New streaming protocol for IPTV enables high-quality live transmissions
Feb 28th, 21:43 UTC
As part of its Linux-based server appliances ReCaster, Motama presents its streaming protocol for IPTV, called ReCaster Streaming Protocol (RSP), and provides a demonstration version for interested parties
Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is becoming increasingly important. Still, the large-scale, or even world-wide, distribution of live TV streams over public Internet infrastructure, or in wireless networks poses a demanding challenge. This is because such networks do not provide end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) and suffer from packet loss and temporal interruptions.
ReCaster server appliances offer a turn-key solution that enables optimized transmission of IPTV streams in real-time. By using the ReCaster Streaming Protocol (RSP), reliability and data rates of streaming live content in wireless networks or along lossy long distance links can be greatly improved. Thereby, ReCaster servers allow for building cost-effective Content Delivery Networks (CDN) using the public infrastructure of the Internet.
At the same time, ReCaster servers can be used as powerful tool for performing various conversions between multicast and unicast networking. Being compatible with existing gateways, transcoders, streaming servers, and set-top boxes, ReCaster appliances can be seamlessly integrated into existing infrastructure.
Using the ReCaster Streaming Protocol (RSP) between two ReCaster servers allows for the optimized transmission of IPTV streams to remote company sites, data centers, or networks. On one side, a ReCaster server receives IPTV streams available as unicast or multicast in the local area network (LAN) and then re-transmits these streams using RSP to a second ReCaster server, possibly located on a continent far away. The receiving server then forwards the streams to local area network it is connected to.
Compared to streaming with existing unreliable protocols, such as UDP or RTP, Motama's RSP greatly reduces packet loss. Even packet loss rates of several percent, jittering, or short break-downs of connectivity can be compensated for.
Compared to content distribution with reliable protocols, such as TCP or higher-level protocols such as FTP or HTTP, the new streaming protocol RSP offers much higher bandwidths for transmission of live content over lossy long distance links or within wireless networks.
RSP can also be employed as client-side protocol on wireless clients or set-top boxes, which allows for improving the quality of experience for end-users of existing IPTV services.
ReCaster together with the ReCaster Streaming Protocol is available as a 19-inch rack-mountable server appliance, or as a software-only version for easy installation on existing servers hosted in data centers.
In addition, interested parties are able to receive a demonstration version of a software client receiving RSP streams provided by a ReCaster server over the Internet.
Further information, and a video demonstrating the differences between traditional streaming and streaming with RSP is available at
http://www.motama.com/recaster.html
(Submitted by Marco Lohse of Motama GmbH)
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