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ATIS Maps the Way to Content Optimized Networks

ATIS Maps the Way to Content Optimized Networks

WASHINGTON — Feb. 23, 2017 —  ATIS today announced release of Evolution to Content Optimized Networks, a major report establishing an evolutionary path from today’s IP-based routing network to a future network that leverages the increasingly important role of content.

Annual global IP traffic passed the zettabyte (or 1000 exabytes) threshold at the end of 2016, and is projected to increase nearly threefold over the next five years,[1] bringing with it a greater need to innovate in order to transport this content more intelligently.  Current networks are connection-oriented, requiring a connection from the server to the client for each data transfer.

“The market is shifting to a new era of content-rich applications, such as those that deliver augmented reality and context-aware services,” said ATIS VP of Technology and Solutions, Mike Nawrocki. “Users place an intrinsically higher value on these applications than they do on data and information alone, and that’s why evolving our networks to meet this demand is critical.”

This new ATIS report examines how content, instead of being tied to communication between two points, could travel as named data objects and be present in multiple locations across the network.  With the surge in Internet traffic, huge efficiencies could be gained by evolving from the host-centric dependency. From a security standpoint, there is an opportunity to improve overall security by ensuring that these content data objects are signed by the publisher.

“ATIS’ groundbreaking report explores what is needed to optimize current network architectures to meet the future needs of the content-centric marketplace,” said ATIS President and CEO Susan Miller.  “It offers an initial assessment of early deployment opportunities and use cases that could put content naming solutions into action to benefit network providers, the broader content industry and consumers.”

The evolution to content optimized networks could be achieved through a number of different deployment paths, timelines, architectural approaches and technology choices. This new report summarizes ATIS’ technology assessment of these options. It provides a basis for understanding the current network challenges, drivers for evolution, architectural alternatives and target opportunities for early deployment. In sum, Evolution to Content Optimized Networks sheds light on the ongoing research, development and standardization of named content networking solutions. The goal is to offer operators and the larger content ecosystem an opportunity to change the paradigm for how content is discovered, delivered and consumed by devices, people and things in a new era of explosive Internet traffic growth. Learn more in the ATIS Insights blog post, The Evolution to Content Optimized Networks Initiative: Path to a Future Network.

Access  Evolution to Content Optimized Networks in the ATIS White Paper Center.


[1] Source: Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2015–2020. Accessed Feb. 15, 2017 at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/vni-hyperconnectivity-wp.html

Marcella Wolfe, Manager – Public Relations and Marketing Communications, ATIS