OCEAN · Open ContEnt Aware Networks

OCEAN will design a new open content delivery framework that optimizes the overall quality of experience to end-users by caching content closer to the user than traditional CDNs do and by deploying network-controlled, scalable and adaptive content delivery techniques. The OCEAN architecture will clearly define light-weight signalling protocols and public interfaces between its major building blocks (Request routing", "Server selection", "Content population and delivery", "Content storage and caching", "Content, user, network and end-devices context description and signaling", "Content, user, network and end-devices context awareness and adaptation") in order to foster multi-vendor solutions and contribute to cut down content delivery cost. OCEAN will elaborate business strategies providing better investment incentives to the different types of players in the value chain (content providers, Internet service providers, CDN service providers and industrials). OCEAN will build innovative self-learning caching algorithms that meet the specifics of the highly unpredictable location and time-dependent consumption patterns and dynamically adapt to the rising popularity of future delivery services. New media-aware congestion control mechanisms based on slight, but controlled quality degradation will provide a better alternative than mere blocking of user requests. The validity and performance of these algorithms and mechanisms will be assessed through simulations, large-scale emulations and a trial in a real ISP network.To reach these objectives OCEAN combines complementary business and technical expert partners representing the whole online multimedia content delivery chain.The OCEAN partners are committed to leverage their strong position in standardization and influence on the marketplace to disseminate the project outcomes."