All things related to multicast

["Marshall Eubanks" <>]

On Fri, 22 Feb 2002 17:59:48 -0500
 Wilson Dillaway 
<>
 wrote:
>      Tufts University has not done much with multicast
> so far, but the TUTV student television station, which
> currently broadcasts only over the campus analog cable
> TV network, would like to experiment with MPEG-2
> multicast transmission to all desktops on campus.  We
> think a 24-hour, 7-day MPEG-2 multicast stream would
> be a great way to debug our router structure (not to 
> mention the other benefits!).  Does anyone have 
> experience with this application (continuous 
> broadcasting to a large audience) and can share some 
> impressions?
> 
>      We are reasonably confident about our overall
> infrastructure (mostly 100-switched to the desktop;
> gigabit ethernet between buildings; Foundry routers
> in the backbone).  To minimize the support 
> implications, we would like to purchase an appliance-
> type MPEG-2 encoder rather than build something from
> generic servers and software.  (Happy to have 
> recommendations on brands and models.)  Alot of the
> MPEG-2 products on the market seem to be more focused
> on the point-to-point bidirectional videoconferencing
> need rather than one-way broadcasting, although I 
> guess they can do both.
> 
>      For this particular application, we would want to
> distribute client viewing software that could display
> full-screen video (or partial-screen video in a window,
> at the viewer's discretion).  Is there such a thing as
> a generic MPEG-2 decoding client?  Every vendor seems 
> to have its own proprietary software product, which
> the viewer must download and install.  That's a 
> manageable problem, but the bigger issue is that these
> proprietary software products are not free.  I have no
> problem with the software producer being fairly 
> compensated for their work, but an enterprise-wide
> site license for this software can be many times the
> cost of the hardware encoder.  For this particular 
> application, the students may only attract hundreds
> of simultaneous viewers, at least to start, but there
> is no easy way to make software available on a more
> restrained basis than enterprise-wide.

Dear Wilson;

    We do MPEG-1, and are testing MPEG-4, multicasts. See -
http://www.digitalwebcast.com/2002/02_feb/news/cw_multicast.htm

Why not MPEG-2 ? Because there is a charge :

from http://www.mpegla.com/

(1) For MPEG-2 decoding products in hardware or software
(such as those found in set-top boxes, DVD players and
computers equipped with MPEG-2 decode units), the royalty is
US $4.00 for each decode unit prior to January 1, 2002/$2.50
from January 1, 2002 (Sections 2.2 and 3.1.1).

So, unlike the settop box arena, there are _no_ free MPEG-2
players. (The situation for MPEG-4 is still in flux.)

If you stream RTP MPEG-1 (stick to Layer II audio), then a
host of free players are available : RealOne, Quicktime,
MIM, IPTV, vBrick Player - all these and more will play
multicast RTP MPEG-1. There are a number of encoders
available as well - see 

http://videolab.uoregon.edu/download.html

for more info.

We use and recommend vBrick to source MPEG-1; the units are
very easy to use, and will interoperate with all of the
above players. At 1 to 1.5 mbps, you can get a decent video
quality.

If you are interested in equipment loans, please contact me
off list.

                                 Regards
                                 Marshall Eubanks


T.M. Eubanks
Multicast Technologies, Inc.
10301 Democracy Lane, Suite 410
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
Phone : 703-293-9624       Fax     : 703-293-9609
e-mail : 

http://www.multicasttech.com

Test your network for multicast : 
http://www.multicasttech.com/mt/
 Status of Multicast on the Web  :
 http://www.multicasttech.com/status/index.html

> 
>      Anyone have any experience with this, or any 
> thoughts to share?
> 
>       Wilson Dillaway
>       Tufts University
>