供商配备了相当大的网络容量，也可能面临一项艰巨的任务，即确保不受损害的可伸缩性，最终为用户提供更好的体验质量(QoE). 现在，人们的注意力转向了边缘交付技术如何克服直播的长期挑战，并使服务提供商能够更好地管理通过其网络的流量.
Taking control of network traffic
网络流量高峰是不可避免的，尤其是在大型全球体育赛事期间. Take Super Bowl LVII as an example: Nielsen reported an average of over 113 million fans watching the US broadcast. FOX said its average audience 代表了有史以来收视率第二高的非加时赛超级碗，也是福克斯体育历史上收视率第二高的节目. Furthermore, its streaming audience reached an all-time high average of 7 million. 确保必要的容量来处理这种流媒体需求可能是令人生畏的，通常涉及多个CDN合作伙伴，潜在的峰值流量为80Tbps或更高. 这也是全球服务提供商通过转向开放缓存来优化其网络的原因之一, 这项技术由Qwilt支持，由流媒体视频技术联盟(SVTA)开发。.
开放缓存解决了由于数字媒体和其他在线内容消费增加而导致的互联网基础设施的主要瓶颈. By placing caches deep within service provider networks, open caching solves the capacity challenge by enabling cable, telco, 移动网络运营商可以缓存和传输距离消费者较近的流媒体. This means the live workflows are dramatically reduced, streaming latency is minimized, and newly standardized protocols can be deployed faster than ever before.
What does it take to deliver a live streaming event?
Qwilt recently conducted a survey of 300+ content publishers, 谁被赋予了为1000万观众举办直播活动的任务. When asked about their greatest concerns for this hypothetical event, 大多数受访者(52%)担心他们的商业CDN在确保足够的容量或整体CDN性能方面. 下一个最重要的问题包括总体延迟(17%)和测量QoE(17%)。.
调查结果重申了内容发布商在CDN合作伙伴关系中面临的担忧:由于流媒体QoE不佳，可能会导致数百万美元的内容版权投资风险和客户流失. Latency is always a concern with live event streaming. For instance, SSIMWAVE, 在今年的超级碗期间，该公司测量了超过六家广播和OTT流媒体的视频质量, found that of the five streaming services measured, 其中四家的延迟比最快的流媒体服务慢20-40秒.
What’s possible from the edge?
从真正的电信边缘交付内容，并尽可能接近最终用户，通过更低的延迟获得更好的QoE, higher throughput, and reduced time to first frame. 与传统的商业cdn相比，这导致了更低的再缓冲率和更高的平均比特率. 重点在于提供反映提供商网络独特需求和能力的“质量即服务”.
开放缓存通过在服务提供商网络深处以及对等和交换点潜在拥塞的下游分布单独的实时流，始终如一地提供卓越的QoE. Unlike commercial CDN nodes that are centrally located in the mid-mile, 开放缓存节点深深嵌入到服务提供商网络中，位于离用户最近的位置——可能只有几个街区之遥.
Open caching-based architectures create network capacity in a more efficient, 边缘计算形式，使您可以扩展更少，并从边缘以更高的质量提供更多的流媒体内容. In short, open caching offers measurable benefits to the entire ecosystem – publishers, service providers, and consumers, and is quickly becoming the new standard of content delivery quality.
[Editor's note: This is a contributed article from Qwilt. Streaming Media accepts vendor bylines based solely on their value to our readers.]
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