Streaming Video Alliance tests caching API interoperability

The Streaming Video Alliance (the Alliance), a global technical association developing solutions to address critical challenges in delivering a high-quality video experience at scale, has achieved a new industry milestone with its Open Caching Testbed Initiative, demonstrating the interoperability of the Alliance’s Open Caching APIs between multiple providers. With Disney Streaming acting as content origin, Broadpeak and Telefonica implemented several of the Open Caching specifications to demonstrate that the Open Caching concept and technology operate as intended and can connect caches from multiple entities involved in delivering streaming video content. This testbed also validates the Open Caching concept and the Alliance’s specifications.

“The open caching interoperability testbed represents some of the groundbreaking work our members are committed to at the Alliance,” said Jason Thibeault, Executive Director at the Streaming Video Alliance. “I applaud the Open Caching Working Group for their dedication to bringing this full circle from initial concept to a real-world implementation with potential to have a lasting impact on the streaming industry.”

With the support of the Configuration API and Capacity API project groups, the Alliance’s Open Caching Working Group has collected recommendations on how to cover specification gaps in a forthcoming document, Open Caching API Implementation Guidelines. This document defines the steps to build an Open Caching Network from scratch, and the testbed demonstrates the end-result.

The primary challenge the document and the testbed solve is providing a clear path for creating interoperability between different caching systems hosted by different companies within the streaming video ecosystem: content providers, CDNs, and Network Operators (ISPs). Through the collaboration of a content owner (Disney Streaming), a CDN Service Provider (Broadpeak), and a Network Operator (Telefónica), the testbed— based on the forthcoming guidelines document— demonstrates how a real-world Open Caching Network can be set up from scratch. This launch of the testbed represents an initial Open Caching Network architecture. The testbed will continue to expand with new Open Caching APIs as they are codified from specifications documents. It will also provide Alliance member companies an environment to test implementations with already validated systems.

The testbed setup for this first proof of concept included the following vendors:

Broadpeak acted as an upstream CDN (uCDN) delegating the user requests to a downstream CDN (dCDN).

Telefónica acted as the dCDN, responding to user requests for content.

Disney Streaming acted as content origin.

“We’re very pleased with the testbed results, the first of more to come based on the newly defined Open Caching APIs. There are additional Alliance member companies ready to participate in trials and contribute to further developments on this front,” said Guillaume Bichot, Head of Exploration at Broadpeak and one of the Project Leads of the Alliance Open Caching Testbed. “While there’s more work to be done, we’re making solid progress and executing on our mission to provide a shared testing environment that grows along with the new OC specifications and permits members to start an open caching development from the ground up.”

“Telefonica has the vision of achieving real CDN interconnection so that Network Operators can distribute third party content in their own networks. The best way to achieve it is by co-leading this project of enhancing Open Caching specifications,” said Francisco Cano, Head of Telefonica CDN Architecture, Evolution & Optimization. “As an Open Caching system is comprised of different elements in different companies (Content Providers, CDNs and Network Operators), this testbed allows member companies to address its development with less effort and test it with others already present, contributing to the generalization of Open Caching as the reference for delivering third party content in our networks.”

The testbed will be available according to a schedule of availability that will be provided to Alliance member companies. Only Alliance member companies will be able to access the testbed at this time. Digital TV News