Halls of residence IPTV technologies. University of Leeds Case Study

Transcription

1 Halls of residence IPTV technologies University of Leeds Case Study SLIDE 1

2 Who am I? Simon Mulholland. Project Manager, ISS Network Development Team. 9 years at the University of Leeds. Previously worked in Residential and Commercial Services (RCS). Responsible for project managing: Student residence network programme (2003 present). IPTV research and deployment (2006). YHMAN resilience project (2006/2007). Application acceleration and delivery project (2006/2007). SLIDE 2

3 Some statistics. 7,000 rooms connected. 17 halls connected. 4 halls on campus. 13 located across Leeds and connected via LES links. Halls connected at 100Mbps off campus, 1Gbps on campus. Wireless connectivity in 6 common areas in halls to date. Cisco and HP technology. SLIDE 3

4 SLIDE 3

5 Reasons behind IPTV Customer demand for TV services within University halls of residence. No Co-ax cable was installed when the residences were built. No cable or satellite services are available. Some residences are located in very poor TV reception areas that make portable aerials unusable. Added value to residences to compete with the private sector. The ability to provide premium channels or pay per view. SLIDE 5

6 General requirements Ability to receive both national and international channels. Ability to provide premium channels or pay per view. Ability to meet academic and commercial needs. Ability for on demand content (potential) Delivery of both TV and radio programmes. Information delivered within an Electronic Programme Guide (EPG). To have the ability to record content (desirable) Subtitled content (desirable) Detailed management information on viewing figures and habits. SLIDE 6

7 Technical requirements MAC, PC and set top box. Linux (desirable) Single multicast stream for each channel. MPEG2 minimum picture quality. The ability to charge for services and link to corporate systems (potential). University branding of IPTV client. The service must be able to run over existing network infrastructure (100Mb LES links). SLIDE 7

8 Investigations The tender process revealed three technologies from multiple sources: Triple play (Logicalis, Masterpoint, Catalyst) Video furnace (Asysco) Exterity (RM) All proposals required locally maintained equipment and a TV receiving equipment (satellite / Freeview box). The Exterity solution was deemed to be limited and discounted early on. Poor client, poor support, not scalable. Both Tripleplay and Video Furnace solutions both met the needs of the University. Discussions were based around differing funding models. Considered a number of designs including server equipment at each residence. Considered using existing University satellite feeds. Concerned with the capital cost of solutions and new technological developments. SLIDE 8

9 Why Inuk and Freewire TV? The tender was reopened and the Inuk Freewire solution was chosen because it was: A centralised solution which didn t require any hardware at Leeds. All channels are sourced centrally without the need for and receiving equipment at Leeds. The solution was more cost effective than the other proposals. Available channels were not restricted to Freeview. Question over the legality of re-broadcasting content from a Freeview box. Concerns: Product was still in development and untested. Inuk are a new company with no market penetration. Impact on available bandwidth to off campus halls. SLIDE 9

10 Freewire Television Platform

11 Broadcast Quality TV on a Computer Inuk has developed a unique Set-Top Box Emulation application for PCs Broadcast quality MPEG4 viewer Mini-view and full screen modes Full EPG

12 EPG functionality

13 Testing and rollout Testing was performed on campus and at one hall of residence, 812 rooms during spring and summer of There were numerous versions of the client required to resolve issues with memory leak, picture stability and synchronisation. Multicast was enabled on all halls of residence networks. A limited number of switches in two halls were replaced to support multicast. Firmware issue with HP switches. The test was successful and the service went live W/C 2 nd October 2006 with 15 TV channels and 24 radio channels. SLIDE 13

14 Experiences The service was well received by students. No real support problems except for personal firewalls required configuration to allow multicast traffic. Service is stable and reliable across the network. Minor issues relating to voice/picture synchronisation (v. infrequent). Some VERY poor signal especially during the day but down to programme content rather than technology. Radio is popular with viewing peaks between 6pm and 10pm. Significant increase in demand for bandwidth across leased circuits to accommodate the multicast traffic. May have to provide additional bandwidth. SLIDE 14

15 Where are we know? Stable service with low support overhead. Ability to record content (Scheduled for 2 nd Qtr 2007). Subtitled content (4 th Qtr 2006 overdue) MAC platforms (MAC client 1 st Qtr 2007!!!). Usage Currently 1855 registered users (out of a potential of 7000). Peak of 400 concurrent users. Students watch TV communally rather than alone. Students are reluctant to use the service unless they have a valid TV license. Most popular channels are C4 and E4. To date we have had 37 recorded support requests relating to IPTV. SLIDE 15

16 Way forward Development of the IPTV service is dependent upon increasing available bandwidth to remote halls. Provide more international channels. Inclusion of local content including Student TV and radio. Review the possible use of IPTV within departments. Availability of premium and pay per view channels. Use for conference delegates within University accommodation. Additional Inuk services. SLIDE 16

17 Demonstration of IPTV. SLIDE 17

18 Any questions and discussion? SLIDE 18