IPTV and VoD services in the context of IMS

IPTV and video on demand (VoD) services are becoming means for traditional service providers to fight back against the competition from cable companies. Many of the large service providers are deploying networks and delivery infrastructure to deliver IPTV and VoD on IP based networks. At the same time, they are looking at the possibility of migrating their traditional PSTN networks towards IMS. Given that the two events happening almost at the same time, service providers will need to consider the possibility that IPTV+VoD services could be delivered over IMS network to prevent IPTV+VoD as another service capability of an IMS network. This paper proposes an architecture for deploying IPTV & VoD as services on an IMS based network. It analyzes the short-comings in the IMS specifications and steps taken by standards bodies to address them.