Advanced Television

Qwilt launches new Open Edge Cloud Platform

February 7, 2017

Qwilt, a provider of content delivery solutions, announced today the launch of Qwilt’s Open Edge Cloud platform, a next generation content and application delivery platform for Service Providers that enables a high quality streaming experience for consumers at scale through a managed platform and an open API for commercial CDNs and publishers. Qwilt’s Open Edge Cloud platform creates a massively distributed content delivery solution that supports applications such as 4K Live Streaming, AR, VR, Self-Driving Cars and IoT. In a separate news release issued today, the company detailed its vision for Edge Cloud computing in Internet service provider networks.

With the advent of 4K Live Streaming, VR, AR and 360 Video, latency and scale have become critical for many new applications. As cloud computing continues to evolve, more applications will require the Edge Cloud, a platform of applications running on common compute and storage infrastructure deployed deep in Internet service provider networks and, in many cases, in the home, the enterprise or in a vehicle. The Edge Cloud extends and complements the centralized cloud infrastructure run by Amazon, Microsoft, Google and others. The balance between the centralized cloud and Edge Cloud is dynamic—at any moment, given consumer and enterprise demand for compute resources, publishers and cloud service providers will decide when content or application delivery should be pushed from the centralized cloud out to the Edge Cloud.

Qwilt’s Open Edge Cloud Platform – Enabling Infrastructure for New Applications

Qwilt’s Open Edge Cloud Platform, a unique solution for edge computing, is comprised of three core elements. First, a centralized management and control plane orchestrates dynamic assignment of edge cloud resources for content delivery. Second, an Open API to commercial CDNs and publishers serves as a single point of integration for access to worldwide Open Edge Cloud infrastructure. The third and final component is Qwilt’s software-based edge delivery nodes that run on common compute and storage hardware, which are deployed deep in service provider networks, at the home or in the enterprise. The Qwilt Open Edge Cloud nodes are designed to deliver both service provider-owned and third party content. They are also optimized for high capacity delivery per rack unit to achieve the best possible performance given the restricted space and power considerations at edge locations. Taken together, the Qwilt Open Edge Cloud uniquely facilitates next generation content and application delivery.  

One Open Edge Cloud – Two Service Provider Solutions with Room To Grow

The Qwilt Open Edge Cloud platform delivers two service provider solutions today and will continually expand to address more use cases and applications. Today, two service provider solutions available for the Qwilt Open Edge Cloud offer open caching and an operator content delivery network. Specifically:

  • Open Caching enables high performance and scalable content delivery. Qwilt’s Open Cache solution is engineered specifically for high performance and scalable content delivery in the demanding environment of high capacity operator networks—regardless of content source or streaming protocol. With over 120 deployments worldwide, Qwilt has proven experience managing Open Caching deployments in tier 1 fixed broadband and mobile networks; the company has also led industry developments for Open Caching as a Founding Member of and Working Group Chair within the Streaming Video Alliance.
  • Operator Content Delivery Network provides service providers full-featured in-network CDN. Qwilt’s Open Edge Service Provider CDN is a full-featured in-network CDN that is cloud managed and relies on Qwilt’s software-based edge nodes for delivery of service provider content. It is designed to satisfy a wide range of managed content delivery scenarios in service provider networks including video on demand (VoD), live event streaming and live linear TV streaming.

Open Edge Cloud – Content Delivery for a Wide Range of Use Cases

The Qwilt Edge Cloud Platform and solution portfolio uniquely address service provider content delivery requirements and unleash new possibilities for applications and services. The Qwilt Open Edge Cloud has the capability to deliver high quality streams for events such as the season finale from the service provider’s VoD offering while at the same time delivering live streams for the NFL playoffs. Edge Cloud resources can then be directed to support distribution of the latest Apple iOS software release later in the week. Given service provider trends toward all-IP networks, there is a clear need for a comprehensive private content delivery network that is integrated seamlessly with Open Caching.

“Enabling the Open Edge Cloud in Service Provider networks is our strategic priority,” said Alon Maor, CEO of Qwilt and Board Member of the Streaming Video Alliance. “Along with our service provider partners, we are enabling the global Edge Cloud at a pace that can keep up with publisher demand for compute resources running their new applications with requisite scale and quality. With Qwilt’s cloud-based Open API, we can now offer CDN partners and publishers integration, media delivery and reporting via the Open Edge Cloud content delivery network.”

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