Roadmap Launched to Implement Low Latency ‘L4S’ Technology into Broadband Networks

Low latency for a plethora of applications from video conferencing to XR will elevate customer experience

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new project to aid the delivery of low latency in home broadband networks to improve the user experience of interactive applications has been launched by Broadband Forum.

The global standards body will show operators and service providers how to implement Low Latency, Low Loss and Scalable Throughput (L4S) technology, which was specified by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) last year, in response to demands of new applications that require low and predictable latency for the best user experience.

L4S will enable service providers to offer services to subscribers that can support applications with latency and capacity demands at the same time and at the same network bottleneck. Offering network congestion control that was not previously available for latency sensitive applications, L4S can ensure better user experiences for cloud gaming, video conferencing, extended reality (XR) and more.

“We’re keenly aware that low and stable latency, along with high throughput, is fundamental to broadband performance for many interactive applications used in the home. This is especially true to ensure immersive experiences for applications like cloud gaming, and we’re confident this project will help providers deliver new benefits to pass onto their customers,” said Jonathan Newton, Vodafone and Access and Transport Architecture Work Area Director at Broadband Forum. “Broadband Forum is uniquely positioned to define how to implement L4S capability into a broadband network as a number of key congestion points are in our scope of work and we look forward to supporting the industry tackle a key pain-point for modern network applications.”

As L4S does not require implementation across the whole network to start to deliver benefits, Broadband Forum’s project will support phased implementations of the technology that focus on the most beneficial parts of the network first, on the journey to a full end-to-end support.

“As trials and real-world implementations and deployments continue to ramp up in the likes of DOCSIS networks and a range of Apple operating software, Broadband Forum’s new project will build on the IETF standard to ensure ultra-low latency can be ensured in broadband networks,” said Craig Thomas, CEO at Broadband Forum. “In turn, software developers do not need to rewrite their own networking code to support L4S and application providers can continue to develop and introduce apps that require low latency in combination with high throughput.”

L4S improves end-to-end performance by introducing immediate congestion feedback from network bottlenecks as soon as data packets begin to queue. This combined with a scalable congestion control scheme on the sending hosts (the computers and devices sending the data), helps support high throughput and low latency even during network congestion.

The Application of L4S to Broadband Networks project, from Broadband Forum’s Access and Transport Architecture (ATA) Work Area, will be responsible for defining how to apply L4S to a broadband network, with considerations on implementation and introduction strategies.

If you are interested in taking part in the project and driving this work forward, please contact: [e-mail].

Watch the full video from the latest member meeting with Jonathan Newton, Vodafone and ATA Work Area Director at Broadband Forum, for more details about the project.

About the Broadband Forum

The Broadband Forum is an industry-driven global standards development organization helping operators, application providers, and vendors deliver better, services-led broadband.

As the industry-recognized center of competence, the Broadband Forum provides an accessible, efficient, and effective community where all broadband stakeholders can collaborate on, develop, and promote open standards and open software. This provides the basis for deployable solutions for the global broadband industry.

The forum publishes interoperable standards and open software, has launched certification programs, and promotes industry education. These best practices and models can be adopted to help realize an effective broadband ecosystem that drives a thriving, services-led broadband industry based on global collaboration, open standards, and open source, maximizing value for all stakeholders.

For more information, visit https://www.broadband-forum.org/. For the latest updates, follow Broadband Forum on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.