A store-and-forward architecture for video-on-demand service

The authors present store-and-forward architecture that can provide video-on-demand (VOD), as well as other data-based services. They assume a B-ISDN network to be in place. The four major elements in this architecture are the information provider warehouse (IPw) where video material is archived; the central office (CO) server which contains a processor responsible for the service management and a video buffer that interacts directly with network customers; and, finally, the customer premise equipment. A requested video program is provided in a real-time fashion from the CO server to the customer. However, at the information provider, the video program is retrieved from the archival storage in blocks, and with transfer rates much faster than real time. Subsequently, it is sent in a bursty mode to the CO servers via high-speed trunks.