SceneGate Unified Media Framework Enabling a Rich Media Experience

Transcription

1 SceneGate Unified Media Framewrk Enabling a Rich Media Experience Applicatin Nte Release V Albis Technlgies AG Albisriederstrasse 199 CH-8047 Zürich Authr: Achim.Bsse@albistechnlgies.cm

2 2 5 Intrductin Traditinal digital TV as well as IPTV services are based n DVB and therefre MPEG technlgies. IPTV services already leverage IP technlgies and prtcls like IP multicasting r RTSP t setup VD sessins, but still rely n standard DVB r MPEG standards. The Internet hwever has becme a place f intense media usage; dwnlading, sharing and cnsuming music, pictures and vides. Almst every husehld tday has digital cameras, music players etc. Therefre the lgical step is t bring these cntents t the TV set. Unified Media Framewrk Cntrary t the well defined DVB wrld, in the Internet envirnment a wide range f different audi, vide-cdecs and picture frmats is used. While the end user des nt really care abut the surce f cntents, the challenge is t supprt all ppular frmats. Vide is available tday frm internet surces with bit rates requiring supprt f hardware decding. Althugh there is a certain trend t use H.264 fr encding vide material, there are still a number f cntainer-/file-frmats which have t be supprted. Beynd supprt f vide- and cntainer frmats, the Internet and tday s high access bandwidths fr cnsumers allw t use streaming technlgies t deliver cntents ver the tp. Bearing these requirements in mind Albis Technlgies has created a Unified Media Framewrk (UMF) which supprts ppular audi- vide and streaming frmats frm different surces. Mst f the audi and vide cdecs are supprted by the STB hardware and may be delivered t the STB with ne f the available cntainer/file frmats. The Media Framewrk recgnizes the frmats, extracts audi and vide tracks frm the cntainer and feeds the elementary streams t the hardware decder which als ensures prper audi/vide synchrnizatin. The table belw depicts all available frmats supprted by the Unified Media Framewrk. Audi- Cdecs * : Vide- Cdecs*: Subtitles MPEG-1 Layer I/II, MPEG-1 Layer III (MP3), MPEG-2 Audi, AAC Family, Dlby Digital Plus (E-AC-3), DTS, WMA, FLAC, ALAC MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.264, MPEG-4 Part 2 (DivX, Xvid),VC-1 srt embedded in MKV DVB subtitles Cntainer-/ File-Frmats: MPEG-2 TS MOV, MKV, MP4, DIVX, XVID, FLV, M2TS, WMV, AVI Playlists: M3U, M3U8 Surce/ Streaming: DVB, FILE, IP Multicast (IGMP) IP Unicast (RTSP, HTTP, adaptive HLS) Internet Streaming Cmplementing traditinal digital TV services with OTT cntent enables attractive ptential fr differentiating services which further engages the user with the TV screen. Als mst bradcasters prvide media archives n the internet where they ffer additinal * Licenses t be cnsidered DivX 5.x and DivX 6.x encded files

3 infrmatin r histry f bradcasts. Tday there is n standard interface fr these prtals, hwever with the Unified Media Framewrk and mdern brwser technlgy these kinds f services can nw be integrated int STBs. Supprt f http streaming is ne f the basic requirements t supprt internet services. 3 5 OTT Services The Unified Media Framewrk prvides the cre player engine fr several services. A ppular example f curse is YuTube which is well knwn and can als be entertaining t access via the TV set. Als upcming hbbtv applicatins rely n frmats supprted by the Unified Media Framewrk. YuTube hbbtv 1.1 HLS based services Delivery HTTP IP Multicast (UDP/TP) IP Unicast (HTTP, UDP/RTP HTTP (.m3u8 playlists) Frmat MP4 MPEG-2TS, MP4 MPEG-2 TS Audi AAC, MP3 AAC, AC-3, MPEG-1 Layer II Typically H.264 Vide H.264, H.263 (Srensen Spark) MPEG-2, H.264 Typically AAC Albis Technlgies APIs prvide the functinality t pen a file surce frm the internet (i.e. using http streaming), hwever, the URL fr the vide file has t be well knwn in rder t pen and play the vide. The applicatin is in charge f retrieving this file name frm the prtal (i.e. bradcasters prtal r YuTube). Fr ptimal integratin, the lk and feel f an applicatin prviding access t the OTT cntents shuld be in alignment with the verall user interface. Therefre a dedicated applicatin which can be cntrlled with the Remte Cntrl is the mst preferable way. Albis Technlgies pen APIs prvide an easy way t pen any surce using the same API functins. This makes it easy t create a unique applicatin and a cnsistent usability acrss all media surces available fr end users. YuTube and ther service are ften cnnected t Adbe Flash as the necessary technlgy required n the STB. Hwever, when clsing i.e. a service cntract with YuTube resp. Ggle Inc. access t the API is granted and explicit applicatins as knwn frm media players r TV sets can be build using the STB player engine f the STB t decde the frmats defined fr the service. Albis Technlgies Unified Media Framewrk builds the fundatin t integrate internet based streaming services as well as in hme media sharing applicatins with the same methdlgy. OTT streaming cnsideratins OTT in general means delivery f cntents using unmanaged internet infrastructure directly t end users. This might be a thread n the ne hand side since third party cntent prviders can bypass legacy entertainment service prviders just using their bradband bit-pipes t serve end custmers directly. On the ther hand, OTT may als be a chance t partner with these OTT prviders t create new service bundles r expand the scpe f wn services int ther netwrks. Technlgies like HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) allw streaming ver unmanaged IP infrastructure ffering bit rate adaptatin t the actual access bandwidth. While dynamic bit rate adaptatins may have its pretty because nbdy really has t care abut the real

4 bandwidth available, there are a number f questins t be cnsidered when creating services based n adaptive bit rate technlgies Are custmers willing t accept lw quality if they pay fr i.e. a VD mvie? Are dynamic changes f bit rate accepted by end users if they watch payed cntent? Are significant bit rate changes really realistic in a given access netwrk scenari? Hw many different prfiles resp. bitrates have t be supprted t meet end custmer s expectatin and leverage available bandwidth in the best way fr different devices? The pssibility t supprt different bitrates prvides a mechanism t deliver the best pssible quality in several scenaris but means als a relevant effrt t create and manage the cntent fr these prfiles. At the same time the dynamic adaptatin f bitrates requires an intelligent mechanism t avid irritating tggling effects. 4 5 Albis Technlgies has created a unique apprach measuring the actual internet bandwidth with Albis Technlgies unique delta burst algrithm if bit rate adaptatin is required. Alternatively fixed prfiles can be used if bit rate adaptatin is nt required r wanted. This way, attractive services can be build matching service prviders and end users expectatins. In Hme Media Sharing Albis Technlgies can prvide a pwerful Media Center functinality fr in-hme media sharing. The Digital Media Player (DMP) is based n a very flexible architecture using plug-ins. This allws implementing new features like media frmats r display interfaces. The Set-tp Bx usually acts as a cmbined Digital Media Renderer (DMR) and Digital Media Cntrl Pint (DMC) playing back media stred n a Digital Media Server (DMS). Hwever, als advanced use cases using an external cntrl pint such as a PDA r mbile phne are pssible allwing the user t cnveniently cntrl the media player n the Set-tp Bx remtely. DLNA Cntrl pint sftware is available tday fr mst mbile phnes, PDAs, mbile media players etc. STB Hwever, nt all husehlds have in hme netwrks allwing media sharing frm the PC t the STB. Using USB memry sticks i.e. fr exchanging pictures is an easy way fr the majrity f the peple allwing them t enjy phts n the living rm screen. Therefre the Media Center can handle data frm DLNA/UPnP servers in the netwrk as well as lcally attached mass strage devices. Full media tagging (EXIF, ID3v1, ID3v2.x, FLAC tags, APE tags, etc) is supprted fr data n lcal mass strage devices The Media Player relies n the Unified Media Framewrk capabilities t decde audi and vide. Images can be displayed frm PNG, GIF, JPEG, TIFF and BMP files. Using Data DMR (Media Renderer) STB Cntrl DMS (Media Server) i.e. Netwrk Attached Strage, PC with DMS Sftware, Cntrl DMC (Cntrl Pint) i.e. PDA, Mbile Phne,

5 the Unified Media Framewrk audi and vide can als be supprted with all cntainer and cdec cmbinatins listed abve. 5 5 Fr superir audi quality the frmats FLAC and ALAC are supprted which are als used by leading music stres in the internet t prvide audi quality beynd CD quality. The Media Player can decde FLAC encded audi files up t 24Bit reslutin with up t 192 khz sampling frequency fr high quality stere utput. This way the STB als brings value t audiphile users. Albis Technlgies des nt prvide a User Interface fr the Media Player but an Interface t exchange infrmatin and cntrl the player. The user interface can then be aligned with the lk and feel f the applicatin r middleware vendr. An API is available fr C/C++ as well as fr Java Script. In the native integratin envirnment based n C/C++ middleware and applicatin vendrs have als the freedm t use either Albis Technlgies fully integrated DLNA cmpatible Media Center including DMC and DMR functinality r just the Unified Media Framewrk cmbined with an wn DLNA stack t create media player applicatins. This gives applicatin prviders mre flexibility t build r prt their wn DLNA applicatin framewrk. Tday s Media Center interwrks well with well knwn DLNA prducts like Windws 7 Media Center, several NAS vendrs like Zyxel r Synlgy and als ppular server sftware like Asset UPnP r Twnky The Media Center sftware hwever is nt DLNA certified. This is an ptin, if required fr marketing reasns. Outlk While tday Albis Technlgies prvides a Media Center nly, the future will als supprt a Digital Media Server (DMS) which pens the path t multirm services sharing i.e. recrdings n a central PVR. Hwever, in-hme cntent prtectin is a tpic t be cnsidered in this case. Depending n the used CA/DRM system and cntent prvider cntracts, a final slutin has t be defined cnsidering all aspects f the cntent delivery chain including cpy right prtectin. Albis Technlgies Ltd. Albisriederstrasse 199 CH-8047 Zürich Phne Fax inf@albistechnlgies.cm