Delivering a personalised video service using IPTV

Video oriented services are taking the lead in terms of revenue in the current Internet environment. In order to tap this revenue, Telcos are resorting to serious measures such as moving to Next Generation Network (NGN) where they can provide QoS for services that demand this feature, such as, IPTV. IPTV is more than just what its name implies and includes various types of additional services to make the TV a better entertainment and communication environment. Various innovative IPTV services have been proposed and developed by researchers and practitioners, including personalized advertisement, personalized EPG (Electronic Program Guide), and personalized VoD (Video on Demand). In this paper we introduce a new IPTV service called, the personalized dynamic video delivery service, which sends new video alerts (like breaking news alert) to subscribed users and notifies them when the video is available. If desired, users can watch the video automatically by switching from what they are currently watching without requiring explicitly a new video setup. Users can configure their profile and also set a policy on the way they wish to be notified and the types of video they wish to be alerted to. The paper describes the issues surrounding the delivery of this service and presents the architecture and the various open source technologies that are used to develop the service.