All-Optical Networks Will Drive Innovation in Ultra-HD Video Services

May 09, 2019

[China, Guangzhou, May 9, 2019] At the 2019 World Conference on Ultra HD Video (4K/8K) Industry, Huawei released its all-optical network architecture for ultra-high definition (UHD) video services. This architecture will help build a simplified network with gigabit access, E2E optical hard pipe, and intelligent O&M. It aims to enable a premium UHD video service experience and promote prosperity in the UHD video industry.

The global video industry has entered a new era of development, which will bring about revolutionary innovations in visual experiences. Video services have evolved from standard definition to high definition to 4K/8K to VR and even holographic videos. UHD video will become a mainstream service in the future, and the entire UHD industry ecosystem is booming. In China, 4K content exceeds 10,000 hours, the penetration rate of 4K TVs has exceeded 70%, and the number of mainstream platform applications for global VR exceeds 6,000. However, there are still huge challenges brought by UHD video services in the network industry. 4K live broadcasts and comfortable VR require bandwidth greater than 200 Mbps and an E2E delay of less than 20 ms with zero packet loss. This is more demanding than any previous home network service.

Kevin Huang, Chief Marketing Officer of Huawei Transmission & Access Product Line, spoke at the 2019 World Conference on Ultra HD Video (4K/8K) Industry

Kevin Huang, Chief Marketing Officer of Huawei Transmission & Access Product Line, said: "The entire industry chain needs to work together to accelerate technological innovation and promote the prosperity of the UHD industry. As a world-leading ICT infrastructure provider, Huawei has developed the Optical Networking 2.0 (ON2.0) strategy to build all-optical networks that fully support innovative ultra-HD video services, aiming to promote the prosperity of the whole industry." Specifically, the strategy involves the following three aspects:

Realize gigabit access networks by leveraging 10G PON and home Wi-Fi innovations. Using Huawei's end-to-end 10G PON solution, operators can ensure gigabit high-speed access for every home user. In addition, algorithm optimization and dual-band steering can reduce Wi-Fi interference between neighboring channels and improve home Wi-Fi access quality. Currently, Huawei’s 10G PON OLT can support 16,000 online 4K home users at the same time. Huawei's innovative 10G PON ONT supports 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz dual-band Wi-Fi, with an access latency less than 7 ms.

Construct dynamic hard pipes to ensure the E2E bearer quality for different video services . Based on 10G PON OLT hard slice isolation, dynamic OTN channel construction, cloud-and-network synergy, and on-demand bearer, a complete video service bearer channel can be built to carry live broadcast services, interactive services, and common video services separately in multiple paths. By cooperating with China Mobile (Guangdong), Huawei has developed the OTN 4K premium live broadcast solution with zero packet loss, network delay of less than 10 ms, and a delay jitter of less than 5 ms, enabling a premium E2E experience for 4K live broadcast services.

Introduce a full-lifecycle automatic management platform to implement intelligent O&M for video services . Based on artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud technology innovation, a smart brain can be built for all-optical networks to implement automatic network lifecycle management and ensure that video services can be visualized, managed, and predicted for optimal experience. Based on Huawei's Network Cloud Engine (NCE), operators can visualize the quality of video services in real time and improve network O&M efficiency by 30%.

As a conclusion to his speech, Kevin Huang said: "The prosperity of the UHD video industry depends on cooperation across the entire industry chain. Huawei will stick to win-win cooperation with all partners to open up a blue ocean market worth a trillion dollars in the UHD video industry."

Currently, Huawei has participated in many global UHD video industry organizations such as CUVA, BBF, and WFA, and launched the Ultra-HD Video Industry Action Plan together with industry partners. The VR OpenLab industry cooperation plan pioneered by Huawei has also attracted 63 partners to jointly promote the Cloud VR industry.