The Streaming Video Alliance said this week that it successfully demonstrated multi-provider interoperability of its Open Caching APIs, connecting content caches from multiple entities in a new testbed order to deliver streaming video.
The testing involved Disney+ as the content origin, with Broadpeak and Telefonica implementing the Alliance’s Open Caching (OC) specs. Broadpeak acted as the upstream Content Delivery Network (uCDN) that delegates user requests for content to a downstream CDN (dCDN); Telefonica was the dCDN in this scenario. Content providers, CDNs and network operators all have different caching systems, the Alliance explained in a release, and Open Caching is aimed at connecting them.
Francisco Cano, Telefonica’s head of CDN architecture, evolution and optimization, commented that the network operator “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.”
The Streaming Video Alliance, founded in 2014, aims to solve technical issues related to video streaming. The organization has a soon-to-be-released document on Open Caching API implementation guidelines that, along with the testbed aims to help cover specification gaps and illustrate how an interoperable Open Caching network can be architected. The testbed will add new Open Caching APIs as they are specified and provide Alliance member companies withe a test environment, the group said.
“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.”
“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, who is head of exploration at Broadpeak and one of the project leads for 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.”
In other test news:
–Anritsu and MediaTek recently announced that they have verified the first Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA) protocol conformance test for 5G New Radio. The test was conducted with Anritsu’s 5G NR Mobile Device Test Platform ME7834NR and a device using MediaTek’s M70 5G modem. As precise positioning information becomes more important for 5G use cases in automotive, industrial applications and more, Anritsu noted that a plethora of positioning mechanisms have been added to the NR standards — and more are on the way. OTDOA specifically, it explained, was originally introduced in LTE and has been extended into 5G NR. It relies on the user device receiving a Positioning Reference Signal from multiple cells and figuring out the time differences in reception, then using that information to compute its location with help from a location server.
Anritsu said that it has submitted its tests to 3GPP’s RAN Working Group 5 and that they will also be submitted to the Global Certification Forum and PTCRB.
In other recent news from Anritsu, the company has teamed up with testing chamber company Bluetest to offer a “strong and up-to-date” over-the-air measurement solution for Wi-Fi that includes newly opened unlicensed frequencies up to 6 GHz. The 6 GHz airwaves in question actually extend up to 7.125 GHz, beyond the range of most previous systems aimed at WLAN and Bluetooth testing.
Anritsu also said this week that its LTE V2X PC5 Communications Software MX725000A now supports the Cohda wireless communications module for conducting tests of cellular vehicle-to-everything PC5 communications functions in connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs).
–EXFO‘s plan to go private under the ownership of its founder and executive chairman has been approved by the Superior Court of Québec. The company said earlier this week that it expected the transaction to be completed before the end of this month. Full story here.
–Keysight Technologies has joined Google Cloud’s partner initiative focused on supporting services at the network edge.
“As a Google Cloud partner, Keysight will support service providers transitioning to cloud and edge computing, which are needed for delivering advanced applications and use cases such as streaming media, cloud gaming, connected vehicles, private wireless networks and immersive experiences,” said Scott Bryden, VP of Keysight’s operator industry solutions group. “Keysight’s solutions across wireless and wireline technologies enable hyperscalers and mobile operators to create unified, heterogenous networks that support a wide range of use cases, requirements and applications.”
In other Keysight news, the company said this week that Chinese networking equipment company H3C is using Keysight test solutions for PCIe compliance validation and performance validation, as H3C expands from its traditional market in servers, routers and switches, into small cell offerings for 5G.
–Viavi Solutions notched a recent win with Picocom, which will rely on Viavi’s test solutions to validate Open RAN base station components from chips to protocol stack software for 5G small cell networks. Viavi’s TM500 network tester will be used in Picocom’s lab to create “a sophisticated and precise test environment” that includes simulated RF, comprehensive feature interactions and “accurate replications of real-world user behavior profiles”, Viavi said, so that the company can make sure that O-RAN small cell base stations will perform as needed.
-Autonomous vehicle Nuro announced this week that it will spent $40 million on two new facilities in southern Nevada: A manufacturing facility and closed-course test track. The facilities will support the commercialization and scaling of the company’s low-speed, autonomous electric delivery vehicles, and the company said the factory will have the capacity to produce tens of thousands of them. Nuro will also be taking over 74 acres of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to build a closed-course testing facility that will allow “sophisticated development and validation” of its vehicles, the company said, enabling it to test systems as well as assess its vehicles’ ability to respond to scenarios such as avoiding pedestrians and pets or giving bicycles space on shared roadways.
Nuro has partnerships with a number of national brands to explore autonomous delivery; in June, it announced a multi-year partnership with FedEx, including a pilot project slated to begin in Houston. Construction on the production facility will begin this fall, and both facilities are expected to be operational in 2022.
