SURFnet’s streaming media initiatives Egon Verharen Innovation management, SURFnet [email protected] • Why streaming • Past, present and future of SURFnet’s streaming initiatives • Lessons learned • Streaming components and organisation
SURFnet’s streaming media
initiativesEgon Verharen
Innovation management, [email protected]
• Why streaming• Past, present and future
of SURFnet’s streaming initiatives
• Lessons learned• Streaming components
and organisation
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Nordunet 2000
Quotes & Provocations by Dennis Glenn, NWU
• “Tape is dead”
• “Delivery is king”but content will rule
• “Quality is not (yet) important”–quality of video–QoS
• “Exposure is everything” –Content is worth nothing if you don’t show it
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Pieces of the puzzle
• Why digital video (network video/video broadcast) in education
Collaborativetools
Conferencingtools
Multimediaarchives
live eventstreaming
webbased virtualclassroom
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Analog Digital
Costs Value
Digital Content management:driving forces
LARGE archives
Everywhere and always access
Create once, distribute/use many
Save and secure for (re)use
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Developments in the content chain
Programmaker
Internet provider
Websiteowner
Internethost
Channel
Cable-operator Distributer
Telecomoperator
Author
Broadcastorganisation Publisher
Users/Viewer
Distribution media
A/V/D-material
Format conversionclassificationlogical ordering
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Progression of E-value
differentiated
non-differentiated
market Price premium
Competitive advantage
User needs
relevant
irrelevantingredients
goods
services
experiences
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Past streaming projects
• SURF-ACE–Low-end (internet) streaming ->
• SURFnet video- and audiohosting service (‘99)• Snelnet (‘98-’00) ->
• SNOB (‘99)• NAA in Academia (‘99- ..)
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SURFnet audio- and video hosting service
• “low-end” streaming service for SURFnet customers• RealMedia (500 conc. Streams), Windows Media and Xing
Streamworks (MPEG1), Xing mp3• cust. Encoding; interface for uploading, downloading and testing • streams via URL• 500 MB diskspace• live broadcasts
(on request, fee)• Tribute MM as
op. mgt partner• http://stream.surfnet.nl
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SNOB - SURFnet NOB project
• Pilot service of NOB Interactive and SURFnet (resulting from Snelnet)
• for SURFnet-customers > 8 Mbit/s
• gathering experience with streaming media (MPEG-1; 1.5 Mbit/s streams)
• NOBi: video platformplus content
• SN: 155 Mbit/s linkto Hilversum
• SN: streamingmulticast infra.
• http://snob.surfnet.nl
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NAA in Academia
• Dutch Audiovisual Archive, NOBi, SURFnet and Film Museum
• content from NAA and FM for educational purposes• potential: 500.000+ hrs.
Start: MPEG1 encoding 1000 hrs.• faculties FTTW, Journalism, communication and ULs
of UvA, UNIMAAS, RUG, UU, EUR, OU, prof. educ. institutes and ….
• 1999-2001• new developments in video/IP and MM-indexering
tested and deployed in ‘live’ environment (in cooperation with VIP)
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Metadata in NAA
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Present Digital Video innovation projects
–Showcase• demo environment
– “High-end” streaming• VIP• SURFnet Video Portal (SVP)• SURFnet-TV
–“Low-end” streaming• improvements to A/V Hosting
–Caching & Replication• stream splitting & caching
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High quality video over next generation Internet
• Development of platform for• Content productie, mgt and deployment• metadata extraction, description• indexing & searching
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VIP architecture
End user
Basicdeployment
AdvanceddeploymentContent
management
OC Zoetermeer
BasicContent production
AdvancedContent production
MetadataMPEG7
User metadata provision
Accounting server
Reversed content provision
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Example news retrieval
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SURFnet Video Portal (SVP)
• Issues– MPEG-1 video-hosting service – investigation video quality for tele-education (MPEG-n)– rights issues
• copyright + (for education), image- and portret ??– MM-caching & replicatie– metadata, indexing & searching– Portal for A/V material in constituency
• High-end A/V hosting service–platform choice– MPEG1– MPEG2
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SURFnet-TV
• Educational broadcast station on Internet• live events + scheduled reruns/programs• combined with A/V hosting + SVP (EPG)• content for and
from constituency• technical
– MPEG1, multicast– remote encoding
• organisation– content, EPG
• http://www.surfnet-tv.nl/
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(Inter)national collaboration
• Univs– SIGs: Webstream
• TI, Nat.l. Library– metadata
• SURF-Educatie<F>– DOEL
• Terena/Dante– TF-STREAM, TF-TANT, QoS, multicast
• Internet2– streaming– conferencing– e.g. ResearchChannel, VideNet
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European SIG: TF-STREAM
• Who has experience ?– which tools, what have you done– plans for content creation, mgt, deployment
• Ideas: how can this (new) technology be put to work in projects
– at your institute– between institutes, organisations, NRNs, ...
• TF-STREAM– http://www.terena.nl/task-forces/tf-stream/– [email protected] ([email protected] subscribe)
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Future streaming projects
• Given: GigaPort Network– SURFnet 5 (80 Gbit/s b.b and 20 Gbit/s conn.)
– improved broadband access (xDSL, cable, FTTD and WLL)
• MPEG2 (streaming & conferencing)• new formats: MPEG4, DV -> HDTV, 3D (e.g.. VRML,
QuicktimeVR); new codecs (fractals, VBR)
• standards: RTP/RTSP, incl. Authenticatie• metadata (MPEG7, extended DC)• scalability: multicast (SSM), content delivery (c & r)• new applications: video-gnutella• quality: QoS/Classes of Service• content (media & asset management)
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Lessons learned
• Image quality and refresh-rate still no problem with Internet users
–compare tv viewers–Connectivity end-user determines format
(bitrate)–but: changing fast
• Multicast–still difficult (esp. debugging)–Commercialisation needed for rest of Internet
• Content !–Refresh services
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So, what do you need ?
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Components
presentation
On-demanddelivery
brokaragefusion
filtering
Source discovery
watermarking
indexing
storage
Interactivesearch
tailoring
translation
Metadataextraction
gathering
compression
authentication
Collaborativesearch
Cost-effectivesearch
Queryformulation
Web-search
Queryexpansion
Retrieval bycomposition
Browsing &navigation
matching
billing
accountingconversion
Query byexample
loggingauthoring
Search &retrieval
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Video-over-IP components
$$$$
Content use
$$
Content deployment(content distribution/content delivery)
Media production
10110111011011
Content management
Encoding
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Streaming media service
• content creation–producers, editors, encoders
• content mgt–db mgt, metadata, indexing&searching
• content delivery–dynamic streaming (more than one bandwidth),
license control, synchr. multimedia,–scalability (caching & replication)
• content viewing–softw based players, MPEG2 hw based players,
browser plugin and external helper apps.
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What do you need
• Streaming server– on-demand/live; program manager; asset mgt– data pump– encoders (can be separate)
• Streaming client– Fast PC, decoder (MPEG1: software, MPEG2 prefer. hw)– monitor
• Network connection– MPEG-1 (VHS-qual/CD): 2 Mbit/s guaranteed end-to-end !– UDP/IP– multicast
• standards, formats– still new codecs (e.g. MPEG4, IBMs LBR)
• Connectivity end-user determintes format (bitrate)• live vs. on-demand, output int.f., scalability (Caching &
replication)
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All problems solved ?
• NO !• Open issues
–standaards• protocol implementations
– RTP, RTSP
– formats• MPEG program/system/transport streams• Metadata
– filesystems–network
• multicast• Quality of Service (QoS)
–content delivery
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Digitale Video QoS myth
• NO, you can start now !
• QoS for end-users = bigger picture, better audio.• QoS for network = delay, packet loss, jitter• Requirements differ per application:
– interactivity vs streaming, minimal delay/jitter ?• Quality is function of many parameters
– client, LAN, campus, access links to PoP, within PoP, natl & int.l. networks
“DV cannot be implemented without QoS technology (which is new, complex, expensive and over the horizon)”
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What does streaming mean for your network ?
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Streaming services at your screen near you
• Do not underestimate technology involved– recording, encoding, network, storage, distribution
• Navigation for the end-user is important• Automate the workflow• Know in advance what to do with the material
afterwards–does it stay online, storage, re-distribute
• Don’t forget the rights !• Warning: it is expensive (still)
• subcontract large applications/services to experts
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Workflow TV “broadcast” via internet
• “Dynamic” services example: DelayTV
NED1
Online Encoding
Batching
NOS ADatabaseA
5 min to 3 hrs
Staging
Spotting
Enhancing
InstallatieVideoserver
Online
disk2tape
Validatie
Mass Archive
Export
InstallatieDB/Webserver
30 hrs encoded video plus metadata each day!
By Ton van Mil, director NOB-interactive
Content management cycle
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Nordunet 2000
Quotes & Provocations by Dennis Glenn, NWU
• “Tape is dead”
• “Delivery is king”but content will rule: E-content is E-ssential for NGI
• “Quality is not (yet) important”–quality of video–QoS
• “Exposure is everything” –Content is worth nothing if you don’t show it
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Nordunet 2000
URLs
• http://stream.surfnet.nl/ (in Dutch) videostreaming service
• http://www.surfnet-tv.nl/ experimental broadcast station
• http://snob.surfnet.nl/ startpage for video services
• http://www.terena.nl/task-forces/tf-stream/ TERENA taskforce page
• http://www.researchchannel.com/ example educational video service
• http://skin.surfnet.nl/video-audio/index.html background info on audio/vido
• http://contact.surfnet.nl/ videoconferencing service