To address the changing dynamics of network traffic, Reliance Jio and Cisco’s strategic relationship scales across multiple domains and technology areas.
Cisco and Reliance Jio are now working together to leverage the power of multi-access edge computing, beginning with a use case to further optimise and enhance video experience over the network by developing a mobile content delivery network (CDN). In this concept, the CDN is integrated into the mobile LTE network with edge caches in close proximity to the mobile users. With a mobile CDN, the mobile operator can deliver content via edge cloudlets to provide a better user experience with lower latency and higher performance.
For the prototype, the companies used a combination of IP address management techniques based on the mobile core, requiring tight integration between edge cache, mid-tier cache, and the traffic router in the Cisco Open Media Distribution system. The mobile core and the Cisco Open Media Distribution were combined into one system level solution for the CDN embedded in the mobile network.
To solve the problem of user plane selection, they used a technique called Control/User Plane Separation (CUPS) as defined in 3GPP R14[2] (Third-Generation Partnership Project R14 standards release). Cisco and Reliance Jio also solved the issue of assigning a geographically appropriate IP address to the mobile device and the issue of handover resiliency in the face of IP address changes on the client side and the CDN cache site without change or disturbance to the current services.
“Reliance Jio is always about innovation and disruption, and multi-access edge computing enables a new way to deliver a broad range of media and mission critical services with enhanced customer experience with improved network efficiency,” said Mathew Oommen, president, Reliance Jio. “Reliance Jio and Cisco continue to drive advancements in technology and create unique best practices for service aware networking, and this joint collaboration on edge computing is another example of our effort to constantly reinvent the network and the services.”
“Reliance Jio marked many innovation milestones with Cisco on the buildout of its LTE network, and that was just the tip of the iceberg,” said Yvette Kanouff, senior vice president, general manager, Service Provider Business, Cisco. “With this multi-access edge computing demo, we are showcasing the possibilities enabled by edge computing to deliver premium-quality mobile entertainment experiences to RJIO customers.”