Wireless world: The increasing WiFi burden July 2
Post# of 96892
Posted On: 07/28/2016 8:16:02 AM
Wireless world: The increasing WiFi burden
July 27, 2016
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phone_holding_lifestyle_picGrowth in devices that can play back video means that more demands than ever are being placed on domestic WiFi networks. With 4K UHD TV and VR on the way, the problem is only going to get worse. Stuart Thomson looks at possible solutions.
Fixed-line multi-play operators have long supported in-home WiFi as part of their broadband offering and, more recently, in-home WiFi has been used to deliver TV everywhere services. Now, with the launch of advanced TV offerings, including complete line-ups of HD – and increasingly also 4K Ultra HD – channels, supplied to an ever-expanding number of devices in the home, the burden on WiFi is becoming greater.
The issue is particularly pressing for service providers as problems with WiFi connectivity account for a huge proportion of calls to their customer care centres and ultimately for people churning from their services.
Charles Cheevers, chief technology officer, customer premises equipment, at technology provider Arris, says that operators must build in-home networks that can cope with the expected growth in bandwidth consumption driven by the proliferation of connected devices and the popularity of ultra-high-bandwidth applications such as virtual reality gaming.
While video streaming, even of 4K UHD TV content, along with a migration of QAM video to IP will ultimately only require about 25Mbps within the home, Cheevers foresees four tipping points that could dramatically increase in-home bandwidth demand.
One is the switch to UHD video over IP, leading to a fourfold growth in bandwidth. A second is uptake of wirelessly connected 8K TVs, thin enough to be wall-mounted, that will likely be wirelessly connected, avoiding the need for an ungainly set-top box to be mounted alongside them. Together with existing applications, this could require 170Mbps.
The other two tipping points relate to HD and UHD virtual reality applications. The addition of HD virtual reality could require 350Mbps while full UHD virtual reality could lead to bandwidth demand over 10 times that required today for IP video – perhaps 675Mbps.
Growth in demand for these high-bandwidth applications will go hand-in-hand with growth in the number of connected devices – tablets, smartphones, wireless cameras, and other devices – all of them consuming video wirelessly.
July 27, 2016
Related Content
Sky to launch UHD set-top box in Germany, Italy this autumn
Sky to launch VR app this summer
UHD and HDR: Moving From Idea To Widespread Adoption
Comcast Ventures invests in VR studio Kite & Lightning
Consumers expected to pay up to 30% more for 4K UHD
SES working with US cable operators on UHD TV trials
phone_holding_lifestyle_picGrowth in devices that can play back video means that more demands than ever are being placed on domestic WiFi networks. With 4K UHD TV and VR on the way, the problem is only going to get worse. Stuart Thomson looks at possible solutions.
Fixed-line multi-play operators have long supported in-home WiFi as part of their broadband offering and, more recently, in-home WiFi has been used to deliver TV everywhere services. Now, with the launch of advanced TV offerings, including complete line-ups of HD – and increasingly also 4K Ultra HD – channels, supplied to an ever-expanding number of devices in the home, the burden on WiFi is becoming greater.
The issue is particularly pressing for service providers as problems with WiFi connectivity account for a huge proportion of calls to their customer care centres and ultimately for people churning from their services.
Charles Cheevers, chief technology officer, customer premises equipment, at technology provider Arris, says that operators must build in-home networks that can cope with the expected growth in bandwidth consumption driven by the proliferation of connected devices and the popularity of ultra-high-bandwidth applications such as virtual reality gaming.
While video streaming, even of 4K UHD TV content, along with a migration of QAM video to IP will ultimately only require about 25Mbps within the home, Cheevers foresees four tipping points that could dramatically increase in-home bandwidth demand.
One is the switch to UHD video over IP, leading to a fourfold growth in bandwidth. A second is uptake of wirelessly connected 8K TVs, thin enough to be wall-mounted, that will likely be wirelessly connected, avoiding the need for an ungainly set-top box to be mounted alongside them. Together with existing applications, this could require 170Mbps.
The other two tipping points relate to HD and UHD virtual reality applications. The addition of HD virtual reality could require 350Mbps while full UHD virtual reality could lead to bandwidth demand over 10 times that required today for IP video – perhaps 675Mbps.
Growth in demand for these high-bandwidth applications will go hand-in-hand with growth in the number of connected devices – tablets, smartphones, wireless cameras, and other devices – all of them consuming video wirelessly.
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