All things related to multicast

[Frank Fulchiero <>]

> Well, this depends on your goals and target audience. A web link  
> works well for the average user, as long as the content can be  
> found in a search. But if you're trying to target other network  
> engineers who are interested in the transport as much as the  
> content then either we need to be able to search on transport  
> (mcast) to find the content, or we need some central directory  
> service.
>
> But even for the later, SAP doesn't make sense. A flat list of  
> content that requires the source (or something on behalf of the  
> source) to send out periodic announcements was a great bootstrap  
> tool. Remember when Yahoo.com was a list? ;-)
>
> I've spoken with Google about providing additional meta search tags  
> for streaming content (codec, bitrate, transport, etc..). There was  
> interest but nothing more.
>
> Tom Pusateri at one time was working on a content directory web app  
> where sources could push the schedule and users could search. I  
> believe he dropped the work before completion but I've been bugging  
> him to release the source for someone else to pickup the torch.  
> Maybe it's time for a group push?

I don't think you should need a web browser to find a video stream.
If the goal is an easy way for most viewers  to watch a video  
channel, then the video player should show the available channels  
automatically.

This follows the broadcast television model: turn on the TV, see  
what's on, and then decide what to watch. You don't go to NTSC-Google  
to find a channel, though that might be fine if it were built into  
the television as a dedicated app. and integrated with the television  
seamlessly.

You can of course have browser-based links to the channels also, with  
schedules, but the primary announcement should be integral with the  
player.
That's why, for all its warts, I think the best current system to  
announce and watch multicast video is VLC with SAPs.
I agree with all the mentioned SAP deficiencies and vulnerabilities,  
and that there should be a better way to do it, but right now there  
isn't.

I am not familiar with set-top boxes (have not unpacked our Amino  
yet)  so can't speak of those systems.

Frank Fulchiero
Digital Media Specialist
Connecticut College