Leveraging Open Caching for Last-Mile Delivery

As of 2022, video streaming has officially passed cable viewership. Due to this viewing trend, the end-to-end infrastructure to support video delivery (particularly for SVOD) has had to evolve to include a last-mile that is capable of delivering video that is the same quality (if not better) than traditional broadcast. Subscriptions for video-on-demand services (SVOD) have now surpassed pay-TV subscriptions. Due to this new viewing trend, combined with the expectation of having a quality experience that is the same if not better than broadcast, the end-to-end infrastructure to support video delivery (particularly for SVOD) has needed to evolve. To manage peak traffic and to maintain a steady state of content delivery, a content provider may use multiple CDNs and deploy techniques such as intelligent load balancers to switch traffic between CDNs. Additionally, commercial CDNs also offer services such as video optimization to help distribute content more efficiently. But in spite of these improvements there are still weak-links in the video delivery ecosystem. This can be the capacity limitation at the meet point (POP), or somewhere within the ISP’s core network where all Internet traffic is competing for the same network resources, or bandwidth limitations at the ISP’s edge network (the proverbial last mile at the ISP). In order to address these weak-links, media technology providers can leverage each component in the content delivery path. The new Open Caching standard enables a move away from proprietary systems, while still supporting an environment that leverages content delivery networks, last mile providers and streaming technologies that bring content closer to the consumer. Content stored closer to customers in this manner travels a shorter distance over the network through fewer routers and switches before reaching the customer. Open Caching is standards-based and encourages collaboration between all constituents in the content delivery pipeline including the content providers, the commercial content delivery networks and the last mile ISP. Additionally, as the market becomes more saturated with video subscription services, content providers are seeking ways to grow and defend their market share in ways that go beyond the actual content they provide. To do this, content providers can use open caching to provide the best possible user experience by reducing network events that could cause freezing or buffering, which will overall improve a user’s quality of experience and enable customers to stream content sooner. By leveraging Open Caching, content providers can bring content closer to the user, and create an overall better viewing experience and ultimately leverage a new way to retain subscribers.