The 2nd Convergence: A Technology Viewpoint

Abstract

We are at the down of the 2nd convergence. The first convergence, the technology convergence, was in fact many convergences: the wired/wireless and fixed/mobile convergence that gave us the Internet of today and ubiquitous connectivity, the device convergence of smart phones and tablets, and the media convergence that changed the way we consume content at home, work and on the road. The 2nd Convergence is melding technology, business models, social networks and culture and catalyses media and story telling innovation. It is breaking through traditional design silos and is displacing traditional linear value chains and some the predominant business models and creates a new generation of innovators, users and creators across skill and age barriers. This book chapter will review the technology convergence, the first convergence, by revisiting its heritage, establishing its basis, reviewing current and past research and providing early implementation examples as well as challenges and controversies. It will show that the 2nd convergence emerges from it and promises even more innovation in the future.

Appendix

3GPP:

3rd Generation Partnership Project

AF:

Access Function

ATIS:

Alliance for Telecommunication Industry Solutions

D2D:

Device to Device

DRM:

Digital Rights Management

DSL:

Digital Subscriber Line

DVR:

Digital Video Recorder

ETSI:

European Telecommunication Standards Institute

GSM:

Global System for Mobile (Communications)

GSMA:

GSM Association

IETF:

Internet Engineering Task Force

FMC:

Fixed-Mobile Convergence

IEEE:

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IIF:

IPTV Interoperability Forum

IMS:

Internet Multimedia Subsystem

IP:

Internet Protocol

IPv4:

Internet Protocol version 4

IPv6:

Internet Protocol version 6

IPTV:

Internet Protocol Television

ISP:

Internet Service Provider

MAC:

Medium Access Control

MIT:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

NGN:

Next Generation Network or New Generation Network

OTT:

Over the top

P2P:

Peer to Peer

POP:

Point of Presence

QoE:

Quality of Experience

QoS:

Quality of Service

RACS:

Resource and Admission Control Subsystem

RFC:

Request for Comments

SIP:

Session Initiation Protocol

STB:

Set-top Box

STV:

Social Television

TISPAN:

TIPHON (Telecommunications and Internet Protocol Harmonization over Networks) and SPAN (Services and Protocols for Advanced Networks)

TV:

Television

VoIP:

Voice over IP

XoIP:

“Anything” over IP

Architecture::

abstract representation of a communications system

Control plane::

plane that has a layered structure and performs the call control and connection control functions; it deals with the signalling necessary to set up, supervise and release calls and connections

Flow (of IP packets)::

traffic associated with a given connection-oriented, or connectionless, packet sequence having the same 5-tuple of source address, destination address, Source Port, Destination Port, and Protocol type

Goodput::

the number of bits delivered to an application

Forwarding::

process of relaying a packet from source to destination through intermediate network segments and nodes

Management plane::

the management plane provides two types of functions, namely Layer Management and plane management functions

Throughput::

the number of bits delivered from a network to an attached device

User plane::

plane that has a layered structure and provides user information transfer, along with associated controls (e.g. flow control, recovery from errors, etc.)