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Personal Virtual Private Networks

It is clear that the broadband industry is at the verge of a wave of growth in communication and entertainment services. These next generation services are enabled by broadband networks that are ubiquitous and deliver personalized services regardless of access device. So whether you are watching a video on your PC or watching a streaming video to your mobile phone, these services are running over a broadband network whose performance is optimized for each user by providing a Personal Virtual Private Networks (P-VPN). In a broadband society, the P-VPN will be an integrated part of our every day life. It will make news and information more readily available across multiple devices. The services will also be seamlessly portable, meaning that a session can be initiated on one device and transfer to another device without interruption.

In the broadband society we have moved from single service networks to a converged, multi-service network. It provides multiple services to end users while enabling mobility because of its ability to recognize users and also to dynamically allocate the appropriate network resources depending on the service. A dynamic, proactive network goes above and beyond just migrating to IP. It’s about creating a network that can dynamically and proactively apply policies to ensure that each and every user receives the appropriate bandwidth, QoS, and access to services. A converged, ubiquitous network can also benefit end customers by providing them access to all of their services using the same login authentication and also subscribe to the services without being limited to the network that serves them.

A converged network does introduce some complexities that need to be addressed since the various services no longer have a dedicated network but share a common set of network resources. So the voice session is competing with the Internet session, which is competing with the video session. Furthermore, the same customer will have multiple sessions. A customer could be watching IPTV while another person in the household is on the telephone and yet another is surfing the Internet. So the network not only needs to understand the relative priorities and bandwidth that’s required for each of the services, it also needs to understand which sessions belong to customer. If you think about it for a moment, it becomes very clear that the network now has to be far more intelligent than when the services were being delivered over single service networks.

What this means is that depending on the user profile and the device that is being used, the network can automatically adjust itself to provide the appropriate access to the right services. On the service side, the network is aware of whether the user is accessing a VoIP, video, or gaming service, and the network dynamically adjusts itself to ensure the appropriate bandwidth and QoS are applied to the sessions to ensure the delivery of the service. A proactive network has a higher level of intelligence and awareness that helps service providers deliver next generation services proactively rather than being just a passive medium to deliver services.

The personalization that is required for next generation networks works through a combination of user based performance and the proactive management of network resources for each service. Furthermore, the network is able to do this for each and every user on the network. By definition, personalization means that each person can receive a different set of services with different QoS levels.And all of this is delivered proactively by the network using dynamic policies rather than having to rely on static, inflexible policies of traditional IP networks.

So the result of all this is that essentially, each and every user on the network receives a Personal Virtual Private Networks that aggregates their sessions and manages them as if they were on their own network. So whether they are accessing the network at home, at work, on a PC or on a mobile device, the network provides access to the same services with the same service levels every time. Essentially, the service provider is creating millions, if not tens of millions, of Personal Virtual Private Networks on a single, converged IP network.

Within each virtual network, services can be further personalized by setting up hierarchical profiles that define how each virtual network’s bandwidth and QoS policies should be enforced. So if one user watches a lot of video, then that person’s network will be optimized for video. Whereas another person may be making a VoIP call, which requires different network characteristics. Or a third person may be doing both. The fact of the matter is that each user is provided a customized network for the services that they are accessing.

Although this may sound unfeasible, the technology exists today to enable this type of next generation network. Furthermore, such a network can become a strategic asset in helping to differentiate a service provider’s bundle of services. Imagine if a user could order a movie while on their home commute, watch a portion of it during the commute on their mobile device then finish watching it on their high definition television set at home. Taking the example further, what if they could pause it and watch the rest of the movie the next day on their television set. Service portability and seamless mobility are enabled by Personal Virtual Private Networks.

Personal Virtual Private Networks (P-VPN) are the key to how a next generation network can manage and deliver the broadband services of the future. By delivering P-VPNs, service providers can create a customized network for each and every customer. They do this by virtually creating a dedicated IP network on which all of a user’s traffic runs. Doing this personalizes the services since users can now add the services they want to and the service is available whenever and wherever they want it. As with any type of services, a personalized service creates stickiness for a user and reduces overall customer churn.

Figure 1 — Personal Virtual Private Networks

The benefit to service providers is that they can essentially create an environment where the services for a user are delivered over a virtual single-user network. Once a single-user network is created, it is much simpler to manage that user’s sessions for the various services. Managing the sessions provides a great degree of control for the service provider and is similar to the single service network environment. By simplifying the management of sessions without compromising the scale required in terms of the total number of sessions managed, service providers can drastically simplify their service model, reducing time to market for new services.

Let’s take a closer look at what it takes to build a network with Personal Virtual Private Networks. IP adds a layer of intelligence onto a legacy network that allows it to more efficiently deliver services. However, IP was designed for essentially moving packets around a network, and it is very efficient at it. It was not, however, designed to be aware of the source and destination of the traffic much less the type of device that is being used. So although IP is great at the transport part of delivering services, IP alone falls short in being able to proactively and dynamically allocate network resources based on an individual user and the device that generating and receiving the traffic.

The service provider who can create a Personal Virtual Private Networks to deliver all of these services can truly differentiate their services from those that do not. Unlike today, when a service is introduced, it needs to be available on all devices. As an example, if a parent sets controls for Internet access for a child, it should affect all their devices. This empowers the customer by giving them control of the services that are available on their network, and it is personalized to their needs.

The challenge going forward will be for service providers to offer a compelling bundle of services and to do this profitably. Personal Virtual Private Networks allows them to do this by enabling three things:

• Personalize Services
  – Proactively manage QoS to optimize the user experience
  – Provide consistent services and experience regardless of access technology


• Build a Scalable and Versatile Network
  – Scalable to handle millions of user sessions and transactions
  – Service versatility to add new services


• Simplify Architecture to Reduce Expenses
  – Simplified architecture to reduce ongoing operations expenses
  – Reducing time to market for new services