Modeling the Behavior of IPTV Users with Application to Call Blocking Probability Analysis

In traditional TV delivery systems, all the channels are pushed toward the subscribers. Therefore, user activities like channel switching have no effect on the provider network. Consequently, TV providers have felt no strong need to analyze and investigate the behavior of their subscribers. In IPTV networks, however, the situation is quite different. Channel switching activity of users imposes extra load on the network and therefore is worth to be investigated and analyzed. In this paper we elaborate the requirements of IPTV user modeling and propose a model taking into account the requirements. The model is implemented using the LoadSpec tool. Our proposed model can produce, in a realistic manner, the workload of switching events of a typical IPTV client during an active session. The application of the proposed model for the IPTV analysis, specifically, for the evaluation of the call blocking probability is shown by two case studies.