SURFnets streaming media initiatives Egon Verharen Innovation management, SURFnet [email protected] Why streaming Past, present and future of SURFnets.

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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Nordunet 2000

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