Service customized space-air-ground integrated network for immersive media: Architecture, key technologies, and prospects

The space-air-ground integrated network (SAGIN) is regarded as the key approach to realize global coverage in future network and it reaches broad access for various services. Being the new paradigm of service, immersive media (IM) has attracted users' attention for its virtualization, but it poses challenges to network performance, e.g. bandwidth, rate, latency. However, the SAGIN has limitations in supporting IM services, such as 4K/8K video, virtual reality, and interactive games. In this paper, a novel service customized SAGIN architecture for IM applications (SAG-IM) is proposed, which achieves content interactive and real-time communication among terminal users. State-of-the-art research is investigated in detail to facilitate the combination of SAGIN and service customized technology, which provides end-to-end differentiated services for users. Besides, the functional components of SAG-IM contain the infrastructure layer, perception layer, intelligence layer, and application layer, reaching the capabilities of intelligent management of the network. Moreover, to provide IM content with ultra-high-definition and high frame rate for the optimal user experience, the promising key technologies on intelligent routing and delivery are discussed. The performance evaluation shows the superiority of SAG-IM in supporting IM service. Finally, the prospects in practical application are highlighted.