An IP Based File Delivery Platform for Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting

Slide 1: AN IP BASED FILE DELIVERY PLATFORM FOR MOBILE MULTIMEDIA BROADCASTING July 20, 2005 Presenter: Jean-Michel Bouffard

Slide 2: Content 1. Introduction 2. System Overview 3. Broadcast File Server 4. Service Announcement System 5. Broadcast Download Manager 6. Conclusion

Slide 3: 1. Introduction - Context - • Mobile digital broadcast networks like DAB, DMB and DVB-H are becoming popular. • These digital networks will provide: – High capacity downlink channels – Capabilities to transport IP packets • IP tunneling protocols currently exist for DAB and DVB-H • IP could become the common data transport mechanism

Slide 4: 1. Introduction - IP transport - • DAB – ETSI ES 201 735, Internet Protocol (IP) datagram tunneling • DVB-H – ETSI EN 302 304, Transmission System for Handheld Terminals (DVB-H)

Slide 5: 1. Introduction - Goals - • Develop server and client applications that are using reliable multicast protocols over IP • Validate the feasibility of a user-centric file download manager in a broadcast environment • Propose a delivery sessions announcement mechanism

Slide 6: 2. System Overview - Diagram -

Slide 7: 2. System Overview - Components - • Server platform – Located in broadcaster’s facilities – Provides the file services management capabilities – Creates and sends services announcement • DAB delivery platform – IP tunneling through a DAB packet mode subchannel – Using CRC’s experimental DAB delivery platform • CRC-Dr.Muxlab • CRC-Dr.IPMux

Slide 8: 2. System Overview - Components - • Client platform – “Listens” to services announcement – Presents the information as a typical Internet download manager GUI – Activates the file delivery sessions requested by the user – Manages the downloaded content

Slide 9: 3. Broadcast File Server - Server modules - • Services management • INRIA Flute application • Announcer

Slide 10: 3. Broadcast File Server - Services management - • Creation of the services • Parameters selection: – Name, id, bandwidth, packet size, destination (IP address + port), type of protection, level of protection and content. • Monitoring of file transfers and announcement system

Slide 11: 3. Broadcast File Server - User interface - Server configuration Announcement related information Services related information

Slide 12: 3. Broadcast File Server - INRIA Flute application - • INRIA MCLv3 project – Open source implementation of FLUTE (File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport) (RFC 3926) – Built over ALC (Asynchronous Layered Coding) (RFC 3450) – Compatible with different types of FEC (Forward Error Correction) • RS and LDPC included • API available to add other FEC scheme

Slide 13: 4. Service Announcement System - Details - • Built using standard IETF protocols – SDP (Session Description Protocol) – SAP (Session Announcement Protocol) • Listens to a well-known multicast address and port • Constructs a guide of all advertised file delivery sessions • Provides sessions details without having to connect to it.

Slide 14: 4. Service Announcement System - SDP (RFC 2327) - • Contains the information about multimedia sessions – User name, session id, version, network type, address type, address, session name, timestamps, etc. • Attributes added to be compliant with Flute protocol – Flute session ID – Number of layers – Packet size – Type of optimization (needed by INRIA Flute)

Slide 15: 4. Service Announcement System - SAP (RFC 2974) - • “How” to send the descriptions – Standard IP address and port • Address: 224.2.127.254 • Port: 9875 – Possibility to compress and/or encrypt the descriptions • “When” to send the description – Delays between annoucement calculated according to random values and number of descriptions to prevent network bursts

Slide 16: 4. Service Announcement System - Advantages - • Clients are always aware of services availability • Helps better manage the client storage capacity • Other types of multimedia services can use SAP/SDP without interfering with the file transmission • Easy to add services by adding announcement packets • Requires very little bandwidth

Slide 17: 5. Broadcast Download Manager - Context - • User-centric file download manager in a broadcast environment – Flexible – User-friendly – Usable as a test system for the transmission of files – Offering an Internet-like download manager

Slide 18: 5. Broadcast Download Manager - Modules - • Announcement listener • Service access module • Flute management module – Using INRIA ALC library

Slide 19: 5. Broadcast Download Manager - Services access module - • “File browser” tab – Manage local content • “Search” tab – Search announced file services – User selects the content to download in this tab • “Download” tab – Status of the active file services • Downloading, completed, error, etc. • Estimated percentage completed

Slide 20: 5. Broadcast Download Manager - User interface -

Slide 21: 5. Broadcast Download Manager - Flute management module - • Replaces the INRIA Flute application • Uses the INRIA ALC library wrapped in the JNI interface • Provides access to all the statistics about the file transfer – Source data received, FEC data received, session status, ALC errors. • Provides an estimation of remaining transfer time (ETA)

Slide 22: 6. Conclusion - Results - • The platform proved to be flexible and easy to use • Large file services have been successfully delivered using a DAB broadcast channel • User experience similar to Internet file sharing software • Announcement system helps making the process simple.

Slide 23: 6. Conclusion - Future improvements - • Service scheduling in time (EPG) • Using multiple ALC layers to distribute the transfer in different DAB subchannels • Add file type association capabilities to the Download manager (like many web browsers) • Could be used as a testing tool for different FEC technologies.

Slide 24: Thank You Questions ?