Huawei iLab Releases "Cloud VR Bearer Networks White Paper"


At the fourth Ultra-Broadband Forum (UBBF 2017), Huawei iLab, an ultra-broadband network innovation lab, released the "Cloud VR Bearer Networks White Paper". The white paper stated that Cloud VR is the best choice of VR development and an inevitable trend. Focusing on improving the user experience, Cloud VR will undergo four evolutionary stages. In addition, Huawei iLab proposed the evolutionary roadmap and solutions of Cloud VR bearer network technologies after analyzing bearer network requirements at each stage.

The white paper points out that VR is developing rapidly. However, good user experience requires high-performance PCs or hosts for local rendering, which increases the costs of VR terminals for users. This issue restricts the industry development and urgently needs to be rectified. iLab's research shows that Cloud VR, which supports cloud rendering, has four major advantages: it reduces the cost of VR terminals for users, protects VR content copyright, improves user experience, and increases the commercial application of VR. Cloud VR provides the best solution for VR development and will inevitably replace local VR. 

The era of Cloud VR has arrived. We are witnessing the emergence of application scenarios, such as Cloud VR videos, music, and games, and VR concerts, sports events, eSports, live broadcast, and home fitness. Focusing on improving the user experience, Cloud VR will undergo four evolutionary stages: the early stage, entry-level experience stage, advanced experience stage, and ultimate experience stage. Bandwidth requirements for each experience stage vary. 

In addition, the development of Cloud VR technology and applications will also place new requirements on bandwidth. For example, as 3D becomes more commercially available, the bandwidth requirements at the entry-level and advanced experience stages increase. Different field of view (FOV) transmission schemes also have different bandwidth requirements. Highly interactive services, such as Cloud VR games, have higher latency and bandwidth requirements than less interactive services, such as VR videos. 

Figure: Home bandwidth requirements for each stage of Cloud VR

Based on analysis of the bearer network requirements at each Cloud VR experience stage, the white paper details the bearer network deployment solutions for the early stage and entry-level experience stage. It also explores in depth the evolutionary trend of bearer network technologies at the advanced and ultimate experience stages. The paper describes the trend as a shift towards networks that achieve cloud-and-network synergy and feature larger bandwidth, lower latency, intelligence, and flexibility. 

Bandwidth requirements brought by the four stages of Cloud VR will increase the typical home bandwidth from 50 Mbps–100 Mbps at the early stage to 2 Gbps–5 Gbps at the ultimate experience stage. Currently, it is common to have a 100 Mbps home broadband plan, which can meet the bandwidth requirement at the early-stage of VR (full-view 4K). With the emergence and popularization of the entry-level experience stage of VR, bandwidth will need to reach 100 Mbps–300 Mbps to provide good user experience, driving the constant upgrade of home broadband. In addition, the innovative 300M@Anywhere full-coverage home Wi-Fi network solution will ensure that users can enjoy a smooth VR experience from any room in their house. 

Huawei has had sustained cooperation with industry partners, improving user experience and promoting the development of the VR industry. At UBBF 2017, Huawei officially launched the VR OpenLab Industry Cooperation Plan to help both upstream and downstream partners explore the industrial development roadmap of Cloud VR. The release of "Cloud VR Bearer Networks White Paper" will further promote the collaboration of the VR industry chain.

For more information, please download the white paper.