Efficient entertainment services provision over a novel network architecture

The provision of entertainment services through current network infrastructures generates a significant part of global Internet traffic. Such traffic is created by users who are interconnected through social media networks, distributing multimedia content, as well as through their online games interaction, leading to a significant increase in data traffic demands. At the same time, users demand the high-quality content delivery necessary for such multimedia-based services and applications. In this article, a novel network architecture is proposed that exploits a resource prediction engine to predict the upcoming demands on resources for the optimal distribution of streaming data among content delivery networks, emerging mobile networks, cloudbased providers, and home media gateways. Performance evaluation experiments carried out under controlled conditions verify the validity of the proposed network architecture and establish its effectiveness for efficient resources prediction during the provision of entertainment services.