PRISM, an IP-based architecture for broadband access to TV and other streaming media

IP-based networks such as the Internet have been the focal point for innovative technologies, services, and applications. These networks have enabled hugely successful services like the World Wide Web, and they are even attracting traditional services such as telephony. The service model for accessing Web content offers tremendous control and choice to users. In particular the on-demand nature of this model provides users instant access to content of their choice. Another class of services enabled by IP networks is the delivery of streaming audio and video content. While the Web service model also extends to IP-based streaming content, the user experience today does not compare favorably with the quality of broadcast TV. Current broadcasting technologies such as TV, cable, and satellite offer high quality but provide limited choice and do not allow users to access content at arbitrary times (i.e. no on-demand access). Broadcasting is geared towards a “push” model where content distributors control what content is made available to viewers and the time at which it is broadcast. Furthermore, broadcasting systems are essentially closed to all but major media companies. This is in contrast to the Web model where anyone can be a content creator for a global audience. An IP-based model allows specialized producers of content to target arbitrarily small audiences. This in turn fosters the production of content that is rich in variety. Multimedia content generated in this environment will be much larger in volume than the “classical” entertainment content available today. This explosion in content makes the current broadcast service model infeasible. In this paper we present the Portal Infrastructure for Streaming Media (PRISM) architecture that offers a new service model combining the high quality of the broadcasting world with the immediacy of the Web. PRISM uses IP as the fundamental infrastructure for realizing this vision.