A new software release on Juniper Networks’ SDX-300 Service Deployment System this week is helping fulfill the vendor’s architectural vision for triple-play networks, one that promises more efficient use of networks.

The updated SDX, a platform to manage the policies of routers in the network, makes available what Juniper calls “liquid [label-switched paths (LSPs)],” which are used to route video-on-demand (VOD) content through the network efficiently by choosing the best path for it to take. The open application programming interfaces (APIs) Juniper announced in June now allow the SDX to communicate with third-party VOD server systems, setting up sessions and charting a path for the content to take.

When capacity is not available on one route, the system can find another route rather than deny the user the desired content. And when a given path is not being used for VOD content, it can be used for other applications such as Internet access.

This flexibility allows carriers to build smaller and fewer data centers to house their video content, Juniper said.

One VOD vendor, SeaChange, has completed the necessary testing to interoperate with the SDX, and Juniper expects other vendors to follow soon.

The new version of the SDX-300 also includes a way to transport broadcast video more efficiently. In contrast to the traditional cable TV model, in which cable operators build satellite server farms in every community, Juniper’s Junos operating system helps carriers serve their customers with a small number of large, super video head-ends built on IP core networks.

Junos uses a multicasting solution based on multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) to deliver point-to-multipoint video in a manner that is traffic engineered to prevent video traffic from being impeded in the network by less urgent traffic such as Internet.