All things related to multicast

["Richard Mavrogeanes" <>]

Update
 
I wish to thank the many people who volunteered to help. Here is an update:
 
The video is now being broadcast from the ship.  For testing, the video is 
often just
a movie sourced from a DVD player on this ship, and much of the testing is
resolving satellite transmission issues.  The project begins on July 28th, so 
prior
to this the video feed may be just these sorts of tests.
 
There are three "channels" -- MPEG-2 at 4 Mbps, MPEG-4 at 180 Kbps, and
MPEG-4 at 56 Kbps (for dial-up users to the public  Internet).  
 
Although I don't have local I2 access, I can use the test tunneling client and
I successfully see the Program Guide (SAP's) listed in StreamPlayer. I can
also receive the (lower speed) video.   I have communicated with a number 
of folks who have sucessfully tuned in, and I see the sessions listed on 
several SDR monitors.  All of the sessions have TTL=127, and I see the
sessions on SDR monitor in Germany, etc.
 
I have communicated with several people who wish to see the video but
cannot.  This appears to be true because of firewall issues, or lack of 
multicast
in the campus LAN.  I would encourage anyone with these issues to post their
questions here, and perhaps others on the list can provide assistance.
 
It is easy to tune in using StreamPlayer (which is free and is a web page 
with embedded
player) or StreamPlayer Plus (available as a 30-day free demo).  When you 
launch
StreamPlayer, you should see the Program Guide populate with the various MPEG
multicast sessions currently available on the Internet-2.  If you do not see 
this list, 
you likely do not have multicast connectivity...so far this has been the case 
with a
number of interested parties.  It would be pointless to manually enter an 
address
if you cannot see the list since both the list and the videos are multicast.  
These 
players are only available for Windows machines, but you can contact us about
availability of a Linux player.  I will also send a URL to a dedicated player 
to 
this list in a few days.
 
I was surprized to learn that SAP propagation seems slow, and if anyone can
offer insight into this question I would be happy to learn.  We issue SAP's 
for
the program guide, but I find that they often don't show up on some desktops
until many hours have passed.
 
If you do tune in from time to time, please know that the video jumps, 
freezes,
and artifacts are all coming from the source at this point.  Also please know 
that
the audio is currently disabled.
 
I would be happy to receive periodic messages from anyone with viewing 
reports.
 
Thanks again,
 
Rich Mavrogeanes
VBrick Systems, Inc.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

        -----Original Message----- 
        From: Richard Mavrogeanes 
        Sent: Sat 7/19/2003 10:59 AM 
        To: 
        Cc: Kevin C. Almeroth; 

 
        Subject: The Black Sea Project
        
        

        Folks,

        I need your help. But first some background:

        On or about July 25th, we will begin broadcasting live MPEG-2 and 
MPEG-4 audio/video from a research ship in the Black Sea.  This is part of a 
$5M project to explore the fantastic underwater treasures of human history 
that have been preserved under hundreds of meters of oxgen-free water.  The 
research is being conducted by Dr. Bob Ballard (who discovered the Titantic, 
PT-109, etc), and is sponsored by the National Geographic among others.  You 
can learn more about the expedition at www.expedition2003.org.

        The significant part of this project is that viewers will be able to 
witness the discoveries live, as they occur.  The video is sourced from the 
ship deck, but more importantly from the Remote Vechicle's cameras as it 
makes discoveries.  This promises to be truly compelling, although I would 
anticipate long periods of "not much".

        This event has made national press, and I suspect will be on the 
evening news at some point during the project (July25 - August 25).  Dr. 
Ballard promotes the Internet-2 in almost every talk he gives. As a result, 
the multicast traffic on Abilene may reach record levels (or not).  

        The video signals originate at the ship, are sent via satellite to an 
earth station in Portland Maine, travel via DSL to Plano TX (EDS), then 
travel via I2 to the University of Rhode Island where they are displayed on a 
specially built console.  The video signals are then encoded into MPEG-2 at 
6Mbps and MPEG-4 at 200 Kbps by a VBrick and presented to the URI campus 
network and Abiliene.

        Several institutions have built large venue theaters to exhibit the 
live video.  Others are using StreamPlayer to view the live videos at their 
desktops.  In theory, virtually every I2 participant should be able to view 
the events live, but we know that the penatration of multicast in the campus 
networks is not what it might be.

        The videos are sent via multicast, and I can see it listed at several 
of the SDR monitors . As you would imagine, this is not without issues since 
the source campus network was not configured for IGMP (CGMP in this case).  I 
do not have I2 access in my office, so I cannot monitor the video in real 
time.

        As a matter of interest, the MPEG-4 video is also sent from the 
VBrick via RTSP unicast on the public Internet, and will appear on the 
project web site during the mission.  

        For the last few weeks, we've been multicasting on  233.56.12.14 and 
233.56.12.114, and will may bring up another stream next week.  You can see 
the video as "Black Sea Project" in both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, and you can get a 
free player (if you don't already have it) from the VBrick web site. 
Currently, the video is just a very cheap camera pointed out the window, but 
it will switch to the Black Sea audio/video on July 25th. As of this message, 
we are not sending but it should be back up on Monday although it will up and 
down as we make changes during the next few days.

        Now for my request for help. I'm looking for someone to work with 
with good access that I can call with a regular "can you see it now?".  On 
Monday, for example, the the good folks at URI (who are unfamilar with 
multicast) wish to prove to themselves that the bandwidth requirement from 
their campus stays the same regardless of the number of viewers (as I said, 
unfamilar with multicast).  Beyond this, it would be most useful if I could 
find someone with the time to assist others troubleshooting.  I am 
handicapped by not having local I2 access, and further handicapped by 
marginal backbone knowledge and familarity with the tools.

        Thanks in advance,

        Rich Mavrogeanes

        VBrick Systems

        1-203-303-0200