The Dilithium Content Adapter (DCA) is a platform that enables service providers to extend the reach of video value-added content beyond their initial intended device boundaries. The DCA is the only product that supports all 2.5G and 3G smartphones for both on-demand and live content delivery, including iPhone, Blackberry and Android devices, as well as PCs and set top boxes.
We had lots of great entries and plenty to consider in this category, but here's a quick snapshot on the winners and why they were selected.
-BigBand Networks's Converged Video Exchange (CVEx).We had some other great ideas circulating on how cable operators will deliver IPTV and video to multiple screens (RGB's and Harmonic's entries are among those with honorable mentions), but the concept of bringing cable a software media plane to handle all of this seems to make a lot of sense as MSOs have to handle loads more unicast and multicast traffic and migrate to IP-based video platforms.We were also high on Moto's transport gateway, but are coming to the realization that several other vendors will be coming to market with relatively similar in-home IP hubs.
-Wyplay's Wyplay Modular Solutions (WMS). This one deserved lots of credit for trying to solve the TV Everywhere problem, at least when it comes to brining TV everywhere inside the home. Unless you're tech savvy and know your way around home networking, shuttling video and other media around the house and managing it all is beyond the reach of many consumers. But this approach looks to truly simplify it with a combination of modular softwareand hardware that pieces the puzzle together.As we mentioned before, DigitalDeck tried this before, but was years before its time…we'll have to see how well Wyplay does trying to turn cutting edge into mainstream, but we think it's on the right track here.
-Aksh Optifiber's iControl.Though still green (in terms of deployment and adoption), we think this technology has lots of potential…and having support from India's state-owned telecom incumbents probably doesn't hurt its chances.Technology aside, they are coupling this with an interesting business model. Although subscription packages start as low as $3 per month, iControl looks to tack incremental revenues on using interactive apps, including a TV-based shopping service.
Yahoo! selected the DCA for deployment of their mobile video services because of its ability to reach the mass market for any device, and manage the content adaptation in real time.
DCA is an IP infrastructure enabling solutions suites for video – one of kind as it can support content adaptation, distribution and optimization out of same platform while supporting Live TV and VOD services for any device in any network.
Another one that deserves strong consideration is India's Aksh Optifibre's iControl, offering state-owned telecom incumbents BNNS and MTNL a clear path to IPTV. But it's also flush with interactive features…a big VoD library, time-shifting (a review of the past three days of broadcast fare), as well as access to games, voting apps and distance learning. And even some video classifieds and a TV-based shopping service.
The idea is to offer revenue opportunities , including some incremental drivers, that can shore up a business case that starts off with subscription packages as low as $3 to $4 per month. And the service is still relatively young, so we'll have to see how the market responds, but it certainly looks to have lots of potential in a market that could be clamoring for interactive IPTV services.
As for content tonnage, iControl touts more than 120 linear channel and about 300 on-demand movies (okay, so the US has a big leg-up in that area, but it's a decent start).
Edgeware AB is tossing its hat into the mix with its Flash-based Web TV WTV-2X video server, which casts an eye on helping telcos and other service providers provide access to the wonders of over-the-top (OTT) video.
I tend to pit these folks with Verivue, another company that specializes in Flash-based servers and is trying to help operators carve out TV Everywhere and CDN-ish strategies, but here's Edgeware's pitch for consideration:
Current trends
Providing TV and video over the Web and using adaptive bitrate streaming is not only becoming a way of distributing video over the public Internet – or over the top (OTT), it is also becoming a way for telcos to increase the service penetration beyond their traditionally limited subscriber percentages. The same platform enables distribution to the three screens. Another trend is the rapid increase in bandwidth caused by OTT service uptake and the introduction of high quality and long form video aiming for the TV set. However, the challenge of how to cost efficiently scale services beyond all the bottlenecks between the peering points and the subscribers remains. The service providers cannot be expected to continue to invest in ever higher capacity networks without generating new revenues.
To address this, service providers are creating opportunities for additional revenue by developing their own CDN’s or leveraging revenue share with existing CDNs.
Caching in the network
In the service provider network, caching is the most economical way to scale all the emerging video services. The main benefit is savings in network capacity, i.e. the ability to distribute the delivery close to the viewers as opposed to building a new network and continue streaming from few and central locations. A more attractive solution to paying for a new network (in advance) AND the video delivery is investing in just the video delivery.
When more streaming capacity is needed, caches can be easily deployed further and further out in the network while minimizing the need for more network bandwidth.
WTV-2X, an efficient video delivery platform
Edgeware has developed the WTV-2X server for the breadth of services and to efficiently allow scaling of capacity without coupling it to (prior) investments in the network. The WTV-2X is the most powerful and rugged, purpose developed web server that is specifically targeting efficient delivery of video from points within a network. It generates 20Gbps over up to 32000 concurrent TCP streams (or sessions) at only 85 Watts of power, from a tiny 1RU half depth unit.
This unit today hosts up to 6TB of flash memory and can be placed anywhere in a network from data centers and peering points to scaling into locations in the core network or deeper in the aggregation and access network. Together with its low latency live TV ingest capability the WTV-2X supports all possible use cases and service scenarios from one type of equipment.
The hardware implementation of the video data plane ensures uniform and guaranteed performance even in scenarios with poor network QoS and high packet loss.
Meant to post this earlier, but my PC was subjected to a blue screen of death moment as I was readying this …and then I just got distracted. Anyway, we've got a pitch from Skitter.TV, which, the company says, is a system that encodes, configures, delivers, and monetizes "converged TV services" (there's that one again) that combine live broadcast and satellite TV networks with Web TV content and VoD.
They've got their own encoder for this, but appears that they use set-tops from a range of vendors and has a nifty guide that wraps everything together.
Looks like they are targeting this all-in-one system to tier 2 and tier 3 service providers, with claims that it can work on existing DSL networks, though it can work on fiber and wireless networks, so they say. On the content side, it's hooked up with the National Telco Television Consortium (NTTC). Appears to be a nice alternative for some telcos out there that still want to offer managed video and add in some apps and services from the wilds of the Web.
Here's some not-so-great news on CruiseCast. Looks like RaySat Broadcasting, one of AT&T's partners on this project, is still accepting service activiations, but reportedly is also "working through financial difficulties" that are calling this all into some question. At one point a prerecorded message said RaySat wasn't supporting activations nor fulfilling any equipment orders anymore...but chalked that up to "miscommunication." yeah, a big one, I'd say.
The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) has thrown MoCA 1.1 into the mix, noting adoption by Verizon and its use as the high-speed home networking backbone (for multi-room DVRs and other stuff) for north of 3 million users, with expected deployments by Cox, TWC, and Bright House next year.
"Even Best Buy is on record as saying MoCA technology is a pillar of home networking strategies," we're told.
But, I'll go ahead and counter that we are looking for nominations touting next-generation products and technologies, so with that in mind I passed along a suggestion that they should put in for MoCA 2.0, which is really what Verizon wants anyway. It's not ratified yet so fat chance we'll see them take us up on the suggestion...but we'll try.
Harmonic just put up three products for nomination consideration: MediaPrism (which we've already put up on the boards for discussion along the "TV Everywhere"), its ACE transcoding platform , and its Direct-2-edge cable IPTV platform, which seems to fit in with a common theme that's emerging in this category. We've truncated some of the details, but here's a look at how HLIT describes these (so which of the three has the most potential as a Top Pick? i'm leaning toward D2E at this point):
MediaPrism Convergence Suite
Harmonic’s MediaPrism is the industry’s most comprehensive convergence suite for multi-screen video delivery to the TV, PC, iPhone and other mobile devices. Deployed by Tier 1 service providers for new mobile and Internet video service trials, MediaPrism uniquely encompasses live and offline content ingest, transformation, delivery and workflow management. The MediaPrism convergence suite is designed to support a variety of emerging mobile and Internet delivery formats, including Microsoft Silverlight, Apple adaptive HTTP Live Streaming and Adobe Flash, in addition to legacy mobile video formats, existing broadcast TV and video-on-demand services.
ProStream 1000 with ACE
Harmonic’s ProStream 1000 stream processing platform with ACE (Agile Compression Engine) technology offers industry-leading density supporting MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) transcoding of up to 20 HD or 80 SD video and audio channels in a compact and power-efficient one rack-unit (1-RU) chassis. This scalable IP-based transcoder supports a number of applications including real-time transcoding for digital turnaround (DTA), mobile video, Internet TV, and digital program or advertisement insertion. Existing ProStream 1000 systems are easily field-upgradeable to support the new ACE functionality.
The ProStream 1000 is the industry’s most flexible solution for a variety of stream processing needs, including scrambling/descrambling, re-encoding, transcoding, statistical multiplexing, forward error correction (FEC), variable to constant bit-rate conversion and single frequency network (SFN) transmission over IP.
Direct-2-Edge Cable IPTV
Deployed by leading operators around the world—more than 70 headends, including the world’s largest cable IPTV deployment to date at SK Broadband in Korea—Harmonic’s Direct-2-Edge (D2E) cable IPTV solution enables cable operators to leverage their existing DOCSIS and digital video investments to deliver broadband video to multiple screens, including traditional TV and the PC. The solution combines Harmonic's industry leading compression (Electra encoders and Mentor re-encoding), on-demand software (Armada and StreamLiner video servers), content preparation (Rhozet™ and MediaPrism™) and universal edge (NSG 9000) technologies with the DOCSIS and digital video infrastructure.
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