A Set-top Box with Virtual Platform Support for QoS Management in IMS Based Multiple Provider Networks

Abstract

Set-top Box (STB) has evolved from being a device just sitting on top of a TV shelf to a device providing a gateway to the Internet for a home network, receiving services from multiple content providers, and enabling and ensuring Quality of Service (QoS) for the streaming media. IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), with its promise to provide a converged access network for multimedia service delivery (such as Triple play & Quadruple play services), has to guarantee QoS support. To enable QoS in IMS-based networks, we have designed a set-top box which provides feedback to the service provider to ensure end-to-end QoS. Our set-top box is designed to provide virtual platforms such that it can support multiple service providers. Each service provider is able to manage its own multimedia streams and ensures the desired network performance for each flow. The set-top box also works as a Home Gateway and provides end-to-end QoS support to the client nodes.