IPTV Systems, Standards and Architectures: Part II - Application Layer FEC In IPTV Services

Insufficient quality due to packet loss is one of the main obstacles to the broad adoption of IPTV services. However, with the use of end-to- end application layer reliability solutions IPTV services can be enabled over existing IP networks. In particular, application layer forward error correction (AL-FEC) solutions provide a straightforward and powerful means to overcome packet loss. Different solutions for different IPTV service types are introduced and compared. Selected performance results are provided to show the performance and potential of AL-FEC solutions for IPTV applications. From the results it is verified that even in non-perfect transmission conditions IPTV services can easily be deployed without requiring huge investments in new infrastructure and network equipment. Powerful AL-FEC enables high-quality IPTV services without abandoning the promises of the Internet: best effort transport and end-to-end reliability.