Comcast's increasingly software-defined communications network recently endured “its biggest week in internet history” thanks to what Chief Network Officer Elad Nafshi explained was advances in network intelligence, edge compute, and optical networking technology.

That big internet week was fueled by a combination of the launch of the latest “Call of Duty” online game and a Thursday Night Football game that was available exclusively as a streaming event via Amazon. The former accounted for 19% of total network traffic and the latter for 26% of total traffic across Comcast’s network.

Nafshi said Comcast’s ability to handle that content load was due to its years-long efforts toward fortifying its network using advanced SDN technologies. This included a push to use virtualized and disaggregated platforms that power its virtualized cable modem technology system (vCMTS) running “as an edge compute, running the CMTS application.”

That edge platform uses Intel-based hardware, with Comcast taking care of the software and using automation to run updates.

“And year to date, on this platform with the software that we've deployed, we've implemented over 300,000 software changes on this part of the network, and these are software changes not for the sake of changing software, these are software changes for the sake of truly optimizing the customer performance, in launching new products and services, and we're able to do that with a 99.7% automation, because all of that is completely automated,” Nafshi said, adding that “the general rule that we have from software development teams are, if it can be done twice manually, it's going to get automated.”

Monetizing the edge Comcast last year also began to monetize those edge compute resources through an agreement with Vapor IO. That deal had Comcast hosting Vapor IO’s Kinetic Edge data center platform to support third-party edge service providers.

Matt Trifiro, chief marketing officer at Vapor IO, explained at that time that the data center “hosting” involved a physical fiber connection between its Kinectic Grid and Comcast’s physical infrastructure. This connection allows the combined product to support “near-premises” edge computing applications with lower latency at lower costs.

Nafshi at that time said the “early move” was tied to Comcast looking “at value creation is in the edge compute business.” He explained the trial built off Comcast’s virtualized cable modem technology system (vCMTS) that underpins its gigabit internet service.

“It really gives us a lot of opportunity to monetize where our strengths are,” which Nafshi said included location, network, and connectivity to deliver compelling services to customers.

“We want to make sure that we are in the forefront of the edge compute promise in that we’re able to test the full optionality that it affords us and maximizing both the benefits to Comcast and the benefit for our customers,” Nafshi said.

Those monetization efforts recently accelerated when Canadian telecommunications giant Rogers signed up to use the Comcast-developed edge platform.

Nafshi also explained that Comcast is trialing an edge caching platform from Qwilt using microservices in those edge environments to support low latency and high performance.

“The partners that partner successfully with us embrace the best that virtualized edge architecture enables you to do, understanding that you it's a software-defined centric network,” Nafshi said.

Open architecture and digital optical advances Comcast is extending this open architecture model with its recently launched Janus initiative. This includes a focus on white-box hardware and software to manage data routing and transport.

The Janus effort is set for an initial deployment in the Atlanta area using network cloud software developed by DriveNets, which has scored similar deals with the likes of Cisco and telecommunications giant AT&T.

“[Janus] will enable us to really complete the network transformation across the board,” Nefshi said.

This transformation will also include a bigger push from optical networking technology advances, which Nafshi said might be the most significant. This is based around advanced in ZR-plus optic pluggables that has allowed Comcast to “get rid of colored optics and replaced those with tunable optics.”

“The fiber innovation story that we have on our network is no less than – I would argue even greater than – our edge innovation, or edge compute or, DOCSIS (data over cable service interface specification) innovation,” Nafshi said. “That ability to do fiber better than anyone else. That ability to have real-time streaming telemetry that ties all these different parts of the network into a coherent end-to-end, software-defined network that is optimizing for the quality of connectivity … that's really the innovation that we drive as we're working with our vendors in order to get that through.”