Broadcast Beat Magazine 2018 NAB Show Edition | Page 63

Commodity Internet: the Future of Live Streaming By jonathan solomon, strategic initiatives engineer, streaming technology, Aspera Live streaming presents an opportunity for media organizations to not only satisfy viewer demand for content anywhere, anytime, and on any device, it can also offer a cost-effective alternative to tra- ditional video contribution methods. Live video over commodity internet Commodity internet, on the other hand, is per- vasive. It’s available everywhere, even at short notice. It’s inexpensive compared to dedicated circuits. And it’s “always on”, meaning customers To successfully live stream broadcast-quality video con- tent over IP networks with low start-up delays and no glitching, media organizations need a solution that can sup- port three key elements: high- quality bit rate, high reliability with near-zero delay, and rea- sonable cost. However, no live streaming solution to date has been able to offer all three. Today’s solutions all require tradeoffs, with customers able to achieve only two of the three at best. Traditional distribution sys- tems require expensive and specially provisioned infrastructure to avoid degrading play-out quality, such as dedicated terrestrial fiber networks with high quality of service to ensure low latency and low packet loss, or more costly satellite feeds. These solutions often aren’t available on demand and can require large capital investments and long lead times. In addition, the linear feed format is difficult to customize and integrate with mod- ern file- and cloud-based workflows. have 24/7 access—no permissions or check-ins required. It’s also inherently bidirectional, which makes it easy to send a return feed in addition to the primary feed. However, IP-based video transport solutions – such as those that use forward error correction (FEC), peer-to-peer distribution, and “inverse” CDNs – have failed to provide the same universal quality and near-zero delay experience of dedi- Broadcast Beat Magazine • www.broadcastbeat.com • 63